Why don’t they make these any more?
Posted: August 29, 2014 Filed under: Home and Garden, Sewing Project, Vintage tablecloths | Tags: Textile, vintage tablecloth, Wilendur Comments Off on Why don’t they make these any more?
The same towel in three colorways: dark red, bright green, and bright red. On top of my favorite turquoise Wilendur dogwood-blossom tablecloth!
Last weekend I picked up four vintage printed kitchen towels at a great antique shop in Ilion, New York.
It’s the colors that got me, of course!
The floral print is pretty.
This is half the towel. The other half has the same motif.
Though the long edges were raveled a bit, the towels didn’t show any wear or stains. They looked new, actually.
Then I looked closer at the raveled edges.
Yep, there’s more! Click here!
Simple embroidery? It’s just ducky for beginners.
Posted: August 16, 2014 Filed under: Craft, Sewing Project | Tags: Sewing, Textile, vintage embroidery 2 CommentsJaneray’s wonderful day-of-the-week dishtowels reminded me that I’ve got some darling vintage embroidery pieces in my stash that are bound for September’s Vintage Bazaar.
I think all of them are easy enough for even a beginning stitcher to enjoy making.
Like this sweet cotton towel with a little Dutch washerwoman. Isn’t her flowered skirt adorable?
Yep, there’s more! Click here!
To quilt heaven and back: Lancaster PA
Posted: August 11, 2014 Filed under: Fun Finds, Home and Garden, Sewing Project | Tags: fabric shops, Lancaster PA, Quilting, vintage quilt tops 3 CommentsHave you ever splurged on something without a single regret? Earlier this summer I found a collection of vintage quilt tops for sale on Instagram. They’d been used to cover tables at a country wedding. (Lucky, lucky bride!) The handful of photos were itty-bitty but I could see the quilt tops were made of amazing old fabric. It was a now-or-never moment. So I bought all five of them!
Look at these colors! Look at these patterns! How could I choose just one?
Fast forward a few weeks, and two friends invited me to go fabric shopping in Lancaster. I took two of the vintage quilt tops along. Yes, there’s more!
Thinking like a [sane] quilter
Posted: June 1, 2014 Filed under: Craft, Sewing Project | Tags: Alice Brooks quilt pattern, applique birds quilt, feedsack prints, Quilting, quilts, Textile 2 CommentsMonths ago somebody handed me a bag full of quilt bits their grandmother or great-aunt had left them, because I like sewing and all, so maybe I could finish it and have a nice quilt. Why, thank you very much!
At home, I opened the bag and saw this.
Brown, red, green, and lavender-pink? Not my favorite color scheme.
And closed the bag and stuffed it away somewhere. Because, while that bit on top there is nicely done patchwork, it is flaming-’80s “country” colors in stiff fabrics that are heavy on the polyester.
First off, I don’t quilt. Yet.
But when I finally start, I don’t want to make something in colors that don’t appeal to me and in fabric that’s unpleasant to handle. There’s no way in tarnation I’d put that much work into polyester.
Well, that was then. I found the forgotten bag recently and decided to dump everything out and see how bad it really was. Turns out, there were just a few ugly pieces on top. Underneath . . . . . -See what I found!>
Cutter tablecloths get a second chance
Posted: May 28, 2014 Filed under: Makeover, Sewing Project, This Old Row House, Vintage tablecloths | Tags: cutter tablecloth, vintage tablecloth, vintage tablecloths Comments Off on Cutter tablecloths get a second chance99.99% of the time I couldn’t cut up a vintage tablecloth for a sewing project. But sometimes they just can’t be saved. Holes the size of an egg right in the middle of an otherwise wonderful tablecloth released me from all guilt in turning this one into a small curtain for my front door.
I sewed this so long ago that the yellow flowers have almost completely faded from exposure to the morning sun. I probably ought to replace it.
The other half of the same tablecloth ended up as a small valance over my kitchen sink window.
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janeray
dish sisters vintage home and housewares 