After a long year and a solitary winter, we find renewal in cleaning and refreshing many beautiful heirloom linens and dresses. Harbingers of happy days…fresh, clean textile treasures. Take a peek at some of our Spring Cleaning projects below! 1840’s Day Dress 18th c Quaker Cap 1820’s Day Dress Click, hold, and drag the center […]
Every Eye Is Upon Me: First Ladies of the United States
National Portrait Gallery, Washington DC presents a major exhibition It’s all about women, in particular the First Ladies! The new exhibition, curated by Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw, is the largest assembly of First Ladies portraits outside of the White House. The title comes from an 1844 letter written by Julia Gardiner Tyler to her mother after […]
Grab some giggle water…
These dresses and outfits from “Ain’t Misbehavin’” are the bees knees! By Kaitlyn Munro I am sure many of you dear readers are either stuck at home or traveling very little these days. Feeling antsy and itching for a change of scenery, we flew the coop and headed down to Richmond, VA for the day […]
Ladies, Mothers, Daughters: Let’s go Vote!
A First Woman Voter: Legare O’Bear by Julia M Brennan One of my most favorite jobs as a textile conservator is surveying massive collections. The work is slow and meticulous, and I never know what I’ll find. So, today, I want to share this story that reveals how a textile led me to a remarkable […]
Black Textile Artists Matter
by Kaitlyn Munro Our World is suffering, and each of us suffers along with it. This post is our way of honoring Black Lives Matter and everyone’s involvement in the fight for justice in this country. We encourage you to follow the links for each artist to learn more about them and explore their work. […]
A Beautiful Bounty of Birds
The fine feathers and detailed hues that characterize our feathered friends lend themselves to replication with needles and colorful threads. Whether free form machine embroidery, hand stitching, or tufted or painted ….the avian world has been depicted in textiles for centuries. Skilled textile artists capture birds in action in the natural world, swooping in to […]
A Solitary Spring
Textile conservation is a solitary profession, characterized by hours of concentration, patience, eye-hand coordination, good light, keen eyes, and particular tools……it is in many ways…inherently, socially distancing. Much of the handwork to repair damaged textiles requires many hours of fine stitching, navigating the creases and crinkles, lines and contours, valleys and vales, clusters and constellations […]
With thy needle and thread
By Kaitlyn Munro In my recent dive into historical sewing instruction manuals, I was emotionally struck by a passage in The Ladies’ Hand-book of Plain Needlework written by H.G. Clarke in 1842. It puts best into words every feeling that I have about sewing and the importance of conserving even the most unlikely of everyday household […]
Slow Down and Listen to the Stitching
by Julia M Brennan and Anna Tendler Mulaney In these hurried days leading up to the holidays, we invite you to slow down and engage in a little stitching meditation. Listen. Pictured above is a late 19th c Meiji period Japanese uchikake, a ceremonial robe custom made for a bride. It is decorated with symbols from the […]
From the Ashes of War: Conservation of Morimoto’s Khmer Textile Collection
By Emilee Koss (All photos, unless otherwise noted, Copyright Cheryl Nemazie Photography. All rights reserved.*) I came to Julia Brennan and Caring for Textiles for a specific purpose: to learn collection care and conservation for textiles in a tropical climate. This summer’s internship has supported a dream come true: to return to Cambodia, with conservation […]
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