Hanging a Tapestry

October 31, 2004 8:27 AM

I have an 8-foor-square tapestry. Unfortunately, it has no loops or hooks so I have no idea how to hang it from the wall. Any suggestions? (more inside)

My sister bought me this giant hand-dyed tapestry from the Renaissance Faire. There's no loops or foldovers for a hanging rod- it's just a big-ass piece of cloth. I don't want to put nails directly into it or sew it to anything. My ghetto-cheap idea right now it to clip it with binder clips, then hang the clips holding the tapestry from the wall with nails.

I'm willing to make the 1.5-mile walk to my nearest Target, but only if I know there's something I can buy that might not look as drom-room-cheap as my idea. I think what I need, essentially, is the home-decor equivalent of a giant clip to hold the tapestry and then hang from a nail. Does anything like this exist?

posted by XQUZYPHYR to home & garden (7 answers total)

what i do is put a series of screws in the wall, every 6 inches or so, in a horizontal line, then, using a fairly strong thread, sew a very long running stitch along the top that hangs over the screws.

ascii art:

o     o     o     o
 \   / \   / \   /
  +-------------+

everything is exposed, including the screw heads, so it looks a bit "industrial" (which i like). how straight things hang depends on how closely you space the screws, how tight the thread is, and how stiff the material is.

also, spray it (perhaps the back?) with something to keep moths away. we've had a favourite tapestry eaten :o(
posted by andrew cooke at 8:38 AM on October 31, 2004

You have a couple of different options here.

There are binder-clip-like items made especially for hanging textiles. They're a little nicer looking than actual binder clips but not much different.

There are little wooden quilt hangers that are kind of like clothespins. They're usually unfinished so you can paint or stain them to suit your needs.

There are these, which I love. And these, which work in a similar way.

The last two, the compression-type hangers, are probably your best bet for really making sure that your tapestry is not going to be damaged, and that it will hang nicely.
posted by padraigin at 8:45 AM on October 31, 2004

You can get nice-looking rings with clips on them, similar to a binder clip, that are made for hanging drapes. Here are some from Pottery Barn, but I would be shocked if Target didn't have them as well (I checked online, but that doesn't mean they're not carried in stores.) Here are others from Linins 'n Things (by Umbra). Bed Bath & Beyond has entire matching sets for this sort of thing. The keywords seem to be "ring clips" - add "drapery" if you're on google. Then you get a nice drapery rod, thread the rings through it, attach the finials (the little knobs on the ends of the rod to prevent the rings from falling off) and presto! [On preview, there are other nice options mentioned above as well. These are just what I've used without damaging textiles in the past.]
posted by fionab at 8:50 AM on October 31, 2004

Linens 'n Things. Jeesh - the apostrophe-n is bad enough without poor spelling!
posted by fionab at 8:57 AM on October 31, 2004

I hung a tapestry with binder clips and fancy string, and tied a little decorative ribbon around each clip, which hides their cheapness.
posted by icetaco at 9:08 AM on October 31, 2004

Maybe you have a rug.
posted by sageleaf at 9:44 AM on October 31, 2004

the clips are best, but i did a fake compression thing for a piece of unscretched canvas that might work---i got 2 pieces of 1x2 about 2 inches longer than the canvas (painted them black), and taped up the canvas, then i tightly screwed in the 1x2 on top at the far edges (basically clamping the wood to the wall, not touching the canvas, but holding it in place), and did the same thing at the bottom, then removed the tape. I left 1/2 inch of canvas above and below. If the tapestry is very heavy this may not work. It looked good tho.
posted by amberglow at 10:08 AM on October 31, 2004