The Framers Forum

As some of you know i've recently bought a framing business knowing very little about it and with limited training,I've just undertaken a framing course. One of the things i wanted to learn how to do properly was stretch a cross stitch as we get lots of little old ladies with their prized work. The company previously stapled and glued (not by me, i'd like to add!) i'd be interested to know which method everyone else uses and why they think thats best. Thanks

The preferred way to stretch most needlecraft is by latching i.e. cross threading the piece such as John Turner demonstrates well in another thread (forum thread, not sewing thread).

However, the most common way we stretch needlecraft is using stainless steel staples and Crescent Needle Board. This board is “acid free” and “chewy” so it takes staples well. Our stapler is a light duty one which is loaded with very fine staples, so the potential harm to the fabric is reduced, we believe. For antique, heirloom pieces, we recommend latching, however.

(Sorry, this will get a little tedious – these instructions were done several years ago for a presentation). If you have trouble sleeping tonight, this is the post to read.

This piece is crewel, but the same steps are used for cross-stitch. Cross stitch is a little easier than this HSH piece since the weave is easier to follow.

First we need to determine the frame size, whether this is to be fit into a ready-made or custom frame. We measure the “image” size of the piece and place a centering ruler in the middle. In this case the horizontal measurement was 16”, but the customer did not want a mat (mount), so we gave her as much “bank canvas” as we could.



We determined that we could effectively work with an 18-1/2” frame, so we placed the middle of the center rule on the piece and measured 9-1/4” to each horizontal side.



Place a pin at those points. Using the steps above, measure and pin the vertical points.



From each of this pins, follow the weave on the canvas to the corners.



… and place a basting stitch roughly near where the edge of the frame will be.





Follow the weave of the fabric from an adjacent pin to that point and place another basting stitch so that the previous thread is crossed. Do this for each of the four pins on each of the four corners.



This should leave you with the canvas centered among crossed threads at the corners.

Using these crossed threads as a guide, align the threads with the facing edge of the needle board.



… then staple one side of each of the corners. These initial staples are simply to keep the canvas centered while we work. They will be removed and replaced later.



Grab the canvas at two opposing pins, and gently put even tension on the canvas, so that there are no wrinkles. Do not put so much tension on the canvas so that the fabric is distorted!



Place a staple at these two anchor points. Do the same for the two adjacent sides.



Check your measurements!!! Make sure that there is equal amounts of blank canvas on each of the four sides as measured from outermost part of the image to the edge of the needleboard.

Once you’ve determined that the piece is centered, from the center of each side, put enough tension to the left of the first staple so that the weave of the canvas lines up with the weave in front of the initial staple. Drive another staple to the right in the same manner.

Flip the needle board 180° and do the same for this side. You always want to place tension nearly opposite from a staple from the other side.



Rotate the needle board 90° and continue as above.

Continue placing staples from the center outward towards the corners of the piece. Depending on the fabric and whether the customer has washed the sizing out of the fabric, we generally place each adjacent staple about 3/4” to 1” apart.

As you near the corners, the canvas is likely to become a little bunched up, so remove the initial four staples at the corners.

Continue with the run of staples to the end.



So you are left with a (hopefully) snug and centered needlecraft piece.



The only thing left to do is secure the excess fabric to the back. NEVER cut off the excess!!! Fold it towards the back.

We prefer “hospital corners”. We believe that there is less fabric bunched up at the corners that way so it will fit into the frame more easily.













The tape we use is a (supposedly) acid-free framers tape, although there is “fabric tape” available which we have not tried.

Flip this sucker over and it’s good to frame.



Ta-dah!

Thanks for the pictures, Bill. Nice of you to take the trouble.

we "lace" them, mostly. Which takes a bit of chargeable time, but means we can usually get them straight -ish.

sometimes we will put them onto stretcher bars.

sometimes we will pin them into the edge (sides) of thicker foam-core board, using stainless pins, which is also quick & simple. Thanks to the useful illustrations, we'll now also be incorporating "hospital" corners.

everyone has their preferred way of doing these things. My preferred way is to pretend i have not seen them and allow Tom the deep joy.....

As an aside, if a customer comes in with one which is pretty grubby, do you send them off home to wash it, or do you provide a "cleaning and pressing" service?

kev@frames wrote: we "lace" them, mostly. Which takes a bit of chargeable time, but means we can usually get them straight -ish.

sometimes we will put them onto stretcher bars.

sometimes we will pin them into the edge (sides) of thicker foam-core board, using stainless pins, which is also quick & simple. Thanks to the useful illustrations, we'll now also be incorporating "hospital" corners.

everyone has their preferred way of doing these things. My preferred way is to pretend i have not seen them and allow Tom the deep joy.....

As an aside, if a customer comes in with one which is pretty grubby, do you send them off home to wash it, or do you provide a "cleaning and pressing" service?

We prefer to use the staples. Admittedly it is potentially more destructive to the piece, but, for us, it goes much more quickly than latching (lacing, to you guys with the funny accents ) I can never seem to get the silly thing as straight as I want when I’m lacing.

