Usually, when I take a piece of embroidery in to be framed, I eagerly anticipate the outcome, generally confident that I’m going to like the end results. For the past ten years, I’ve worked with an excellent framer, whose advice and ideas I’ve come to trust thoroughly.
I didn’t feel too confident when I took the Mission Rose in to be framed. I came home thinking I had made the wrong decision on the frame. And, sad to say, my regular framer moved on to greener pastures…and his replacement seemed a little green.
After dropping the Mission Rose off, I spent a few days second-guessing, and then I put the whole thing out of my mind. I didn’t even think about it again until the phone call came, saying it was ready. And even then, I waited a few days before going to pick it up – which pretty much says everything!
Well, I went with a typical smooth, plain black frame, specked with gold. Maybe on a darker wall, it’ll look better? The frame strikes me as too heavy. But for a narrow piece like this, there weren’t many choices. Should I have matted it after all, and made the whole framed piece larger? I’m not sure.
I couldn’t quite get a shot without some glass glare on it, which is what you can see in the lower half of the photo. I always opt for museum glass on framed goldwork.
But worse than the glass glare – do you see the slight ripple in the fabric, just below the base of the lower edge? And the wrinkle on the right lower corner? This distresses me, because the piece was flat and stiff as a board when I took it in, with no puckering, no wrinkles. I can’t decide if this is a result of the framing, or a result of the density of the embroidery.
I suppose most folks, at a glance (who aren’t familiar with embroidery), wouldn’t necessarily notice the ripples – but they glare at me. I cringe when I see ripples or puckering in finished embroidery.
The other distressing point – before I took the piece in, I made sure that nothing was askew in the piece, that the piece was dust free and absolutely ready for the framer. When I picked it up, I noticed that the piece had been handled in a way that a good professional framer would have avoided. There were bends in the gold where there hadn’t been bends before, some of the beads were skewed, and there was a noticeable speck of something inside the frame on the fabric.
I may have to begin the hunt for a new framer.
Overall, I’m “ok” with it. But I’m not thrilled silly with it.
Is it the black frame? Does it belong on a dark wall? Will I always notice the ripples?
Perhaps tomorrow it will look better…
Have you ever had a disappointing experience with a framer? How did you deal with it? What do you think about the framed Mission Rose? I’m open to your input! Have your say below!
The Mission Rose Project unfolded step-by-step here on Needle ‘n Thread in 2013. You can find all the articles relating to the project in the Mission Rose project index.
