Casket/Mirror Finishing Materials

This is a finishing kit for the flat with doors casket as a convenience for those who haven't purchased any finishing materials.

Installment payments (includes shipping):

9 months Gilt Flat/Doors Casket Finishing Kit ($92.18/month)- USA

9 months Silver Flat/Doors Casket Finishing Kit ($92.18/month) - USA

9 months Gilt Flat/Doors Casket Finishing Kit ($94.63/month) - Canada

9 months Silver Flat/Doors Casket Finishing Kit ($94.63/month) -Canada

9 months Gilt Flat/Doors Casket Finishing Kit ($96.93/month) - Rest of World

9 months Silver Flat/Doors Casket Finishing Kit ($96.93/month) - Rest of World

Kit includes: 

9 cream papers

15 cream with gold or silver edging papers

4 meters interior gold or silver edging tape

9 meters gold or silver woven tape

3 wheat paste

1/2 yard cream silk ribbon

2 blued tacks  (3/8" size, for carpets and in every hardware store)

What is NOT included:

mirror

1 marbled paper - your choice, I can give you sources

lining silk/velvet (these are still available in a choice of colors)

brush, reemay, micro spatula and plastic card

hardware (it is included in your casket)

casket feet (turned feet were included in your casket.  Gilded ones are here as supplies last)

Note:  These materials can be individual bought on the site if you already have some of them.  If you were planning for purple papers, please contact me as there are a limited number of purple papers and I need to have the edging papers made to order as I am discontinuing both.

This is a finishing kit for the flat casket as a convenience for those who haven't purchased any finishing materials.

Installment payments (includes shipping):

9 months Gilt Flat Casket Finishing Kit ($57.18/month) - USA

9 months Silver Flat Casket Finishing Kit ($57.18/month) - USA

9 months Gilt Flat Casket Finishing Kit ($59.63/month) - Canada

9 months Silver Flat Casket Finishing Kit ($59.63/month) - Canada

9 months Gilt Flat Casket Finishing Kit ($61.93/month) - Rest of World

9 months Silver Flat Casket Finishing Kit ($61.93/month) - Rest of World

Kit includes: 

6 cream papers

6 cream with gold or silver edging papers

1 meters interior gold or silver edging tape

8 meters gold or silver woven tape

3 wheat paste

1/2 yard cream silk ribbon

2 blued tacks  (3/8" size, for carpets and in every hardware store)

What is NOT included:

mirror

1 marbled paper - your choice, I can give you resources

lining silk/velvet (these are still available in a choice of colors)

brush, reemay, micro spatula and plastic card

hardware (it is included in your casket)

casket feet (turned feet were included in your casket. 

Note:  These materials can be individual bought on the site if you already have some of them.  If you were planning for purple papers, please contact me as there are a limited number of purple papers and I need to have the edging papers made to order as I am discontinuing both.

If you want installment payments:

12-months - $91.88/month USA (includes shipping)

12-months $93.71/month Canada (includes shipping)

12-months $95.38/month Rest of World (includes shipping)

This is a finishing kit for a mirror with doors.  The back is burgundy velvet, the hardware is brass and the edging papers/woven tape is gold.  

Does not include:  Microspatula, brush, plastic card and 1/2 yard reemay.  These are reusable tools you might have from other casket finishing.  1 piece marbled paper - your choice, I can give resources

The written (with photos) instructions for finishing are found in the Cabinet of Curiosities - Stumpwork course or included as a download when purchasing a mirror frame.

The finishing kit includes:

1/2 yd burgundy silk velvet

6 small lid hinges in brass

4 Edging papers in cream with gold

3 Cream paper

1 Wheat paste

2 Drawer Pulls

8 meters gold Woven Tape (will be send in second pkg)

1 meter gold interior casket tape

1 yard silk ribbon in red

1 Piece pink silk for doors

Two real metal woven tapes have been made in France for our caskets; a sterling silver tape replicating the original edgings for caskets as well as a gilt version. The sterling silver metal threads made for these tapes were made by wrapping cream silk at a 50% wrap coverage, like the originals. The silk was used to give a better hand to allow the tape to go over corners. The tape will tarnish over time and achieve a similar look to the originals, the gilt version will also darken with age. 

The width is 6.5 mm to match the originals.

A double casket requires approximately 14 meters

A flat top with doors casket needs approximately 9 meters.

A flat top casket needs approximately 9 meters

A short flat top casket needs approximately 7 meters

The tapes are sold by the meter and are cut to order in as long of continuous pieces as possible.  

There is a limited supply of these custom materials and they are reserved for students of Thistle Threads.

Purple papers are being discontinued.  If you need, please email to order while supplies of purple paper last

The same lining papers are being used to make the stamped edge strips. These strips can be used in their entirety for thick edges or cut in half to use on thin edges, effectively doubling the edge length covered by a strip. I am stocking purple and cream with either silver or gold stamping. Many students will want to pair the color of the stamping with the woven trim and hardware color. 

Like the originals, the stampings sometimes have edges that are doubled or faintly stamped. These artifacts on the originals are a result of the thin nature of the media being stamped. My bookbinder takes almost 20 minutes to cut and stamp each strip to reduce artifacts that are natural to the process on paper. Excessive wiping of the edge when moist can rub some of the stamping off, so be careful that your fingers are dry when doing this step. 

