Bathroom Window Valance

Step next completed.  The valance.

Since the window is frosted, there's no need for additional privacy but without a little trim, the window somehow looks naked.  Gracious, we don't need more naked in the bathroom.

I seem to have an abundance of vintage linens around and so I looked through the stash and found an old pillow case.  The European standard was, and still is, 80x80 cm or about 30 inches square. That almost covered the width, but not quite.  However, as I only needed half the length (or width, I guess, depending on how you look at it), there was enough of the trimmed part for panels on the side.  Perfect!

Hard to say how old this piece is.  It's linen, finely woven. ( I can always tell 100% linen when I sew because the machine sounds like it's chopping wood. No joke.)  I'd guess 1920s or 1930s,  The home artist who sewed it repeated the scroll pattern four times across the pillow case, an estimated 500 holes, uncountable stitches.

A lot of work!  And not something you just toss when it gets a bit worn, and this piece was clearly used.  And worn.  When that happens, you darn. Even the darning is artful.

 I think it's a charming touch in our well-worn house.

Re-Purposed Ties

Barbara, my dear fellow-sewer and lover of old linens, had asked if we might bring back a few silk ties from the US.  She's working on a quilt, from old ties that she has been collecting over the years.  But she cautioned, If you go to the Goodwill, watch out!  Don't pay more than $2.00!!  OK.  I can do that.

You can imagine, I'm sure, that it takes a lot of ties to make a quilt.  And you may be thinking at the same time, who wants to do that anyway?  But creative people just see things differently. (I seldom put myself in that category of persons, sigh...)

But back to the ties. I had a hunch that between my various male in-laws, there would probably be a little stash of no-longer-used, no-longer-wanted, slightly out-of-date or soiled ties in Barbara's color - primarily red.  And I was not wrong!  Larry and Barry, seldom needing ties in their retirement, had some lovely ones to donate.  Joey, since he's trying to get rid of the banker-as-a-guy-always-in-a-tie image, also had a few he was more than willing to part with. So we had quite a collection to donate.

And so we went to visit.  Back to the site of my accident!  Barbara and Charlie were forever saying Watch your step!   I do. I did. I will. After the obligatory Kaffee + Kuchen (yummy homemade treats from last summer's fruit) we looked a the quilt-in-progress. 

It's basically a log cabin pattern, but done with strips in the stripes and continuing on and on - it's one huge log cabin block.

She opens the ties and presses them and adds iron-on backing to stabilize the silk and then sews them together to make the longer strips.  There are a few ties with some history of course.  And interestingly, she's saved all the labels which will become the binding for the finished quilt. 

Then we had a painting lesson.  I had already done some fabric "printing" after our first visit, but having a lesson was useful.  She gathered some flowers and leaves and then we helped make a "sampler" to take home for reference.  Even the sampler is pretty!

Now to make some of my own for the craft show at the end of March.  I'd better get busy - there's not much time!

Underwear

Ha!  Bet that got your attention!!

But sexy it is not.  It's old-fashioned underwear, hand made of woven fabric, specifically slips.  I don't think form-fitting was part of the vocabulary when these were made.

There were several older ladies who came by our stand at the-not-successful-show and offered me their linen goodies they no longer wanted.  Frau S. left her name and number so we called and made a date to pick up the linens.


It was one of my early outings after the cast was removed. The weather was cold, but not unpleasant and it was such a treat to get into town and see something other than my four walls and the back deck!

We arrived at Frau S. about tea time so of course we had to accept their offer of tea.  Then came her son and family unexpectedly so we all sat around the table and talked and enjoyed the Christmas atmosphere in their small apartment. I congratulated myself a bit that finally, finally, I have mastered this difficult language enough to engage in small talk with total strangers.  I still make mistakes, and people are of course gracious, but it is such a relief to be able to just have a little chat.

After a bit she brought out the linens.  One doesn't reject gifts, and (in my mind) who would want to?

Some damsel with the initials "EP"  (Elsa?  Elke?  Elfriede?) did these up for her trousseau:  cotton, with cotton lace trims, all seams fully enclosed, for sure sewn on a treadle machine and each one with a hand-embroidered monogram.

I don't quite know what to do with these treasures.  They are in such good shape that it would be a shame to cut them up.  And I won't.  On the other hand, can you sell something you were gifted?

More little treasures

Barbara and Charlie came to visit.  I came to know Barbara through needlework and we've very much enjoyed getting to know each other.

After the long summer pause, there was finally time for a lunch.  Since they live well south of Bremen and we are as north of Bremen as you can get, it isn't just like dropping in.  Planning is a  necessity.

