~barkcloth and vintage fabrics~

Hello friends,

Well we are enjoying a couple sunny days here in Vancouver, still seeing our fair share of rain but the sunny days, they are just awesome!

 Life just looks a whole lot better when the sun is shining!

Today I wanted to chat with you about barkcloth. 

Have you heard of barkcloth?

 I hadn’t until a couple years ago when I met Ms L and her amazing collection of barkcloth fabrics.

Wikipedia describes barkcloth as “a soft, thick, slightly textured fabric, so named because it has a rough surface like that of tree bark. This barkcloth is usually made of densely woven cotton fibers. Historically, the fabric has been used in home furnishings, such as curtains, drapery, upholstery, and slipcovers. It is often associated with 1940s-through-1960s home fashions.”

Now Ms L has been collecting vintage fabrics forever and when my friend, Colleen of Vintage Home, set up for us to pay her a visit, I was all there!

Piles and piles of barkcloth and other vintage fabrics, all laundered and ironed and neatly folded. 

Ms L purchases barkcloth drapes and painstakingly unpicks them and cuts them into pieces of fabric.

 She told us of one pair of vintage curtains that when unpicked had money sewn into the hemming. 

Wish I knew the story behind that! 

Who sewed it in there? 

What were they saving it for?

Just look at this gorgeous emerald brocade…

I was really along just to take a look, but couldn’t resist and came home with a little stash!

 I plan to make some pillows for my beachy living room, I’ll show you once they’re done!

Tracey

~weathered wood and beachy inspiration~

Hello friends,

Today I’m missing summer and I thought I’d post some inspiration photos from last summer.

These were all taken while we were on vacation on the beautiful Oregon coast.

I hope you enjoy them, especially if you’re also longing for summer days again!

I got to play around with weathered wooden chairs and gorgeous hydrangeas.

Such a pretty colour…

A perfectly weathered fence by the beach.

I just love all the nautical elements down by the ocean.

weathered floats

rusty old crabbing baskets

canoe ride anyone?

Stairway dappled in the sunlight... 

don’t you love the driftwood stair rail?

Hope you enjoyed this little piece of summer!

Tracey

~blossoms in a bucket~

~Hello friends~

Well our spring break is truly over and it’s back to early mornings and schedules and work!

We were blessed with an incredibly long warm patch, blue skies and sunshine, and with that the trees all burst into blossom.

Of course I had to bring some of that blossom goodness inside,

 so off we went, clippers in hand.

Sadly I don’t have my own blossom tree, but I had scouted one out on a vacant lot, 

so I cajoled my youngest to come along for the adventure, 

just in case it included climbing fences.

Ahem!

Which it didn’t. 

Pity.

 I love an adventure:-)

We came home with armfuls of gorgeous spring blooms, and they were pretty white blossoms to boot.

So I plunked them in a big old bucket on my chippy farmhouse table.

And then I clicked away....

Sunshine and spring blossoms, doesn’t get much better than that.

There was enough left to fill up a couple aqua mason jars too, pretty!

So now it is raining again, and it seemed like the perfect time to post some pretty spring pictures.

{Oh yes, and there was a fair bit of this going on around here too!}

Hope you’re seeing some signs of spring where you live too!

Tracey

follow me on fb here and pinterest here

~links also on the sidebar~

~raggy bunting love and how to~

Hello friends,

I have been busting to show you my raggy bunting, 

you might have seen a peek over on my fb page here or my instagram {raggygirlvintage}.

I have to warn you, it is highly addictive.

 And it will leave threads all over the sofa.

 And you!!

I have been in love with bunting forever, I showed you some mini white bunting here…

I also love to make it in ticking and vintage florals. 

Hanging bunting gives that yummy vintage, handmade feel.

I wanted to make a less formal raggy bunting, 

I’ve seen similar bunting inspiration floating around.

 Anthropologie even has a version too.

This bunting is hot right now at weddings and baby showers. 

It makes an awesome backdrop for photoshoots, across an arbour, or tied across the front of a table.

To start I pulled out my stash of aqua and white sheets. 

It’s super easy peeps.

 Just rip strips of varying lengths, mine were probably 1.5”-2” wide.

 Then tie them along a length of sturdy twine.

 Make sure you use tidy knots so the strips hang downwards.

I made mine 3 feet long plus extra twine for hanging, and it took me around 2 hours to make.

I have it draped over one of my doors here.

Can we say LURVE…..

I just couldn’t stop!!

Next up I knew I wanted ~all white, lacy, ethereal, romantic~

 So this time I ripped up white muslin and pulled out my stash of vintage lace.

My, did this ever use a ton of lace.

