Invisible mending

Dear Mary,

If they're tiny pinholes, it's not moths, it's carpet beetles. They are tiny things, but cause a lot of damage. Wherever you have your woolens and silks stored should be thoroughly sprayed to get rid of them, including wool carpeting.

Reweaving is not advertised anymore, because it was so expensive, people balked. Is there any way you can open the lining enough to back a black fabric against the holes?

Teri

I really think it was moth, a lot of our clothing and other fabric suffered before we had a Grand Clear Out :-) Still see the odd one and the other day I found a larva.

We got rid of ALL our carpeting because of Things living in them. We won't use pesticide sprays though.

Someone suggested using the same fabric (it would have to be the same because of the weave), cutting an identical piece and bonding with fusible web. I think I might go down that route.

Thanks though,

Mary

Dear Mary,

I was a conservator of historic clothing. One of the first things we learned was that moths made holes that were not uniform in shape and

1/4 inch or larger. Carpet beetles are the size of a pinhead and make uniform, tiny holes. While they eat mainly silk and wool, if they are trapped, they will eat through anything in the attempt to get out. Freezing is an option to eliminate them. In fact, many museums have eliminated their gas chambers which used to be used for fumigating. Too dangerous. Some of the old remedies work, too--lavender (but you have to change it often) and other highly scented plants. I don't use mothballs, either.

Teri

Too bad you can't take a page from Beverly's book and stitch little seashells over all the holes....

Why not tiny cruise ships? With smoke trailing from the stacks, and a nice wake....

Beverly

He would be a huge hit! They'd be dining at the Captain's table every night!

What you want is French "Re"-Weaving, which is also known as invisible mending/darning.

The craft is an over 200 year old art of taking threads from another part of a garment or item, or any other matching thread, and with (much) effort repairing holes and tears.

Have several vintage books on mending and darning, and French re-weaving is a whole other craft from routine darning. Apparently there were and are persons so skilled at this art they can repair linen damask tablecloths so well as not only to match the pattern, but you simply cannot find the mend. Many grand French homes, including the staff of various French government ministries, still employ linen maids that perform re-weaving as part of their duties in maintaining various items within the household.

Though the art, like darning is slowly dying out, there still are a few French re-weavers out there:

There was a PBS show recently on Buckingham Palace, and they interviewed the person in charge of the linens (can't remember her title), who explained how they carefully mend the precious old pieces. I was fascinated.

Beverly

Saw the same program as well, very good stuff it was indeed. Guess places like BP and such are the only ones who can afford to employ full time linen maids, and their linen is to precious to be sent out just any where.

Still, one cannot imagine the strain upon one's eyes such mending took and or takes. Most of the French mending persons one has spoken with use some sort of magnifying glass or jeweller's glasses to see their work. Darning a wool sock or sweater with a large needle and yarn is one thing, but trying to fill in a hole on a wool suit jacket or linen tablecloth is quite another matter.

Another trick of the aforementioned linen maids is when there is a hole or tear near embroidery, they embroider over the hole as a mend, then make a mirror image embroider on the opposite side of the "mend" so to match. Those must be some very precious table linens.

Have in my sewing basket a little pen type object that supposedly makes invisible mending easier. Though it came in the original box with directions, have never sat down to practice.

If anyone has the Dillmont/DMC book, IIRC there is a whole chapter on darning damask and "invisible" mending.

Candide

Sounds a little like my recent repair to a favorite T-shirt.

Beverly

I'm pea green with envy!

Well done!

Candide

Oh, sorry, that probably doesn't go with you hair color. ;-}

Thanks! I was so pleased to have a working shirt again. ;-)

Beverly

That's right.

It's very good for moth too, I now keep all my fleece in the freezer.

Thanks, Teri, I do use lavender oil on patches of cotton places between clothing, blankets etc - expecially our period clothing which is only used three or four times a year these days.

The dinner suit was borrowed by a son who always forgets to return things until asked - genuinely (his life is incredibly busy and complicated and he's rarely at home). So we weren't in control ... :-(

Mary

...

LOL! Or sequins ...

Mary

Now my mind's working overtime. I could make minuscule polar bears and have them peeping out ... (it's an Arctic cruise).

Mary

I know how to do it, it was one of the skills we learned at school But my eyes and fingers aren't good enough these days :-(

It would have to be for the weave of this fabric, it's not tabby woven.

It would be cheaper to buy a new suit!

:-)

Mary

I did something similar with an embroidered linen tablecloth I made more than fifty years ago. It developed holes and rust marks so I added more flowers and a butterfly :-)

Mary

Perhaps this method migth take a little too much space and energy in the long run. However, I consider it as a good start for getting rid of the beasts.

Ah, that's neat! A friend of mine who's into historical reenactment and trades furs and leather at Viking, Mediaeval and Native American fairs recommended also dried walnut leaves. I never tried it - no walnut tree at hand - although I used cut lavender for my fur scraps. When re-packing my stash not too long ago, I found that it didn't help, probably I didn't change the herbs often enough (didn't change them at all ). However, not my entire stash was lost, just a few older scraps. I aired, shook out, and repacked the good pieces with moth paper. So much for environmentally-friendly. ;-)

Ah yes, I hate it when that happens. You take care of it, you give it away, and when you get it back it looks like something from a thriftshop or worse. Had a pair of nice, black high-heeled boots, one of my cousins borrowed them, I got them back with the heels badly scraped so that they were almost white. We're not really on speaking terms anymore.

U.

While shaking a nice seal in it's mouth. Mmmmm, polar bear dinner... ;->

Beverly