Antique French Screen Makeover

I have had this lovely French three panelled screen tucked away for ages and have been meaning to cover it.  I decided to dig it out yesterday and also some lovely Vintage French faded Toile I also had put aside and my wonderful hubby duly spent a couple of hours securing the fabric to the screen.  He loves doing fiddly things like that, but I get too cross!!!

I purchased this some time ago from my lovely friend Liz Morris who specialises in French furniture and textiles.  The fabric also came from her.  The poor old screen has been sitting in my work room for yonks when I suddenly remembered it.

Here it is, in all it's glory.  Hubby has certainly worked his magic on it even lining up the panels properly to make the most of the Vignettes on the Toile.  I love it and am going to find it hard to part with now!!

A close-up of the beautiful old spindles at the bottom of the Screen.  It is painted in a Farrow & Ball grey.

A close-up of the beautiful old Toile I have used.  It is a lovely faded Aubergine colour and absolutely beautiful.  It will be coming with me for the V&H if I can bear to let it go!  Hope you are all having a fab weekend.

Jo xx

Two Little Cushions

Today has been rather a productive one in between housework and the usual routine here at home, plus five bored Pugs who refuse to go out because of the rain!!

I have been cushion making.

I recently bought this beautiful little tin with two pieces of 30's ribbon inside and four lovely 30's Chinoiserie appliqués.

I rather fancied using some of my precious eiderdown fabric and some round cushion inserts that I have had stored for ages partly because I couldn't think of anything to do with them.  Very fiddly to do, rather like covering an extremely large button, and then the appliqué is hand stitched to the centre to finish. This is the larger of the two cushions.

The smaller of the two, again very fiddly to get it to sit just right but I am very pleased with the results. They will be coming with me to the V&H Textile & Fashion fair on the 4th of June.

Hope you have all had a great week, now we've got the Bank Holiday to look forward to, let's hope the weather picks up.

Jo xx

Vintage Weekend & Naughty Pugs

We have had a lovely weekend.  We attended the Northampton Vintage Fair on Saturday and although it was a little quiet it was lovely to catch up with everyone.  The range of stalls were fabulous and Ann and her hubby Trevor had everything organised down to the last detail.  The tea room was well manned and the lemon drizzle cake to die for!! Annie, Amy and myself can vouch for that!!  I had plenty of time to have a good mooch around and bought some lovelies, some of which will be destined for the V&H Textile & Fashion fair on the 4th of June, so make sure you've got the date in your diary as it promises to be spectacular.

I just had to have these wonderful Cartier-Bresson French haberdashery drawers from the lovely Debbie.....she had just started to pack them away when I spotted them and she subsequently had to empty all of the drawers!!  

I also purchased this lovely vintage silk corsage from Debbie and some beautiful original fabric shoe stretchers from another stand (apologies as I cannot remember the lady's name).

I also bought an absolutely stunning bridal tiara dating I would guess from the 1930's and in lovely original condition as it has been kept in it's original box.  The lovely pink Art Deco box and the crinoline lady book cover also date to around the 30's and came from Debbie.  

I have also recently purchased this rather gorgeous original 1920's ladies cotton swim suit.  It is in really fab condition only missing it's belt.  I will admit this is going to be a hard one to part with as I adore anything dating from the 20's and 30's.

The lovely vintage Union Jack came from Ann's hubby Trevor.  I also purchased some vintage linen from Heather to back cushions with as I always run out of backing fabric, it has a lovely red stripe down either side so I will have to incorporate this in somehow.  It was a great weekend, yesterday was spent catching up with a few jobs around the house (never-ending!!)

Have a lovely week, and now I've got to get cushion making.

Jo xx

PS:  The Pugs are on my S**t list as I caught certain little doggies who shall remain nameless ragging some of my vintage tablecloths and linen in the conservatory.  They were on the chair and somehow found their way onto the floor!!! Thankfully no damage has been done.

Back on Track again.

Apologies for the unusually long time between posts but I haven't been well all last week after returning from Dorset.  Normally I bounce back pretty quickly from being poorly but this time I have felt really low.  Thankfully now I seem to be returning to normal, well, normal for me!  Sadly we had to let Betty go which I don't think helped my mood as she was beginning to pick on Pinkie.  This was the reason my friend rehomed her with us in the first place as she was being dominant over her other little dog.  I didn't say anything to my friend but I don't actually think Betty was a full Pug as she had many terrier traits in her.  She has now gone to a lovely couple and their teenage children and will be an only dog which I think is what she needs.  Our Pugs have been much calmer since she went.

I have recently purchased some beautiful eiderdown fabric and also a large double eidy that could not be salvaged so hence the garden is covered in feathers and so was my black car and I now have some more beautiful eiderdown fabric to add to it.

I think I will keep some and some I will sell on for projects.  I love eiderdown fabric but trying to de feather an large eiderdown is horrendous.  I do keep all the feathers though and make my own cushion pads so nothing is wasted.

Have also just bought some beautiful used ballet pointe shoes.  In the copy of Jeanne D'Arc Living magazine that Ali from Betty and Violet very kindly gave me was a pretty display incorporating some ballet pointe shoes so I  pinched the idea.  I am sure the lady I bought them from must think I am very strange wanting her used ballet shoes so I will have to explain!! They are surprisingly heavy and I can only imagine the damage done to ballerinas poor little tootsies!!

