“The Woman In Gold” Beaded Embroidery

 I recently finished my first attempt at beaded embroidery.  The piece was Gustav Klimt’s “The Woman in Gold.”  The embroidery kit consisted of a piece of fabric with the image on it, white thread with a needle  and literally thousands of seed beads to correspond with the various colors within the image.

After months of careful placement, my needlework was finished.  Now I needed to decide how to display the piece.  I knew I wanted the luster and shine of the beads to be evident so decided against a frame with glass.  I knew the weight of so many beads would certainly cause gravity to take over.  My cousin suggested attaching ribbon loops at the top and weaving the loops into a rod.  After much deliberation I decided a plain black frame with a sizable mat would work best for my needs.  The viewer would be drawn into the smaller artwork.

I am wanting to share with you the finishing process and also to commend Hobby Lobby for all their assistance in guiding me with necessary products to achieve the end result.

Foam board was cut the size of the image and straight pins secured the fabric in place.  This allowed for making certain the edges were even all around.

Measuring carefully the foam board was positioned onto the inverted matting.  Once that was done and I was certain the measurements were accurate, I taped several times.  It was important to keep “The Woman In Gold” centered.

I purchased this foam tape to provide space between the matting and the backing of the frame.  It provided more stability and less bending of the backing.