Tablecloth Curtains

My bedroom has never had curtains at the windows. The windows are the crank out type. There's a double on one wall and a single on another wall. They are the type of windows that have double panes with a venetian blind in between the two pieces of glass. The slats on the shades can be opened and closed as much as you like but you cannot move the shade up and down and just see clear glass. It's all self contained.

I'm sort of minimalist regarding windows. I want light. I'm not into closing off the source of light with drapes. If I use curtains at all, they have to be white and very "see through".

Lately I've been thinking about introducing some softness into my bedroom by curtaining the windows. And since my aesthetic is "vintage remakes", the thought occurred to me to use vintage lace tablecloths as curtains. I had recently purchased a beautiful handmade vintage crocheted tablecloth at an estate sale. I carefully laundered it in preparation for selling it in my etsy shop. But when the curtain prospect came into view, I thought of that tablecloth. But, alas, it was not a good fit. So it will indeed go into my etsy shop.

this one didn't work - it'll go into my etsy shop

 

I did have another vintage lace machine made cloth that was the right dimentions  and makes a beautiful curtain for the smaller of the two windows.

For the larger window (the one with two panes of glass) I was having trouble finding a tablecloth both long enough and wide enough. I did have a treasure though that I purchased last year at an estate sale. At first I thought it was a bed sheet but then decided it was a tablecloth because it has handmade lace on all four sides. Plus the entire surface of the linen is embellished with embroidery and cutwork. So that is covering the big window for now. I do have it over to one side. I don't mind at all that the curtains are different.

this is the cloth I used for the larger window

this is how it looks at the window

I will still be on the "lookout" for vintage lace for the big window. I may have to get two tablecloths in order to be able to close the curtains. And I'll be looking for the manufactured lace type because they are airier than the hand crocheted ones.

I did want my curtains to be hung from bamboo poles. I discovered that you have to buy that at garden centers. The curtain rings can be purchased at the home dec stores like Lowe's and Home Depot. The rings have a spring clip to grab the curtain material. Super easy to do.

I am happy with my "new" curtains. I think they look dreamy and romantic. It's kind of fun having decorating dilemmas to solve.

5 Minutes for Mom Ultimate Blog Party

This is a milestone for me - joining a "linky" party. Reason being: I am almost completely technology challenged. I did not grow up with a tiny hand-held computer for a toy. I played with dolls, hopscotched, hid and seeked (sought), played school, bathed my dollies, went to the library where I borrowed all the Madeline books, almost never went to the movies, took piano lessons, put on plays with my playmates which we charged our parents to attend and all those sorts of things. We had no computers in school or university. I never even saw one until my kids got an Pong game on a small Atari computer for Christmas one year. And the computer invasion has amplified since then until it has taken over my phone, my TV, my desktop, my lap, my purse, my shopping habits, my recipe collection, my communication with friends and relatives on Face Book and on and on...............

I solicited technical help from my dear sisters on the castteam   http://www.castteametsy.blogspot.com/          (Christian Artists Street Team) on etsy to help me understand just how to get that little pink badge that you see over on the right column of this blog. If you click on that, it will take you for a visit to the http://www.5minutesformom.com/  5 Minutes For Mom blog home page. Two sisters blogging about Mom Entrepreneurs. If that's you, too, pay a visit to their blog. I think you'll like it.

For the "linky" blog party, I am supposed to share a little about what sammysgrammy is all about  https://www.etsy.com/shop/sammysgrammy?ref=si_shop. It all started because I'm a "collector". I collect vintage linen. My collecting fever started when I wanted all handmade lace trimmed napkins for setting my dining table. I didn't want plain linen napkins. I wanted them embellished with the hand crocheted lace made in the 1920's, 30's and 40's.

I began going to estate sales. I discovered plenty of lace trimmed linen. More than I could ever use. I began to re imagine the napkins into other things. Mainly angels. Angels were in vogue then. Everyone wanted them. Either to trim their Christmas trees, or to give as a Christening gift or hostess gift or just to hang on a door knob. I sold a lot of them at craft shows and on consignment at local gift shops. I had not heard of etsy yet.

My estate sale habit got bigger and bigger and I began to branch out to collecting other than just napkins. But I was and still am in love with vintage linen. The more embellished it is the better I like it. Handmade lace, embroidery, fancy needlework, monograms, stitchery, etc. It always gets re imagined and reused to make something that will delight a modern bride or homemaker. Fortunately, I discovered etsy and sammysgrammy was born.

                  This purse is completely re imagined, using vintage handmade lace doilies.

               Banner made with vintage lace trimmed hankies

Bride's wedding garter re imagined from a strip of handmade lace. Interestingly, young girls practiced their crochet skills making strips of lace. The mama's then used these strips to festoon everything linen in the household -  towels, pillowcases, table linens, bed sheets, and petticoats.

It delights me no end, to rescue these treasures at estate sales before they end up in a landfill. Sadly, many have. I delight to remake them into something that can still be used today - almost 100 years later. A true heirloom.

Part 2 of The Estate Sale Saga

You may want to have a look at last week's post to see "episode 1" ~ estate sale-ing. 

A couple weekends ago, I went to one of those estate sales that are "memorable". These are the ones that stay stuck in my memory because of the sheer enormity of "goodies" found in the rooms of this home which someone has vacated. I discovered that the person who owned this home was an antiques dealer who did all the big shows - Rennniger's in PA and FL and the Brimfield Show in MA.

Sometimes the homes are vacated because the past owner has moved to a smaller abode, or into an assisted living situation, or perhaps, has passed away. Usually their heirs will take, as a remembrance, some of the treasures left behind. They, then, make arrangements to stage an estate sale by choosing a local company to manage their sale. The usual arrangements are: the managing company earns a certain and lesser percentage of the sale and the heirs, the remaining percentage. Oftentimes, whatever is left over at the end of the sale is donated to an organization like the Salvation Army or Goodwill but other times it goes to a second-hand store.

