any ideas on how to display felted work?

[willymae]

I am somewhat new to wet and needle felting. I am felting semi-large works that I want to keep them organic looking while displaying them like a painting. I've framed some of my work but I think that the work would look better without a frame.  Also my work is not very thick when it is finished. Would the fiber felt onto duck cloth that then could be stretched onto a frame? 

[Pandagirl]

This is very nice. I also love the more organic look. I'm not an expert, but I have felted some muslin and you get an entirely different texture and it is very physically intensive to do. I doubt you'd get this look in the end. I have felted an 18 x 24 wall hanging and hand sewed a casing at the top and put a dowel thru it with wire to put on a nail. I like to be able to see the back so I didn't want to stabilize it with a backing. Depending on the humidity sometimes the ends curl, but I like the look. I'm sure other more experienced felters on the forum will have some other suggestions.

[MTRuth]

I think the best "framing" for this kind of piece is to paint a canvas frame that fits behind it a solid color or something that blends with the piece. Then you can stitch the felt to the frame by putting small holes through the canvas and using heavy thread such as button or craft thread to stitch through the holes. You'll need two holes at each corner at the very least and may need more to prevent sagging of bigger pieces. You run needle and thread through one hole, catch the back of the felt piece (shouldn't show through to the front) and then back through the other hole. Tie a knot and tape to the back of the canvas. Do the same for all four corners and in middle sections if needed depending on weight and size of the piece. Then the canvas can be framed or left as a painted canvas whichever you prefer.

You can stretch your own canvases or buy them pre-stretched. Hope that helps.

[willymae]

Thanks both for the suggestions..this helps. I wondered if muslin would felt. Did the muslin pucker thru the felt? Well I do like to experiment so off to the store I go.

[MTRuth]

Any material you use in nuno felting will pucker because the wool shrinks and the fabric doesn't. It depends on the fabric what effect you will get.

[jufergu]

I sew all my fiber art to 1 1/2 inch gallery wrapped canvas's now. I buy the canvas about 3 inches larger than my finished work and paint it black. I center my piece and use a beading thread to sew it on. I usually do it in one stitch tacking. I tie it off on the back and they put a drop of glue onto the knot. I put screw eyes and wire on the back of the canvas bars and it hangs like a picture on a wall. I display with painters all the time. It works great. You can see it on my blog. I need no frame.

[zed]

Muslin felts well, and doesn't pucker much if there is a good amount of wool

[Shepherdess]

I have put muslin in the middle of a larger felt picture and worked well.  Sandwiched between the layers. There was a good amount of wool on both sides of the fabric. if it puckers some inside it doesn't seem to effect the final picture.

[paintergirl]

I've been sticking mine to PH neutral mount board with a PH neutral double sided tape and getting them framed in a deep frame with a wooden slip between the picture and the glass. It took me and my framer a while to decide how best to do it, but they look lovely when framed up. The raggedy edges get preserved and the fabric is kept safe from dust and dirty fingers

Admittedly my paintings are small - maximum so far has been about A4 size - so they aren't too, too dear to frame (I have a good deal with my framer because of all the business I put his way!)

You can buy box frames off the internet if you wanted to do it yourself. The glass sits in a recess.

[paintergirl]

This is not a good photo, but this shows a couple of my early felting paintings framed up:

[MTRuth]

That's a nice way to frame them. I do like keeping the edges so they show.

[paintergirl]

Yes, me too

[zed]

Do you get the frames made yourself? I'm always on the lookout for deep frames for felt, but they always seem to have the depth behind, rather than a space between where the felt (or photo) would be and the glass.
They look really good like that

[paintergirl]

I took them to a framer and he made them up to my specification (after an hour of me choosing - my framer really loves me!) We experimented a bit because he hadn't framed felt before (fabrics, yes, but not anything as fluffy as felt) between using mount board as a prop for the glass or purpose made wooden slip (in either gold or silver). I prefer the slip method to be honest, although it's a bit dearer to do.

At the moment my framing costs me around £30 per picture, which is by far my biggest expense If I could do it myself I would, but I don't have the equipment, space, time or money to invest. I just pass the framing costs on and have only framed what's sold. However, come next April I will have to get everything I have framed and for that I'll be looking at several hundred pounds (which I don't have!)

There are box frames on ebay, which look OK, but then you are making things to fit a frame.

[zed]

That actually sounds quite reasonable for a well made frame, though it is a big added cost, I agree. But good to know he can do it, and you have the option of selling without frames but being able to recommend someone if you're asked.