1999 Volunteer Leadership Training Guide
Caring for Textile Heirlooms
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Introduction
• Target Audiences
• Objectives
• Major Teaching Points
• Suggested Activities
• Additional Resources
Introduction
While we may not see them as such, many of the sewn items we make for our
families and friends are truly works of art. These "works of art in cloth" are a
product of loving care and exacting skill. Sometimes hundreds of hours are spent
designing and executing a wedding quilt or a French hand-sewn trousseau for
someone we love. These items, and others like them, mark important events and
ceremonies in our lives. If taken care of properly, textile items can last
beyond the lifetimes of their creators and owners, providing children and
grandchildren a link with their family’s past.
Target Audiences
EHC Members
Quilt Guilds
Sewing Guilds
Objectives
1. Participants will learn techniques for extending the life of textile
items.
2. Participants will learn proper methods for cleaning and storing
heirloom textiles.
3. Participants will learn precautions which should be taken when
displaying heirloom textiles.
Major Teaching Points
1. Textile heirlooms and keepsakes require special care to preserve them
for future use.
2. Proper care is important at all stages in the life of a textile one
wishes to preserve if it is to look good when it is old.
3. To prevent serious damage, textile items must be protected from heat,
humidity, light, insects, rodents, soil and abrasion.
4. Ordinary cardboard, paper, metal and wood deteriorate textiles and
should not come in direct contact with textile items.
Suggested Activities
1. Ask members to bring to the meeting, a textile item, old or new, that
they feel is, or will one day become, a treasured family keepsake.
2. Ask members to share their item and a little of its history with the
group.
3. After establishing the importance of preserving textile keepsakes,
discuss the proper methods for cleaning, storing and displaying textile
heirlooms.
Additional Resources
Textile Conservation Kit. Contains samples of acid-free materials
and supplementary written resources (for setting up a display or using as
visuals for presentation of the lesson). Order from Extension Clothing
Specialist.
Care, Cleaning and Storage of Heirloom Quilts, FSHEB5, available
from the Extension warehouse.
Cleaning and Storing Heirloom Clothes, FSHEA14, available from the
Extension warehouse.
Michelle James, Extension Clothing Specialist
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