more ironing advice

many “new” old linens have arrived and i have been ironing. a lot.

iron fabrics on the wrong side on a padded surface. ironing smooths the weave where the hot iron touches the fabric, sometimes smoothing it too much and making it shiny or slick. this is especially important with monograms and embroidery where a great deal of the appeal is the three dimensional character of the work.

napkins. it’s imperative to establish a folding pattern and stick with it. this helps with stacking, storing and counting. long ago, i started folding items so that the main design (a monogram on a napkin or also on a handkerchief) ends up in the exact same position on every item. a customer described how she folded her napkins in order that her dinner guests could pick them up with one hand so that the napkins practically unfolded themselves. that’s the idea!

it’s october in linen land!

if you are going to be burrowing through your closets looking for warmer winter items to wear and to place in your home, it’s also time to “look at” your linens. that’s what i say when i fling wide the cupboard door and realize that, despite having only the best intentions… i have neither rotated, refolded or rearranged my linen cupboard.

it’s never too late, of course. just take a deep breath and wade in. you have my permission to throw away (or tear up for dustcloths) the things that have holes or are worn out. you also have my permission to give away (to children, friends or goodwill) any items that you know you truly (truly in your heart truly) will not use for anything. if it is an item in a collection, it’s okay to keep it. i am talking about the other stuff!

make a pact with yourself to rotate your items so that they all get seen… and so they all wear out a tiny bit instead of all at once. i have the habit of pulling sheets off beds, washing them and just popping them right back where they were. my resolve: i’m gonna break this habit!

there is no time like the present to plan to carry a cup of tea or hot chocolate and go to commune with your linen shelves!

how to tell fabrics

Nobody is going to like this answer: No magic bullets! familiarize yourself with what’s out there. You must touch as many fabrics, old and new, as you can. Go to fabric stores, antiques malls, vintage clothing shops, bed and bath places as well as department stores. Read labels and assess quality.

Linen is cool to the touch when compared to other fabrics. Old, very high quality linen is positively icy. When being ironed, it can also get blistering hot.

There is a book on vintage linens and lace (I can’t remember which one; I’ll try to find it and update this post at some point) which lists attributes of different fabrics. I can tell silk by its smell, along with its hand.

Practice.

monograms for you!

Triple Letter strategies!

One friend collects and uses monograms that are acronyms of words or phrases. It’s surprising how often monograms form a word or an abbreviation. An MS monogram can stand for the state of Mississippi or for a liberated Miss. (as in Ms. Marple!) I have a linen sheet that bears the monogram “MLB” and all I can think of when I see it is Major League Baseball!

I have some items with the letters “ESP.” I predict that they will prove to be popular! VD can stand in for the romantic idea of Valentines Day. Though HPP for me just continually reads hippo, though that’s not bad if you are a fan of hippopotami!

Regarding TWO Letters…

Although I am a monogram collector and I adore any well-embroidered letters, I acknowledge the special feeling I get when I stumble across an item that has my very own monogram, or a combination of mine and my husband’s, or even just his. Frontward, backward or even mixed up, I do adore any of those letter combinations.

Mixing names opens up more possibilities, especially if you and your spouse have many different letters in your names. It’s more limiting for a couple named Mike and Mary! Even worse for Mike and Mary Miller. That will leave them searching only for “M”s.

Not everyone shares our monogram excitement. At one antique show, I witnessed a woman who remarked to a friend that the stack of unused linen kitchen towels on a table were embroidered with her exact triple letter monogram. And, she left them there. (I, on the other hand, would have interpreted the stack as a sign from the universe and would have scraped together any amount of money to buy the whole pile! Or even one, at the very least!)

I am also attracted to monograms that may have letters that look like my initials, even though they may not actually be them. For instance, Gs can look like Cs and so can Es and Ts in certain typefaces. Ms and Ws and Vs can sometimes resemble each other, as can Ps and Bs; Ks and Rs, Is and Ls. You get the idea!

THE SINGLE LETTER DILEMMA

Someone who is not entirely comfortable using old linens with someone else’s monogram may hit on the idea of choosing just those things that have been adorned with a single letter. This works well, but items with single letter monograms are the hardest to find and are most in demand.

The Disadvantages of Antique Monograms

The problem with the monogram dilemma is that you can never choose which item you would like to have at the time that you would like to have it, and usually not with the letters that you would prefer in the order in which you’d prefer them. With antiques, it truly is the thrill of the hunt! Perhaps you find a sheet with your perfect monogram; that sheet may be the wrong size for the bed you had in mind. Or, you find a tablecloth when you were really searching for napkins.

We have all had the brilliant thought to send the perfect wedding gift, and think, wouldn’t it be even more special to find a set of napkins with the couple’s monogram? Some of my practical customers buy things for tiny children or grandchildren, tucking them away to use for gifts that won’t be given until far in the future… because they have found the right monogram now and they know from experience that it will be impossible to find later.

