Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Lace and Linens

My great-grandmother past away last summer and my grandmother came across a stash of old lace and linens in my great-grandmother's home and thought I'd like to have them. Thankfully another great-granddaughter claimed her sewing stash because I don't need it! I'm not really sure how hold any of these pieces are but since my great-grandmother was 98 when she passed, some of the could be quite old!


I love this little embroidered rooster!


A handkerchief.


A lovely embroidered piece.


I just adore this little bag! The embroidery is fabulous.


Some lace that was salvaged from a dress at some point.


I'm thinking these may be sleeve cuffs.


This set is sewn in a tube. Could they have been sleeve decoration?


A nice length of scalloped lace.


I love the eyelet on this one.


There was a whole stack of partially made butterfly quilt squares. My great-grandma even left some matching embroidery thread. Wonder why she never finished.


Polka dots!


Flowers!


One lovely piece of black lace.


This lovely piece of gold net is so yummy! I'm not sure if this was a work in progress or a scavenge from old dress piece but it's lovely.


I think this would be just lovely as part of an Edwardian dinner dress.


This was another lovely find. (Minus the stain. :( )


Aside from the large piece with two lace insets, there were two matching smaller pieces with one lace inset each.


There was also a lovely set of lace sleeves in the same lace. Alas, they were made for someone with much smaller arms than me.


Another small piece.


More flowers.


A lovely lace trimmed towel.


A pair of triangular pieces.


I think this set may be my favorite. I love all of the three dimensional effects on it! And the shape is so fun. I'd been scouring etsy for some lace for Mary's garden party dress but I may just have to use these.

Hope you've enjoyed these lovely pieces. I don't really have any experience with old textiles so if you have any tips on dating, handling or storing, it would be greatly appreciated. I'd hate to see these lovelies deteriorate in my care!

5 comments:

  1. Woow!! Great pieces :D
    Love the handkerchief!


    http://alicecloset-sewing.blogspot.com/

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  2. Incredible pieces! I'm salivating over all that lace. My stepmum gave me some lengths of beautiful Victorian lace over Christmas, which looks quite similar to the piece you have that have been salvaged from dresses. No ideas in terms of storage, except maybe vacuum pack to avoid moths? I do, however, have many a plan for the use of my lovely lace, so I'm hoping it won't need to go into storage any time soon!

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  3. so many lovely pieces of lace. Particularly fond of the rooster motif. How special to have some of her indispensable items. She would no doubt be thrilled that they have found a good home.

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  4. What beautiful laces and other pieces!!

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  5. Oooh!!! You lucky lady! I adore all these pieces you inherieted--and can't wait to see if any end up in a sewing project further down the line. ;)

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