Two things - Michelle Palmer and Sunday's boot fair

I am sure most of you know Michelle Palmer, she creates THE sweetest, most gorgeous drawings on fabric, and I have admired them for a very long time. When she started her Christmas drawings, I couldn't resist any longer, I had a real good excuse for going ahead and ordering some of her delightful drawings. I wanted to use them on little stockings for my two granddaughters and one other little darling girl dear to my heart. So I emailed Michelle and asked her whether she would create 3 little drawings for me, all similar but with little differences to they could tell them apart.

They arrived yesterday, and I am absolutely thrilled to bits with them. They are whimsical, delightful, the sweetest little drawings and I am so looking forward to making three stockings with them. I am going to use some of my antique French hand loomed linen to make the stockings with. Have a look for yourselves, aren't they the cutest?



They arrived with a lovely letter from Michelle ( you have no idea how I envy her handwriting, it is beautiful ) and three of the sweetest smelling little tags -


And now to Sunday's Indoor boot fair, the one and only winter boot fair in our area. As I said in the last post, it wasn't a complete waste of time, I did find a few pretty little treasures amongst the 99.9% modern tat, baby toys, clothes, cds and books. Where is all the lovely old junk gone?


The glass flowers I really do like an awful lot, I think they are charming -

Poils, well, a girl can never go wrong with poils, can she? Especially when they are beautifully shiny shimmery faultless poils -

Tin, I really needed another tin like I needed a hole in the head, but when it is this pretty, how can one resist?

This brooch with millions of dangly bits took my fancy, mostly because of the lovely crystals at the ends of the danglies

Little jugs/pitchers are irresistible, this one is dainty and so sweetly decorated

And I found another piece of Carnival glass. I am not normally I big fan of orange, but the orange Carnival glass shimmers so beautifully with those oil slick colours, and that I adore

And then there was that box. A smallish box, barely open, by the side of a table. I cannot pass closed boxes without having a look inside, lol. Ever. When I folded the top back properly, I saw linens, what looked like doilies, table runners etc. I asked her to give me a price for the whole box, as I really didn't feel like taking everything out, and having vultures ( other lovely ladies wanting a piece of the action ) trying to get at the best bits, lol, while I was still rooting through the box. That does happen, you know! They pull the bits out of your hands if you aren't careful. Anyways, I got the box full of stuff, took it home and then started taking out the bits one by one.
There were damask serviettes, doilies, table runners, odd bits and pieces, and some stunning tablecloths. Yep, beautiful whitework embroidery, gorgeous deep crochet lace trims, it was such a pleasure unpacking this little box. Here goes, have a look -


Two dinky little pillow cases, probably for a child's bed, so so pretty-


Some colourful 1950s embroideries on tablecloths, tea cosies ( outers only )


and this darling nightdress case. Know anybody with those initials? What a pretty Christmas present that would make for a vintage lover

Another tablecloth with beautiful whitework embroidery

And look at these gorgeous crochet borders, aren't they fabulous?


And now I am off to make something else from the Romantic White Christmas workshop.

Toodlepip xxx

France Post 7 - Some Fabricy Treasures

At long last, here is the promised linen, lace and lovelies post. Of course, as soon as I got everything out of the box yesterday, the weather turned nasty, grey and horrid, and it was almost impossible to take photos. I thoroughly dislike taking photos with flash, I really do prefer natural light. Of which there was very little, lol. I tried again this morning, frantically snapping away during the few minutes when it got a bit brighter, in between rain showers. So if the photos are somewhat dull, blame it on the rotten weather!

I'll start with my favourite find. This is a huge 19th C. bedspread, absolutely gobsmackingly gorgeous, as you can see from the close ups. The top itself is in fantastic condition, but sadly, the beautiful wide tasseled trim is in very poor condition in places. Do I care? No, of course not, because even without the trim, the top is just so stunning. Just think how much work has gone into producing just those beautiful whitework squares, let alone everything else -



Antique French linen towels, aren't they just fabulous? Natural linen can be quite dark when it is new. The more often it is washed, the lighter it gets. Most of these linen towels have not been used, they were part of a young woman's trousseau and probably kept in the linen press for decades. The stall holder I bought them from had, however, washed them to remove storage marks. Shame she didn't iron them as well, lol -


I don't think these have ever been used, the linen is a gorgeous cafe au lait colour. There was just one towel which had obviously been used and washed many times, see how much lighter the linen has become? -


Finding original damask ticking is getting very difficult, so when I spotted this piece, which the stall holder was using as a table cloth, I just had to have it. He looked at me rather strangely when I asked whether it was for sale, and had a good ole laugh with his wife, but was quite happy to move all the stuff off it and let me have it, once we had agreed a price. I just love this design, ears of wheat and cornflowers, all intertwined with a ribbon. And those elegant, subtle colours, perfect with white/off white furnishings.


Antique lace also is not that easy to find anymore. And when you do find it, it is expensive. Every now and then though, you do find a few bits and pieces -


This is a really gorgeous deep lace trim-

I love love love this rose trim -

Hand made broderie anglaise trim -

I have some more rather lovely laces, but my battery died on me, lol.

Victorian lampshade cover -

I managed to find a set of TWELVE of these gorgeous monogrammed damask napkins/serviettes, PLUS a matching tablecloth as well. I really do love a beautifully laid table, with a snow white tablecloth and proper fabric serviettes. I do use them all the time in France when we have people round for dinner or lunch -


Aaaahhh, petticoats! These are so beautifully trimmed with the most exquisite hand made broderie anglaise. There are a couple of tiny faults on the beautifully soft fabric, but to me that really doesn't matter, these petticoats make a lovely display in a French bedroom.

Petticoat 1 -

Petticoat 2 -

Petticoat 3 -

I will list quite a few of these things in my blog shop, Lululiz in Vintageland, tomorrow.

Alright now, don't you think this is quite enough for one day? There are more fabricy things to show you, but I think they are best left until tomorrow. This is a VERY long post already. So for now, have a lovely weekend! Toodlepip xxx