You could widen the search to include what I call “cipher” monograms, those in which the letters are so abstracted or entwined that the actual letters can’t be distinguished. The results are often stunning. The monogram is more like a logo! But, you still can’t choose the size of the tablecloth or the bedspread or the sheet.

To anyone to whom these seem like compromises, my customers and I, who are obsessed with the quality of the fabrics and the workmanship on goods that have come from old, aristocratic families, can only smile and think, “Oh, goody! That leaves more for us!”

More monogram musings

Although women could not own property, they did retain the right to own the things they brought with them to their marriage. The girls (they were just young girls) embroidered (or ordered, if they were wealthy enough) their own initials onto their trousseau items. Sometimes they embroidered just their own initials and sometimes they left a space in the center to be embroidered later with the initial of their hoped-for husband.

We see monograms made of a single letter which usually signifies the family name. (what we in the US call the last name.) We also see double initial monograms which would have been the first name and the surname of the woman. Then, there are the triple letter (or more) monogram which signify the first name, the married name and lastly, the maiden name of the woman. Take the example ABC, for a woman named Anne Caldwell Baker.  The A stands for the first name, Anne. The B could be her husband’s last name: Baker. The C would then be her maiden name: Caldwell. OR, perhaps her middle name was Caldwell.

The letter in the center is traditionally the family surname. (This tradition differs in societies where the mother’s surname is inherited. But I am focusing on the patriarchal tradition here!)

Today, we have many different viewpoints considering monograms! A traditionalist would adhere to the above method but many of us fans of handwork and old fashioned quality are happy to tread other monogram paths! The people who want to own only items that have been embroidered with their own exact triple-letter initials will find them hard to find and they may opt to hold out for the rare item that coincidentally does correspond to their own initials or, they may choose to order new items. Since there has been a personalization explosion in recent years, one can order perfectly serviceable monograms on nearly anything. I can pretty much tell you that the quality of even the best and most expensive computer controlled machine embroidery can not even be considered to be in the same category as an item that was made by hand and embroidered by hand.

While the instances of finding an exact match to three letters in the exact order remain improbable, though not impossible, the chances of finding a double letter monogram is sometimes easier. One could choose from the initial letters of one’s first and last names, one’s first name with another family’s first name, last names or any combination that seems to fit one’s family or contains initials of various family members.

Certain letters do appear in monograms more frequently than others and some seem to never show up at all. Just ask my friends with last names that start with a Q, X or Z! This is an economic and regional variance. Certain family names are more common in certain countries and even differ within regions of those countries. More importantly, not every family could afford to own monogrammed items in the quantities that would leave “leftovers!” The amounts required in order to have passed them down intact are staggering. Inventory lists have frequently counted 12 dozen sheets. That’s 144 sheets alone to order, pay for, tend, store and use!

When I purchased a beautiful antique towel from a dealer/friend, she told me that there had been 200 of the exact same-sized guest towel in the linen closet. This gives you an idea of the quantities that were considered to be necessary to run a household!

Monogram Madness

A recent request: would you blog about using linens with someone elses initials?

Write on a topic about which I am wildly passionate!? Well, sure!

Because we live in a time where nearly everything is mass produced (and comes from China) and is so cheap, it is pretty hard to imagine a time when almost everyone just barely scraped by and almost every resource was costly and precious. Girls started at a young age to make and store all of the goods that she would need to stock her future household for her entire lifetime. The quaint, cute term for this in English is the “hope chest.” Somehow, the elegant French word “trousseau” seems more descriptive.

Someone who was poor might manage to acquire only one sheet and one blanket to last an entire lifetime. Descriptions of the state of those tattered pieces after a lifetime of use remind me of what a modern toddler’s baby blanket looks like after just a few years of being dragged around!

Monograms served several purposes. First, the monogram marked the items in one’s “hope chest” as one’s own. It also served as an identifier in the laundry. (even families of modest means sent out their laundry: the washer women were even poorer.) Girls practiced their stitchery on their trousseau; this skill was necessary for all of the weaving, sewing and repairing they would go on to do to keep their families in clothing, bedding and toweling. In wealthier households, monograms added beauty and prestige… especially when items were embellished by a master embroiderer.

A middle class arose during the 1900s who wanted to imitate the upper classes who could afford some of the niceties. Those Victorians put monograms on everything!

more to come…

july winds down

so, instead of planting anything new… (no, not laundering linens today, I am taking long weekends in the summer!) … I have been making plant markers for my specimen hosta border.

Hosta names are fabulous! Besides “August Moon” and “Blue Angel,” “Jimmy Crack Corn” is one of my favorite hosta varieties as well as one of my favorite hosta names.  There are approx. 7,500 hosta varieties and the “collector” in me wants to have one (or more) of each!

gotta love summer!