The problem we’ve found with “T”-pins and foam board is that the foam board is too soft to hold the pins while we work. Once they’re in the frame, it is okay, but they always seem to worm their way out before we get to that point.

A “cleaning and pressing service”? Not by the hair of our chinny chin chins! We find it is a potential for real disaster. Not only would I not want to risk that the floss was not color fast, but I’m likely to tie up my sink while the grime is leaching out of it. And, all of the dry cleaners around here are only experts at button smashing. I wouldn’t trust or recommend them to clean anyone’s hanky let alone some poor soul’s needle work that they have struggled days over.

We sometimes direct them to a web site (which I can’t find) that details how to clean needle craft. That takes us off the hook.

Bill Henry wrote: We prefer to use the staples. Admittedly it is potentially more destructive to the piece, but, for us, it goes much more quickly than latching (lacing, to you guys with the funny accents ) I can never seem to get the silly thing as straight as I want when I’m lacing.

You have provided some very detailed instructions, Bill, but stapling needlework is, as you say, 'potentially destructive'. I would not want to do anything to someone's precious needlework that had any potential to damage it.

If you can't get things straight when lacing, you might need a different method of lacing. I lace needlework and have no trouble getting them straight, and as far as time is concerned, I would be very surprised if I took more than a few minutes longer to lace than you take with your stapling method. The laced one would have absolutely zero destructive potential.

I am not familiar with Crescent Needle Art Board and I wonder if it is a preservation quality board or just a buffered cardboard? The best substrate for lacing needlework is probably rag board or an alpha pulp board. I use Artcare foamboard for most needlework and for larger pieces, a sheet of four ply rag or alpha pulp board can be bonded to both sides of the Artcare foamboard.

Lacing is the best preservation method of mounting needlework by far!

osgood wrote:
…but stapling needlework is, as you say, 'potentially destructive'. I would not want to do anything to someone's precious needlework that had any potential to damage it.

If you can't get things straight when lacing, you might need a different method of lacing. I lace needlework and have no trouble getting them straight, and as far as time is concerned, I would be very surprised if I took more than a few minutes longer to lace than you take with your stapling method. The laced one would have absolutely zero destructive potential.

I am not familiar with Crescent Needle Art Board and I wonder if it is a preservation quality board or just a buffered cardboard? The best substrate for lacing needlework is probably rag board or an alpha pulp board. I use Artcare foamboard for most needlework and for larger pieces, a sheet of four ply rag or alpha pulp board can be bonded to both sides of the Artcare foamboard.

Lacing is the best preservation method of mounting needlework by far!

Again, no question that lacing is better method, but it does take me longer. Perhaps I do need another, better way to latch, but I’m stuck with the way I was taught.

The problem I’ve found with using four ply anything is it’s flexibility. Clearly, it is too thin to accept staples, but when I try to lace it, the board bows (sometimes significantly) when I put enough tension on the lacing to get rid of the wrinkles. That and the problem keeping the edges aligned and straight drives me up a wall.

The Crescent Needle Board is, indeed, buffered cardboard with a pH, I believe, around 7.3. It is about the thickness of 3/16” foam board and just about as rigid, but a lot more dense (too dense for pins). It takes light duty staples very well. The staples are easily removed with a strong thumbnail (if I just had any left.)

In my experience, lacing is not totally without its potential for damage. We have had several very old, dry, and brittle pieces that we laced, but because the fabric was so inflexible, we ended up distorting the weave slightly as we pulled the needle and thread through.

There ain’t nothin’ in this world that can’t be screwed up somehow.

Bill Henry wrote:In my experience, lacing is not totally without its potential for damage. We have had several very old, dry, and brittle pieces that we laced, but because the fabric was so inflexible, we ended up distorting the weave slightly as we pulled the needle and thread through.

Bill,
There ain’t nothin’ in this world that can’t be screwed up somehow.

Any method of mounting any type of artwork has the potential for damage if not done correctly. Even hinging paper art with Japanese paper and starch paste can cause damage if the paste is not allowed to dry sufficiently before the hinge is applied to the paper.

The same applies to lacing. The correct way to lace involves very little tension and the lacing thread needs to be weak enough so that it will break before the needlework tears. I use a slightly different method that has many advantages, one of which eliminates the weave distortion, even when considerable tension is applied to the lacing. The lacing thread I use is not easily broken, but the calico/muslin that it passes through will tear instead of the needlwork, if too much tension is applied.

To prevent too much bending of the backing, try Artcare foamboard as your backing and on larger pieces laminate a piece of 4 ply rag or Alphamat on each side of the foamboard.

Years ago I made a webpage of instructions for my method of lacing. It's a bit shabby, but it might help! After doing a few pieces this way, you will find it very fast, very easy, very profitable and will cause no damage.
http://www.ormondsframing.com/Lacing/lacing.html

I think lacing would be kind to your crewel, Bill!

kev@frames wrote: sometimes we will put them onto stretcher bars.

Then what?

As an aside, if a customer comes in with one which is pretty grubby, do you send them off home to wash it, or do you provide a "cleaning and pressing" service?

