The collecting of antiques and vintage textiles not only is a collectible past time but gives purpose. Purpose to preserve and share lovely pieces from the past as they are passed hand to hand, generation to generation. I am always eager to share my passion of collecting antique and vintage textiles so I decided to start a page of writings and thoughts on this very subject. This page will be an ever-changing page but on occasion will also offer repeat writings of post brought back by popular demand. Hope you will enjoy the thoughts and writing so visit often to catch up ~ and oh yes, while you are here, shop my store for all the latest offerings!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Decorating a small guest bedroom with two twin beds can present a challenge especially locating matching antique or vintage bed linens. If you are fortunate to buy two matching bedspreads, quilts or bedding in your color scheme it is certainly a plus. Most of the time it is not the case and may take years of searching for that perfect matched set.
What to do if you don't want to wait "forever"? Here is one answer to this dilemna
.jpg)
.jpg)
This bedroom is striking in its red, white and blue color scheme taking its cue from the patriotic pillows and other small items in the room. However, the beds in this room posed a problem of how to tie the scheme together both in color, style and the lack of finding matching bedding. So the owner decided to dress one bed in a blue scheme and the other in a red scheme. The white mariselles or or summer spreads as they are sometimes called tend to quiet the bold primary colors of the red and blue. Again, the mariselles are not matching but both of a flora design. A fantastic red and white star quilt was found for the one bed and a blue and white quilt for the other. To further give height to the end of the beds early 1900's comforters were found in whole cloth calico fabric. The blue one is a marvelous conversation print of horses, bugles & whips. The red one, although, not nearly as much of a "conversation" is equally pleasing in a small white flora print on the red.
.jpg)
.jpg)
At the head of the beds reproduction button down blue pillowcases in a star pattern create a base on which an array of toys and pillows follow suit in the color scheme. Some of the toys are of a patriotic nature dating from early 1900's through the 1940's. The homespun blue and white pillows are of a cross stitch known as "chicken scratch" originating probably in Pennsylvania or possibly of German descent. Hanging above the beds are two embroidered patriotic framed pillow covers giving tribute to Old Glory. Again, this pair of similar but not matching pillow covers were discovered at the Brimfield Flea Market. Perfect to further strengthen the decorating scheme.
.jpg)
.jpg)
One of the final touches and probably one of the most dramatic part of this room is the red, white and blue quilt hung on the wall. I believe the photo does speak for itself.
A learning experience when decorating with antique & vintage is that it doesn't have to be perfect and it doesn't have to match. Unify a room by one or two colors and "found objects" that relate to one another.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ***********Laundry Tips***********
Most textiles that can be safely cleaned are cleaned before I offer for sale. Those that can't or not easily cleaned are inspected. Possibly a good airing on a well shaded protected porch will do wonders to release odors or loose soil. Those items that can be laundered I look for any damage that would need repair prior to laundry. If not repaired before hand more damage may occur during the washing process. Please keep in mind that dirt sometimes is what is holding a piece together. It is so very disheartening to see a lovely piece shredding before your very eyes once the fabric meets the water. Occasionally it does happen. A piece which seemingly could be washed doesn't survive.
Linen and cotton are two of the most easy to clean fabrics so these two fibers will be the focus in this article. You will find as I have many cloth pieces are begging for a good bath. I must say, a good soaking does do wonders to restore vitality to the fabric, helping the piece to emerge from an unkempt desperate look. Again, there are a host of products and ways to clean these fabrics. Although I have tried many of them I find my method of choice, that works for me, is to use the product Oxiclean . This product is easy to obtain and is a relatively safe washing product, but may I stress do read the label. I start my laundry by placing a small group of textiles to soak over night in a plastic tub. Some items may take several soakings to remove all stains, changing the water a number of times during the soaking process. Upon completion of this process I rinse the items several times to remove all traces of the Oxiclean. Then, again, I fill the tub with water and a small amount of detergent to further clean and remove the remainder of residue. Repeat rinsing until no soap remains.
If you are so fortunate to have a clothes line these pieces can be lined dried. Take care of hanging delicate fragile items as the item weighted with water can place stress on the cloth. These pieces are best laid flat to dry on white Turkish towels. I have often resorted to heavy plastic hangers for drying some clothing & small items of cloth hanging on a sheltered porch. Another word of caution wooden hangers and wooden clothespins can sometimes leave a stain on freshly laundered whites so I have refrained from using.
These lovely heirloom pieces are now laundered and dried. As the pieces I launder are offered for sale ironing is the final step, however, please read the information in the following paragraph if your pieces are to be stored.
