From The Linen Closet ~ Antique Turkey Red Embroidery Work

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Turkey red embroidery has gotten its name, so some historians state , from the color of the Turkish carpets made at the time. Be it true or not it does make a good story. Certainly the color of the carpets and the red embroidery thread are of the same hue. Household linens & even garments with this red embroidery thread were created from the mid 1800's to about 1930's with the heyday late Victorian - 1920's. Just before and after 1920 this type of work had started to wane with not much done passed this time. Although, I just recently had a quilt dated 1932. This embroidery work was usually a fairly simple embroidery chain stitch but still others I have seen are with elaborate needlework. An array of linens were decorated from fancy pillow shams with motto's - such as "Good Morning on one sham & "Good Night" on the other. Towels, tablecloths napkins, splashbacks, tray cloths doilies of all sizes. And quilts from simple embroidered stitched blocks to eye dazzling motifs. Lady's aprons was a favorite for this type of embroidery as well as bed jackets & combing capes. The stencils to do this type of work seems to be endless. But even so it is hard to find two that are exactly alike as each person had their own adaptation for executing the embroidery work. I hope you have enjoyed this tidbit of information regarding this ever popular embroidery work and I hope you will look forward to the next discussion from the Linen Closet.

A delightful subject matter especially for those that love cats.