Laid and couched stitching is one of the most common stabilization methods used in textile conservation. This project was designed so I could gain stitching experience and gain experience selecting appropriate support fabrics and threads for stabilizing different types of textiles. 

Four textiles were used as samples: a heavy weight cotton, a medium weight wool, an aged light weight cotton, and an aged lightweight silk. Two samples, A and B, were prepared from each textile. All samples were mechanically distressed to include loses, tears, and areas of abrasion.

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Sample A from each textile was stabilized with color contrast thread and silk habotai as a support fabric. Sample B from each textile was stabilized using color match thread and a support fabric similar in weight to the textile being stabilized:

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                - Kona cotton for the heavyweight cotton

                - Cotton batiste for the medium weight wool

                - Cotton voile for the aged light weight cotton

                - Silk habotai for the aged lightweight silk

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For most of the samples, five threads were used: hair silk, Piper's stranded silk, Skala polyester, Mettler cotton sewing thread, and DMC cotton embroidery floss. For one of the aged silk samples, sample 4B, only hair silk was used. Instead of exploring different thread types, sample 4B explored different spacing between laid lines. Specific threads are noted in the full project report, linked below.

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