Caring for your textiles

My wedding dress has been buried in various closets for the last 20+ years while my husband's christening gown and my First Communion dress have been residing in the basement. We have some Japanese textiles and a few African pieces stored in a bit more protected fashion. But the truth is, I don't know what I'm doing. I've always intended to learn how I should be caring for my textile treasures and pieces of family history.

    

 

Now those of us who live in the Madison area have an opportunity to do so — free of charge — courtesy of the Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection at the UW-Madison. Diana Zlatanovski, HLATC's Assistant Curator and Collections Manager, will show us "practical guidelines" for the care and storage of our textiles at home. You may remember that Zlatanovski was in charge of the team preparing HLATC's textiles for their move to temporary quarters while the collection's home is redone as part of a larger campus building project.    

    

"Caring for Your Textiles"

Sunday, March 7

1:00 - 3:00 p.m.

UW Foundation, 1848 University Avenue

Free parking on site

While this event is free and open to the public, reservations are recommended. To do so, contact Diana Zlatanovski at [email protected].    

    

You can learn more about the two textiles pictured here at the HLATC link in the text above. If you are unable to participate but love textiles, be sure to check out the digital textile collection.

Comments

[Erin]

I think you should go and come back and report to us with some tips about what we should be doing. I'm not even sure it's my wedding dress in that wrapped-up box!

[Wendy]

This post is nagging me to do something with the silk embroidered wall hangings I've been meanint to frame properly and hang. I definitely do not know what I'm doing, and really need to figure it out!

[Jim/ArtofGardening.org]

I don't have any textiles to care for but I had a guest berate me at a party for having a picture frame light over an original 1937 Disney Snow White poster (she's a conservator at the Albright-Knox). I should know better. We've not turned on the light since. By 2017, the poster may be worth more than our house!