Toni Kiser, registrar at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans, gave me some additional tips for mounting this project in an archival manner. She said they would be delighted to have the piece donated to them when I no longer want to display it. They often receive beautifully mounted items but have to tear up the framing because they can't tell if it is archivally safe by just looking. I told her I was planning to blog the process, and she said that would be great. A copy of the blog information with the piece would mean they wouldn't have to take it apart.
The backing materials need to be 100% cotton. One of the textile conservators told me that although one might think of linen as backing, it tends to absorb moisture more readily than cotton. In humid New Orleans, this is an issue.
I bought 100% cotton unbleached muslin at Hancock Fabrics in New Orleans to stretch over a wooden frame for backing. On top of the muslin will go a layer of Quilters Dream Cotton 100% pure cotton batting purchased at D&T Quilt Shop in Sedalia, Missouri. It contains no scrim, glue, or binders. It is a nice, thin loft. A piece of batting will cover the entire frame. In the center there will be a second layer the size of the silk part of the piece. When the piece is stitched it will be slightly raised and gently stretched to pull out some of the slight wrinkles.
A piece of cloth will be stretched over the batting to act as a background for the piece. I auditioned several colors and settled on Moda Bella's 100% cotton broadcloth in a lovely Hyacinth purchased from fabric.com. It complements the peachy color of the silk, pulls out the intense purple of the flowers, and makes a nice contrast to the lace.
To hold it all together, I'll use 100% glazed cotton quilting thread by YLI. (Hmmm. The YLI website says GLAZED is a process in which cotton threads are treated with starches and special chemicals under controlled heat and then polished to a high luster. The glazed process results in a thread with a hard finish that protects the thread from abrasion and enhances ply security. I may need to rethink this.)
[Update: I did a little more research and discovered that glazed thread is simple mercerized (or perle) cotton that has had a finish added. The mercerized cotton is treated with chemicals that are then rinsed out, leaving no residue, just 100% cotton. As it happened, there was a quilt show in town with several vendors, so I hied on over and found some 100% mercerized cotton by Sulky. It is ecru, closer to the lace color than stark white would be. The description is "a premium quality, strong, long staple, 12-weight, highly mercerized Egyptian Cotton thread with a matte finish that creates a soft and warm look and feel." This will work.]
I bought four 30" canvas stretchers at Michael's in New Orleans. They will form a sturdy mounting frame to work on. The wood will be sealed with a couple of coats of acrylic gesso from Dick Blick so the natural acids in the wood will not compromise the cloth.
A shadow box frame with anti-ultraviolet, non glare glass will complete the unit.
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