Finished

 17th c Inspired Gum Work Casket

Here is a tour of my finished Gum Work casket. I hope you enjoyed following along on YouTube! If you haven't already got on the mailing list for my new 2022 classes, just drop me a line at rlkinnison@yahoo.com to be put on the list. 

The Last Step...

 To Casket Finishing: Trim!

Casket 1070-1873, shown above at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London is one of my favorite caskets because I just love its unique trim. You can see it here. It's not the only extant casket that has lace over ribbon for trim, but it's my favorite. The lace makes for such a feminine look. This is the casket that was inspiration for the trim on my little dome top casket. 

I hand stitched lace over ribbon to make my trim, and my last Finishing Tips video on YouTube below shows how I apply the trim~ which is the same for ANY type of trim I am wanting to apply. Hope ya'll have a wonderful Christmas and come back tomorrow for a little video tour of the finished casket

Floss Tube Finer Finishing Tips 15

 Things to Think about when Looking for Trims for a Box or Casket

Happy Friday! I hope you are having a great stitching week...or perhaps getting ready for a great stitching weekend. I will be at a craft show with Pip all day tomorrow, so my usual Saturday video is a day early this week. The only thing left to share of the making of my little Dome Top Casket is how I apply the trim, but before I get to that, I first wanted to have just a little chat about the trim itself, and what you should take into consideration when searching out the perfect trim for your own project. 

Check back next Friday to see how I apply the trim to the box, and then on Christmas Day I'll post a video of the finished casket. I cannot convey enough how much fun this little project was and that I hope it has inspired you to continue on your own project, or maybe even start up a new one!

I do believe this is the first peek you will get to see at the completed Gum Worke~ if you like it and want to learn how to do it for yourself, I will be having a class starting in January~ just drop me a line to rlkinnison@yahoo.com to get on the mailing list. 

Floss Tube Finer Finishing Tips #14

 Gluing A Finished Panel Onto The Box

So.....you have laboured for perhaps years on your embroidery and it's finally finished. All that is left is to glue it onto your box or casket. Easy right? You may be surprised to learn that the majority of folks I know when they get to this point, they panic. Some don't even get as far as opening the glue pot, just the thought of glue on their embroidery is overwhelming enough for them to stop and make the thing live unappreciated in a drawer for the rest of its life. 

I am here as a calming voice to assure you, it's really NO. BIG. DEAL. 

Take a deep breath, gather your tools, and watch this week's YouTube video on how to do it below!

Each panel is glued on in the same way, one at a time, no matter what you have worked onto the panel itself. It could be cross-stitch, crewelwork, stumpwork, or beadwork...no matter, they all go on the same way. Come on back next week for a fun video on choosing trim!

My Kind of Lost & Found....

 17th Century Silke Gum Worke

 There were many techniques used in the 17th century to cover girls' cabinets, workboxes, and caskets. One of my favorites is Silk Gum Worke. I have talked about it before, and am very pleased with the results I have been able to obtain.  Gum work caskets and items are much rarer than their stumpwork or beaded counterparts, as they are somewhat fragile. Occasionally things pop out of worldwide obscurity. For a brief moment, like the lid opening on a box of treasures, we get to peek in, and then the lid is shut and we are left longing for more. Such was the case with the above silk and silk gum work casket from the Caldwell collection. It was sold by Brunk Auctions in 2006, you can see the auction page here.  One just cannot appreciate the beauty of silk gum work via a photograph...its impossible. 

I have studied pieces in person and they are so old and tattered now. Four hundred years of dust and sun and wear has left them tired. I wanted to know what they looked like when new.... and I want you to too! 

 This is the topic of my video for today...it's not so much a tip, as it is a treat. The gummed silk is extremely luminous. In the process of making the sheets, the silk fibers are aligned parallel to each other. I refer to this alignment as the grain. To make a panel, I first start with the stems and leaves, as shown above. Notice how some of the leaves are lighter, and some are darker...but they are all cut from the same silk. The light catches the grain at different angles and is reflected off in vibrant bursts of light.

