Your Custom Text Here
Two dresses dating from the 1920s came to OTC to stabilize damage and prepare for display. The flowered dress had a vulnerable tear in the front of the skirt that was repaired with a custom-dyed underlay and stitching. The green dress had damage from perspiration, causing the edge of the armhole to tear away. It was repaired with custom-dyed patches to support and enclose the weak, damaged area.
OTC received a set of WWII sailor's blues from the sailor's grandson, who wished to have them cared for and prepared for display as a surprise for this mother, the sailor's daughter. The uniform was in poor condition, the victim of a robust insect infestation, mold, and extensive loss. The uniform was cleaned, repaired, mounted, and framed.
Sometimes a little basic "polishing" and a proper mount are enough to transform historic clothing from tired, old clothing to artwork ready for display and appreciation. This 1940s dance costume underwent such a treatment. Before treatment, on the unpadded mannequin, it hangs limp and creased. After treatment, the costume is fresher and fits the mannequin properly, ready for a curtain call more than 60 years after it left the stage.
This heirloom baby's christening gown was damaged in a recent encounter with a toddler. A tear at the center front extended through the whitework embroidery into the body of the gown. OTC was able to almost invisibly repair the damage.
The last survivor of the 136th Field Artillery, Company E, inherited the company's WWI pennant. His heirs wanted the pennant treated to look its best and then to mount for display after many years of it slowly sagging and distorting inside a commercial poster frame. The pennant underwent cleaning on the vacuum suction table, was pressed and humidified to correct the creasing, and then mounted on a conservation-safe padded board.
The pennant on the vacuum suction table undergoing cleaning. Blotting paper was used to remove surface soiling, which you can see by the yellow patches on the used paper to the left.
Before treatment, this World War I piece of "trench art" or memento was in tatters, barely held together by its silk floss embroidery. OTC stabilized the object and compensated for loss with custom-dyed support patches and mounted it for framing.
This large Chinese embroidery on silk satin was suffering from sagging after many years of display in a private home. OTC was able to create a large mount to correct the damage and prevent its return while still returning it to its place of honor at home.
This printed antique banner had suffered many years of neglect before a new owner decided it should be cleaned and prepared for display. OTC carried out wet-cleaning, stain reduction, removed a disfiguring border, and prepared a new conservation-safe mount for its long-term display and enjoyment.
This needlepoint came to OTC roughly cut and tacked to a small bench. It had served as upholstery for so long it was distorted and the ground fabric was failing and split in places under high tension. The owner planned to recover the bench, but wanted to salvage the needlepoint in a manner where it could still be used. The needlepoint was removed from the bench, underwent treatment to try to flatten and square it, and was stitched to a new support fabric that helped hold the splits closed and infill minor loss. The stabilized needlepoint was "mounted" in a new, fabric "frame" and fitted with a pillow insert that closes with antique buttons on the reverse.
This beaded bridal tiara had been used by several brides since the 1940s before it came to OTC to be prepared for use by the next bride in the family. The tiara had been glued to a cardboard backing (probably in the 1970s), there were several layers of mismatched and damaged tulle, and the adhesive had yellowed and become brittle. OTC removed the cardboard and as much of the glue as possible. A new rigid support was prepared using Fosshape, a heat-moldable polyester felt, and covered in silk. The new support could more closely follow the peaks of the beaded tiara, restoring some of the light, airiness of the delicate beaded piece. A custom-made, conservation-safe box with a silk-covered form was prepared to protect the tiara during storage between family weddings.
The tiara is distorted, slumping away from its cardboard support, and yellowed from the adhesive that once held it to the cardboard.
An overhead view shows the multiple layers of support and tulle the tiara had acquired over the years.
This ensemble was in relatively good condition, except the overskirt was missing. Only fragments caught in the seams were left of the chenille textured skirt that would have matched the textured bodice and covered the cotton muslin seen on the sides in the "before treatment" picture. OTC created a pattern of the missing overskirt (based on the underskirt) and prepared custom dyed-to-match silk satin to approximate the shade of the lost material. As an additional option for display, a second overskirt was prepared of silk digitally printed with a repeating photograph of the chenille texture fabric from the bodice. The second overskirt can be fitted over the conserved skirt, another way of visually simulating the lost textured overskirt.
This blue and grey printed silk ensemble was treated for widespread weakness and areas of loss. It had become papery and fragile. Adhesive patches and stitching were used to repair the damage enough that it can be displayed again.
The skirt waistband was reassembled with a custom-dyed silk edge, stable enough to support the skirt on display.
A custom-dyed silk habutai patch is used to infill the areas of loss and to support the weak and damaged area.
Both sleeves had splitting with loss, especially along the fold lines where they had been folded flat for many years.
The badly disintegrated waistband had to be painstakingly reassembled using adhesive support fabric and stitching to close extensive splitting and support the weakened, weight-bearing area.
The heated spatula is used to reactivate adhesive support while tweezers help realign loose threads and edges as support is applied.
Glass weights were used to help correct creasing and distortion in the skirt. Here, they are laid along crushed seam allowances from the inside.
The pleats along the bottom edge had to be temporarily taken apart in order to repair splits along the folded edge. Adhesive support applied to the reverse held the edges together. Laid thread couching was added to the face to prevent lifting edges after the pleats were refolded and stitched in their original positions.
This Masonic apron dated to the late 1830s. It had been kept in a small, leather pouch for most of its “life,” but the new owner wanted to be able to display it. The apron was unfolded and allowed to relax slowly over time. The silk ribbon edge was supported and reassembled where necessary. The hanging ribbons (that once supported the short sections of metal fringe) were replaced by dyed-to-match modern facsimiles. To display it without creating unnecessary holes and damaging the delicate, thin leather, a set of magnets were prepared which hide under the flap and attach to mate magnets hidden under the mounting board cover fabric. Here, before and after views of the treated and mounted apron. Below, before and after views with the flap raised.
This silk, Civil War flag had been stuffed into a shadow box when the owner bought it at a Kentucky antique store. They wanted it restored to be a flag once again. OTC flattened what survived, created color-match infill patches to compensate for what didn’t, and reassembled it with appropriate support.
