Framing with silk

1. Upper piece
2. Border
3. Spacer
4. Side pieces
5. Lower piece


1. Spacer.   Spacers are paper strips that join silk and artwork together. Support a colored rice paper and cut it into strips 3/8 inch wide. With the artwork facing down, apply thick paste to 1/16 inch of its edge and stick a spacer on the edge. Place a clean strip of absorbent rice paper over and press with fingertip to ensure a good bond. Weigh it down with a cutting board to produce a flat surface. Start from side first if it is a vertical scroll.
   
   
   
   
2. Silk.   The proportion of upper and lower pieces should be 6 : 4. Cut the supported silk, allowing it large enough to extend one inch beyond actual size. Be sure to arrange the patterns of the silk in the same direction.
   
   
3. Side pieces.   Trim the spacers by a pair of scissors. With the artwork facing up, apply paste to a vertical spacer and stick a side piece on it, leaving 1/16 inch space between the artwork and the silk. Press the joint with fingertip to ensure a good bond and weigh it down till it is dry. Before moving onto upper and lower pieces, trim the ends even.
   
   
   
   
4. Upper and lower pieces.   As same as above.
   
   
5. Trimming.   With the artwork facing up, trim one side even. Fold the work and make a needle mart at the opposite side.
   
   
   
   Align the top and the bottom, make a needle mark on the top through the hole just made. Trim the ends even according to the marks. Check the squareness by folding it vertically and horizontally.
   
   
6. Border.   Cut a single ply paper into 1/4 inch strips. With the artwork facing up, apply thick paste to the edge of silk and stick 1/8 inch of a border on the edge. Wait till it is dry. Apply semi-thin paste to the border and fold it back. Trim the ends even.