Aprons

Aprons anyone?  How about a Hostess Apron for your next Christmas party?  Love, Love, Love, mid-century tablecloths. 

For everyday use linen is a smart choice.  The apron on the right is from a German mangle cloth ca. 1900.  Heavy linen was used in laundry mangles because it could withstand the abuse, repeated washings and high temperatures.  Delicate items were sandwiched between the mangle cloth.  The stripes were used to line up the cloth while inserting in the mangle.  Linen withstands high temperatures, repeated washings and resists stains more than most fabrics.  Price?  $35.  Great gift for yourself or the chef in your life. 

Jewelry from Vintage Treasures

The jewelry making has begun.  The typewriter necklaces will be only $15.  The bracelets average $35.  Bracelets pictured are from typewriter keys with bakelite buttons, a vintage enamel clockface from France with vintage button and sari silk, and a vintage button bracelet.  My mother sent me a box of vintage jewelry yesterday and I already used a chain to make the button bracelet.  The buttons were an inheritance.  My birthmother's great-great-grandmother started the collection before the Civil War.  The selection is fantastic.  Bakelite buttons were used for the rings, rings will be $10-$15.  Would you believe the optical lens necklace is from Paris ca. 1850?  It is by the best optical lens maker in the world at the time (they did microscopes and telescopes as well).  I have added a vintage image onto the back of the lens and attached a few findings.  I plan on doing necklaces with themes like holidays, sewing and quilts, religious, and monograms.  Let me know if you have a special request.  The lenses also look fantastic clear.  Prices on these will be around $35. 

This is what greeted me on my workbench this morning.  Does it make you feel creative?  It sure does to me.  What would you do with brass tags, doll heads, French enamel numbers, buttons, and keys?



Grain Sack Christmas Tree Skirt

I will make several Christmas Tree Skirts from Grain Sacks for Swiss Days.  The price will be around $110.   The back is linen, so it is reversible.   This is a thick grain sack and has a deep color similar to burlap, with a herringbone weave.  Most grain sacks are from around 1880 and made from linen and hemp which were probably grown on the farm that wove the grain sack.  Each farmer had a unique stripe to help him identify his sacks at the mill.  The heavier sacks will be for tree skirts and the softer ones for pillows.   This particular grain sack is 100% homespun hemp made around 1900 in Transylvania.

Front Porch Fall Decor

Summer is my favorite season.  I dread the ending of it, and yet as September starts, I am excited for Fall: it never fails to surprise me.  The front porch is ready to greet the leaves as they drift down from our 157 trees, causing me to stop sewing and scoop them up with the riding lawn mower, a task that I enjoy more than going to the movies.  As we near Halloween, the lawn furniture is stored, the potted plants taken to the dump, and the garden veggie plants are turning into compost.   September and October have gone by too quickly.  I eagerly await when it will be too cold to work in the yard and I can sew night and day.  Getting ready for Swiss Days has to be completed before Spring beckons me back to the yard.

Christmas Stockings and Hotel Utah Salvage

No two stockings are alike.  Materials used are seed sacks, grain sacks, mangle cloth, vintage tablecloths, 18th century French toile, and vintage ticking.  Prices range from $35 to $50.  The stocking holder is made from door casings and window casings salvaged from the Hotel Utah.  The knobs are antique porcelain door knobs.  When not using it as a stocking holder, is it a fantastic coat rack or towel rack.  More Hotel Utah salvage will be posted in upcoming posts.  How about a key rack, grain sack bulletin board, or chalk board?

Your Vintage Home Product Variety

Some close up photos of the items that will be for sale in the 

Your Vintage Home booth at Swiss Days in Midway 2014

Vintage Fabrics in my Vintage Home

Two examples of vintage fabrics in the living room.  I silk-screened the "Bless this nest" image on a homespun grain sack.  The ottoman/bench is covered with a heavy grain sack.  One grain sack opened up is the perfect size for upholstering a medium-sized bench or one chair back and chair seat.

Quilt Cutter Shapes

Can you imagine these beautiful shapes cut from old quilts as ornaments or bowl fillers?  Prices will be $2.50 for the small flat pieces and $5 for the large stuffed hearts.  A small price to pay for feeling the history of these quilts in your hands.  To make into an ornament, embroider around the edge and add a button and a thread loop hanger.  Or, embroider a word or name on a small scrap of fabric and attach it to the shape with a button or primitive stitches.

Grain Sack Trees

How about a Christmas Tree made from grain sacks, feed sacks, and seed sacks?  Some have original or added patches.  Some have a silk-screened crown.   To three I have added a newly grunged flour sack from Lehi Roller Mills.  All have original, antique striping and graphics.  All are a bit grungy.   There are nine in total and probably won't be anymore as the prices on seed sacks is getting too pricey.  The price at Swiss Days will be around $95/tree.