Monday 19 November 2012

Some Ideas, Please...?

I have been a busy bunny lately. I decided that the under-stair cupboard (read: dumping ground) needed a clear-out, and so I set myself the task of sorting and binning, sweeping and cleaning the whole space. Three times I banged my head backing out of the doorway of the space - concrete lintels hurt! Anyway, I managed to sort through the bags of bags (seriously!), old video recorders and Sky boxes, smelly wellies and muddy boots and have made a useable space for ironing board, vaccuum cleaner and bags-for-life. The only problem was that I knew the sideboard in the dining room needed sorting out too - it had loads of 'stuff' inside that could be stored in the newly-spacious under-stair cupboard... so I did that. I won't be making any Christmas cards this year - I found EIGHT packs shoved in the back of a drawer or two, as well as a big box of loose cards. I have the sneaking suspicion that I may be a bit of a hoarder :) So... everything tidy (-ish) and with a pile of stuff to get rid of on Ebay, I find a little rag at the back of one of the side-cupboards in the sideboard. I was so tired of tidying, that I almost just threw it in the bin, before my mind jolted and I remembered what it was... A small piece of practice embroidery my nan had done.
I want to hang it in my dining room - the colours would be perfect. The actual needlework picture is about 9"x5.25", with plenty of space around it as you can see. The background colour is more of a sort of oatmeal colour than it shows here... but that's besides the point.
So... I was wondering about the best way to hang this.
A photo frame? But then, do I stretch the picture over some sort of stiff backing - because I really don't want to cut it to size...? Or should I stretch it over a canvas frame and staple it in place? Would I need to glue the whole thing down - though I'm loathe to do that too, as I don't want to harm or damage the piece of work.
I did think of sewing a rod into a channel at the top and bottom of the piece, and hanging it that way.... but not too sure, as I want it to look more like art than just a wall hanging. Maybe a shadow box... but how would that work, I'm wondering?

So, any ideas... anyone?
Any photographs you have of similar projects you could point me to would be fantastic!

2 comments:

Di said...

Hi honey! I'm no expert with something as precious - you could just press carefully and then frame it just as it is, with a darker background in a bigger frame than the piece. I mean, literally without sticking, stretching or trimming. It would retain the effect of being a 'test piece' and have character - and no danger of damage.

What a precious find too!!

So pleased you're blogging again :)) Hugs, Di xx

misteejay said...

What a super find.

I agree with Di, I don't think you want to muck around with it too much as it really is precious. Either mount as Di suggests or still going for a bigger frame to accommodate the fabric you could place a piece of toning mount board over the work as an inner frame taking it closer to the edge of the actual embroidery.

Toni xx