Antique linens - Petite Haus

Angelina September 15, 2023 antique

A Lesson on Hankies #3: Embroidered and Petit Point Hankies

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Your guide to learn all about antique monogrammed hankies. This is the third post of a series of four on antique hankies and linens. This is a repost of an old blog post for those that may have missed it the first time around.
This primer is about embroidered hankies. There is very little written on collecting embroidered hankies, and I feel that sharing a huge amount of photos is the best way to educate you on hankies. Many people are concerned about where a hanky was made. I am more concerned about the quality of what is in my hand, rather than whether it still has a label attached. However, if you’re not able to judge well, buying hankies with a label is a way to start a collection.

A collection doesn’t have to be 300 hankies–you can just purchase a dozen to put in that antique box. Think about your guest room. What do you have in the nightstand drawer? A box on the dresser? How about that top drawer in the dresser. Wouldn’t it be amazing to open it up, and have a wonderful display of hankies in there. Think about being a guest, and you’ve gotten up too early, because you’re on a different time zone. You’ve already read the magazines in the room, enjoyed the water and snack left on the desk. You don’t want to disturb anyone, but every drawer in the dresser is laid out with all these gems!

Who cares if they think you’re the crazy hanky lady. It’s alot less work than the crazy cat lady.

Click here for Primer #1, and here for Primer #2. Click here for using hankies under centerpieces at a wedding. On more linens, here is a link to using antique tablecloths at a wedding.I do petitpoint myself, so admiring fine petitpoint and embroidered hankies was a natural extension of that.

Don’t forget to click on the hanky if you want to view an enlargement.

Petit Point Hankies

I have only found Switzerland stickers on petit point hankies. They may be made elsewhere, but I’ve not seen other labels. The fabric used to make petit point hankies tends to be a linen or cotton lawn fabric.

The photos below have 3 hankies. The quality of all three are very high. Check out the workmanship. The edge is very well done.

Pansies are very popular to collect. Think about the Victorian era and the popular flowers then–and you’ll find them on a hanky!

This is a wonderful hanky. I’ve shown a tiny spot in the photo, but it is inconsequential based on the beautiful work–and the fact that it is embroidered in 4 corners.

This is a combination of petit point and crewel embroidery. It is very common to combine the techniques.

This poppy is very well done. The floral spray is very large, worthy of the best collection!

This is a wonderful hanky. I sometimes wonder if a hanky with drawnwork isn’t made in China. So I look for high quality work. This passes the test.

Awesome work! Iris is a wonderful old-fashioned flower.

Poppies are a popular theme too. Great quality, nice colors.

I love the fact that there is a simple rose in each corner. Nice quality, even though it is only one tine rose in each corner.

Violets are popular, they fly out when I find them.

Wonderful made in Switzerland hanky set. I love the tiny colored embroidery. Notice the edging isn’t as high quality is Madeira hankies.

Crewel Embroidery Hankies

These are made all over, from Switzerland to the Philippines. Again, look for quality in the workmanship. They are works of art, so look for the thoughtful design.

Nice work, quality embroidery. This gets a thumbs up.

I totally love this hanky. It’s definitely one of my favorites! There is a border woven into the fabric,
an interesting design. I sure hope I kept this one… it’s got to be somewhere.

These 3 hankies are a good quality. The center hanky is interesting–you often find a single rose the the stem going from the center of the hanky.

This hanky says “ALL COTTON” MADE IN SWITZERLAND. It’s a nice quality of heavy crewel embroidery. You can feel the difference–it is not on linen. Notice how the bouquet starts in the corner. I’m baffled as sometimes they make the spray upside down.

This one is a favorite! Don’t you just love the garden scene someone did? I think this was amateur embroidered, but very well!

This is a wonderful hanky with applique bows, and bullion technique embroidered flowers.

Beyond cute! Between the little bird and the flower faces, who could resist?
I took the label off because I washed this adorable hanky.

Good quality, extremely fine work, great quality cloth. A real winner.

Very heavy embroidered pansies on a cotton cloth. It’s sort of boring as the decoration is small,
but I liked the work because it is very well done crewel.

The cloth is very distinctive–made in Switzerland. The embroidery is a nice quality. I’ve
seen this fabric on a lot of Swiss hankies. It’s almost like a mini-calico printed linen.
One caveat is that the edge isn’t as nicely done, it looks machine-finished to me.

Great quality on the flowers, but this is machine made. I wish I had taken a photo of the back.

Interesting, looks like someone did one petit point flower, and then switched. It’s a really fine quality linen cloth.