Next petals are placed. 

One by one, the flowers grow petal by petal

 Though the pieces are flat, the way they are built up gives the flowers added dimension. I used the same pink silk for all the flower petals. 

Here is the finished panel on the back of my little dome top casket. While it looks pretty here, one just cannot understand the movement you can get from this technique, so I offer you today a little video, below. It still does not do the real thing justice, but at least is a little better than a flat picture. 

If you are interested in learning more about this technique, drop me a line to rlkinnison@yahoo.com to be put on the mailing list for my upcoming Jan 2022 class, Gum Worke~ The Arte of 17th Century Gummed Silk. 

Dome Top Casket Progress

  & Upcoming 2022 Classes

 Today is just a short video to show you the progress of my Dome Top Casket and to reinforce my point that while you do need a good sound foundation for a casket, it need not be an overly fancy or expensive one. It's more about what you do to the box....than the box itself.  Of course, I have not been stretching this project out minutes at a time. Its been finished for a while and SUPER hard to not just share the whole thing. I think overall, from start to finish, it was less than 2 months time from buying the box on Amazon here , to its total outside completion.  BTW, I see that the price of the box has gone up, when I bought it it was 11.00 and now is up to 18.00.  Still an excellent value! You will see the link on Amazon there are three sizes~ I used the large size for my little casket. 

I am working on a new teaching website and am planning on launching 2 new classes at the first of the year. The first will be Puffed Silkes~ 17th c Inspired Padded Box Interiors. 

This class will teach you the skills to make a padded interior for any shape of box or casket, as elaborate or simple as you want. 

The second will be a very exciting class on how to make Gummed Silk~ Gum Worke ~ The Arte of 17th Century Gummed Silk, where I will teach you my technique for making gummed sleeven silk.

Either class offers skills no one who wishes to make their own casket should be without.  My little Dome Top Casket is a perfect example of combining the two. 

 Traditionally, a picture or casket covered in gummed silk was worked only in gummed silk. It was usually flat...like the closer view of the interior door above. But unlike the 17th c examples I have studied, I like to add silk stumpwork stitches and goldwork to really make the surface come to  life....and wait until you see the outside! While it is amazing as flat work...I will show you how much dimension you can achieve with Gum Worke. It really is a fun and fabulous technique!

 

Roll with It

 Dome Top Casket Progress...

Do you ever feel like you are on a roller coaster that won't stop? Lately, I have been desperately trying to get off the one I am on but it never slows down enough for me to leap out. Every time I turn around it seems like it's time to go to bed and my to-do list is not even half-finished for the day. Maybe the sun is on the same schedule? It goes to bed around here by 5pm.  IF anyone has any hints on how to s-l-o-w  t-h-i-n-g-s d-o-w-n a bit, I would very much appreciate it. 

The Dome Casket flew together and I am so happy with how it came out! In the line of progression for today's Floss Tube Finer Finishing Tips YouTube series, I am continuing to prep for the embroidery of the interior doors. What you don't see in the video is the finished padded interior, shown above. Isn't it the most gorgeous shade of green?

 I have a list in my head going of interior colour schemes I want to do, and this green was high up on the list. 

I have always admired the interior of this one at the Met Museum, shown above. Click that link to go to the Museum's page to really check it out! It was the inspiration for my padded interior, except with gold trim. I love my tiny little Penhaligons bottles nestled so snugly into their cubbies. Who am I kidding, I just love padded interiors....and if YOU love them, well I may just have the class you have been looking for coming up soon! It's not a project class in particular. It will teach you the skills to make a padded interior to fit any shape or size box you can dream of! If you think that's something you would be interested in, just shoot me an email (rlkinnison@yahoo.com)to get on the mailing list, I am hoping for a January 2022 start!

Just a quick tip today showing you how I roll the glued paper onto the surface of the silk to glue it on. I use this rolling method for gluing finished embroidery panels as well. Along with the Yes! Paste, one will get no bubbles!

