AN ONGOING LOVE AFFAIR

I have a weakness for early fabrics. The texture from years of numerous washings and the wear of generations can not be easily duplicated today. I not only adore the fabrics themselves but also their names: baize, fearnaught, everlasting, linsey-woolsey, moreen, dimity, diaper, tammy. Such creative names. The list of stuff * is almost endless. But my all time favorite is a simple fabric, homespun linen. I love the feel, the texture and the look of linen. And when I think of all the many steps and the work involved to produce a homespun linen sheet, well I'm in awe. When linen comes off the loom it is brown. It can be dyed or it can be bleached. One would think that after all the work and the many steps involved to get raw flax to a linen sheet, the bleaching process would be easy. Not so in the 18th century. Before 1760, the bleaching process was time consuming and labor intensive.
1. Soak the linen 30 to 40 hours in warm water, rinse and dry.
2. Soak in lye and cow dung for 48 hours.
3. Stretch cloth over the grass in bleach-yard.
4. Wash off the cow dung.
5. Beat cloth with "bat staffs" for 2 to 3 hours.
6. Place cloth into boiling lye and soak 24 hours.
7. Wash cloth. Stretch it over the bleach-green 4 hours.
8. Beat with bat staffs.
9. Repeat the last three steps for 8 to 10 days.
10.Place cloth in buttermilk for 1 or 2 nights.
11.Wash and beat the cloth again and then stretch it over the bleach-green.
12. Sour it again with buttermilk.
13. Repeat the process for another week, until the cloth is white enough.

OH MY GOODNESS!!!! This process takes a month to complete. If I didn't have a respect for our ancestors before I sure do now.
*Textiles in general and especially a lustrous, English fabric of cotton or wool.

Bring History Home...

The Fox Valley Antique Show is next weekend Saturday, March 14th and Sunday, March 15th and I am really excited. Besides showcasing in a new exhibition hall at the Kane County Fairgrounds in St. Charles, IL , my booth will have a fresh look. It will be full of wonderful finds from my recent buying trips. Displayed will be painted pantry boxes from Maine, two large wallpapered boxes, indigo blue and cream homespun blankets, a pristine stamped grain bag complete with it's original ties from PA, a couple of wonderful petticoats from PA., a nice selection of 19th century woman's everyday dresses, painted six board chests, a red painted dome box, a large painted brown dough bowl, an early & rare woven mattress for a rope bed plus lots, lots more.

In addition to 54 other superb dealers, the show will offer three five minute presentations; Saturday at 2:00 "Make-dos", at 3:00 "Silhouettes and Portrait Miniatures of the 19th Century" and at 4:00 "Antique Jewelry". On Sunday at 12:00 Ray McClaskey, a member of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum Foundation Board, will speak on collecting Lincoln.

The image above is just a sneak peak at some of the New pieces we will be bringing. These two large, 19th century, wallpaper boxes have great floral patterns and colors.

Hope to see you all next weekend! 

My booth is #21.