a small sample of nearly fifty pounds of vintage cloth.
Not that I had any doubts, but all of this cloth will take whatever color I give it - voraciously.
Most of these things are linen of varying weights and weaves. Yardage. Hand towels, table drapes, decorative things all oddly unused. I'm still thinking much of it was a bridal trousseau for a bride who may have been left at the altar.
This dark piece is a very odd apron, made to pin at the shoulders rather than tie.
These pieces have been in clean, dry storage for thirty or forty years. Maybe more. When I opened the boxes, the fragrance (I'm being nice here) reminded me instantly of several of my Italian aunts. Dusty, sweet and cloying. The fragrance "Maja" comes to mind. I was on a mission to expunge the odor.
Machine washing in Synthrapol, Dawn, and baking soda almost did it. 24 hours in the sunshine and fresh air did more.
A long dye batching overnight on the deck, then another hot and frothy machine wash. Another 24 hours on the line finished the job. If you think I'm ironing this stuff, you're crazy. It's as tough and wrinkly as my Italian aunties were.
Going forward, I'm just going to spew this stuff around the deck and leave the heavy lifting to the weather.
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7 comments:
I'm beyond intrigued ... how on earth does one score 50 pounds of virgin vintage linen?
Ditto on the intrigue. I've always dreamed of a trunkload of vintage table linens, but they're much better off in your hands.
My source was hired to clean out a house by a realtor. The elders passed, the children took what they wanted, and what's left gets disposed of. Happens every day.
Wow (((Deb))) your colours are magic!
this is true ... my mom used to run estate sales, church thrift stores, charity auctions ... she was very good at skimming the cream to get the top dollar
This sort of cloth- needing to be ironed- wrinkling with wear- is something people don't want these days.
I don't know what happened to all my grandmother's things. I was in Europe when she passed but- well, it's hard not to cry - because i would have cherished every scrap.
Wow, what great color for this great 'find'!
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