Lace is just soooo pretty.

This bunting has headed over to The Passionate Home ready for spring and summer weddings. 

It is so pretty but there is only so much bunting one can hang with 3 guys in the house!

Now I realise this may not be everyone’s taste, but it’s a fun and simple way to add a whimsical touch to your next special event, or to your home decor just because

Next up vintage linens…just gotta make that first rip, I find it really hard to rip up vintage linens, how silly is that!

A couple of my instagram gals have already been inspired to make their own version, why not give it a go??

Hugs,

Tracey

~Vintage bottles, jars and flowers ~ easy floral display~

Hello friends,

Don’t you just love all the inspiration we glean from each other?

I first saw this idea over on a beach cottage blog (awesome blog if you don’t already follow) and knew with my endless supply of glass bottles I just had to try it!

I used freesias, probably not the best choice for this project, but they sure smelled good! 

Any flowers will do really.

All I did was pick out a bunch of random glass jars and bottles in a variety of sizes and stick blooms in them, then dumped arranged them in my big wooden crate tray in the living room.

 I loved it so much I found myself slipping in there just to sit and stare for a few minutes.

 Yes, I am very visual!!

Of course I had to throw an aqua mason jar into the mix!

So if you’re looking for a

*simple

*inexpensive

*effective floral display or centrepiece

…give it a try!

So looking forward to doing this outside once it is warm enough.

Thank you for all your kind comments and emails about my previous post, I treasure each one of you and I have been touched by your kindness!

One thing I know peeps, for many of us our blog is our happy place, a place we come to forget the challenges of daily life, a place we protect. It is that for me too. But let's not forget that behind each smile is a circumstance, and let's continue to offer kindness to our fellow bloggers.

Hugs,

Tracey

PS. Next week I'll be sharing my raggy bunting how-to

~a mother’s heart and aqua palette~

Hello friends,

It’s good to be back! 

2013 has been a little rocky for the raggygirlvintage household.

 In January my daughter became very ill and her health deteriorated at an alarming rate. Long story short she has been diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, an inflammatory bowel disease.

 It has been a slow and rocky path to recovery. Thankfully the past two weeks her health has stabilised somewhat, and we are feeling some degree of normality again. 

We are still figuring out how to manage this long term, but as I posted on fb recently, an uneventful day is a good day right now! 

Here’s a photo of our sweet girl, this is one of her grad shots this year.

As any of you who have had a critically ill child will know, it is hard on a mother’s heart. 
So hard. 

I am so thankful for the friends and family who have supported us through this time, and our church community who have stood with us in prayer. 

I can tell you this journey has been all about choices, choosing to trust God in desperate situations. Sometimes I have failed miserably, but I like to think that the roots of my faith are that much deeper having walked through this time. 
Faith is really in the walking peeps.

I want you to know that you also have been an encouragement to me. 
When my world was in crisis and each day was focused on surviving and getting through, it was just so awesome to pop on your blogs/fb and see beautiful creativity still happening. 

The world was still turning. 

I was blown away by how it seemed every time I opened my instagram feed there was a scripture or word of encouragement that spoke right to my heart, and mostly from gals I have never even met.

God is in the small stuff, peeps, He really is!

So, I hope that wasn’t too heavy, but I wanted you to know why my blog has been silent for a while

Now let’s move on to some fun stuff shall we!!
 The last few days have felt like spring up north here in Canada, blue skies, sunshine, such a treat! 
I have to admit, I started thinking spring even before it brightened up, and as I’m still in love with the aqua, beachy palette I’ve been changing things up a little in my living room.

For starters I switched my old barnwood door around so it’s back to it’s aqua side. 

How do you like the mini bunting I have up there, so fun and easy to make!
 I love the look of mini bunting like this draped over a door or mirror.

I change this little table up a lot!

 I love the white hydrangeas against the aqua, they sure are springy!

I also pulled out a couple of nests and popped them here and there. 

Tucked on the mantle…

…on my chippy ol’ chair

I do still have my basket of birch wood beside the fireplace and cosy throws around as I know we’ll have plenty more rain yet, but I love the lighter, brighter elements.
 Our fireplace is gas (shhh), but I love the look of birch! 
Plus I paid an arm and a leg for the stuff!

I did a copycat floral arrangement which I’ll share on Thursday, it was so effective, I also want to show you my raggy bunting which I am now totally addicted to making! 

If you want a sneak peek you can pop over to my fb page here or follow me on instagram @raggygirlvintage

Well, it’s good to be back! I have missed blogging soooo much! Look forward to hearing how you are changing things up for spring!

hugs,

Tracey