Celebrating French/American Relations Through These and Other Objects in the U.S. Ambassador’s residence in the Hôtel Rothschild Collaborative blog by Elizabeth Wise, Kaitlyn Munro, Katherine Hill McIntyre, Julia BrennanAll images are courtesy of Caring for Textiles unless otherwise noted. The Lights that Guide Us: A Celebration of Hôtel Rothschild et son Jardin Pontalba & the […]
Through the Onlooking Glass: A View to Open Conservation
The goal of open conservation labs is to “connect with art, science, world cultures, and history in ways that engage and delight,”
Restoring The “Star-Spangled Banner” of Frederick Maryland: Part Two
By Kaitlyn Munro If you missed the first part of this two-part series, click here to read that post. Our introduction to Mrs. Shawbaker’s flag began with an initial assessment in 2020. It was mounted and framed in the 1980’s. The flag was puckered, distorted and wrinkled, with hundreds of disfiguring and damaging stitches done […]
The “Star-Spangled Banner” of Frederick Maryland: Part One
By Kaitlyn Munro Oh say, can you see” this remarkable flag? I think sometimes people tend to think of flags as ordinary textiles in the sense that we see them everywhere; outside office buildings, schools, homes etc. Though they remain symbolically powerful, we think of them as universally alike. When a flag tells an interesting […]
Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum Launches New, Moving Exhibition Of Victims’ Clothes
On Monday, December 27, 2021, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum launched a new, moving exhibition of victims’ clothes—Remembering S-21 Victims through their Clothes: Textiles Preservation at Tuol Sleng Museum. The exhibition is the culmination of four years of focused conservation triage, treatment, and training in order to preserve the clothing and textile […]
Textiles on the Range
By Julia M Brennan American quilts are truly a local art form and very much alive. In the little Western Slope Colorado town of Palisade (population 2,700) which is famous for its peaches, I found a quilt maker who has been creating rag rugs and quilts for the last 50+ years. Even now with limited […]
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 […]
Adorable Alert: Christening Gown Photos…Baby Included!
We work on quite a few christening dresses here at Caring for Textiles. However, we don’t often get to see the final result once we send these precious pieces on their way. Imagine our delight when we received a greeting in the mail with two photos of a gown we had worked on—and the adorable […]
The Bobbinet Blog, or “Tulle Tales”
By Julia Brennan and Kaitlyn Munro Recently I met my lovely friend Claire Chen, who was wearing a gossamer tulle skirt, which fluttered around her like a butterfly. It was enchanting, so was she, and my curiosity about tulle was stirred. I started noticing the tulle explosion everywhere …… in the fashion magazines Chanel, Dior, Mango, […]
Gloriously Blessing the Baby…and Restoring the Glory to the Gown
Over the years we have cleaned, conserved, and repaired hundreds of historic christening dresses. Each one is different, short or long, tiered or sheer, embroidered or laced, pleated or smocked – each with its own family stories. Most have very yellowed ‘bib’ areas from sweet milky spittle, and often a host of rips and tears…..it […]