Happiness is Spring Cleaning ?

Here in New England trees are leafing and we are finally opening windows. The heady smell of lilacs is strong. Interspersed with glorious sunshine, we also have some drizzly days: my favorite kind of day to bury myself in my linen closet. If there are days that you, too, are swept indoors, consider them a chance to dabble in your linen cupboard!

Take time to refold, reshuffle or just touch your linens. One of the nicest things you can do is to attach a note onto your most cherished heirlooms. Include your name and the year you are writing the note, how you acquired it and any lore that you know. This will be so helpful in the future!

My favorite notes have read something like this: Pillowcase embroidered by Jane Smith, age 12 in 1910. She was my great grandmother. Signed Jane J. Smith, 2007. Massachusetts.

or

Coverlet given to me from Mother. It is 100 years old in 1960. (signed: Jane J Cobb, Trenton, NJ)

or (I am paraphrasing from memory)

This shawl was made by Jane Smith from wool she sheared from her own sheep, then spun and wove by hand.  She lived in XXX around 1828-1865. It came to me from Great Aunt Nell for my birthday in 1914.

you get the idea! even if you have no idea of the year it was made, try to record everything you do know, or have been told, about it. You will be especially glad later on that you took the time to do this.

If possible, use 100% cotton fiber paper and attach with a very skinny pin taking care not to pierce the middle. Attach at a seam or loop a pice of cotton string through a buttonhole or other opening. Do not attach a safety pin through lace; it invariably will tear the lace.

Most of all… enjoy!

How to Start Collecting Vintage Textiles

There are lots of ways of collecting vintage things and going about collecting.

1. to acquire and hoard them (this is ok; it protects them for future generations)

2. to display them in a “no touching” way

3. to use them (and to be prepared to sometimes use them up)

4. a combination of the above.

You can also control your acquisitions by depth of focus. Only lace? Only one type of lace? Or, even only lace from a certain part of the world. Or, take monograms, for instance! You could choose to collect monograms. Or perhaps only hand embroidered monograms. (But that leaves out many superb monograms that have been fashioned from lace instead of by sewing.) Or perhaps collect only monograms with certain letters, maybe letters you like the shapes of or, possibly, only letters that form your own monogram. Or your family’s or your cat’s!

There are also more specialized collections: some repair, reuse and recycle into other things such as crafts projects, making quilts or human or doll clothing. In an even more rarefied strata, some people put together a specific collection as a gift to posterity, hoping to find a museum (or even a grandchild) who will curate it.

Let me guide you toward the type of quality and price to pursue…. if you think you could not bear to use a $75 guest towel, then perhaps a $12 one would be a better choice. Or, you can collect tiny scraps of lace to hold on to and learn from and then, later, when you know the techniques that grab you, you can go on to buy a collar or cuffs or a lappet. Consider napkins to use, sheets to sleep in, old undies and nightgowns to wear! Or, even easier… a nice little stack of fabulous hankies or doilies… they often have many of the techniques at an affordable price and they are easier to store because they are small.

Most people will advise you to not buy items that are damaged because it is the perfect and rare ones that hold value. I believe that a damaged, but affordable, item can be a wonderful way to learn what really good techniques are so that you can familiarize yourself with them and spot them later. A scrap of 18th century toile may be tiny but affordable. An 18th century coverlet made from that toile will be priced out of reach.

Ask yourself honestly what you think you want to do with the things you are acquiring and let that be your first buying guide. Although I grant that most people who stumble on the world of antique linens do not have a plan in mind and just want that pretty thing that so attracts them. If you nodded yes to that idea, then sadly, you will probably be hooked and it won’t matter what you want to do with them. They’ll just pile up and up and up and you will be ankle deep in linens. And, then knee deep. And then, there is no going back.

Quantity vs Quality

the following question was posed to me by email today:  What would be your advice –should I save up and buy better (the best is out of my league) or buy more items?

Most advisers would tell you to buy only the best but I believe that we all have to start somewhere. There is no way to go through the process of becoming a better collector without some mistakes and bumps along the way. But, you should proceed maybe more slowly than your excitement would make you do otherwise. If you force yourself to slow down before buying many things for your collection, you will grow with it and you will be happier with it in the future.

First, invest in some books!!! I have a book list on my site and books are relativley cheap and you will learn an awful lot from just looking at photos! I used to carry a reference book with me to auctions of lace so that I could compare the item in front of me with photos of “real” lace. It took time and, of course, as a beginner, I seemed impossible to identify the lace, but the important thing was the exposure to different textiles and the looking.

Second, buy only things that “speak to you.” Chances are, even if they are not the best or the finest, your visceral response to them means that you will love them for a very long time.

So! books first and then… buy some of the items that are calling to you!