This is an interesting boxed set. They always charge more if there’s a box. I got the set because I loved the birds. Isn’t it cute!

Very Victorian Basket. The crewel rose is well done, as is the basket. However I don’t think the flowers
are a great quality. The overall look is nice.

Machine embroidered silk flower. Really nicely done for a machine! It looks like a Royal Society Silk embroidery.

I totally love these! Any hanky with an animal is a winner for me!

Hankies with Embroidered Borders

Embroidered borders often wind up as a bridal hanky or gift. They can coordinate with wedding colors and are great for the bride that hates lace–and you can’t find a monogram.

Both of these are winners. The work is amazing. Hard to find!

I’ve seen work like this with Madeira, Switzerland and China stickers. Look for quality work.

Similar to the 3 above, but likely Madeira.

Possibly Hong Kong or Madeira? Similar to the 4 above.

These tend to be sold as Appenzell. If they have the grey pencil underneath that doesn’t wash out, I wonder if they are from Hong Kong. These don’t, the two top ones are more elaborate expensive Appenzell. They often sell on Ebay as pulled thread hankies. I did see one on Ebay once with an Appenzell sticker.

Madeira Organdy

Made in Switzerland. Superfine quality. Check out the work that went into attaching the border. Hard to believe you can pick this up on Ebay for under $20. The original price was probably around $75.

Beautiful quality work! Swiss.

Totally fabulous border! Almost always Swiss.

Madeira Applique, Shadow-work and Embroidery

Madeira hankies are very distinctive. While they are best known for the monograms, there are some very fine floral hankies.

This has applique leaves, organdy inset–alot of work. A little funky for me.

Really fabulous high quality embroidery. Notice how the bow has an organdy insert–right through the border. I think the wheat stock is unusual. Probably has some meaning to be included in a bouquet. Notice the border. When you have a hanky that has a border woven into the fabric, it is almost always a more expensive hanky.

Fantastic hanky with embroidery in every corner. Could be Madeira, could be Swiss. The edge is hand-rolled and hand-hemmed.
You want that. Newer ones are machine hemmed.

OMG! Isn’t this cute. Living in rain country (Portland, Or has only 60 sunny days/year) I had to have this one!
It’s a Madeira hanky. Notice that it has a border woven into the fabric.

Has the Burmel label, made in Madeira. The most common look in Madeira floral hanky.

Slightly less elaborate than the previous Madeira hanky.

Another applique hanky. The applique rose was enhanced with embroidery to give it more of a 3D look.

Maderia 3D Organdy Applique Hankies

These hankies are really fun. Some collectors look only for these.

Really fun hanky–stuffed cherries.

This hanky had the original Madeira sticker. Tough to find. Love the grapes! Definitely a show hanky!
Isn’t it wild!

I have to say this is my favorite—what an unusual motif!

Great blue roses!

Monster pink rose!

Care & Cleaning of Hankies

Sure, you can throw it in the laundry in a laundry bag. I know, most people think that’s sinful. Just don’t put it in the dryer. If you don’t put them in the laundry bag, they wind up going the way of the missing sock. I will actually iron them while they are still damp. That’s about 10 minutes out of the washer.

For serious hankies with lots of embroidery, just soak in the laundry tub for 5 minutes to 5 days in Biz. They’ll come out good as new. I rinse with a bit of vinegar to make sure all the soap is out. I never use starch with linens, they say it attracts bugs. The reason I don’t like starch is it gets on my iron and is nasty to clean up. If you must use starch, spray it on the reverse side of the item you are ironing. I prefer to use sizing (not as heavy as starch) if I’ve got trouble with an embroidered piece that isn’t squaring up. Don’t forget to iron it embroidery side down with a (once) fluffy towel underneath.

I don’t know if I’ve inspired you to collect hankies. Think about carrying an emergency hanky in your purse. It can be folded up in your wallet or makeup bag. It’s much smaller than a pack of tissues, and alot more durable. I’m not a blow-you-nose kind of girl, but I am a cry-baby, so even if it’s a just a bad pollen day, I’m not going to dab my eyes with a pile of lint from a tissue that has started to fall apart in my purse. Besides, it dries in-between sobs, hee hee.

A vintage shoe-holder used to display print hankies.

Hanky Primer #1 Monogrammed Hankies
Hanky Primer #2 More Monogrammed Hankies
Hanky Primer #3 Embroidered & Petit point Hankies
Hanky Primer #4 Appenzell & Appenzell Style Hankies
You can find me from time to time selling antique linens on Ebay: antique-monograms— I need to share some of my fabulous finds, I don’t have room for more!

