Encapsulation Preparation
In December, my fellow Conservation Specialist Cambray Baylis and I, finished humidifying this flag carried by the 18th Michigan Infantry. You can read more about that process in our last update.
We’re now beginning the process of encapsulation, sewing the flag by hand between two layers of a stabilizing fabric. We use a very fine, lightweight nylon tulle for encapsulation, and color match the tulle to the flag. We will use a dark blue for the canton and a warm ivory color for the stripes. Matching the colors on this flag is especially easy because it was left in three pieces after we removed a previous conservation treatment from the 1960s. After we encapsulate the flag, the three pieces will be reattached via the nylon fabric.
Before we start sewing, we cut the tulle to size, wash it in plain water, air dry it, and iron it. Once the tulle has been prepared, we carefully position the original fabric between the layers of tulle. This can be tricky because both fabrics are extremely thin and tend to slip out of position. In addition, static charge from the tulle can pick up small pieces of silk. We have to make sure any loose fragments of original fabric stay in the right place, and keep the tulle laying flat so it doesn’t put any tension on the fabric of the flag.
With the encapsulation fabric in place, we can get our needles out! We’ll be back with more details about our sewing techniques soon.
-May Oyler, Conservation Specialist
