Go-Getter: Antique fabric restorer: We work one stitch at a time

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02:27

On International Laborer's day, we met a hard-worker who restores antique fabrics. It's meticulous work, and our restorer says she already knows what lies ahead all the way to the day of her retirement. CGTN reporter Sun Ye introduces us.

Antique fabric restoration. It's a painstakingly slow line of work. Q-tips run out quickly. And restorer Jia Ting says, sometimes, cleaning up just ONE SQUARE CENTIMETER of cloth, is more than good enough for the day. This single piece of a boot's surface takes months to just clean. And that's only the first step in bringing it back to life.

JIA TING ANTIQUE FABRIC RESTORER "Imagine a patient seeking help from a doctor. We work in a similar way. We check on the textiles, sometimes giving them the equivalent of CT-scans; we make diagnoses; we do treatment consultations and we operate on them."

Because of the long, tedious processes they endure, Jia says restorers are chemists, analysts, artists and artisans all in one. And her work demands a special type of personality.

JIA TING ANTIQUE FABRIC RESTORER "Yes, personal traits are so important. Look at our work, it's one stitch at a time. You have to be able to sit steadily through all of it."

As one of China's youngest associate researchers in textile archeology, Jia was first attracted to vintage clothing in her teens. And that patience required has come naturally to her and her team.

XIE FEI STUDENT, BEIJING INST. OF FASHION TECHNOLOGY "We don't think it's that hard. So long as you like the work, as we do here in the lab, you can carry it out."

Jia is now working to include more people into the archeological textile study and restoration.

JIA TING ANTIQUE FABRIC RESTORER "Our museum has 200 pieces waiting for me already. And I know I won't be able to finish them by the day I retire."

Until then there is no break for her. But there is a deadline, the piece of 700-year-old robe she now stitches, will be put on display within the year. SY, CGTN, BJ.