But it's fun.  We had salad and quiche - tasty according to all accounts.  And somehow the pastry was really good this time.  Consistency is not my strong point when it comes to pastry.  It must be the weather....  or maybe the little pastry cutouts along the border.  They are the icing on the quiche.

Then Barbara and I looked at books and patterns and laces and linens.  She gave me welcome advice on the upcoming show and brought a special gift - more lace !  And a couple of examples of her hand-pressed linens.

So lovely.  I can't wait to get to work!

Cleaning Out

Mutti had the Spring Cleaning bug this week - she just had to clean out a few cabinets.  We understand that of course, currently in the middle of spring projects ourselves.  But what it means for Mutti is that WE have to clean out the cabinets for her!  Hey, not a problem.  When you're 93, you get to ask for help.

And at 93 she frequently says  I don't need it anymore - throw it out!  Well, our recycling tendencies come into play and we can't just throw it all away.  That curling iron - wow!  We'll take that to Paris.  Same with the portable hair dryer.  The old cotton flat sheet is exactly the right size for the base for the new bed skirt.  And that carved wooden tray, umm.  Well, maybe that goes in the flea market box (not all that cute).  

And then there was the "rag" - Oh I cut that up sometime to clean up with - just toss it. I don't think so, Mutti.  It's an old hand towel.  I'll do something with it - lavender sachets maybe.

At home on closer inspection, we saw a small monogram and then saw that there were other letters woven into the fabric.  It was an old damask-weave hand towel, probably intended as a guest towel or one to hang as a decoration to cover the ones that were in use. (It's actually bright white, but I had to play with the contrast so the initials and weaving showed up).

I called Mutti.  

Who's EB, Mutti?  Oh, well that must be my grandmother. She died at 82 or so in 1942 or so.  She was born a Behrens and then she married a Niemann, my mother's maiden name.  

Good grief.   So sometime around 1880 or before Mutti's grandmother embroidered her initials into this cloth and then more than 100 years later, Mutti cuts it up to dust?  Oh well, to her it was just another cloth.  To me it is a bit more. 

The saying is:  Denke edel, handle hilfreich.  Roughly translated:  Think nobly, act accordingly. Or:  Think nice things, then do them!  One hundred years later, it sounds like something we could still aim to live by. 

It'll become a pillow cover.  The part that's left, that is.  Maybe I'll over-embroider the saying.  I'll let you know.

More Recycling

Use it up

Wear it out

Make it do

Or do without

That is of course what all our grandparents did. They didn't throw away anything they thought could be useful. I remember visiting an old farm house museum here. Up in the attic was a big rolled ball of the narrow hems torn off the shirts/sheets/towels/dresses, saved to used later in a rag rug or something similar. Frugal doesn't begin to explain the folks a couple of generations ago. It is fascinating.

I love old linen, old embroidery, crocheted trims and window treatments. And I seem to have a penchant for things that others want to throw away (see the previous post!). When we go to markets, the linen stands always draw me to them and I ususally have some idea of what I might do with a little bit of lace torn from a pillowcase that fell apart or a linen sheet that was just too worn for the next generation to use -- but good enought not to throw away!!

Sometimes it takes a while to get to the finished product.

Our visits to Aunt Mary and Aunt Ruth got me going. Actually, I'd wanted to get this done BEFORE the trip but that didn't happen. Now it has happened: I made some lavender bags.

Here's the recipe: Find some old linen, the older the better. Find some old lace, the older the better. Grow some lavender (or buy it from the market). Make some bags, fill them with the lavender. Done.

Here's the finished product. I only did the sewing; the artists did the work. Aren't they nice?

A Passion

Most of you know already that I'm a little nutty when it comes to old linens. It started with the large, 80 cm (30 inch) square "European" pillowcases with crochet inserts or various types of embroidery. I found them here and there at antique shows and shops. When we moved here, they were everywhere and so much more available than in the US. I got pretty picky and then bought them for others and then stopped buying them altogether. But I still look and occasionally buy something.

My favorite things have a history, a story or something family-related.

Before we left for our US visit, Werner visited Mutti and brought back some table linens. I said How nice, and put them away; at the time, there was no time to do more. So, finally, the other day, I got around to sorting them.

Here's one:

I recognized immediately its age and the handwork, so I called Mutti to ask about it. Oh, she said, I did that when I was 16 or 17, I'm not really sure. Yow. Hand woven linen with white work hem stitiching. To be honest, it isn't all that sophisticated - Mutti was a farm girl after all - but it is so special.

Here's another view on a red background that shows the stitching better.

The other two pieces are later, kitchen towel linen with crocheted inserts and edging so that it would cover the table. She appreciates that I appreciate them. Actually, I think they're priceless.