Vintage tablecloth re-purposed

Monica Plotka called me for this project, knowing that I would thoroughly enjoy it, and I sure did- this is one of the coolest shades I've ever made.  Her client dipped into her stash of vintage textiles and brought out this embroidered linen cutwork tablecloth to remake into a shade.

This very fine white linen pressed beautifully.  After the whole tablecloth was ironed, I marked out the exact finished size plus 1.5" for the board, then cut it out carefully, leaving the perimeter intact because..... well, just because I couldn't bear to cut into it.

Because of the openwork areas, it was easy to see the grid of the table behind the fabric.  That made the layout easier.

2" French cotton grosgrain ribbon was adhered to the back with Sealah tape, then pressed around to the front, mitering the corners along the way.

From the front, the ribbon was topstitched all around.

A length of Rowley's weight bar tubing was machine-sewn 3" above the top of the ribbon, the stitching ending right before the ribbon, with an extra couple of inches left at each end.

The first ring started 6" above the fabric tube, with ladder tape.  After all the rings were sewn on, the weight bar tube was folded up to meet the bottom rings, and tacked to that bottom ring.  The weight bar was inserted into the tube, and the ends finished. 

The fold created one permanent pleat at the bottom, even when the shade is fully lowered; the extra fold hides the weight bar pocket stitching, and any other clutter that might show through the open areas.

This project was right up my alley!  Thanks Monica, I'll do this again any time!

Favorites from my vintage stash

Today, the penultimate day of another year nearly spent, the waning solstice moon hanging mid-sky at dawn, and now a cold and bright December afternoon, today seemed like a good day to post pictures of a few items from my vintage fabric collection.  

Especially now near the winter solstice I think of the lineage of women, stretching back from us to our grandmothers back to olden historical times, then further back through ancient history and pre-history, women sitting at their work by a fire during the dark and cold months, preparing beautiful things to bring delight to mundane needs and tasks.

To me, these flea market textiles are treasured relics, records of the dreams of the women whose hands created them, links to the ones who went before. 

At one recent flea market a vendor gave me a whole big box of embroidered household linens for $20, because she didn't want to go to the trouble of sorting, laundering, and labeling everything for sale.  Joy! 

My all-time favorite flea market find, this pillowcase is a mystery to me- the pink and black rays are printed, not pieced.

The taffeta face was backed with homespun before embroidering.

Who thought of this?  and Why?

Here are a few of my favorite hand-embroidered table linens- tablecloths, runners, doilies, scarves,  napkins:
 

I haven't figured out yet why this piece captivates me so.

Linsay's Farm

The stuga

I've been working hard and will have photos this week, really!, of this ongoing project that finally will be installed.  All the previous treatments that you see in those photos have been removed and the new ones are about to take their place.
Meanwhile, other projects just have been too whirlwind to have the time to document.


So let me tell you what has been occupying my imagination as I sew away the summer: this little building on Linsay Cochran's Kitchawan Farm with its charming windows and robin's egg blue floor.


The moment I saw it I knew I'd have to make a window treatment for Linsay with fabric from my vintage and feedsack collection.


Linsay refers to this building as her little Swedish stuga.  It was moved from the back of the property and renovated for her to use as a farm store for her produce as well as local hand-crafted products.  

Some of my feedsack and vintage fabrics

Though Linsay grows fabulous veggies, I think she really uses the farm as her own artist's canvas.  Everything in sight reflects her unique sense of design and balance.  Form and function are in harmony here on Kitchawan Farm.

I know exactly what I want to make for the stuga: narrow pojagi-inspired pieced scarves to be hung with loops from poles made from branches. 

August at Kitchawan

Palette for a Robin's Egg Blue Floor

Other people's grandmothers' scraps

The yield at Stormville Flea Market was even better than usual this time.  Here are the contents of a bag full of quilt scraps, for $10.

I am overwhelmed with wonder about the women whose hands created the quilts these scraps came from.  Textile is like the mitochondria of human culture- passed on through the untold generations of womens' hands.

I'm not sure how I'll work with these since they all have batting and backing and are quilted.  Since they're quite old and the battings are cotton, they're pretty musty and they need cleaning.  Certainly all these have been washed innumerable times, but because of the exposed raw edges of the little pieces, I think I have to use them first then launder my finished product. 

Some of these are pretty homemade looking, but there are also some pieces with quite skillful quilting.  I wish I could have seen the whole quilts they came from.

I also returned with quite a haul of embroidered hankies, doilies, tablecloths, and kitchen linens, many with hand-crocheted edgings and hand-made lace or cutwork trims- to add to the not insignificant stash I already have!  Not to mention my precious feedsacks.

Am I crazy?  I work with fabric all day, for a living.  I think about sewing projects all the time.  When I have some free time, I sew for myself or embroider my ready-made clothes.  I have probably a thousand yards of decorating fabrics scraps and on bolts, which I've secreted all over the place like squirrels hide nuts.  I have I don't know how many yards of quilting cotton fabrics for dozens of unmade projects.  I have old textiles that were made by my grandmother and great-grandmother.  And still- I go to flea markets and buy other peoples' old fabric scraps.

Feedsacks

What does a true fabriholic who sews for a living do in her time off- she collects more fabric, of course!
I had a good day at the Stormville Flea Market- I made some significant additions to my feedsack and vintage fabric collection.
I've been collecting these for a couple of years now and I swear I have plans for them.
If you don't know what feedsacks are about and want to find out, check out this article on quilting history. 
I'd write a bit about it myself but really it's Memorial Day and I'm about to leave for a nice hike at the Pawling Nature Reserve with Camille. 
Cotton sacking wasn't just for feed- you can see I have a few other fabric sacks for sugar, salt, seeds, and wheat paste.
Another time I'll add photos of other vintage fabrics I've collected.  I'm fascinated by embroidered hankies, doilies, and kitchen towels.  Aprons.  Pillowcases.  I have a Sunbonnet Sue quilt my great-grandmother made.
Gotta go!  Happy Memorial Day, everyone!