Honiton Textile Market

Vintage Foraging...

At last! Yesterday my friend Val and I spent many happy hours foraging for old and beautiful bits at the Honiton Vinage Fabric Fair in Devon. Val was so enthusiastic that she had even managed to buy a 1970's apron even before we got inside the door of the church hall where it was held......

I do apologise for the photo above, which does no justice whatsoever to my lovely finds: perhaps a verbal description will help them come to life for you: the two bottom layers of fabric are felted wool squares dyed in different shades of pink, next layer: vintage French monogrammed linen hand dyed a beautiful shade of lavender; a card of lavender linen 1" wide braid; 2 metres of Swiss flower embroidered ribbon; 6 lavender glass buttons; some French Grey darning wool; some cotton lace, and top right, a 1950's cotton print wrap around apron/overall.

Below is a slightly fuzzy photo (sorry: rubbish quality photography,) of the monogrammed linen and glass button type things.)
Below is a close up of the apron: I had a lovely vision of what I'd look like wearing it. In my mind's eye I looked winsome and sylph-like: quite elegant, despite wearing an overall. Unfortunately, when trying it on at home , in the mirror I just looked very pregnant. ( And I'm not . .... A year or two I got quite traumatised when four different people asked me if I was pregnant over the space of about six months. I ended up at Slimmers World for the next half a year, trying to lose my barrel waist. My husband said I should think myself lucky that people thought I still looked young enough for it to be possible.)

But anyhow...... here's my other purchase, below: some vintage curtain fabric with a seagull and lobster pot print. Which hopefully will one day become two cushion covers.

I think my blog could be very useful in that if I tell you what I'm planning to do with my purchases, I may feel obliged to actually do that thing, rather than put it in the airing cupboard for the next ten years.

So here goes: Here Is My Pledge

• I shall make a pink woollen cushion with applique bits on it from the felt squares


• I shall remodel the apron so that I look less pregnant;


• I shall make a classic full length apron with the lavender coloured French linen and tape;


• I'll make some cushion covers from the seagull print.


• And pigs might fly.


• But I Have Pledged and So I Will. Make them. Soon.


• 

I saw lovely Lis Van Hasselt on her stall at the Fair ( that's where the seagull fabric came from) : and she was the person who first got me thinking about starting a blog, a year ago. She gave me some tips about uploading photos this time which were very handy. Thankyou, Lis! Here's her blog: http://thewasherwoman.blogspot.com/ If you like vintage stuff you'll love her blog.

And thankyou to everybody who has joined the followers section on this blog. it's really really interesting reading your profiles. It's amazing how we are all so far from one another but have such similar interests.

Later this week I'll tell you about a really interesting meeting I had today about an art holiday I've been asked to tutor at a beautiful hotel in the seaside town of Sidmouth. It used to be the Georgian holiday home of an English Lord, and is a confection of white Regency Gothic architecture. I took some rather mediocre photographs with which I shall also regale you......

Until then......

Love,

The Innkeeper's Wife

PS. My blog doesn't seem to want to upload another photo at the moment, so I'm afraid you'll have to visit again in a day or two to see the photo of the bottle fed twin South Devon red calves at my friend Elizabeth's farm..... keep the kettle on!