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Angelina August 7, 2023 antique

A Lesson on Hankies #1: Antique Monogrammed Hankies

We use affiliate links in our posts and our site. This means if you make a purchase using these links, we may earn a small commission. You don’t pay a cent more than you would otherwise! Our full disclosure is available under About.

Photos are copyrighted and may not be used without my permission!

Your guide to learn all about antique monogrammed hankies. This is the first post of a series of four on antique hankies and linens.

These posts were on an original blog made with my mom that is closing. I’ve moved the posts over here and knew my readers at Petite Haus would enjoy them. Now, on to the post…

I’ve spent alot of time drifting on my blog–you get whatever is happening in my life. However the purpose was to share my knowledge–or what I like about antiques. First and foremost is my love of antique textiles.

Not many people understand my fascination with hankies–except other hanky lovers. To me they are fine works of art on a 10″ x 10″ square of the finest linen. To purchase a hanky with the same level of detailed hand-embroidery would cost you several hundred dollars today.

While hankies were made all over the world, my favorite workmanship are hankies made in Belgium, Switzerland and Madeira.

You don’t have to be a hanky collector to appreciate a nice hanky. The non-collector purchases a hanky most often for a gift–a bride being the number one recipient. Brides often buy from me, and use the hankies as gifts or part of a gift basket for bridesmaids, in addition to using the hanky for “something old” and “something blue” if it has blue embroidery on it.

If you see a fabulous hanky damaged, make a sachet out of it. Don’t let the fine embroidery go to waste.

I’ve attempted to categorize hankies in a way that you’ll understand and encourage you to spot a fine hanky.

Applique & Shadow-work Hankies

Madeira hankies must have invented the use of applique and shadow-work. Applique is when they take a piece of fabric and stitch it on top of the hanky–hence “applique”. Shadowwork is when they put the fabric underneath, or stitch underneath, to create a “shadow” on top. I don’t think I’ve seen a Swiss hanky that has this.

The blue flowers are the applique-work on this hanky.
Note that the L is made up of embroidery and shadowwork, making a large monogram.

White version of the L hanky

Like the L hanky, the W below was made by the same manufacturer.

same hanky in pink

Below are some variations, possibly by the same manufacturer.

A variation of the L hanky

A pink variation of the B hanky above

Note the flowers are the same for the last 3 hankies compared to the earlier ones.

The embroidery on the hankies with the applique letter can become more elaborate.

Rather than applique, this hanky has the letter done in shadowwork and embroidery

Similar to the D above, only in white shadowwork

Don’t forget to click on a photo if you want to see the enlargement.
This is another variation of a spring bouquet around the monogram.

The hanky below is a real favorite of mine. It has pale grey embroidery and a separate organdy flower with loose petals not attached to the hanky. This design with the flower is a whole collecting category by itself–which I will share with you later.

Note the attached organdy flower on the corner.

Hankies can also have the letter be an applique, instead of embroidery

M hanky with a nice drawnwork hem, in a medallion of delicate stitching. It has a 40’s look to me.

Doesn’t this hanky remind you of the 50’s monogrammed sweater (the “L” on LaVerne’s sweater?0

While this is simple, notice that the appliqued fabric is enhanced with embroidery

Below are some appliqued monograms that are more elaborate. The K in this hanky has leaves that edge the hanky.

The hanky below has the label “Madeira” and has some wonderful bellfowers accenting the somewhat modern-looking angular H.

The hanky below is an M done in a french script style. I love the detailed embroider surrounding the M.

Click on photo for enlargement. Notice the applique flower has some openwork, buratto I believe.

Lastly, I’d like to share my favorite applique monogram, complete with embroidery and a lace edge.

Beautiful!

This next section of applique work shows applique flowers in combination with shadowwork and french style script monograms.

The bows are shadowwork, the R is french script in heavy padded satin stitch, with an applique flower in the corner.

Another example with applique flower in the corner.

Applique flowers in the corner

The next group shows hankies with applique flowers surrounding the monogram–making more of a “medallion”.

The applique flowers are a creamy satin – interesting texture.

One of those unusual hankies with the all-white applique.

I hardly ever see red in a monogram. I love the contrasting grey stitching. The flowers are applique.

Applique flowers make a medallion.

Unusual V Hanky–V’s are hard to find. White creamy applique flowers.

Simple medallion with one applique flower, shadowwork and embroidery. I like the pink G monogram

The lavender monogram looks great, I think all these flowers are shadow-work.

Most of the shadow-work tends to be colored, although not always. They are Madeira hankies, I don’t think I’ve seen any good Made in China knock-offs. Below are two examples of P Monograms.

