Preparing to Frame

I have some embroideries that I eventually want framed. With that in mind, on a trip past the nearest framing shop I stopped in. I was advised to use a foam board for backing the embroidery rather than usual mount board that I use. The assistant assured me that foam board is acid free so I'm going to try it out. 

On my practice run, the first thing I really liked is that although the board is quite thick, it's very easy to cut to size with a craft knife. Also, you can place pins along the edges to hold the fabric in place before lacing it. This makes it easier to get the fabric straight on the grain and hold it securely just where you want it.

It's been a while since I prepared an embroidery for framing and I gaily set off lacing the back of my practice piece. Being able to insert the pins into the edges of the board and keep everything where it should be, is a real joy.

Then came the corners. I found the mitre tricky because of the thickness of the foam board. The first corner has a slight overlap on the join that caused a ridge that you can see in the next photo.

I found that with the thick foam board, the corners have a more fabric bulk that needs to be tucked in to get a neat mitre join. I usually keep the lacing loose so I can open out the corner before I trim it and fold it for the mitre. I might pull out some of the lacing before I do the next corner and just keep the pins along the very edge. More practice is needed!

Coincidentally, I came across an informative discussion about framing on Gary Parr's Fibre Talk. Gary recently spoke to master framer, David Lantrip who covered the whole question of framing in some depth. You can see Gary and David's chat here on You Tube. 

I was particularly interested in David's comments on framing embroidery. Interestingly, the suitability of foam board, a fairly new option, is still quietly being monitored by serious conservators. It is however widely used, and for small embroideries that are not expected to survive for 100's of years, foam board is fine. One other important point that was made is that it seems that lacing is still the best way to prepare an embroidery for framing. 

'Till next time, happy stitching!