On Dec 11, 2009, at 11:27 AM, Alexandria Doyle wrote:
Was this on a hanging or clothing? I wonder about having a piece of paper permanently inside of a component of the bodice
If it's actually *paper* and not varnished or plasticized, it is unlikely to cause problems. When it's new, it may make the occasional crackling sound, but if it's in an area of the garment that moves and flexes a lot, that will soon go away. It will also soften up if it becomes damp (such as from perspiration) or gets cleaned.
While paper tends to be denser than fabric, and thus doesn't necessarily "breathe" well, for a small area that's not likely to be important. And as it softens it becomes more "breathable." And it's not NEARLY as bad as synthetics in this regard. If breathability is vital, you could spend some extra $$ and get the paper with regularly spaced little perforations all over it that is sold for scrapbooking and "cross stitch on paper" craft projects. An added bonus is that this is usually "archive quality" paper which means it's not going to turn yellow a few decades down the road and possibly stain a light colored fabric. (Or you could simply use 100% rag paper or other "archival" paper.)
As for glue, IIRC wheat-paste glue seems to be what was used in the 16thc for pasting paper onto cloth (don't have a citation to hand but could possibly track one down if needed). The disadvantage is that it has a high enough water content to make paper warp and ripple. Modern white "glue sticks," if I read the ingredients correctly, contain less water, but are casein-based, so otherwise not all that dissimilar to pre-1600 "cheese glue." (It also, very conveniently, washes out.) If you're familiar with SCA resources, there was an issue of the Compleat Anachronist sometime within the last few years on period adhesives, available through the SCA website (http://www.sca.org/ca/).
More than you probably actually wanted to know, but perhaps it may be helpful ;)
____________________________________________________________ O Chris Laning <[email protected]> - Davis, California + http://paternoster-row.org - http://paternosters.blogspot.com ____________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
