i have found some very old tattting or lace ladies dress cuffs with tiny glass beads sewn onto them. i bought two victorian(georgian)ladies dress sleeves with the above described items attached to them. the cuffs are completely hand made in a cream colour. the small beads are handsewn onto them.. there is very little damage but the sleeve material is almost disintegrated. does anyone have any idea how to preserve these items and am i best to keep them attached to the delicate sleeves themselves?

Dear Anne:
You can do two different things for preserving your new treasure, you could remove the lace trims from the sleeves, then, you could have a conservationist
try to repair these sleeves by adding some stabilizer to the sleeve materials, this is usually done by using very fine netting or fine silk. Then, the lace trims could carefully handsewn back on the sleeves.

I would check with a textile department in a museum ...call the curator and get an appointment with a conservationist....

Keep your new found treasure wrapped in acid free tissue or get an old cotton pillowcase and
keep them protected.

I hope that helps. If there's more to the story, send me more information.

Kind regards,
Linda Tomlin