Happy Saturday!

Floss Tube Finer Finishing Tips 11

The tip for today is how to support the fabric for design transfer after its been laced into the frame.  Just as a building is only as good as its foundation, so is our embroidery. In order to get the cleanest, smoothest pattern lines, the fabric on your slate frame must have proper support, which is the subject of todayś video tip

Happy Stitching!

Things You NEED to Think About....

  Before You Know You Need to Think About Them....

I was editing videos for my Dome Top Casket series on YouTube today and think that this next tip is just too important to wait until Saturday's usual post. Today's tip is about when to transfer your embroidery design onto your ground fabric. If you plan on mounting the embroidery onto a particular size of something...or the finished size of your embroidery needs to be exact for whatever reason...today's tip is for you! The easiest way for you to not have to cut into that glorious embroidery you just finished because its now magically too big for its intended spot is to watch today's video tip!!

What's Your Plan?

 Floss Tube Finer Finishing Tips #9

Happy first Saturday of November! Stop by the You Tube today to see the latest video for the Dome Top Casket. I am a firm believer that one should finish the inside of a box FIRST, before the outside. There are several reasons for doing so, but mainly, it is not so easy to manipulate the box in all different directions when a finished embroidery is mounted on the outside! 

That being said, if you are one of my readers who is dragging their feet on their casket....this video is for YOU! Who cares what you are going to put on the outside....DOESNT MATTER. Get up and FINISH THE INSIDE! Then, when you do get the outside embroidery finished, the inside will be done and ready!

2021 Flemish Coffer Ornament Kits

 Only 8 left in Stock on ETSY!

If you have had your eye on the 2021 Flemish Coffer Ornament Kit, I have just 8 left in stock on ETSY, ready to ship. I can with all confidence say that there is no way I will be able to restock them before year's end. You can click on the link to my ETSY store in the sidebar if you would like to learn more about the kit. 

Dome Top Casket

 Time to Paper the Outside!

Ahhh a pretty clean slate ready to cover with the embroidery or decoration of one's own desire. Are  you following this little casket's progress on You Tube? I hope so. I have come to realize that I think I love the finishing just as much...perhaps maybe a little bit more, than the embroidery itself. Well...maybe not, but they are a close tie. There are so many possibilities..if you have a lot of ideas and find it hard to pick one, well ask somebody else to choose for you and you can do the rest on other boxes! Above is a picture of the finished exterior papering, which is the focus of today's two videos. 

Yep, another two video day today. My camera angles are weird. Yes, I know. Sometimes Im out of the frame of view...Yes. I know. I am just me. It would be great if I had someone to hold the camera and follow me around and zoom in and out...but I don't. Just me.....and YOU, there in the camera coming along for the journey~ I do hope you enjoy and can take away a few little tips here and there to help in your own making ups.

I will be launching my own Thinkific Online Academy soon and will be offering some really great online classes that will include downloadable detailed finishing courses. So until then, I hope you enjoy today's two part video on exterior papering

Part 1~

Part2~

Finer Finishing Tips #7

 Wrangling That Paper!

Happy Saturday All! I hope you had a great week. If you are following along with the progress of my little dome top casket, this week's video is a birds-eye view of cutting the exterior paper before gluing. Everyone says matter of factly to glue paper on the outside of the box...but they don't really go over how to wrangle and cut that huge expensive sheet of paper. If you only have one or two sheets, it can be intimidating...especially if you are afraid of making a mistake and wasting it! 

Have no fear, Rachael is here to help guide you through it! As always, I do apologize for the angle of the camera in today's video. I changed it to an above view so you wouldn't see the back of my elbow like last week, but along the way, I think I knocked it out of alignment. If you ever had aspirations of being a bird and seeing what they see, well just imagine you are an inquisitive woodpecker hanging upside down on a tree branch while I'm wrangling this paper!

I wanted to share the photo above to show the finished fold-over of the paper on the lid. This is what can form the halo I talk about in the video. 

a TWO video day today!

