Whimsical Linens

Beautiful linens can be simple and practical, lacy and romantic, or charming and whimsical. But if you are a collector of vintage linens, you love all three. I enjoy finding textiles and handmade things that are a little outside the ordinary. Indeed the very one-of-a-kind nature of heirloom linen is one of the joys of collecting.

I showed a dainty beaded doily in an earlier post, and here is another with a little more heft. I doubt I'll ever be able to pass one up again. The technique seems to require stringing the beads onto the ball of thread before starting the project.

Re-purposed linen falls into the whimsy category too. This eyelet lace was given to me by a friend when she didn't want it anymore. Cut from some larger pieces of bedding or clothing in a former life, she used it as shelf edging. I'll probably use it that way too.

One of my bears models a vintage cotton doll dress I found recently in a simple and sweet design. I would collect as many of these as I would ever find.

A wide and long crochet runner drapes the back of my sun room sofa. But I could use it in a hundred different ways.

Another unbleached linen piece with a deep lace edge is folded over a pillow. It may have been a mantel cloth. It would make a terrific valance for the right window. One of my favorite whimsies is the Scottie lace on the lower pillow. It was likely made to lay over the arms or back of chairs.

I like merely draping my few precious pieces of vintage floral printed cotton cloth like this one. I've never had the heart to cut any of these to make something from them. Forget that I no longer sew anything!