My lovely Mum also managed to find me two little needlepoint evening bags at her local market.  They are so sweet and the needlepoint so beautifully executed.  I would estimate they date from the 20's or 30's.  I am going to save them for the V&H Textile fair on the 4th of June. I am busy getting ready for the Northampton Vintage fair being held tomorrow.  Please pop along if you can.  Have a lovely weekend and it is nice to be back.

Jo xx

The Beast goes to Dorset!!

Sorry it has taken me all week to post about Vintage at the Village Hall but I am still recovering from the long drive to Dorset and back!!  I had arranged to meet Tracey & M (The Vintage Bothy) to follow them down to Dorset as left to my own devices I would probably have ended up in the Outer Hebrides or somewhere equally obscure!!

First problem encountered was finding the windscreen on the van had a major crack travelling along my line of vision so hence the Beast had to be loaded up and would be coming along instead.  Second problem:  The Beast is a gas guzzler and I do have a tendency to put my foot down a little too hard, and due to the size of it we don't really do country lanes!!

All this aside, we loaded up and I set off.  The drive down was lovely with beautiful countryside and I certainly wouldn't have found my way if it wasn't for Tracey and M.  We booked into our hotel and enjoyed a lovely evening with the wine flowing and good food and company.  Monday morning was up early, breakfast and off to Pamphill ready to set up.  I do apologise for not having any pictures of the day but Tracey took some lovely ones, please see her Blog.  I always seem to forget my camera or take too long in setting up to go round and take some pics.

Bought this gorgeous faded French fabric box from Linda Clift and also a fantastic 19th century French linen chemise that she had dyed a charcoal black...I have lived in it all week as it looks fantastic with black leggings.

It has the most beautiful oval picture in the centre of the lid of a lady holding lovely pink blooms.

This lovely vintage Union Jack bunting was one of two pieces purchased from Cecile and her hubby from Elegance Maison and it was lovely to meet them both.

Pepe is sporting the other as a rather fetching vintage scarf.  It was a really lovely day and I met lots of Bloggers I haven't met before so it was great to meet them in the flesh.  I love being able to put a face to a name.  Miss Bunny did a wonderful job of organising the fair with help from Ted who organised the parking and oversaw the unloading.  The stands looked fantastic and I could have spent the earth but had to come back with some pennies!!  The village Hall is in the most beautiful location and the weather was gorgeous.  The fair was so busy and was steady all day.  I really enjoyed the day but I did find it very tiring and hence am still recovering from early mornings and a four hour drive back on Monday!!  A big thank you to all who made it such a memorable weekend, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Had a lovely surprise this morning,the lovely Julie from The Cloth Shed sent me these gorgeous quilt pieces.  I am going to use them in my patchwork cushions (when I've got the energy to make some).  They are gorgeous pink floral pieces and I have just the fabrics to go with them.  Thank you Julie you really cheered me up this morning.  Have a wonderful weekend everyone and I promise I won't leave it so long next time.

Jo xx

The Vintage Bazaar & New Mannis

We had a wonderful Bank Holiday weekend, hope you all did too.  After the fab Royal Wedding we had the Vintage Bazaar in Frome to go to on Saturday.  After an early start we arrived and it didn't take as long as I thought it would have.  Lizzie and Clare had done a fabulous job of setting all the tables up ready for everyone.  It really is a great venue with easy access and parking and a fabulous restaurant at one end of the huge hall serving fabulous food all day.  My apologies for not having any pictures to show you but it always takes me so long to set up I never get the time to go round and snap some pics.  It was lovely to meet up with numerous fellow bloggers again and to meet some new stall holders.  The visit to the Vintage Bazaar also coincided rather nicely with picking up two new mannis from a shop in Frome called La Belle Etoffe who deal in beautiful French antiques and furniture.

This is Catherine, our new 1940's Triumph advertising mannequin sporting a rather fetching 1950's bullet bra!!

This is Liane, a French lingerie advertising miniature mannequin, she looks to me like she dates from the 1940's also.  I am sure we are going to be paid a visit soon by the Village decency committee with all this underwear on public show...Ooooer Missus!!!

It gives the neighbourhood something to titter about :))

I have also developed a 'thing' about buttons in vintage bottles after purchasing the small one in the front of the picture from Ali at Betty & Violet who I was next to in Frome.  It was lovely to catch up with her and her lovely Mum again as I hadn't seen them both for quite a while.  Ali very kindly gave me a copy of the gorgeous Jeanne D'Arc magazine which I sat and devoured cover to cover....she sells them on her website Betty & Violet and it really is one of the most beautiful magazines I have ever seen and very inspiring. I am also really looking forward to attending The Vintage Boutique Ali is holding at her gorgeous home in June over two days, it promises to full of gorgeousness and held in a lovely English setting.  She has also bravely taken on the organisation of the Cotswolds Vintage Fair in August which again promises to be a lovely event.

I have also taken to placing things under domes when I bought one a couple of days ago.  I have owned this French cherub bust for ages and I am rather pleased with how he looks under the glass with a vintage velvet millinery flower placed in front of him......now I have the quandrey, do I sell or do I keep??

Another recent purchase, a Victorian Library bust, I think it is probably Socrates, can anyone enlighten me?

Another lovely batch of vintage textiles to go through, some I will keep and some I think I will sell on for others to make cushions etc...

Hope you all have a great week and now I've got Vintage at The Village Hall to look forward to on Monday, I'd better get sorting and pricing once more.

Jo xx