Mounting a Tapestry on a Wood Frame
by Sonni Wendt
The following comments apply to the mounting of the tapestry "Coal Combustion," exhibited in ATB-I. Initially I mounted the tapestry in the usual way, on a strip of wood with Velcro©, etc. I found that the wood strip, including the tapestry, was bending away from the wall, creating waves in the tapestry. I had visited Susan Maffei in her studio in New York and liked the way she had mounted her tapestries. So I came up with the following construction, for a tapestry that is 36" high and 60" wide.
I did not want the frame to show because I planned to wrap the tapestry around it. Therefore, I made the frame 4" narrower, ending up with a frame 36" high and 56" wide. The frame is made of 1" x 1 1/2" pine and has a center support bar. It is screwed together and further stabilized by metal corner braces on the inside corners. I finished the wood with a clear polyurethane finish. After the frame was constructed, I stretched an acid free, washed cloth around it and stapled it to the inside of the frame, similar to making a canvas stretcher for a painting. The cloth was 42" x 62" in size, allowing 3" on each side. I then took the finished tapestry, wrapped it around the sides and stitched it to the cloth on the back of the frame. Then I stitched the selvedges loosely to the top and bottom edge of the frame. The hooks for hanging can be attached to the top of the frame.
|
