Just a Needle and Thread: How a Sock Monkey Led to a Summer at Caring for Textiles

By Peyton Bramble

During this unprecedented time of the COVID-19 pandemic, I was fortunate to have an in-person summer internship with Caring for Textiles. I am a senior at Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania, concentrating in Public History. This will be followed by the Master’s in Applied History program, focusing on Museum Studies.

During Spring 2021, I worked at the Fashion Archives and Museum on campus with Dr. Karin Bohleke. Dr. Bohleke brought this summer internship to my attention and highly recommended I check it out. I could not be more grateful that she put me in contact with Caring for Textiles. I observed the volunteers at the Fashion Archive use conservation techniques for the collection, and I thought this summer internship would be a perfect way to deep dive into the world of textile conservation.  

I was excited but nervous. Prior to this summer, the only hand stitching I’d done was in my eighth grade Family and Consumer Sciences class. My class experience was unusual because the sewing machines were unavailable due to a big school renovation. Instead of making machine-sewn pajama pants as all the previous eighth-graders did, my class had to make hand-sewn sock monkeys.

I remember being disappointed. I was looking forward to that project and instead of going to the fabric store to pick out cool fleece, I had to go to Walmart and pick a pair of socks. As I began my project, it grew on me. I liked working with my hands in this manner and I had more physical control over what I was creating. When I was finished, I had a cute monkey and a new skill set. I learned how to sew on a button, to do a backstitch, and a whip stitch. Prior to my time with Caring for Textiles, this cute little sock monkey amounted to the extent of my hand sewing abilities.

Before working on anything historical, I had to start off with a stitch sampler.  It was important for me to learn the many unique stitches and stitch techniques used in textile conservation. I had to understand when and where each technique would be best served. My new favorite is the blanket stitch, which can sometimes be used to stabilize damaged and frayed edges of textiles. While I struggled with it at first, it was always one of those stitches that I would stare at and wonder how it worked. Having that lifelong question answered was a relief, to say the least.

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Before I knew it, I was using these very stitches and techniques to conserve a Civil War-era flag from Frederick, Maryland. One of my activities was picking out old nylon thread stitches used in the previous mounting from the 1960s or ’70s. I learned that not all threads are created equal, and these nylon ones were causing damage because of the stitch tension and the sharpness of the thread itself.

Once the old stitches were removed, the new stitch stabilization treatment will be done with very fine and nearly invisible thread. In this case, we are using a monofilament polyester thread made by Gutermann called Skala. Getting used to this kind of thread was a challenge at first but once I got the hang of it, I loved how it just disappeared into the textile.

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After a month with Caring for Textiles, my hand stitching has far exceeded anything I could have imagined. I feel confident in my ability and proud of all I accomplished. The broad range of textiles I’ve been exposed to has kept me captivated all summer. I’m learning at least one thing new every day and I never have the same day twice. I could be tacking down an applique to a quilt and trying to blend my new stitches in with the old ones one day. The next, I could be doing a science experiment to try and get acidification out of a 300-year-old sampler from the 18th century.  I never know what to expect, and that’s one of the best parts of it all. I am now not only a better stitcher but a better learner. I am able to make more thoughtful decisions about what to do where, and how it should look with my treatment. Getting to watch Julia and Kaitlyn work and learn from them has been invaluable. Their words of wisdom will carry with me for my future career, wherever that happens to lie.

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If you’re reading this and you have the opportunity to learn how to hand stitch, I encourage you to do so! Even if you’re not fixing an artifact older than you, just try something small—hey, maybe try a sock monkey! Soon you’ll be just like the women pre Elias Howe who invented the sewing machine in 1846.

Although the task may seem daunting, the joy and reward are worth it, I promise you. Don’t be intimidated by the art that is hand stitching. After all, when push comes to shove, it’s just a needle and some thread.