Below are more examples of shadow-work. Don’t forget to click and view a photo if you want to see an enlargement.

Simple shadow-work making up a medallion.

I totally love the brown embroidery. I can’t seem to keep any of the blue, brown or grey in stock, everyone loves them for weddings.

I t

This hanky is unusual with the flowers on one side of the B monogram. I love the applique and shadow-work flowers

The shadow-work bows are really sweet. Great for a wedding hanky.

Another example with grey shadow-work, some cutwork and pale aqua contrasts beautifully.

I love the brown on this hanky!

Applique medallion with shadow-work leaves. Great aqua blue embroidery

Isn’t it interesting that they managed to have such a classy combination of grey complementing the pink!

Great wedding color, don’t you think?

I love the shadow-work medallion on this monogram, plus a shadow-work edge on the hanky. Beautiful!

Organdy Flowers

The hankies below are really special. They have organdy flowers/ butterflies attached to create a 3-D effect. The organdy is light and delicate.

Butterflies look like they landed on the hanky for the photo shoot!

Note the petals of the organdy flower are not attached. Hanky has Madeira label.

Fabulous hanky with loose organdy leaves surrounding this R monogram.

Monogrammed Hankies – in a Circle Medallion

The hankies below are all hand embroidered with a french script style monogram, padded satin stitch. There are various designs, all circular.

Shadow-work medallion of circles

Simple delicate blue embroidery makes an elegant statement

A bit of shadow-work, and wonderful Madeira flowers.

A small medallion of flowers and scrolls enhance this B

The C monogram is on an organdy insert, enhanced with the grey scroll embroidery.

A double row of padded satin stitch makes a great enhanced script monogram. love the daisies, french knots and scrolls.

This is too cool! I love the cicular design around the H!

Unusual D hanky with eyelit embroidery making a cicular medallion with pink embroidery

Another great pink/grey combination. The french script R stands out in this circular medallion of scrolls.

A great hanky with cutwork border, lots of padded satin stitch and Madeira forget-me-nots.

Unusual find, a triple monogram hanky in a medallion of flowers and scrolls.

The next 4 hankies are still a circular medallion, but the monogram is not the heavy padded satin stitch–the monogram is done with embroidery making the letter wider.

This A monogram has a border with cutwork.

This monogram is a combination of padded satin stitch and embroidered fields filled with tiny french knots.

This F monogram is great–I love the double circle of embroidery. Notice the detailed embroidery on the bell flowers.

The bright blue monogram combined with the white embroidery really makes the monogram jump off the hanky.

The two hankies below I’ve owned years apart. They are the same, made to look like a rose petal, with the outer leaves out of organdy. Beautiful!

Great W monogram

M Monogram with organdy leaves inserted and cut out to make them sheer.

Organdy medallion, cutwork on the border, shadow-work bows and flowers.

Square and Oval Medallions

Square R Medallion, original label.

Probably my favorite “square” medallion.

The next 11 hankies are monograms surrounded by a heavy square of embroidery. I have noticed there is a distinct style of hanky that is filled with scrolls and flowers. It is likely the same manufacturer.

Looks very much like Victorian Whitework embroidery

Talk about scarce, an “I” monogram.

This is one with the scrolled embroidery I was talking about.

Has some shadow-work leaves

Distinctive Madeira forget-me-not flowers surrouning this F monogram

Another heavy whitework Victorian hanky

Scrolls and flowers make up the medallion

Unusual green F monogram

I can’t resist the field of flowers on this hanky!

Hankies with Double-Wide Monogrammed Letters

Some of these hankies don’t have huge monograms, but the embroidery on the lettering is extra detailed. Some of them are two-color, for a shadow effect, and others are letters filled with embroidery.

Hanky reeks with quality embroidery. OK, reeks is not a good word, but you get the drift.

Wonderful French style script monogram.

The embroidery is delicate on this hanky, but has a wonderful effect with the bouqet.

OK, I threw this in as a test. This hanky is NOT hand-embroidered. It is NOT antique, err, at least by my standards. It’s still not bad for a machine made hanky. Check it out, you need to know how to tell the difference!

Can you see the quality difference in this hanky vs. the last one? This one is a fabulous hand-embroidered hanky.

Another unusual hand-embroidered hanky. It is not Madeira, but still wonderful!

Your red Christmas “I” Hanky. Wonderful!

The double lines of the R add to the graceful look of the monogram. The ribbon intertwined with flowers is unusual.

There are 3 colors of embroidery. Doesn’t it add to the beauty of this hanky!

Simple forget-me-nots enhance this monogram.

The colored embroidery is extremely high quality–look at it closely!

