Pursonal Touch Beaded Purse Repair - Victorian Dance Purse

Before.....

Beaded purses are not the only things sent to me for repair. I often receive requests to repair other kind of purses like petit point, fabric purses and dance purses like the one shown here. This lovely Victorian period dance purse was in complete disrepair, and the client was ready to just "trash" it, thinking it was far beyond repair. Instead, she sent it on to me to see what I could do. As you can see, it is torn both on the body and the strap, and there are parts of the metal frame severely affected by verdegris mold, a type of metal corrosion. The once creamy peach silk lining has now deteriorated to shreds, and one of the filligree metal tassels is missing.

After.....

Talk about a total transformation! Removing the body completely from the frame allowed me to deal with the corrosion and then polish the surface to a gorgeous patina. I repaired the torn area using a piece of matching vintage fabric and sewed it in much like a little piece of pie. I used a nice vintage pink silk to re-create the original style pocketed lining. The finishing touches were to sew a new strap and move the remaining tassed around to the front of the purse.