If you plan to store the items for a period of time you will want to store properly. It is not recommended to store starched iron pieces for an extended time as the starch can cause a deterioration of the cloth via insect etc. Another choice and recommendation for storing would be to purchase archieval tissue paper to wrap the lovelies especially, again, if pieces are to be stored for any length of time. Another recommendation is to store the item/s in cotton sheeting as cotton is a natural fiber which will allow for air circulation and breathing of the textile. Do use 100% cotton sheeting only, with no blends or synthetic. If you don't have old cotton sheets look to purchase vintage pieces. It is a perfect solution for wrapping and storing heirloom textiles. Please, never store your treasures in plastic, cardboard boxes or against wood of a storage cupboard. The last two can cause oxidation stains to the textile. Plastic is never a good choice as it does not allow the cloth to breath.
If you have decided you want to use your treasures after freshly laundering, here are my steps for this process although you may have your own method. When I launder the pieces but before drying I use liquid starch mixed to the directions on the bottle. Each item is dipped in the solution & then aired dried to a point of being almost dry. I roll each piece and place in towel in refrigerator for a few hours or over night. Each piece is usually in a just right "dried" condition for successful ironing. Caution: all pieces must be ironed within a day or two otherwise mildew can develop
This process of ironing freshly starched textiles by this method does require more time and is more satisfactory in the end result but a method of using bottled spray starch on completely dried fabrics just before ironing can also be employed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Condition - Citeria for Purchasing Textiles.
There are probably many thoughts on this very subject both from the perspective of the dealer as well as the buyer. Each person has their own set of rules to what condition the article must reflect. I have opinions, too, but they are somewhat varied as to the type of goods I am offering for sale.
Let me start by saying when you are looking at vintage or antique textiles you are looking at old...not new from the store purchased today...but from the past, made in yesterday's past. Yesterday's items will show different degrees" of less than perfect condition". Even unused items even though looking very new may still have the telltale sign of some oxidations marks. At the other end of the spectrum will be goods in "a well worn - well loved" state. Many other items will fall in between.
So what is my citeria (this is my own personal citeria) for these categories? I believe the earliest finds, anything before the Civil War, we need to be forgiving for the damage we may find. After all many of these items will be over 150 years old so we deserve to give them a bit of a break and their due respect. Remarkably many of these textiles are still very well preserved especially if they have been lovingly cared for & stored. Silks and satins from the time period have held up better than the silks & satins from the later to late Victorian - Edwardian era due to the properties used in the manufacture of the silk fabrics . You will find a great deal of shredding of silks from this later time frame. Is the condition of these pieces worth collecting? I would venture to say it depends on how much shredding and how rare the piece and how desperately the buyer wants it. Usually when the piece starts to shred it will continue to do so. Can the piece be stabilized or the condition slowed down? Possibly by storing properly with little handling. Am I saying not to buy these beautiful pieces that show some wear? Not at all, I have and I will continue to purchase. By all means, enjoy!
I, personally, tend to buy items in good to unused condition simply as I am a little more of a perfectionist. However, here is another school of thought and one I learned very skillfully in the selection of the "well worn / well loved" catagory. Many collectors of country textiles love the faded, mended, well loved look. These cloth items, of course, are less than perfect and one must look beyond the holes, the stains etc. to see the endearing aspect of the piece. Possibly it is a state of mind to conjurure the struggle of families surviving all types of hardships with little financial means from our pioneers who settled this great land to the families of the Depression. The articles of cloth from this struggle show a remarkable reslinency. "Make-do", if you will and should be no less appreciated than any other.
If you are a beginning collector of textiles & want to collect buy the best you can afford to buy being mindful of the condition of the article. Down the line would you be less than happy with the piece with the hole or stain or is the piece all that you want it to be? Learning about our own personal collections will also take us to a step in evaluating condition of the textiles we seek.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Some Things Are Just Too Wonderful Not To Share
Such as this beautiful Assuit Egyptian shawl. It is a metal work shawl from the 1920's and with the discovery of King Tut's tomb in Egypt these beautiful shawls became the fashion rage. Hollywood starlets of the period wrapped themselves in these shimmery metal confections. And yes, the metal work designs did fit with the Art Deco styling of this time period. a perfect blend to fashion of this era. The silver metal work is woven through the holes ( a form of embroidery) of the cream tulle to form an interesting geometric design. The center back motif is of a large diamond surrounded with a series of smaller diamond shape motifs. Side edges and border also display an interesting combination of motifs. The shawl measures 89" long x 23" wide. Although this lovely has been worn it is in remarkably good condition. A couple of small oxidation spots.
