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Printed Kitchen Tablecloths ~ Vintage 1940 to 1960

Words to describe these charming printed tablecloths, would be cheerful, fun, serene, romantic, and, of course, fond memories. If you are collecting, labels to look for are Wilendur, Spring Maid, Startex, Simtex. Labels of souvenir state cloths may be Cactus Cloth or Yucca Print. Made of cactus cloth, this 1950's tablecloth certainly has a tropical influence.Always a pleasant surprise to find…

A Fine Quilt Of The Victorian Era ~ The Graphic Carolina Lily

A beautiful  1800's hand stitched applique quilt in a dazzling Carolina Lily pattern. The lilies are of a solid turkey red cloth with stems in a green dot fabric. The same two fabrics form the sawtooth border and the green dot binds the quilt. There are 42 lilies in the quilt with half of them facing one direction and the other half the other direction. The height of each lily is 9-1/2" x…

Antique & Vintage Textiles ~ Buying Expertise

As the business owner  of The Gatherings Antique Vintage, I advertise my items as antique textiles or vintage textiles (antique prior to the 1920’s and vintage from 1920’s - 1940’s, as basically this is my time line of selling). I am interested in all textiles but my passion lies with clothing and accessories, bed and table linens, laces and sewing notions.   It is the area of b…

Embellishments Trims ~ The Accent Of An Antique Or Vintage Dress

Embellishments! The extra touches and accents applied to a dress, be it appliques, insets of lace, lace trims, both of hand work or machine trim, or ribbon. All were applied to a Victorian or Edwardian dress, with many used in conjunction with each other. Dresses from both of these time periods were elaborately made and embellished.  All trims photographed are from the late Victorian…

Opulent In Blue Silk Velvet ~ A 1880's 2-Pc Bustle Back Dress

"Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words."  How many times have we heard those words and, yet, pictures do tell a story.  In this case, a magnificent Victorian  dress from the late 1880's. Made of blue silk velvet fabric, the two piece bustle back dress is lavishly embellished with hand sewn cut steel beads.Breathtaking, isn't it.  The front of the bodice jacket show…

Oh, Wash Day Blues ~ Washing Antique Silk

Antique silk. How easy is it to wash and should you? Silk is classified as a natural fiber, so by all standards it can be washed, however, a word of caution, here, as there are silks that will not hold up when put to water, especially any of the weighed silks from the mid to late Victorian era. In my experience it is a hard determination on which items can be washed successfully, and which…