 Gilt Stamped Edgings

It's time to finally start to paper my little dome-top casket.  I wanted to bring you all along with me so turned the camera on real-time as I applied my edgings. Before you write and ask me if I make and sell stamped paper edgings, the answer is no. Not at this time anyway. I have a list a mile long of things I need to get done~ I do link on one of the videos today to Talas where you can find a plethora of beautiful brass finishing tools, papers, and foils to make your own though. A pretty edge treatment doesn't have to be just a stamped paper though, it could be gilt with gold or silver leaf, or a pretty marbled or otherwise fancy paper!

 

Today is a two video day because the battery in my camera died partway through, and  I am still trying to figure out all this YouTube stuff. I have no idea how to put two videos together, and honestly, it is not in my brain capacity currently to try and figure it out. There is a hideous closeup of my elbow that I am both warning you about and apologizing for at the same time. I would have cut that out, which I know how to do, but I was talking at the time so all I can offer is, to just close your eyes for a few seconds!

I am planning on some very in detail interior finishing classes in the near future, so if you like what you see and want to dive into greater detail, just comment here or drop me a line at rlkinnison@yahoo.com and I will put you on the mailing list for future classes.

and Part 2....

Time for another Video!

 Finer Finishing Tips #5

 

This week flew by in a minute. I have been somewhat ´in the zone´ working on my dome top casket and can't believe it's time for another video already. In this week's episode, I will show you how to deal with the challenge of a deep set hinge, as shown above, when prepping for papering. I will also go over the reasoning behind why we cover a wooden box with paper before mounting embroidery to it. I think there's a little glue talk in this one too. 

The casket I mention in the video is one of my favorites and can be seen here. This is one of the caskets that I studied the door construction of and used to design my original configuration of the hidden compartments that are in my flat top casket lid so many years ago. One of the things I love about it, aside from the hidden pullouts that are in the slope, are the covers or doors on the top of many of the inner tray compartments. I think you will really love my interpretation of some of them on the dome top box...coming up in a later video, so check on back!

Finer Finishing Tips #4

What's Happening with that Dome Top Casket??

When I open a box my mind is filled with visions of what could be. To me, an empty box is like a huge playground, and I get to decide what rides I want in it! 

Do you have a special something...or somethings that need a place to live? By place of course I mean, a box! The something could be a bottle of perfume..but it doesn't have to be. Your something could be a piece of jewelry, it could be a rock, a special pair of scissors...some antique needlework tools...

When you are blessed with an empty box in front of you, just sit and have a cup of tea with it...ponder all the things it could be. Let it speak to you. If it tells you it wants to hold that special something you have, well then, you can make a dedicated special space just for it!

I am not good at keeping secrets for very long, so by now a lot of you know that this casket is a showcase for my beloved 17th c Gummed Silk technique I have been working on.  I thought that I had linked in my last post to the beautiful Gummed Silk Casket at the Dallas Museum of Art, but I didn't! So sorry! Click on the photo below to go check it out, it really is amazing. Flat photographs just do not do the silk justice. As one moves around it, the light catches the fibers differently and the whole just takes on a glow like no other.

You can check out my latest tips for making partitions in your 'box' below~

Happy Stitching!

Finer Finishing Tips #3

  Dome Top Casket Progress...

So as you can tell, I have changed from referring to my little inexpensive Amazon dome top box as a 'box'... it is now a casket. I am really having a lot of fun just tricking this thing out! Above is a little peek at something going on the INSIDE~ do you know what it is? It is a 17th c technique called Gummed Silk. You may remember that I taught this quite a few years ago at the SouthWest Get Together. I have always loved this technique and have studied several different caskets that were either entirely covered in it or had bits and pieces. I have been refining and changing my technique over the past few years and finally am getting consistent results that I am happy with. I will be offering an online class teaching this technique soon~ if you are interested and would like to get on my email list for info, just drop me a line at rlkinnison@yahoo.com. 

The next little video for the Dome Top Casket project is up on my YouTube ~ or you can view it here. Hope you enjoy and come back to follow the growth of this super cute casket!

