Screen print on silk

[pramsay13]

I have a screen print on silk, probably around 1800mm x 600mm.
Any ideas for best way to frame it?
I am thinking just onto stretcher bars and then staple if possible or laced at the back.
When the customer saw it at first it seemed to have been on stretcher bars with a painted board behind it which was then framed?
The customer wondered about glass but I think given the size it would be prohibitively expensive.

[Roboframer]

I'd be looking at keeping the weight to a minimum and I think I'd make a board up out of 10mm foam board, spliced and stuck to two thicknesses of correx bonded to each other with the flutes of one going the other direction to the other - the correx would have to be spliced too, so your board would be made up from at least six individual pieces, you could pad the front with polyester quilt wadding.

If the thing is all silk I'd sew some calico extensions to it and then pin it with 'T' pins to the 10mm foam board.

Then frame it and back it! I'd suggest glazing - acrylic - between two frames.

Would be cheaper and easier of course to stretch it over battens and frame it with no glass, but the sewn-on extensions might still be a good idea.

[pramsay13]

The artist has kindly left a decent amount of extra material all around it.
I'll offer both to the customer, but I imagine it will be stretched over battens for cost reasons.
Can it be stapled?

[IFGL]

I did one a while back, I stretched it over a frame made from flat wood, I stuck foam board to the front then wadding and then the silk over that, I did staple it at the back but not directly into the silk, as staples are likely to pull through, I used some thin wood strips to clamp the silk and stop the staples pulling straight through.

My customer didn't want it framed just stretched.

[Roboframer]

See post #7 here http://www.thegrumble.com/showthread.ph ... light=silk

Chances are the thing is already weak which is why I suggested sewing extensions on whether stretching over board or battens.

[IFGL]

Extensions would defiantly be good, I would say wadding is a must, the wadding means you won't have to put quite so much tension on it, it will give it a bit of spring, also let some of the wadding go around the edges to soften them and the corners.

The one we did was a sari with no value, she liked the flower on the front, she wanted it done on a budget, so that's what she got, if I remember rightly it was 55" square.

[pramsay13]

Just thought I would post an update if anyone was interested.
I was in the local craft shop to buy wadding, and after discussing the issue with the craftswomen there we decided it would be best to machine a cotton backing onto the screenprint with wadding in the middle. This is the way they would do quilts.
Once I had this I could stretch and staple as I would a canvas.
Customer was very happy with the outcome, and I felt more confident about stretching it.
Can be seen on my facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/thepicturefram ... 8c67667be8

[Trillian]

That looks great Pramsay, seems to have worked really well. I like the idea of sewing the whole piece to a cotton backing, was the backing larger than the silk, or the same size? Also, did you take the wadding and hem up to the edge of the fabrics, or allow a a few inches to do the stretching?

[pramsay13]

The cotton was larger than the silk, and the wadding was larger again.
Once I explained the issue to the machinest I left her to it.

[Trillian]

Thanks for the extra info Pramsay, I'll add that to the memory banks, in case I ever need to frame a silk.