Fabric Wall Hangings

"Embroideries, tapestries, carpets and hangings provide an attractive decorative focus to your walls."

Add Visual Interest To The Walls

From the sophisticated indian silk to the bold woven or embroidered European tapestries and the modern hand-painted canvases, fabric wall hangings represent one of the ways to display beautiful wall decor.
There are endless materials and ways to create a "one-of-a-kind" fabric wall hanging in all shapes and sizes.

What is Their History?

In past times, Ottoman dynasties commissioned the weaving of fine linen , cotton, silk and wool tapestries and embroideries to enrich the walls of their palaces.

On walls of larger houses in France and Spain were hung fine tapestries-with more functions; decorative and practical - they helped to insulate rooms against cold.

Scale of Fabric Wall Hangings - The scale of wall hangings in relation to the size of the wall is very important:

A fabric may be used to cover the whole wall area, the wall itself becoming the "accent" wall.

If the wall is big, to soften its impact on the room, a long fabric can be hung landscape, at eye level; or alternatively can be hung portrait style, dividing the area vertically. The ideal location for this situation? A deep stairwell, or turret.

While a series of rectangular fabric hangings hung in prtrait format will alter the ceiling height, a series of narrow tapestries, hung landscape, will lengthen the look of the room.

Fabric Wall hangings - Are They Durable? - Fabric hangings are expected to be durable, and if they are well looked after, should last a very long time. However there are good and bad locations to hang them up.

Hung them above reach and far away from animals and humans: a study room, or bedroom.Suspended above a mantel or behind a piece of furniture like a bed they provide an attractive decorative focus.

Don't hang a valuable tapestry in kitchen - constant variation in heat, humidity and air quality will damage them

Don't hang a valuable possession in the bathroom either; because of the condensation, and damp conditions your fabric will rot.

If the wall hanging is made of wool, don't hang it in full sunlight or over a radiator.

Don't hang them in a narrow hallway, where passers-by can brush repeatedly or catch against the hanging.

Hanging Methods When hanging textiles, you should consider the structure of the wall: the heavier the fabric, the longer the bolts or screws mounted on the wall.
The hanging method should ensure the textile does not permanently sag, crease or tear with its own weight.

Carpet Gripper - available in various lengths, it can be bought in shops that sell wall carpets. It's made of wooden beading, covered on one face with the heads of small diameter pins. suitable for rugs, carpets, and heavy tapestries.

Framing - Stretch the fabric over a frame. The larger or heavier is the piece, the bigger the wooden stretcher. Staple in back to hold firm.

Velcro - method is the same as carper gripper techniques, but instead of using a loop of fabric, attach Velcro to the back of your hanging material. Add the "hooks" to a wooden strip mounted on the wall, and then hang your fabric.
Suitable for lightweight textiles, this is a flexible hanging method well suited to the repeated removal and replacement of textiles.

Rod and Sleeve - sew a cotton sleeve to the back of the fabric, slightly below the hanging edge and half of inch shorter. Slide a metal or wooden pole inside the sleeve and hang the ends of the pole on wall-mounted or ceiling-mounted brackets.
Suitable for fabrics whose weave is not too loose or too fine. A variation of this method is tab-hanging technique, where sleeved cotton tabs are sewn at intervals to the hanging edge of the fabric or backing, and the rod is passed through them.

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