~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