Question for Do-It-Yourself Needlework Framers ...

You can purchase frame inserts that you sort of tap in with a small hammer. I think Hobby Lobby has them on the shelf by the framing dept. They are actually supposed to "push" in but it usually takes a hammer. I personally bought the gun that inserts the bending kind of inserts and I love it.

Julie in Hondo

Hi Linda,

I don't know whether this is "proper" technique or not, but it's worked beautifully the last few items I've framed. I center the work on the foam core and stick four pins through the front - one at each corner of the stitching - to hold it temporarily in place. Then I pull the fabric tight edge by edge and stick silk pins through the fabric and into the foam core all around the edge and then lace up the back tightly with a double strand of regular thread. Then I take out the pins from the front and pop it right into the frame. It holds beautifully, the silk pins don't rust, and you don't have to use any glue or tape that could damage the fabric. I usually get a 1/8 inch thick acid-free foam core from Hobby Lobby - and they cut it to size at no extra charge.

I hope this was helpful (and understandable!) Nadia

snipped-for-privacy@his.com wrote:

Hi, Linda. I use a Black & Decker PowerShot, a manual heavy-duty stapler bought at a home store. Try to find staples with long "legs" (various sizes are available). I shoot them into the frame so that they don't go all the way in. This may take a little practice to know where to position the stapler. Then the staples, which will be sticking out a bit, can be pushed down flush against the item you're framing, holding it in place. You'll need to put a staple every few inches. Hope this helps.

Beth in Florida

On 21 Dec 2005 11:50:29 -0800, snipped-for-privacy@his.com muttered something like:

What you need are called "glazier's points." They're the same things used to hold in window glass in wood-frame windows. You can get a specific kind which do not require a gun to use; they're called "push points" and they look like this:

You lie them flat agains the back of the art/needlework, with the pointy side against the frame, press a chisel or screwdriver against the vertical tabs, and push it into the wood. For harder woods you might need to tap the chisel/screwdriver with a hammer.

Your local hardware store should have some. Good luck!

-Bertha

Nadia ...

May I ask a bit more? This is an interesting idea. :-)

Do you use glass when you use this method? I'm just wondering if the pins are enough to keep the piece in the frame even with glass.

I usually use pins along the sides of the foam core, as you do, in order to center the piece. But then I've taken them out before putting the piece into the frame.

I've done both lacing and used masking tape on the back. Since I had been taking the pins out, I'd leaned more towards masking tape since I was concerned that the lacing might put extra pressure on the fabric where the lacing pulls it tight. But with the pins left in, that wouldn't be an issue, I wouldn't think.

So by leaving the pins in, it's like having enough traction (or whatever) to hold the piece in the frame without nails or staples?

Many thanks!!!

Linda W.

I would use non-rusting pins a long time before I'd use masking tape. It really doesn't take very long before masking tape causes the fabric to yellow and deteriorate.

Best wishes, Ericka

Plus over time the masking tape dries out and releases. I had a very old design I did for my daughter (now 33) when she was in first grade, and I finally took it to be professionally framed this year because I'd used masking tape, and it totally gave up the ghost and was coming out of the frame.

It looks great now!

-- Jere

You can buy framing points ( second on the page) most places that you can buy frames. Put them in with either a point tool (preferred) or a screwdriver gently tapped with a hammer (not preferred, but effective).

I usually use a shallow enough frame that the paper back suffices to hold the piece in the frame. I used to use small brads, but it's much easier to use framing points.

jenn

-- Jenn Ridley : snipped-for-privacy@chartermi.net WIP: Oriental Butterfly, Insect Sampler Most recently Finished: TicTacToe Sampler, Snow, Morning Glory Stitching log:

Hi, Ericka and Jere ...

Wow. Maybe I should leave the pins in, then. Are the conventional straight pins we use these days non-rusting?

And then maybe I could just tape the ends of the fabric on the back lightly or something. I don't know that I'm good enough at lacing!!!

Thanks so much!

Linda W.

Jenn ...

This might well work fine for my sampler in question, too -- I mean its being a shallow-enough frame to hold the piece in the frame. I'll see how it works once I get the sampler affixed to the foam core.

I wonder, if I brought it to a frame shop, whether they'd just put a few brads or whatever they might use in for me? Although I'l trying to keep the cost down, so I may see what happens without them.

Hmmmm ...

Thanks!

Linda W.

Hi Linda,

Yup - I just leave the pins in - once you push them down, they sort of hold themselves in place. Sometimes if the frame comes with a backing, I'll get my husband to press the glazier's point down real tight, but it's a pretty fat fit, depending on how wide the inside of the frame is. You could even just cover the back with plain brown paper if you're sure nothing will fall back out - which mine usually don't because they end up nice and snug. And I specifically get silk pins because they don't rust. They're in the same section as the regular stick pins, but cost a dollar or so more. I learned about those from Tia Mary, I think. I do use matted, glass front frames. I just think mats make the work look that much nicer.

Nadia

Nadia ...

Thanks!

I'm going to try that for this one and maybe I'll save having to find/purchase the other things, since I need to have this done by tomorrow evening.

I'm planning to cover the back with brown paper. I've saved some brown paper and am hoping that if I iron it (carefully, of course!) it'll get some of the wrinkles out.

I'll look for the silk pins. I wonder if I could find them in the sewing section at CVS??? (Since I'm a bit pressed for time and that's closer than a sewing shop.)

I'm not going to mat this one because it's an antique-look pattern, and I think it looks more like an old piece without the matting. I have added a border to the pattern, though, because it just looked unfinished to me without something around it. And so many of the antique ones have a border of some kind.

So I'm stitching in the border right now. Then I can get to the framing part. :-)

Thanks again!

Linda W.

After you get the paper glued down, spritz it with water. Just a little. The paper will shrink as it dries, will be beautifully taut against the frame, and *no wrinkles*. This trick even works with paper grocery bags, although I usually use kraft paper (or plain color wrapping paper, shiny side in, if that's all I've got).

jenn

-- Jenn Ridley : snipped-for-privacy@chartermi.net WIP: Oriental Butterfly, Insect Sampler Most recently Finished: TicTacToe Sampler, Snow, Morning Glory Stitching log:

Here's a great site for instructions on pinning and lacing your needlework:

Wow!

Thanks, Jenn.

Do you spritz water over the entire surface of the paper evenly, or just sort of randomly?

Linda W.

I use a cheap spray bottle set on fine mist, and try to mist it evenly. As long as it's evenly moist (and not really wet), it should work fine. My mom uses her sprinkler bottle for doing the same thing. (anyone remember those? A sprinkler head fitted onto narrow necked glass bottle.)

(I have a spray bottle next to my iron, but there's also one in the kitchen that I use for spritzing plants or wetting down the kids' bangs before I trim them.)

jenn

-- Jenn Ridley : snipped-for-privacy@chartermi.net WIP: Oriental Butterfly, Insect Sampler Most recently Finished: TicTacToe Sampler, Snow, Morning Glory Stitching log:

The staple guns aren`t all that expensive - and are VERY useful things to have in any case.

Pat P

But keep in mind that "stainless" does not mean "rust-proof."