If they bought it here or we recognise it and know it is stitched in anchor or DMC threads, we''ll wash and press. The customer usually either won't return or will screw it up if they take it away to wash/press themselves - serial stitchers would have washed/pressed it already.

I'm happier about washing/pressing good needlework than I am about dry mounting bad prints!

osgood wrote: Years ago I made a webpage of instructions for my method of lacing. It's a bit shabby, but it might help! After doing a few pieces this way, you will find it very fast, very easy, very profitable and will cause no damage.
http://www.ormondsframing.com/Lacing/lacing.html

I followed the link. Thanks, Ormond, the explanation was clear and concise. Your method is pretty much what I do, except you do it a whole lot better than me. Like most things, I suppose if I laced more I'd get better at it. Thanks again.

Roboframer wrote:I think lacing would be kind to your crewel, Bill!

You should be ashamed of yourself, John.

Bill,
Do you sew extra fabric on the four sides of the piece?
This is what makes all the difference! A radical difference, in fact.

If you are getting distortion in the weave as you said in one of your posts, I guess you don't add the extra fabric. Try doing this and after doing a dozen or so, you will find it easy, fast and you will get a great result!

My preference is for adding fabric as well - I get the wife to machine stitch them on. It gives nice even support & tension.

What I do though is add enough fabric so that there is only a few inches gap round the back - it's easier to lace them when they are only 3" apart, rather than 10+" apart! Less thread, you see........

Steve,
If you check out my instructions, that is also one of the techniques I have included. It saves miles of thread and lots of time to pull those miles through!
I'm glad to know that you use the same method and undoubtedly have the same success with it.

I like the idea of sewing extensions to all needlework - that way you simply cannot (unless you try really hard) damage the fabric given to you to frame.

But we, although we sell needlework and have all the stitching fabrics you can think of - and then some more you can't - don't own a sewing machine; well, maybe there's one in the loft!

We've always had extensions sewn on where the customer has not left enough spare fabric, and we sub that out to one of two dressmakers who do stuff like this with their eyes shut, tried subbing all needlework out to have this done but it didn't work - too much chasing up. Maybe I'll sort a machine out and find out how to do it myself - no way could Pat do it all for me, far too much on her plate running the 'other side' - being a parish councillor, secretary of the village youth forum - etc!!

Anyone tried/read about Jim Miller's 'speed lacing' method?

You (basically) fire tags along the edges of the fabric and lace through those - not ('on paper') my cup of tea at all but I'd not knock it; I've not tried it; don't own a tag gun, well actually I own a lot, we sell them under quilting supplies.

What don't we sell!

I have some tag guns including two complete kits I bought from Attach-EZ in Vegas. There are some really interesting things in those kits! The Micro Tag gun is fantastic!

I haven't tried Jim's method, and probably won't try it either because the distortion of the weave would still be a big problem! The method I use eliminates that problem and I don't wish to visit it again.

Roboframer wrote:But we, although we sell needlework and have all the stitching fabrics you can think of - and then some more you can't - don't own a sewing machine; well, maybe there's one in the loft!

We're about to put up a good one on Ebay - comes with its own table/storage, it actually swivels and folds into the table when not in use. Fully working, if a tad old. I'll PM a pic or two sometime this weekend, see if you're interested.

osgood wrote:
I haven't tried Jim's method, and probably won't try it either because the distortion of the weave would still be a big problem!

Agreed! The other problem I see, apart from the tags being waaaaaaaay stronger than most any fabric, (a reason I won't staple - ever) is that when taking the tension - i.e. - actually stretching on the 'way back' you have to do it in one hit.

If you use a thread that fits snugly through the fabric, or the holes in the fabric, you can walk away from it half stretched and it won't have relaxed, you can pretty much pick up where you left off, with a loose fitting thread you'd have to start over.

Spit wrote: We're about to put up a good one on Ebay - comes with its own table/storage, it actually swivels and folds into the table when not in use. Fully working, if a tad old. I'll PM a pic or two sometime this weekend, see if you're interested.

Don't bother Steve, you just reminded me ......

We have two loos (Lautrec!) in the shop; seeing as we only really need one, Pat saw the other as potential storage (read 'junk') space. Somewhere, buried under a tangle of old card spinners that will definitely never be used again, is her mother's sewing machine, which fits your description.

She was willing to give it to a good home; that's why it got brought to the shop in the 1st place, but that all fell apart, and, because it has 'sentimental value' she can't throw it out; every time the subject is brought up, plus many others regarding 'junk' I get closer to packing a suitcase.

Anyone want a (free) sewing machine as described by Steve above?

PLEASE

Small print ... OK maybe I could use one, but it would have to be a small one, not one with a table and stuff!

This one's an electric 60's singer, the fact that it's still on all four legs and working well is testimony to its quality! I doubt if current equivalents would wear as well. It's not a huge item, the built in table/storage is just 10/12" wider /longer than a normal machine.

The only reason Babs has stopped using it is because she wanted something portable for the local sewing club.