The Framers Forum

I've not framed a felt piece before, and have a customer wanting a quote for two to be ready for exhibition in about a week... Artists can be like buses, they all come through the door at once and at the last minute!

My instinct is to stitch them to the mount card using threads of similar colour? It would take me a while!

Alternatively are velcro or micro tags acceptable? A worry would be the velcro potentially damaging the work if it's removed in the future.

The artist suggested I use double sided gorilla tape!!

Do you know how to lace a piece of fabric to board? This is the standard technique. Assuming that there is enough edge to the felt to wrap around the back of the board. If there isn't then you would need to sew on a donor fabric around the sides to allow this to be possible.

Procrastination by the artist does not make it an emergency for the picture framer.

For a better analysis of your mounting problem a better description of the "art" from felt might be in order. Ex: with or without a hem, commercially made or made from scratch by the artist, a 3-d piece, with a design painted on the surface, etc.

A photo or two would swerve a few “ifs” - but if the whole thing is to be shown - ie float mounted, then stitches or tags would work, and if the design is a collage then you could hide stitches or tags underneath different pieces.

I think I’d use a combination; micro tags where they can be concealed and small stitches in matching colours of cotton in the open.

I would use the tag gun as an awl to make stitch holes in the mounting board. (A’hem) If you’re clever you can just use any colour cotton with invisible stitches as per a hem.

(See what I did there)

Support stitches through the feltwork - allowing the stitches to be hidden inside the "layers" so that they don't appear through on the top surface would be my go-to method. Allowing a good length of stitch gives a greater and gentler support.

These can be mounted direct onto mountboard (pre-poke your holes first!) or onto a support fabric. The support fabric could then be pinned or laced onto a support board. I would not lace feltwork because it is likely to cause the make up of the piece to separate out. And I'm not a great fan of tags in these circumstances, but that is personal preference.

Thank you all for your advice!

I would have replied sooner, but for some reason I couldn't get the forum page to load! Probably my ageing computer in the workshop.

Yes, I should have been more specific about the artwork. Both pieces are to be float mounted onto the mount board.

I'm familiar with lacing tapestry, but it sounds like stitching to the board is indeed the way to go!

I'll pre poke the holes!

Any advice on stopping my thread from twisting when doing it? It might not be an issue here, but whenever I lace a tapestry with the thicker thread, it doesn't half enjoy twisting and bunching up!!! Every...single...time! Urgh.... I use micro tags when I can because of it.

JFeig wrote: Wed 27 Aug, 2025 1:53 pm Procrastination by the artist does not make it an emergency for the picture framer.

For a better analysis of your mounting problem a better description of the "art" from felt might be in order. Ex: with or without a hem, commercially made or made from scratch by the artist, a 3-d piece, with a design painted on the surface, etc.

"Procrastination by the artist does not make it an emergency for the picture framer.".... Love this! I"m gonna have that made into a neon sign!

When using thread - lacing or stitching - every now and then allow the thread to hang down towards the floor with the needle near the end. It will “untwist” itself and then you can carry on.

If you use individual stitches you shouldn’t have a problem.

What thread do you use for lacing? I mostly used crotchet cotton, usually between No5 and 8. Craft cotton or dishcloth cotton for heavier duty stuff. It all comes in balls, not on reels, so is less likely to twist. I rarely had an issue unless I was tempted to pull too much off the ball, which when in use was kept from rolling about the place in a quality street tin with a hole in the lid to feed the thread through.

I made a YouTube vid if you’re interested.

JKX wrote: Sat 30 Aug, 2025 2:45 pm If you use individual stitches you shouldn’t have a problem.

What thread do you use for lacing? I mostly used crotchet cotton, usually between No5 and 8. Craft cotton or dishcloth cotton for heavier duty stuff. It all comes in balls, not on reels, so is less likely to twist. I rarely had an issue unless I was tempted to pull too much off the ball, which when in use was kept from rolling about the place in a quality street tin with a hole in the lid to feed the thread through.

I made a YouTube vid if you’re interested.

I use a crochet thread, size 8.

I really like your suggestion of using a quality street tin!

I confess... With these two felts, I took the easy route and used my micro tag gun!

Please, I'd like to see the video. Do you have a link?

Thanks!

Tudor Rose wrote: Sat 30 Aug, 2025 11:07 am When using thread - lacing or stitching - every now and then allow the thread to hang down towards the floor with the needle near the end. It will “untwist” itself and then you can carry on.

Ah... Thank you for the tip!

bang wrote: Sun 31 Aug, 2025 1:12 pm
I'd like to see the video. Do you have a link?

Thanks!

Here you go - in the vid I say I’m using no 8 crotchet cotton but it’s No 5.

JKX wrote: Sun 31 Aug, 2025 1:51 pm Here you go - in the vid I say I’m using no 8 crotchet cotton but it’s No 5.

Fantastic! Thank you.

I'm doing much of this already, but there are really good tips in there that will help me loads!

Appreciated!