Liberty of London fabric designs

Since my previous post about the Liberty of London fabrics that I have for sale, I have had a number of emails from people, some wanting to buy and some just wanting to thank me for showing photos of the different and now rare (due to discontinued lines) designs that Liberty sold.  For many, I think, it has been a nostalgic look back. One reader wrote that she remembered making a dress for her daughter in one design and having a blouse in one of the others.  I could not find any reference to many of the designs so I have listed below the photos and names so that they can remain on view long after they have been sold on eBay!  I will add to the list when I uncover more designs

ORPAH

  

ESKDALE

DOKKUM (available with black background)

ALAMILLO

EUGENIE (available in a number of colourways)

RUBIK

YORICK

MACEDONIA

                                                  CHERWELL

                                                          ANSTIE

   PENJERRICK

BLITHEFIELD

Liberty of London & William Morris fabrics

This month I was very lucky to be the winning bidder (after a bit of fierce competition!) on four large boxes of vintage Liberty and Sanderson fabrics. They belonged to a lady from the Lake District who had obviously made a trip to the Liberty store two or three times a year mainly during the 70's and 80's and couldn't resist buying some lovely fabrics everytime!

Who could resist going into such a lovely Arts and Crafts building? And then to find inside.........

....row upon row of fabulous fabrics. So Mrs M. came back to Cumbria with Veruna wool, Tana Lawn, silks and linen union. She bought scarves, plain silks, sateens and tweeds. She made much of the fabric into clothes and furnishings but, like many of us, her eyes were too big for her capacity to use up all the fabric (despite the fact that she lived to be 92!). So now my cupboards (and other places!) are stocked.

However as I have started listing these fabrics on eBay they have been flying off the shelf and on to new homes and new crafters who, no doubt, will make beautiful furnishings and other items with them.
I also have a number of scarves and silks listed that range from the Arts and Crafts era of William Morris to the very retro look of the 1950's.

                             Art Nouveau design

                    1950's London Landmark scarf

Blithefield design

Rare Dokkum design made for Liberty

Whilst most of the fabrics have the design name on the selvedge and are therefore identifiable, many are quite rare as they belong to a design line that has been discontinued for some time. Most are designs made for Liberty, but there are also designers such as Campbell Collier (Spice Trail) and Munro & Tutty.  There are also two or three large quantities of silks bought in India from Hayagrivas Silk House in Chennai - probably sari lengths. 

New Year & New stock!

A New Year and already a resolution broken - I had resolved to update the blog at least once a month .......and here is the first post of 2013 ... in February!  In my defence, I have been to a number of auctions, to France and bought from a large property in Scotland.  So I acquired some Durham quilts - lovely pink floral and paisley designs.

Down in Yorkshire came across some patchwork quilts.

And bought some shawls from a large property in the West of Scotland. 

This is an Assuit or Tulle bi Telli shawl. Made of metallic wires threaded through linen and then flattened. They originate from Eygpt and were very popular in the 1920's.

Gorgeous goldwork shawl on black crepe silk

And a lovely huge apricot coloured silk shawl with bobbin lace and long tassels.

Next week I will have a number of hand embroidered items for auction on eBay including this delightful tea cosy.

                        Sweet little cottage by the lake

                        Two little rabbits under the tree

A little work of art!

More Northumberland Country House textiles

I have been back to one of my favourite auctions in Northumberland. It is only held once every 3-4 months so it tends to build up a good load of items for each sale. The lots are bundled up and tied with twine so it is impossible to see exactly what is in each lot. This does make it a little difficult to judge which lots to bid for and how much to pay however it can also lead to some nice surprises when you get your lots home. Just two of the lots held all the items that I have for auction this week - damask tablecloths, napkins, gloves, embroidered bags and hand embroidery work on black satin.

 Quite unusual designs on these damask linens. Birds are a favourite of the Victorians as are exotic looking fruit and flowers. It is impossible to get new damask linens today that have interesting designs - mostly the designs are of Chrysanthmums and Shamrocks or Ivy nowadays.

This lot also included lots of Irish linen damask napkins which are also listed - ideal for the Christmas table and for many Christmas's to come!