Happy Stitching!

New Finer Points of Finishing Tip Series

 Come Along....

I get so many questions on Embroidery Finishing that I have decided to run a small You Tube video series on the subject, FlossTube Finer Finishing Tips.  We spend so much time on our embroidery, years and years even, and then expect to mount said embroidery on a box in a weekend. NOT SO.  Just as much care should be spent on finishing as the embroidery itself. A great finishing job has the ability to elevate a mediocre embroidery...just as bad finishing can make the most elaborate and expertly worked embroidery look horrible. 

I will be having some finishing classes in the future, but hope that until then, you will join me to follow the transformation of a cheap wooden pine box (under 10.00 USD) purchased on Amazon. I will try and post a new video every 10 days or so. The second in the series is below:

I am not a scripted person, and I don´t make notes. What you see is what you get. When I get my arm stuck in glue...you will probably too. My camera angles need work. I am not a skilled cinematographer...but I think you will enjoy the videos and maybe pick up a few tricks to use in your own finishing~be it a stumpwork casket or mounting a cross stitch or needlepoint piece to a cigar box. 

As you will realize through this series, a box need not be expensive to offer a spectacular, unique finish for your precious embroidery. 

Boxes....

 Think Outside the Box....

Pomme & I made a video to give you some box tips if you are looking to mount your embroidery. You may need look no further than your refrigerator!  I have already got asked who the dollies were in the end, that I was too far away for yaĺl so peek at them, so here they are. My daughter wanted to make dollies last fall so she came over and I made these two. Watch the video to see what I used for their boxes!

This is Agnes with her Ravens

And Full Moon Party.. she is named after my favorite tea!

2021 Annual Ornament Kit

 All Flemish Coffer Pre-orders Have Been Shipped

If you have ordered this yearś ornament kit, it is on its merry way to you! I shipped the last of the preorders this morning. Etsy has been sporadic about sending out shipping notices, so if you have not got yours, check your order on ETSY. I have uploaded all tracking numbers so you will have accurate info on when your kit will arrive. 

I have cut, packaged, measured, primped and counted, and checked, and rechecked each and every morsel of happiness in each and every one of these kits myself. There is a Kit Contents page nestled in between the 60-page instruction packed and pattern packet. 

I know you will be so excited to open the box and inspect the contents, just like I do when I get a new kit! I have strategically placed all the contents into their box carefully, so do take care when putting everything back into the box. Be sure things are in their proper place so as to not squish the packet containing all the metal threads! It is shown in the upper right-hand corner in the picture above~

I hope you all have as much fun making your Coffers as I did. If you are interested in purchasing one, they are available in my ETSY store~the link is in the right hand sidebar. Currently, I have just 8 left in stock. Once these sell out, I cannot give a definite answer as to when they will be in stock again, as it has been a chore to get some of the materials!

Happy Stitching!

Mid 18th C

Single Leather Clog

I just found this wonderful little gem and am excited to share it with ya'll. It is, as stated above, a clog. Not to be confused with a wood and iron patten (you can search for those here on the blog in the upper left search tab). How is a clog different from a patten you ask? Both are worn as overshoes to protect the rather fragile shoes of the period when walking in mud and on city streets. Pattens have alder wood soles with an attached forged iron ring or shape that raises the foot up off the ground. They tie on over the shoe usually with leather tabs. They are robust. Made for out and about in the weather. But clogs....these things have always fascinated me. If there were pattens, what would the need be for clogs? 

Clogs are usually made from the same fabric as the shoe, such as in the above pair from the Joseph Box collection at the Powerhouse Museum. They are obviously just as delicate as the shoes they are meant to protect and thus, the general thought is that they were worn indoors to help protect the shoes. My practical thinking obviously asks well why on earth would you wear these indoors? A lady wearing such a shoe would not be slopping around in the kitchen or have dirty floors enough to need a protective overshoe. Were these worn from the house out to the carriage? I honestly have no idea...I got a lot of questions whenever time travel becomes the new rage....

