Nicole La Bay  

You will find Nicole La Bay Victorian and Georgian Antiques here: rubylane.com/shops/nicole-la-bay (just add: hhtp://www. at the beginning )

1. RESTORING VICTORIAN BATTENBERG LACE, DON'T PANIC!

So you have this exceptional antique Battenberg lace tablecloth with huge holes in it. How depressing.

Don't panic!

But don't rush to repair it, as ivory, beige, or ecru colors may actually become a pure white once the piece is clean, and the ivory thread you've used for the restoration will then stand out badly.

1. CLEANING/DRYING

So, clean the piece carefully first, by hand of course, as they NEVER survive a washing machine cycle. Don't hang it, since it would pull at the lace and break the fibers, but let it dry out flat on towels.

2. PRESSING

Once your piece is dry, press the tape slowly, and with a lot of precautions, for better visibility,

3. STUDYING THE PATTERNS

then study the patterns of the lace carefully, as everything is regular in these pieces, even if the damaged areas look cahotic.

Start with areas where the pattern makes complete sense to you.

4. BRIDGING THE GAPS

The large holes are scary, I agree! But this doesn't mean they can't be fixed, and sometimes it's much easier than you thought.

So to feel better about them, once the lace pattern is understood, put the hole flat on a table, and try to connect a first area across the whole, where you're sure it had to be connected.

This will create a bridge in the lace that will instantly give you hope!

Once the largest holes are loosely reattached, you can proceed to more detailed work.

5. THREAD & REFILLS

If it's very difficult today to find the super fine satin threads used for antique embroidery, you should have no problem purchasing the kind of thick cotton thread needed for Battenberg lace. But be ready, you'll need a lot. So you may want to talk to the store about future refills.

6. TIMEFRAME

Restoring these pieces need patience and time. You must allow several days for a damaged  piece, up to 2 weeks for a very large one.

But the result is EXTREMELY REWARDING.

Nicole La Bay

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2. ADJUST A VICTORIAN LACE SKIRT/PETTICOAT TO YOUR SIZE!

How to adjust the 20" or so of a Victorian petticoat to our modern waistlines?

If you can sew a little bit, this should be easy.

Keep in mind that most of the Victorian "functional" sewing ( by opposition to the "decorative", like drawn threads or floral embroideries) if done by hand, was far from perfect. So, any alterations done by hand today, with preferably mini stitches, won't show at all!

Pieces of  white bedsheets which have been washed many times and have become thinner, will make perfect add ons and mendings if necessary.

Petticoats can easily be shortened to increase the width of the fabric on top, and a new belt made, which fits you well, with minimal expertise.

While keeping the beautiful lace ruffles at the bottom intact.

The same cotton bias straps used then, are still sold today, and will be enough to create a sturdy belt at the back of the fabric.

Simply apply it on top, while gathering the petticoat fabric evenly under it.

Small, traditional frog fasteners are easy to apply by hand all along the petticoat side slit, and where the belt will close.

It only requires some time, patience.. and a good thimble!

The result is a beautiful Victorian Prairie skirt, with a totally invisible alteration, which you will wear for the many Summers to come!

Nicole La Bay

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3. RESTORING YOUR VICTORIAN SILKS!

Museum quality antique silks are now maintained with a technique
 that "supports" the fraying areas with an invisible nylon net,

so if you have a piece of that quality, contact your local Museum and ask for advice. Most of them have an antique textiles department.

This tip is more about restoring a small Victorian piece of sentimental value. If done well, this should ensure another 20 years of life to your piece, possibly more.

In my experience silks start fraying after 50 years, all of them, particularly if they have been worn and exposed to daylight.

So, of course, the first thing you want to do is keep your Victorian silk piece away from daylight, in a portfolio, a special box, or framed and hung in a dark niche in the house.

Once your piece has started fraying, you may want to do this:

Try to re-create a brand new compact embroidery with super thin satin thread, INSIDE the frayed areas.

Completely restitch the frayed areas with long vertical stitches very close to each other, (not as long as the frayed areas though)

This will hold the frayed silk fibers together, and form a new, smooth, again, compact area which fools the eye pretty well.

This is something anyone can do with a little bit of patience and the right quality of thread, 
But the quality of the floss is crucial, it has to be as thin as possible, and of exactly the same color, for the best effect.

Nicole La Bay
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4. RESTORING YOUR VICTORIAN INLAID BOXES/WOOD OBJECTS!

This tip isn't for highly expensive antiques! But for lovely wooden items from the Victorian/Edwardian era you may find at a reasonable price, which have a loss of wooden inlays.

(metal inlays are very different and not part of this description)

Victorian wooden inlays were very thin and delicate, usually made of precious fruit woods. Because of these minimal sizes, these little restoration tricks won't show.

Inlay losses are basically holes, and what you want to do, is fill the holes with a synthetic wood paste that isn't costly, and can be found in any hardware store.

You want to wax the object first, and also polish the metal parts if any, so you don't have to do it after the mini restorations are done, which could erase all your work!.

Fill the holes with the paste very sparingly, as you don't want to cover the other parts of the wooden object. If you do, wipe the surplus right away with a dry cloth. If some is left, you can still do it later gently with a fingernail, when it's dry and powdery.

This type of paste dries up really fast, so you want to work fairly fast too.

Try to fill the holes evenly, and pat the results nicely with your fingers, as all adjustments will require extra filing; which you will do preferably with a nail file or very thin sandpaper, always avoiding to hurt the surface of the item, probably made of a precious wood too.

A day later, once your paste is perfectly dry,  you can paint the area with a soft brush to ressemble similar inlaid areas. This will require a little bit of artistic sense in the choice of colors and imitation of the woods. Keep in mind paint will get darker when it gets dry.

Cover the wood paste well with the paint to hide its basic beige tone. Acrylic paint is fine. Oil painting is good too, but takes of course several days to dry. Once you're satisfied with your painting, try to add just a touch of varnish without hurting the paint, to equalize the restoration with the waxed areas.

When your object is restored, it 'll take a very expert eye to see the differences, and you may be the only one to know!

Nicole La Bay

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Nicole La Bay  

You will find Nicole La Bay Victorian and Georgian Antiques here: rubylane.com/shops/nicole-la-bay (just add: hhtp://www. at the beginning )