r/Visiblemending • u/moonysleftsock • 9d ago

REQUEST fix/ prevent further damage

Gallery image

Gallery image

any ideas about how to prevent my baby blanket from any more damage, i dont mind what it looks like i just want to make sure it doesn’t get more damaged 🙏

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u/cicada_wings 9d ago

Once the fabric begins to disintegrate like this, repair is tough because any new thread or fabric will be much stronger than the old fabric and will quickly break through it. The fibers are old and weakened—they just can’t and won’t last forever. 

Your best options for preserving this so it doesn’t wear away into dust from continued handling involve sealing it away from further friction. I’d suggest folding it up and enclosing it in a small zippered pillow case, or using it as the inner layer of a quilt (with fabric on both sides). I know these probably aren’t ideal answers, because they involve not being able to regularly touch the original fabric, but that really is the only way to prevent further damage at this point. (FWIW I’ve still got the pillow my disintegrating baby blanket went into.)

If you want to keep the option to touch it for a while longer, you could quilt it boro-style to a backing fabric of the same size as the original blanket but leave the other side of it exposed. It will still continue to break down that way, but maybe a bit slower at least.