More Old Linens

As I rummage through the drawers in my sewing room I keep on finding treasures that I have purchased but not done anything with. Here is the first of two recent finds. This is a rather large dresser scarf, about 32 inches square, with some really lovely embroidery on it. This is one corner, with the design repeated at each corner. Notice the hems are Point de Paris, all done by hand.

On each of the four sides is this delicate little butterfly. The back of the embroidery is almost as pretty as the front. Sorry, no picture of the back.

Not to be content with the embroidery, the maker withdrew threads in the center of the square and embroidered over the semi open spaces. (There is probably a term for that, I'm just not thinking of it right now).  This whole piece is an interesting example of combining surface embroidery with drawn work. I don't think I've ever seen anything like it before.

Then I found these placemats with a table runner in Madiera applique. The center is cotton organdy with a border and flowers of cotton batiste.

All of the flowers and the entire hem are hand worked Point de Paris. Can you tell I just love Point de Paris?  The stems have just the right degree of crookedness to make them look real. The stems, granitos in the center of the flowers, the veins and the turned over petal all combine to give a bit of depth and realism to the embroidery.

There were eight placemats, plus a table runner, and all for only $35.00!  But these things are really a bear to iron. The organdy tends to stretch, so I had to iron the hems first, then the flowers, and then steam the organdy centers to shrink them to fit. It took me several days to iron them as I could only manage a few at a time. To store them I'll roll them over a muslin covered tube so I don't have to iron them again. Oh, and in the humidity they tend to warp. Not that we have a lot of humidity here, but it does get to about 65% at night. Positively dry compared to the East and Midwest. There is no way I'll be ironing them again before I store them.

The Golden Pomegranate is coming along slowly. I was hoping to get it finished before I go to San Diego for the Jane Nicholas Persian Peony class, but that didn't happen. So I am bringing it along and will try to get some pointers. I'll post photos after the class this weekend.

Happy Stitching!