One cannot say it was the shape of the heel seat either...as this pair of pattens from the Met have the same deep heal seat. They have the typical plain leather latchet tie straps usually associated with the more robust wood and iron pattens. I have never seen a patten with a cloth strap.

This single clog, one of a pair at one time of course, I would say was more of a working-class middling sort's possession. Maybe they were owned and worn by a merchant....someone who wanted to protect their shoes indoors but needed something a bit more robust than a cloth upper. AND...speaking of uppers...we get to the reason I had to add this amazing creature to the collection in the first place.  The upper is closed! Look back up at the Powerhouse Museum examples, and the Met...all of them I have ever seen are open-toed with just a strap to tie up over the vamp of the shoe. I have never, ever seen a fully closed upper on a clog, so this just thrills me to no end. Above here you can appreciate the deep heal seat to accommodate the timber heels of the period.

The leather is very worn, but the expert hand stitching is still nice and tight and can be fully appreciated. The single eyelet holes for ties are stamped from the leather and left unfinished. 

Construction of the heel is the same on these as is typically seen on the cloth examples. One may be so inclined to wonder if the timber heels were so very fragile they needed support from underneath in order to get the most wear out of them???

From the view of the sole one can see these did get much wear. There is but a tiny single layer stack on the heal, other than that they are flat on the bottom. The wear shows they were tied on quite tight, as there are no signs from the wear on the sole that these were shuffled along as a person walked in them. The heels did not drag off from flopping down off of the shoe when the foot was picked up. 

Have you ever seen a solid or closed upper clog? If so, send me the link, please!

Working Hard

 Flemish Coffer Ornament Kit Update

I have been working so hard these past few weeks kitting this ornament. It's ready to go save for the gilt broad plate coming from Australia. It has been so challenging getting everything during this covid nightmare. I owe a huge amount of gratitude to Access Commodities for really hooking me up and helping me find nearly nonexistent materials~ we have scoured the globe for this kit, literally, and I am so proud of it. The instructions made arrival from the printer today~ 60...yes, SIXTY glorious full-colour pages of instructions, along with 8 pages of diagrams and keys, all printed for your stitching pleasure at your leisure.

If you would like to learn more about it, it is available in my ETSY shop, link to the right in the sidebar.

Happy Stitching!

How to Separate Soie Ovale

 

Here is a short video on how to separate Soie Ovale down into smaller strands~I really prefer the Trame weight silk for long & short stitch and needle painting on the scale I am used to working. To further expand my colour palette of available threads, I use Soie Ovale and just piece it down to match my other Trame weight silks.

New Little Helpers....

  Hand Painted Needle Minders

For those who like to keep track of their needles or pins on their embroidery without having to stab them through the ground fabric, I have a cute selection of needle minders in the ETSY shop today!

They are each handmade and painted by me. 

I wouldn't say these are doodles, as I put a lot of time into them, but I had so much fun! I didn't follow any pattern~just cut out what I felt like and painted what came off my fingers at the time.

In case you are not familiar with a needle minder, it has a magnet on the back and comes with a second. You place the minder on the front of the fabric, and the second magnet behind it on the back of the fabric and this holds the minder in place. The magnets are very strong and hold any pins or needles you put on the front of it in place.

Each one is unique, painted in several layers of transparent watercolours so the beautiful wood grain of the sycamore shines through

They are roughly around an inch and half in diameter...some a little larger, some a little smaller

All are signed and dated on the backs

If you are in need of one, they are available today in my ETSY store, link is to the right in the sidebar.

Happy Stitching!

A Few Thoughts on Washing...

 First Quarter 19th c Child's Gown & Cap

 I often get questions on how to wash items, and what I use to wash them with. I cant offer a blanket statement that I use product X to wash with because honestly, every article of early clothing is its own unique situation. Every stain is unique...is it organic? Is it grass? Is it clay? Is it blood? Then one must take into consideration the fibers of the material~ are they natural or synthetic? Cotton? Linen? Silk? You get the idea. But I can offer my recommendation on how to remove overall dinginess from cotton or linen. 

