~grandma’s vintage dress repurposed~

hello friends,

Today I’m going to show you how you can repurpose beautiful vintage fabric into pretty and functional home decor and gift items!

Here’s a little ~sneak peek~ ‘cos I know you want to see the after first!!

{*please note, these photos were edited to reflect the true fabric colours, but as others of you are experiencing blogger is making all the photos darker....*}

Some time ago a friend asked me if I would sew her something from a vintage dress she had kept from her grandma. She wanted something that would be a keepsake, but more useful than a dress.

Being a lover of all things vintage I was excited to see the dress, and it did not disappoint.

{I remembered to snap a quick photo.}

They sure knew how to put a dress together back in the day, it was so well made with tucks and pleats and pretty covered buttons. I almost want to call it a frock, it just seems to suit it better than dress!

just look at the details…

Sewing dresses is fidd-il-y stuff, so hats off to the seamstresses who create such beautiful garments!

The fabric is so pretty too!

 Bold flowers and embossed stitching.

Well it was a little challenging to work with, with all the tucks and seams and pretty details there wasn’t a large piece of fabric available.

The largest piece I could salvage was a 12x16” panel for a pillow cover.

I used a smaller piece to make a lavender pillow~

~and popped an offcut into an embroidery hoop.

I couldn’t bear to part with even the scraps and since I love raggy bunting so much, I made her a little mini bunting with the scraps.

My friend loved it and there’s still a large piece of grandma’s dress left for another project one day!

I put off making that first cut for a long time, what if I wrecked the dress?? Yikes!! 

But working with vintage fabric you truly end up with something unique, all the more special when it has a special memory attached like this dress did.

Happy vintage sewing!

linking up to Amaze Me Monday
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
Inspire Me Monday at Sand and Sisal
Share Your Stuff Tuesday

Tracey

xox

~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