Bonnets & Hats Through The Ages ~ A Pictorial Review

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In addition to my blog I have created a Squidoo lens to further share my love of antique & vintage textiles. One of the modules I have created is titled "Bonnets & Hats Through The Ages ~ A Pictorial Review. It has been enjoyable & rewarding to create this photographic showcase of ladies headgear. Oh my, how styles do change! I hope you will enjoy it too.

http://www.squidoo.com/thegatheringsantiquevintagetextile/#module3543633

I will be adding additonal photos to this showcase so I hope you will check back often. As always comments are welcome.

Wash Day Blues - Washing Antique Silk

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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 will amount to a handful of shreds when lifted from the water. This is a very sad fact so if I have the least doubt I rather not put the item to the water test. I rather have the item dirty than to lose it.

During the Victorian / early 1900's some silk was advertised as "washing silk" such as yardage and clothing. Most of the the silk embroidery floss that decorated all those wonderful society silk doilies, runners, tablecloths & other decorative household items was of washing silk. The color selection of this floss seem endless. I have found most of these textiles do wash very well. But on occasion some floss is not color fast so bleeding of colors does occur. If not sure, it is advisable to do a test.

Towards the 1920's and later I found more silks to be of a washable nature and more sturdy when soaked. Still, do use caution.

If washing silk, soak as briefly as possible. I usually don't soak for more than a 10 minutes but others suggest no longer than one half hour pre-soak. Then wash in luke warm water with Woolite or Ivory Snow. If using Ivory dissolve first in hot water adding it to wash water. Rinse well and roll in turkish toweling until damp dry. Always avoid sunlight as this weakens the fibers.

Stain removal for silks? I know of none.

Handmade Cloth Sewing Pincushions, Emeries Etc

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One of my favorite collections is of handmade cloth sewing items such as pincushion, emeries, sewing bags & rollups. Most of these items are one of a kind & most born out of necessity although I am sure, others were made & given as gifts. They span the time from very early museum pieces to today. My focus is on the items from the mid Victorian through the 1920's as one can still gather a very nice collection from this time period.

You will find pincushions from the most simple to elaborate made of cotton calicos and wool to fancy silks and satins. Many decorated with embroidery stitches, again, from the very simple to fanciful showing the skill of the needle worker. Those darling little emories to sharpen needles also have been fashioned from bits and pieces of cloth left plain or decorated with a wide array of stitches.

Finds also include wonderful sewing bags to store the sewing project. It would always be a fingertip away to pick up when time would allow. Sometimes these bags are of a simple drawstring variety while others may have several compartments to store pins, needles, a place for thread etc. There are also rollups and just as the name implies the little case would roll up from one end to the other. It would have pockets or areas for storing needles & pins, possibly a thimble. At the end of the rollup might also be a pincushion. I have shown a leather rollup jutting from the larger basket.

Also pictured are several thimble holders in different materials and spools of thread. Spools of thread can certainly be an interesting collecting hobby. Have you ever looked at the end labels to see how many different manufactures you could find?

Follow-up on Miss Flaked Rice Doll

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I decided it was time to pull out my "American Rag Dolls" book to find information on these wonderful printed rag dolls such as the Miss Flaked Rice doll I have photographed in my previous post. Some of the information given in the above book states Art Fabric Mills of New York was producing sheets of dolls from 1900 - 1910. This would be dolls cut from the cloth, stuffed and sewn. Known as printed or lithographed dolls. All the doll's features were printed on the fabric including underwear, stockings and sometimes shoes. After the doll was stitched & stuffed it could be dressed with doll or baby clothes depending on the size.

Not only were dolls produced but animals such as dog & cats. Some of these animals have been reproduced.

A company's marking sometimes was stamped on the foot or possibly along the side. In many cases the markings were either cut off or sewn into the seam of the doll. Which is why many do not retain the marking of the manufacturing company.

Also producing printed cloth dolls besides Art Fabric Mills was the Arnold Print Works. I'll update this as I find more information.

c1900 Advertising Miss Flaked Rice Cloth Doll

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"My name is Miss Flaked Rice", ah, indeed, Miss Flaked Rice is an advertising cloth doll from the early 1900's. She is a manufactured doll and more than likely was of printed cloth with both the back and front of the doll to be cut from the fabric and stitched into the delightful doll that she is. This type of doll was typical from this era with many different designs of cloth dolls available. Although I do not know the manufacture of particular doll one company that comes to mind is the Fabric Art Doll Company. Sometimes you will find the manufacturer's name stamped on the bottom of the foot or shoe. However, more often than not no name will be available.

Miss Flaked Rice was an advertisement for Flaked Rice breakfast food. This big girl is quite an impressive 24" tall.