 First I must determine if the textile is strong enough to withstand a wet wash. Textile fibers are very fragile when wet. Just the weight of the water in the fiber can be enough to tear sheer textiles like cotton mull. Does the garment or textile have any metal bits like fasteners or buttons? I never wet wash any item with metal parts. Another thing to consider is trims...for example, early sequins around the turn of the 20th century were made from celluloid and literally dissolve in water.  Does the textile have any colour to it? Be it printed or woven, not all colours are colour fast, so one must check in an inconspicuous place to see if the colours bleed. If I am preparing for a spot check, then I first ask myself what is the purpose of the washing? I usually choose not to wash 95% of the time. Stains are part of the history of a piece. They help to tell the story of how a piece of clothing was worn. Stains can talk! Occasionally I have a piece that could benefit greatly from a freshening up, such as this set here of early Empire period gown and corded cap.  The above picture is before washing. The gown is overall just quite dingy, with a real yellow~brown cast. Only on close inspection could one realize it was made of a woven pink and brown stripe cotton. 

 Because fibers are so fragile when wet, I check for any rips or tears in the piece. If they are able to be stabilized before washing, I will do so.  The rouleaux trim at the base of the crown on the cap was partially detached, as shown above. 

The trim was carefully stitched back in place through the original stitch holes before being washed.

My soap of choice for washing is Orvus Paste. It is a fantastic ionic neutral ph cleaner that is very gentle on textiles. (Its also good for washing cattle and horses...so you may get lucky and find it at your feed store.) It is the best most gentle cleaner on the market~ absolutely conservation grade and can be found on Amazon.

Whenever you wash an early textile, it needs to remain flat so to remain fully supported and to keep it from tangling into knots(which will happen if you put things into a BUCKET).  Don't get me started on the horrors of washing things in a bucket....just ...don't...do..it.

I prefer to dip my clean hand in my Orvus and hold the paste in the stream of water as I fill the basin. For this gown, its so small, I only filled the basin with about 2" of water. Really swish your hand around until all of the Orvus is dispersed in the water.

It is only then that the textiles are carefully placed FLAT into the bath. I gently press down with a flat hand to coax out any air bubbles. There is NO AGGITATION. I put the lid on and let this set for at least 24 hours. 

The picture above is after the first 24-hour soak. The water is now a very dingy yellow...hmmmm the same dingy colour of the gown. To remove, I carefully coax the gown up into a little ball and lift it out of the water, fully supporting the weight of it. Did the same for the little bonnet.  I ran a second Orvus bath and let the two pieces soak again for another 24 hours. 

The Orvus baths are continued until there is no more dirt releasing from the fibers. Then the same thing is repeated but with no soap, just clean water to rinse. This is the third clean water soak. When the water remains clear one can be sure all of the detergents have been rinsed away.

The gown and cap are then carefully taken out of the water, again, by scooping up into a little ball and removing from the water all at once. They are then laid out flat on a towel to air dry. The last thing you want to do is hang up a wet garment to dry if it is fragile! 

This is a photo of the gown and cap after fully dried. It actually has a bit of a pink cast to it. Gone is the dingy yellow overcast. You will see that the stains are still there. If I wanted to remove they could be treated with enzyme detergents, but my goal is not to have a new-looking garment. 

 The goal of washing for me, is to remove the distraction that overall grubbiness presents when mounting. I want people to be able to see the garment for what it was. I want the stains to be there to tell their story.

But to not be so garrish that they attract attention over the construction of the piece, or the fabric, or the overall design. Most of these stains were probably from storage, being laid directly on wood or acidic paper linings in a chest or trunk. 

The few tiny stitches made to reattach the trim are microscopically noticeable, but more importantly, the integrity of the trim on the cap has been restored.

I did add a new drawstring to the center casing. The original cord drawstrings are present at neck and sleeves. She's pretty cute for 200 years old don't you think?