Each strip has a useable stamped length of 73 cm (146 cm if halved). It will take 6 strips to cover the edges of a Flat Casket.  I was exuberant in the edgings on my double casket and used 17 strips.  You can get away with less if needed.

There is a limited supply of these custom materials and they are reserved for students of Thistle Threads.

I am providing handmade wove and laid papers by MacGregor Papers that are matches to those used historically on embroidered caskets. These papers were used to cover the majority of the surfaces of the casket before silk linings, velvet linings and embroidery were attached. The papers are archival and this line is used by paper conservators to repair museum objects. Extremely strong and flexible when wet, they provide the easiest way to cover the boxes. 

The purple paper was the most often found lining the caskets and paired with pink silks. In its freshest incarnation, it is a deep purple with a tinge of red. As it ages, the paper becomes a dingy very lightly purple-greyish cream; going through a state where the red pink is more prominent as the oxidation progresses. I have chosen to make a purple to replicate so it is close to the original color of the pieces.   *If you need purple to finish something - contact me for limited supply

An alternative cream paper is also a choice. This is a good choice for the backing of your embroidery itself and for the surfaces that will accept embroidery. You can also use it to line the casket if the cream will look better with your choice of lining silks and velvets. 

The cream and purple paper is laid and is 21" x 25.75".  They are all Dark Holbart paper which is used in museum restoration of books and other paper-based artifacts.

The number of papers required to cover your casket is somewhat dependent on the colors you use where as well as the two techniques used to cover drawers which results in a different cutting pattern. 2-3 cream papers will cover the outside of either the flat or double casket. Two papers should suffice for the inside of the flat casket. The double casket will require approximately 3-4 sheets.  Additional sheets will be needed to back the embroideries before gluing the cut embroideries to the casket.  1 piece is needed per mirror and 1-2 per casket in cream, depending on how you have laid out the casket pieces on frames.

There is a limited supply of these custom materials and they are reserved for students of Thistle Threads.

This is a convenience bundle for those with a Fancy Mirror

Installment payments:

9 months Fancy Mirror Finishing ($99.12/month) - USA

9 months Fancy Mirror Finishing ($101.58/month) - Canada

9 months Fancy Mirror Finishing ($103.87/month) - Rest of World

Includes:

4 Cream paper

2 Gilt on cream edging papers

2 wheat paste 

1/2 yard burgandy velvet

14 meters gilt woven tape

18" silk ribbon 

2 blued tacks

What is not included:

Mirror and Hardware - they were included with mirror.

1 marbled paper - your choice, I can give you resources

Reemay, micro spatula, brush and plastic card

This is a set of tools needed when finishing your casket and may only be needed once.  They are included in the Harmony Finishing kit but NOT in the rest of the casket or mirror finishing kits.  Reemay fabric is a smooth bonded fabric that is used between your embroidery and towels used to cushion them while gluing.  The smooth reemay keeps your embroidery from catching and pulling in the loops of toweling.  

1/2 yard or reusable reemay fabric 

1 brush for wheat paste

1 microspatula

1 plastic card for smoothing paper

The conservation glue that is used to adhere paper and textiles to the wood carcass is wheat paste. I have had this bookbinding paste buffered with calcium carbonate (10:1) to a neutral pH to protect the metal threads. The starch has been pre-cooked so you only need to add four parts cold water to one part powder. The paste is mixed until smooth and then sieved to take out lumps. It can be kept in the refrigerator for several days. The paste is brushed or tapped onto the wood, paper, and fabric with bookbinding brushes. One packet is enough for a mirror frame.  About 3-5 will be needed for a casket.

New - Antique Silver Woven Faux Tape

A straight woven tape (3/16" wide) is now available in both antique gold and silver for use on the edges of caskets. If using the woven faux tape, use two widths to edge a casket to give the right proportions. The faux tapes are sold in per yard.

The picture compares the Antique Silver and Antique Gold Woven Faux Tape to the real gold woven tape woven to match the edges for 17th century caskets.  Two widths of the faux tape give the right proportions.  

This woven tape is slightly different than the tape I usually make.  What happened was a mistake by the weaver in the number of wefts that passed over the silver plate in the center, and was not caught until 800 meters of 1000 meters was made.  While it was not what I ordered, I was able to negotiate a significantly reduced price for it and then offered it to people on a wait list for silver tape at this reduced price if they wanted it. 

In the picture below, the tape is the one on top, with the correct weave at the bottom where you can see less wefts over the silver plate.  It is a lovely tape no matter what, and I am happy to have saved many students money on finishing their caskets by offering them the tape if interested.  Once this is gone, of course, it is gone.  I am awaiting a re-weaving of the silver tape at the moment.

While I was in France last year, I visited a gold thread weaver and was able to procure a few reels of really lovely gilt ribbon to use for edging caskets.  They are shown against the reproduction gilt woven tape for comparison.  

One is bright gold with a lovely textured stripe and the second is a mix of an aqua silk that matches our blues and gilt in a grape pattern.  I have seen this particular tape used as a later conservation-added edge for caskets.