The other auction lot featuring on Ebay had two pairs of long opera gloves, a bag for the opera glasses, a beadwork panel,

several hand embroidered black satin pieces,

                          
                              and hand embroidered cushion covers

The close up of the photo above shows the Charles Rennie Mackintosh rose motif  very well

I haven't even looked through the other 40 lots that I bought at this auction yet so who knows what other treasures I may find. 

Ghostly tales & nightgowns

 I have been to an auction in County Durham this week - I can get there by motorway but the scenic route over the hills and moors is so much nicer (provided you don't get stuck behind a tractor!).

Lovey autumn colours too and lots of wildlife; sheep, deer, rabbits and pheasants were all spotted on the way. 

At the auction I was only successful with one lot but it was full of Victorian white cotton nightdresses and maid's aprons.

I was told that the vendor of the lot had originally acquired the clothing in a trunk at a sale of some of the contents of Stanhope Old Hall. 

Stanhope Old Hall, a medieval manor house on the edge of the North Pennine village of Stanhope, County Durham, has long had a spooky reputation. Local legend has it that, during the Middle Ages, a young engaged couple entered the house and disappeared, only to be found years later under the floorboards — two skeletons holding hands.

One resident claimed to have so many strange experiences whilst living in the house that they called in the Paranormal Society. When they visited they reported sudden temperature drops, sightings of an old grey lady, ghostly orbs captured on film and visions of red-robed monks in the boiler room. (During Henry VIII’s dissolution of the monasteries, monks hid in the basement here.)  I wonder if any of them had been wearing one of my white nightgowns?  Definitely a very seasonal tale as Halloween was just two days ago!

I also found these images on the internet showing just a small range of the nightwear that was available in Victorian times.

 I love the advert for face powder in the sheet below - she must have needed a great deal of coverage as the box is the size of a drum!

I have included the link below so that you can see more of these catalogues if you want to take a look.
http://www.squidoo.com/free-digital-collage-sheets-catalog-pages

Busy, busy, busy!

Apologies for not posting for a few weeks now but I have been busy with buying and selling (and with family stuff!).  I have had some contacts lately through this blog and through Ebay that have proved interesting in a number of ways. Someone (you know who you are!) contacted me from a town up the Northumberland valley - Haltwhistle - to ask if I would like to look (and buy) some textiles that they had accumulated. 

Although trains still go through the station at Haltwhistle, the name "Haltwhistle" is not derived from the railway line but it is thought that "Halt" probably means high point of land and "twistle" relates to two streams or rivers. It is a pretty town not far from Hadrians Wall - probably the best known tourist landmark in the North of England

           Haltwhistle also has a spectacular bridge for the trains to travel over!

So my invite was to look at some textiles at "J's" house.  And what an interesting collection! From blankets and eiderdowns to  tea towels and top hats. And a lot of eiderdowns and quilts that weren't for sale - maybe another time?

So on Ebay this week and next are some of my haul

                                                    Collapsible top hat.

                  Some beautifully hand embroidered tablecloths and cushion covers

One eiderdown, but I do have some more in my stockroom to list soon too. They are perfect for the winter.

Patchwork quilts

 To follow on from last months item on Durham quilts it seems appropriate to show some patchwork quilts that I have for sale at the moment.  The hexagon quilt above (Grandmothers garden design I think) is quite old - probably dating to the early 1800's and has many old chintz cotton fabrics.

This one is at the other end of the antique scale as it dates to around the 1930's to 40's judging from the fabrics and colours.  It has a lovely pin wheel design and a very charming ditsy country floral fabric to the reverse

This one combines two different patchwork designs and plain fabrics in a type of strippy Durham quilt/patchwork quilt.  This is in excellent condition for a quilt made about 100 years ago. Many of the quilts with a strong red colour to the fabrics have damage as some types of  dye used to create red caused the cotton to rot after time.

And finally, this is a lovely Folk Art style quilt - it looks like the American quilts but it was bought from a Weardale house where it had been in the family for many years. The birds have a cheeky look about them! This quilt has a variety of different shapes used within the paytchwork - squares, tiny squares, triangles, octagons, florals. 

All for sale this month on Ebay so take a look to see all the photos before they are sold!