Happy Birthday to me! I am taking the day off to run away and see some old friends in Franklin, where I used to live. From there it’s only a short ride to one of my favorite places where Dave and I spent a couple of days each year – Harrah’s Casino in Cherokee. I have a set amount to play the slots and enjoy a nice meal in one of the many restaurants before coming home.
Of course, I will be celebrating with my friends at home and attend several other fun events as I go through the month. I spent a lot of time away from home in July; a 4-day demonstration at the Folk Art Center and 2 days as a volunteer at our big Summer Craft Show at Asheville’s Cherokee Center kept me busy.
As usual, we had interesting visitors at the Folk Art Center and one lady from Pittsburg and I were chatting about cleaning vintage linens and washing lace and delicate items in the olden days. She told me when she was little, her mother put the family’s underwear on the clothesline with the crotch facing towards the sun for extra sanitation! We all had a good laugh and more anecdotes about the old days were exchanged.
As I was demonstrating that weekend, visitors were particularly interested in Hairpin lace, maybe because I had several pieces of Hairpin combinations on display. So, I decided to finish a strip each day (some after getting home at night) and turn the very soft pink baby acrylic into a lacy baby blanket by combining it with some white acrylic for contrasting shells and picots. This, of course, was done the following week after the demo, but it was nice to have the framework and the idea to complete the project. Image below.
During that same week I joined several lectures of the American Institute for Conservation at their worldwide meeting of textile professionals in Paris about cleaning and preserving vintage and antique textiles, silk and lace. I often get questions about how to care for textile heirlooms after they undergo restoration.
Many were damaged not only by wear and tear but also careless cleaning. The aged fibers are very susceptible to damage and must be handled properly if washed at home, which was often the only option decades ago.
One of the lectures about cleaning historical textiles was about Saponin, it is a soap like agent derived from plants. It has been popular for hair products in the past and is now available as laundry products. It is soluble in cold water and 100% biodegradable. I am intrigued but have not tried it yet, since I do not include cleaning services as part of my restoration work. I am happy to make recommendations and would like to include Saponin in that list. It’s available on Amazon in different products.
The Brevard Summer Music Festival continues, and my musical friends and I have already enjoyed a Gershwin concert, a Wynton Marsalis Jazz evening, Steinway piano concerts and the Three Penny Opera. That was a special treat, because I saw the German version back in the early sixties in Frankfurt and it was quite raunchy and would be considered for adults only. The American version was fun, but the acting, costumes and translation were quite cleaned up from the original version. What a blast from the past! The festival continues through the middle of August. For information, go to www.brevardmusic.org
Another special treat I am currently enjoying is the coverage of the Olympic Games in Paris. I have watched every one of the games as far back as I can remember and love to see the best athletes in the world perform and spread messages of peace. So many new competitions have been added to the summer games, more to watch and be inspired to move!
The last week in July brought a vintage lace dress to my studio; the machine-made lace was holding up beautifully until a sweet puppy jumped up when she saw her owner and her nails created a few tears right in the front about her waistline. I was able to recreate the machine-made pattern and the repair blends in well. The lady was delighted with the restoration and the puppy is out of the doghouse!
Just yesterday my latest restoration arrived, a machine-made Irish linen banquet size cloth with embroidered accents and classic Irish lace inserts. I am still assessing all the damaged areas and marking them for restoration. In this case I am going to use some machine-made lace as background fabric to secure some of the broken and floating filigree designs. Since the entire piece is machine made, this is totally acceptable. It is impossible to recreate some of the machine-made designs by hand. More on this project next month.
For now I am excited about celebrating all month and I am looking forward to my next demonstration at the Folk Art Center on August 15th. through 18th. Maybe this time I will start another project to finish at home. Our visitors always guide the daily themes of the demonstration and I invite any basic crocheter who wants to try their hand at a new technique to sit with me and see how easy it is to do Broomstick, Hairpin and Tunisian lace. These can all be done with regular yarn, but I also have tiny hooks and bedspread cotton ready in case you want to try thread lace or some Irish lace designs!
So come on by if you are in the neighborhood or make a special trip to the Blue Ridge Mountains, it is worth a trip.
Have a happy summer!
“I do what I love and I love what I do”
New in the Studio:
Summer hats galore!
The pink and white Hairpin confection
Ready to dance again!