Last year I attended the Woolly Good Gathering and had a wonderful time finding new vendors, chatting with fellow crafters, and demonstrating with the Edinburgh Guild of Weavers, Spinners & Dyers. For 2025, I’ll be back, but not just as a guest! I’ll be giving a talk about my work, entitled “Protecting Your Textile Treasures […]
education
How To Transform A Raw Fleece Into Clean Wool
I recently attended the Connecticut Sheep, Wool, and Fiber Fest. I went thinking I would only buy washed and prepped wool, but walked away with a six pounds (2.7 kg) Corriedale/Cormo/Romney cross raw fleece. A raw fleece is any fleece that has not been washed or otherwise prepared for crafting. Raw fleeces have only been […]
My Journey to Textile Conservation: Past, Present, and Future
Beginnings One of the first hurdles to becoming a textile conservator is knowing that the field exists at all. Many people have interests in museums, art, craft, history, or science but have no idea that they could channel these passions into textile conservation. Very few people (including several of my family members) known what textile […]
Who are textile conservators?
Textile conservators are professionals who care for, treat, and preserve important textile objects. These objects may include a family heirloom christening gown, a famous wrestler’s ring attire, or a fragment from an archaeological dig. These textiles may be ancient or modern, in tatters or pristine, priceless or only valued by their owners. Textile conservators may […]