As I have mentioned before, there are some that have made a deep impression on my memory. This one was one of them. I was not even aware of the sale until day 2, at which point everything purchased was given a 30% discount. This sale was scheduled for a Thursday, Friday and Saturday (which is pretty common). When I found my way over there on Friday, there were still cars and trucks clogging the street, the house was still filled with shoppers and overflowing with "goodies". Trucks, because much of the case goods furniture is purchased by antique shops which descend upon a sale like this one with large moving van trucks to transport chests, bureaus, mirrors, tables, chairs, etc. to their shops. This is a good thing for me, because they create space in the house so I can actually see the things I want to upend without having lots of large furniture blocking my view.

The house was a ranch style - so just one story plus basement (which is where I discovered the wringer washer in last week's post). When I arrive at a sale, I usually head directly to wherever I think the linens might be. Sometimes I have to ask where they are. Usually, I find them in a bedroom or linen closet. Not so in this house. I entered through the living room. Next were all the bedrooms - no linens. Then the kitchen and dining area. Still no linens. Passing through the kitchen, I see the basement stairs (which I'll descend later) and a sun room next to it (and behind the garage), one step down from the kitchen. In the sunroom is where all the linens were. And, oh!, what a treasure trove.♥♥♥

I found lots and lots of hand crocheted doilies, pillowcases with hand crocheted trim, new Irish linen hankies with tatted and crocheted edgings. And several of the most unusual and beautiful bed sheets I've ever seen. The sheets are the finest cotton but the crowning glory of these sheets are the top hems. All manner of skilled needlework embellishing the hems. 

I have already laundered them and dried them outdoors on the clothesline. I will attempt to sell them as is. They are in pristine condition. 

One item, which I thought was a sheet but is a tablecloth (so you can imagine how big it is) does have some damage which I discovered when I laundered it. It had some rust spots which I treated successfully but I did notice a teeny tiny hole in it. I don't know if this is a result of my laundering or if I bought it like that. Therefore, this piece will be used to refashion into something else. This piece of linen has a gorgeous, deep crocheted edge all around the four sides. It has other needlework in the middle - cutwork and embroidery, all white on white. 

This is one issue with estate sales - usually the lighting is not the greatest and space is at a premium. It is very difficult to stretch out a sheet or quilt to see what the condition is in a cramped, dark space and with other shoppers breathing down your neck waiting for you to put the item down.  

I did purchase a couple other things besides the linen. A couple antique books, postcards, an antique knitting bag and crocheted collars. All I did for the collars is launder them, then take pictures of them with a strapless top, making a new use for them as neck "jewelry" rather than the demure, little accessory they were, at first, intended to be. 

I'm still reveling in the warm, fuzzy feelings I get from my good fortune of falling upon such a huge bonanza. And to top it all off, I went back again on Saturday and the discount was 50% ♥ 

Estate Sale-ing

One of my favorite things to do is to visit estate or tag sales. I’d rather go to one of these rather than garage sales. Garage sales, in my experience, are hit or miss. You really never know what you might find inside someone’s garage and driveway.  There’s a lot of time spent driving around from one to the next one.

My choice is an estate sale any day. They are advertised in the Sunday paper along with a list of the most special “goodies” they may have to sell. They can also be checked online and even see pictures.

I took this picture at the most recent estate sale I attended. It was a great one, too. These are few and far between but when you come upon one, it feels like you’ve hit the mother lode.

There’s a very strict protocol. On the opening day of the sale, if it is a “good” sale, it will be flooded with antiques dealers from as early at 3-4 am for a 10 am opening. They absolutely NEVER open before the time stated in the ads. The first person to arrive at the house in the wee hours of the morning and park their car directly in front of the house, makes themselves #1 (of temporary numbers). When the next person arrives, #1 gives that person the #2 chit and so on until it is time for the sale manager to appear and give out the “official” numbers. No one dares leave during the time of early arrival until the sale manager appears at the front door. He/she begins handing out the official numbers, honoring the early arrivals numbers. The sales manager always announces in the ads what time they will be giving out the official  #’s. It could be a half hour or more before the sale starts. Once you have your official # in your hand, you can drive away and get a cup of coffee but most certainly be back in time for opening. I find it doesn’t pay to leave because you lose your good parking spot. I bring the newspaper and other busy work to keep entertained until it’s time to go stand on the doorstep and wait for my number to be called.

The manager usually allows into the house a certain number of people which the sales crew feels they can oversee properly. As the first wave begins to leave, others are allowed in while still maintaining that control of how many people are in the house at one time.

The people who go through this rigamarole are VERY serious about estate sale-ing. Usually antiques dealers. This is practically the only place where they can fill their shops at wholesale prices.

I began this addicting activity when I was decorating my first home. I wanted a shabby chic look, vintage furniture, coziness, warmth, eclecticism, uniqueness, charm, etc. I felt that vintage furniture was more well-made than modern. I wanted wood not plastic. I wanted drawers that the bottoms wouldn’t fall out of.

That accomplished, I began collecting things. What has developed to be my signature collectible is vintage linen. It started, innocently enough. I wanted pretty napkins and tablecloths. I thought my napkins should all have handmade lace edges. Pretty soon, they were coming out of my ears. I knew I needed to do something with all these napkins. I started to make angels from them. The avocation just grew and grew from there.  

Items fashioned from re-imagined household linens are the mainstay of my sammysgrammy etsy shop.

Here's a couple items I reimagined from vintage linen that are in my etsy shop...........Wedding purses