A bird’s eye view in the textile conservation lab workbench this week brings us these pajama bottoms and a little of the mid-conservation chaos that goes into making them look their best. The pajamas are undergoing conservation to be part of an exhibition in fall 2021. The flashy jammies are a rayon satin and where the fabric was dirty or stressed (like at folds), it has split or become thin and weak. Our textile conservator has prepared dyed-to-match silk satin patching material to fill in where there are holes. 

You can see some of the rainbow of patches around the pants and the "winning," matching shades are on the left. The repairs will also use a very thin silk material called crepeline with a conservation adhesive. The crepeline patches will be on the reverse to support the weak places in the pants so they are stable and beautiful while on display next fall.