Monday, April 12, 2010

Little Pieces of Beauty and Practicality

On my recent trip to PA I helped my mom go through some things. Tucked away in a box of my grandmother's was a little zippered case of 68 little beauties. I've always loved little hankies. I remember using them as doll blankets when I was little. Now I am always impressed with the creation of something so elegant for the purpose of something so practical. Now what to do with them...



3 comments:

  1. One thing my MIL has done with some old handkies is to applique them to quilt blocks and then make a quilt.

    Another thought -- Applique and then frame some.

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  2. Holy Guacamole!
    What a find!
    I cannot believe you didn't show them off to me when we visited...hmmm...probably thought I might pocket a couple of those pocket hankies.

    I've picked up a few handkerchiefs and napkins, and mostly just hold onto them because I have trouble CUTTING...well, anything. New fabrics, even, if they're favorites.

    I made doll clothes with a couple that I still feel good about: a shirt and a simple gathered skirt. The skirt involved no cutting, just stitching a casing and seam (I overlapped the narrow hems and just zigzagged, making a flat (and nearly invisible, because of the way the hem was) seam. For the shirt, I wanted to showcase a pretty scalloped hem, so cut it out so the hem and back edges (I left it open in back, closing with a pretty button) retained the handkerchief hem.

    I'm planning on making curtains for our office/sewing room with some fancy linens I got at an estate sale. I'll use the small tablecloth for the main body of the curtain, and line the hem with the napkins (quite small & dainty). I think I'll try using flat overlapping and a narrow zigzag again for the seams, so the curtains don't have a "wrong" side, and because they're pretty delicate and I have this idea that spreading the stitch around will be less stressful. Not that hanging in full sun won't be (and bleach-y).

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  3. I really just forgot about them. My mom had found them, said I could have them and immediately put them in a chest I was bringing home with me. I didn't even get to go through them until yesterday. Next I need to figure out how to wash them to get some of the brown spots off and then figure out what to do with them. One idea I have is to attatch them to this shear white fabric I have to make curtains for the girls room. Kind of a random block look. We'll see, but I'll keep you updated. Good luck with your curtains. I would really like to find a good flea market type place here to get old linens.

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