Preserving History: Honoring a Soldier

​Recently, we had the honor of being commissioned to preserve a set of medals for a customer.  This job was particularly challenging because the customer wanted a beautiful presentation for the medals that would be archival, but he also needed access to them because he sometimes took the wings out to wear them.  The older set of medals had been passed down through the family and they were beginning to deteriorate from age. The beautiful silk material used to hold the ribbons was starting to fray and release due to the weight of the medals themselves. 

​We decided to mount the medals onto a clean linen backing and sew them down in a way that would present them very nicely while at the same time taking the weight of the medals off of the ribbon material to keep them from further damage.  The wings were given linen loops to nest into so that they could be removed when the customer would like to take them out.

​In order to be able to take them out, we had to custom design the backing to swing open like a door!

​Turn buttons and brass hinges complete the piece.  A small brass hanger with a black satin ribbon acts as a pull knob without the protrusion of a traditional knob.  It stays flat when the piece is hung on the wall via the sawtooth hanger.  Of course, we had it installed with UV protecting glass so that the fabric on the medals could be further protected from fading.

It was a challenging project that was so gratifying to see come together.  Those medals now have a home that displays them safely for all to see instead of being hidden away in a drawer!