A Stitch in Time
Textile Conservation
While at Cultural Preservation and Restoration I had the opportunity to work on large scale conservation projects which involved the cleaning and stabilization of objects damaged during Hurricane Sandy.
For the National Guard Militia Museum, I worked to clean, remove mold and pests, consolidate redrot, and remove corrosion on the metal elements of almost 100 pairs of boots, including combat boots, riding boots, jungle boots, dress boots, and pressure boots, made of leather, suede, and rubber, dating back to the Spanish-American War (and one pair from the Civil War).
Along with the boots came countless saddle bags, briefcases, holsters, scabbards, satchels, and helmets, including a WWI lacquered paper German Pickelhaube which still retained the biological matter and was treated as “historic dirt.” The highlight of this project was a McClellan Saddle c.1930.
For the Bergen County Historical Society, I cleaned and stabilized the textiles on historic dolls, a mid-nineteenth century child’s sleigh, and over 20 quilts of silk, cotton, and wool from the mid-nineteenth to the early twentieth centuries.
One of the most exciting textiles of my career was a large silk embroidery presented by Emperor Meiji of Japan to John Holland, "Father of the Modern Submarine," when he was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun. The silk came to CPR wrinkled, with several areas where the cording was detaching, and several areas of abrasion. I humidified the silk to even out the majority of the wrinkling and stabilized the cording and abrasions with stitching. I then mounted the silk on a large, rigid honeycomb board for display at the Paterson Museum.
Silk Quilt from c. 1892:
This silk quilt is representative of many of the quilts which I stabilized from the Bergen County Historical Society. They mostly had cotton backings; cardboard templates to stabilize the shapes in between layers; silk patterning on top; and silk, cotton and metal threads.
They had been stored folded in boxes; when those boxes flooded the cardboard distorted, leaving deep creases in the quilts, or disintegrated, leaving behind shapeless blobs under the silk. Much of the already worn and fragile silk was shattered. The quilts were, obviously, very dirty and filled with sediment after sitting in flood waters.
The quilts were frozen to destroy biological activity and vacuumed several times per section to remove as much of the soiling and particulate matter as possible. Each area was then very carefully stitched with an overlay of nylon net in a color corresponding to each individual patch.
In this image, I am working through the yellow areas. The three yellow patches in the two bottom left most squares have been stabilized and the pattern is about to be made for the yellow patch in the fourth square from the left, center row.
WWI Era Military Briefcase:
This briefcase from the National Guard Militia Museum came in completely covered in redrot, with the leather cracked and peeling, and so deteriorated in areas that the handle had simply fallen off, aside from being covered in soiling and particulate from the flood waters.
The briefcase was vacuumed, on the lowest setting, between two screens both to reduce the need for handling and the possibility of damage from vacuuming. The stable areas were cleaned with a solution of ethanol and a touch of water on Q-Tips to remove the remaining soiling, particulate, and dead mold bloom which had been killed in the freezer.
At that point, it became obvious that consolidation would be absolutely necessary. Klucel-G was not strong enough to stabilize the areas, but stabilization was successful with B-72. The handle was reattached with a rip-pair of mulberry paper painted with watercolor to match the color of the leather and B-72.
Mid-Nineteenth Century Child's Sleigh:
This sleigh came to CPR with its front and back panels in the basket, fractured wood stanchions, rails, and runners, and held together only by the cotton fabric which was still nailed to the backrest and the back panel, with the horsehair completely spilled out.
Gary treated the wood elements of the sleigh while I treated the textiles. The first step was several weeks in the freezer to kill the live mold and bugs which had taken up residence in the horsehair in the aftermath of the flood. Once he stabilized the front and back panels, I went to work vacuuming the remaining padding and the detached fabric and horsehair. Once the sleigh was cleaned the fabric was steamed, reshaped, the horsehair re-inserted, and a dark brown nylon net was carefully stitched around all remaining textiles with Skala and a curved needle for stabilization and support.
These images show before and during pictures of the work, with much of the nylon net stitched down and work being done on the back panel.
WWII Era German Surveyor's Kit:
This kit from the National Guard Militia Museum was actually in good condition with the exception of the extremely distorted acrylic backing and corroded metal elements. Once again, the leather was very dirty and covered in particulate matter.
The kit was frozen to kill the mold bloom and then cleaned with a solution of ethanol mixed with a touch of water on Q-Tips. The metal clasp and rivets had rusted into the acrylic backing, which was gently separated as the area was cleaned. The metal elements were buffed with a buffer attachment on a Dremel to remove corrosion after they had been cleaned with the solution.
The acrylic, which already suffered stress fractures from the water, was cleaned with a microfiber cloth and microcrystalline wax to restore shine and protect it from further damage.
McClellan Saddle c.1930:
The most unique piece to come from the National Guard Militia Museum was this saddle. It
came in dirty, with some areas where the padding had detached from the shell, the textile covering of the padding was dirty and had numerous areas of salt deposits, and with signs of insect damage, but was in surprisingly good conditions considering its age, use, and that it had been through a flood.
After being frozen the saddle was thoroughly vacuumed and a dry-cleaning sponge was used to remove some of the more stubborn areas of dirt and the salt deposits. The leather was cleaned with a solution of ethanol mixed with a touch of water on Q-Tips. Where the insects had eaten through the fabric, it was stabilized using a net overlay stitched with Skala thread and a curved needle.
The detached areas were stitched back together using a heavy cotton thread in a very slightly different color than the original to help future conservators distinguish the original stitching from the conservation stitching, as the original holes in the leather were used. Finally, the areas of the leather which were abraded from original use were treated with microcrystalline wax to prevent further deterioration.
Top of Saddle After Treatment
Top of Saddle Before Treatment
Detail of Insect Damage Before Treatment
Detail of Insect Damage After Treatment
Detail of Padding Layer Separating from the Shell Before Treatment
Detail of Reattachment of Padding Layer During Treatment
Detail of Padding Layer from the Bottom, After Treatment
Detail of Padding Layer from the Top, After Treatment
The Holland Silk:
One of the most exciting pieces of my career has been a large silk embroidery presented by Emperor Meiji of Japan to John Holland, "Father of the Modern Submarine," when he was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun.
The embroidery was presented to the Paterson Museum in 1954 by Holland's Daughter, Margauerite Holland. There it sat in storage until 2021 when the museum was updating its displays and conservation; display of their collection of Holland artefacts became a priority.
The silk came to CPR with almost seven decades of accumulated dust, wrinkled, with several areas where the cording was detaching, and several areas of abrasion. I humidified the silk to even out the majority of the wrinkling and stabilized the cording and abrasions with stitching. I then mounted the silk on a large, rigid honeycomb board for display at the Paterson Museum.
During the humidification process
Before Treatment
Detail of a Stabilized Abrasion
Detail of a Stabilized Tassel and Cording
Final Stages of Mounting on a Rigid Panel
On display at the Paterson Museum