My most recent PITA job has reduced me to browsing the internet for a little relief. So after lurking here on and off for a while, (OK a couple years) I decided to finally register and unwind a bit.
The job is an American flag roughly 110 years old. It's small, about 14x18. I took the job with full disclosure that I thought it would be much better off in an acid-free keepsake box than in a frame. Light and gravity wreak havoc on old threadbare cloth items. The customer insisted he wanted it framed. He felt he would not enjoy it otherwise.
Of course I couldn't charge enough for the work that I knew lay ahead. There's a reason museums display old tattered garments and cloth items laying down. So, let's see, first, you can't use adhesive, you can't friction fit it, and you shouldn't penetrate the cloth with a needle. (and he would not pay for a cloth conservator to mount it properly) So I stitched it to a piece of linen, using only the hem stitches to hook it down. This way I didn't have to penetrate the cloth which would be a big no-no. It also took about a hundred carefully placed stitches due to the fragile nature of the item.
Christmas is not the best of times to be working on time consuming frame jobs. (or surfing the internet) Mixed in with the hundreds of other things I have to do, I also have two rugs, a job to frame two rings, and then there's always a couple jerseys that come in before Christmas. I hate object framing at this time of year. There are just too many photos, posters and artwork that you can make money off, with about a ten minute assembly.
So... any of you folks have a time consuming project that would be better if it had not come in now?
The job is an American flag roughly 110 years old. It's small, about 14x18. I took the job with full disclosure that I thought it would be much better off in an acid-free keepsake box than in a frame. Light and gravity wreak havoc on old threadbare cloth items. The customer insisted he wanted it framed. He felt he would not enjoy it otherwise.
Of course I couldn't charge enough for the work that I knew lay ahead. There's a reason museums display old tattered garments and cloth items laying down. So, let's see, first, you can't use adhesive, you can't friction fit it, and you shouldn't penetrate the cloth with a needle. (and he would not pay for a cloth conservator to mount it properly) So I stitched it to a piece of linen, using only the hem stitches to hook it down. This way I didn't have to penetrate the cloth which would be a big no-no. It also took about a hundred carefully placed stitches due to the fragile nature of the item.
Christmas is not the best of times to be working on time consuming frame jobs. (or surfing the internet) Mixed in with the hundreds of other things I have to do, I also have two rugs, a job to frame two rings, and then there's always a couple jerseys that come in before Christmas. I hate object framing at this time of year. There are just too many photos, posters and artwork that you can make money off, with about a ten minute assembly.
So... any of you folks have a time consuming project that would be better if it had not come in now?