Sunday, December 19, 2010

An Almost Lost Art, 1940s Tablecloth

Each corner of this 1940s cotton tablecloth is sewn with these decorative flowers and trailing vines. When you enlarge these images, check out the subtle yellow and orange threads of the smaller flowers.

M Y   C O L L E C T I O N — This is a plain white cotton tablecloth, 36 x 42 inches, with hand-sewn flowers and cool zipper-like vines leading to each group of flowers. The two groupings posted are representative of each corner, and in between these corner groups are smaller flowers. The flower colors vary from pink and lavender to orange and yellow and the leaves and stems are green and brown, with the "zipper" in navy blue. My grandmother made hundreds of pieces like this, including handkerchiefs, napkins, pillowcases and tableclothes. Most of them have been packed away since new and are in really good shape considering the youngest ones are now more than fifty years old. I'm not sure if this is technically crewel work or embroidery, but work like this must have taken a long time! But then, many of these were done before the age of TV, and the hundreds of "modern conveniences" that take up our time today.

What I grapple with though, is what to do with all of these hand-sewn pieces. They could be displayed in a frame, but I have literally hundreds of pieces and could never afford to do that. We've all seen my walls and there isn't room left at the inn for them, lol! So for now, they remain carefully packed away, waiting for a better day.

14 comments:

  1. These are gorgeous and represent alot of work! It's sad to keep them locked up in boxes for no one to enjoy.
    I know it's against your way of doing things, but I would keep a handful of your favorites and offer the rest for sale. I'm sure that your Grandma would prefer that they were out to be cherished & enjoyed.

    ReplyDelete
  2. MY MOM AND GRANDMOTHER ALSO USED TO DO THIS KIND OF WORK. I HAVE SOME OF THE PIECES. GRAMPS MOTHER WAS THE MASTER WORKING WITH THE THREADS. TO BAD THERE WASN'T SOMEONE THAT COULD SEW SOME OF YOUR PIECES TOGETHER AND MAKE A WALL HANGING OR A BEDSPREAD OF SOME SORT.
    GRANNY

    ReplyDelete
  3. I think I might end up donating them to a museum of some sort, maybe a local one in one of our historical homes.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I have some pieces like this -- they are dresser scarves and anti-macassars. I think my great grandma did them -- Theresa Hall Wass. I never knew her but I remember these pieces in my Grandma's house. I guess people still do this sort of thing but now they make a fetish of it and before it was just a way to pass the time and have something pretty and useful. Now it's called "crafting" and then it was just called "life."

    Paul, NYC

    ReplyDelete
  5. Now that you mention it, I'm pretty sure my grandmother had pieces like this on her dressers. She also made lace, which I know was on the backs of chairs etc. I found some really old lace this morning, I think it predates my grandmother, it was probably in the house when it was bought in the mid 1860s. I have it draped in the attic on some old wooden chairs I have hanging. I'll take some pics. I might try to work that into some pieces of art. It's very tattered and stained, and not good for anything other than throwing out, but I think I can make it work on a static piece to hang on a wall.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Casey, this is embroidery. Quite a few people still do it, including men. My 10 year old niece loves to embroider, so that gives me hope. I know how and have mady many pieces. Right now I'm more interested in doing counted cross-stitch but I'll never give up embroidery. That lace was probably tatting or crochet with a very small needle. :)


    Katie
    PS Crewel is with thicker yarn-like threads and often jewels.

    ReplyDelete
  7. My mom used to have "doilies" similarly embroidered on our end tables underneath lamps.

    Who even says the word "doily" any more?

    And I love that word "antimacassar" that Paul in NYC used.

    When I was a kid, I thought an antimacassar was some type of French pastry!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thank you Katie! I have all of my grandmother's "utensils" like her knitting needles, darning needles, crochet hooks of all sizes and shapes, hook-like things, circular needles, etc. I have a few patterns on muslin that I think are for crewel or crossstich that were never started, I actually know how to knit and perl, and last year was taught how to cast on stitches since my grandmother always did that step for me! I made 2 scarves last winter, like everyone does when they pick it up again. My mother could crochet like there was no tomorrow. Her hands would go up and down like a sewing machine all day long.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Brian. I used to think an antimacassar was a turkish coffee maker, lol. I still use the word "doilies' when I'm describing those paper ones we used to make Valentines Cards out of. Which reminds me I have at least 200 antique Valentine's Day cards. I have to find them and post them Feb 14th.... add to the list of future posts!

    ReplyDelete
  10. My great-grandmother also did lace. She had three kids -- my Grandma Minnie, Aunt Grace and Uncle Fred -- and she made a sofa size Last Supper for each one. I have my Grandma's that she always had over her "chesterfield" (in storage) -- I don't think it would fare too well with a curious kitty in the house!

    Paul, NYC

    ReplyDelete
  11. Oh, dear, Paul. No, lace and kitties don't mix well! LOL (We have 5 kitties!)

    Casey, cross-stitch is done on a certain type of woven base so if you have muslin, it was probably for embroidery. Maybe crewel but it was so popular long ago. If your grandma or mother had an implement that was metal and is a "u" shape with sharp corners, that was for tatting, a form of lace-making. It took great skill and is truly a lost art. I never learned how but I used to watch our 90 year old neighbor do it when I was about 8.

    You should learn to embroider. It's very soothing. By the way, your grandma was a rebel! The flowers on all 4 corners of the tablecloth she made were *supposed* to all be the same colors and match! LOL And she was very good at "French knots", the centers to all her flowers. It's hard to make them small, or "tight" in the lingo.

    Katie

    ReplyDelete
  12. correction: crewel was NOT so popular a long while ago.

    And I have doilies on my bedroom furniture...

    ReplyDelete
  13. katie: thanks for the info. I think I'll take some photos of all of the needle etc one of these days when I find a suitable flat space to put them on. I think it could be a nice abstract photo, and would be fun to have them all IDd.

    My grandmother liked colors as much as I do. When she was making her granny squares, she was in a wheelchair and couldn't get down on the floor to lay them out, but I did that for her—as a 7-8 year old. She'd hand me the squares and then we'd move them here and there to see which ones looked better next to others and then she'd have me pin them together.

    She also used to empty out her knitting needle container on the floor and then have me pick up all the green ones, or pink ones. I learned my colors that way. I probably have 100 metal knitting needles of hers in a rainbow of colors and sizes.

    ReplyDelete
  14. WHY NOT ARRANGE THEM ON A BOARD WITH A PLAID BACKGROUND OR MAYBE ON THE EDGE OF THE FRAME.IT WOULD WORK IF YOU PLAYED WITH IT.
    GRANNY

    ReplyDelete