All white embroidery, tiny french knots inside the monogram.

Great looking whitework!

Go back and check out a B hanky earlier in the post. Very similar to this one.

This was as 13″ hanky, huge, wonderful embroidery! Open cutwork in the monogram.

I think that the previous W hanky was made by the same manufacturer. The grey pencil lines underneath the embroidery suggest that it may have been made in China. At least that’s what I think when I see them.

Great blue ribbon border with those Madeira forget-me-not flowers . The H is a french script double-wide on the right.

I love the detail on this hanky. Great design.

The green embroidery is a very unusual find!

Check out the quality on this hanky–isn’t it wonderful! I don’t think I’ve come across a pink lawn hanky.

OK, another test. this is a machine made hanky. The colors were fun so it got purchased.

This is an English Victorian Whitework Hanky.

Looks like a design from the 50’s or 60’s. Still great. The embroidery is an extremely fine quality.

This blog is so big, I’ll continue this later with Hanky Primer #2. So what is your favorite hanky that I’ve shown today?

Here are the links to all of my hanky articles:
Hanky Primer #1 Monogrammed Hankies
Hanky Primer #2 More Monogrammed Hankies
Hanky Primer #3 Embroidered & Petit point Hankies
Hanky Primer #4 Appenzell & Appenzell Style Hankies

You can find me from time to time selling antique linens on Ebay: antique-monograms— I need to share some of my fabulous finds, I don’t have room for more!

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Angelina October 14, 2015 antique

Making Beautiful Lavender Sachets With Antique Linens – The Perfect Hostess Gift

We use affiliate links in our posts and our site. This means if you make a purchase using these links, we may earn a small commission. You don’t pay a cent more than you would otherwise! Our full disclosure is available under About.

I got to thinking about the round of parties and family events coming up with Thanksgiving and Christmas on the horizon. Do you struggle with what to give the hostess who has everything? Well, I do. I don’t drink so I am not going to pick out a bad bottle of wine. I think that three of these tied in a bow is perfect for a hostess gift.

What could be better than antique beautiful pieces of lace made into lavender sachets. Check out the beautiful ones I made below.

When you grow lavender, you must harvest this wonderful flower for sachets! The scent is heavenly, and is supposed to help with moths and critters eating your clothes. Of course you need to dry and screen the lavender to get rid of dirt and chaff. Right now I am still seeing lots of lavender in the yard.

I grow a number of varieties. Hidcote and Purple Ellagance. I seem to ignore all advice on how to grow it. I forget to cut it when I should, and then I’ll whack it when I shouldn’t. I cut it way down into the woody stems, which is supposed to kill the plant, but it doesn’t.

Anyway, I wound up with buckets of lavender. I sometimes cheat and just put them in sachet bags like below. They are handy to hang from hangers in the closet, so they are very useful.

Then I thought I would dress up the bags by sewing some antique scrap linen on it.

I kept digging around and realized my box of “smalls”, which is mostly antique coasters and doilies less than 4″, is the perfect size for sachets. Don’t you just love the drawnwork square below? The round wheel lace sachets are lovely too.

Below is a fabulous tape lace square I stitched to a sheer organdy “pillow”. I filled it with lavender and it looks wonderful beneath the lace.

Another trick is to make an organdy sachet for those little linen envelopes used for gloves, lingerie, etc. Don’t you just love the Victorian era– they had so many pretty things for every purpose. Now we can add beauty to our lives to a sachet by using them. The one below is monogrammed, very charming!

I especially love these because you can refresh the lavender easily.

Below is a fingertip towel wrapped around an organdy pillow filled with lavender. I really thought the embroidery was amazing and it makes a wonderful pillow.

Below is a sampling of fabulous coasters I’ve collected. At first I was selling them on eBay, but you get almost nothing for these round coasters, so I decided to keep them once I got this idea. So this is a good tip for you– They are very inexpensive to pick up on ebay, especially if you can get a lot multiple types.
Look for the lacy if you like seeing the lavender. Or you can buy the sacks and put scrap on the front like I did.

Any vintage scrap that catches your eye can be turned into a beautiful sachet. I also recommend using hankies with damage on them. looks at this lovely small doily I found for $.50 at a garage sale, they had 2.

The one below was a punchwork coaster. I should have embroidered an initial on it. OK, next time.

I’ll end on my favorite. Yes, they make great gifts, but don’t forget to give yourself some!.

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Angelina March 23, 2014 Uncategorized

Antique Cocktail Napkins and Coasters!

We use affiliate links in our posts and our site. This means if you make a purchase using these links, we may earn a small commission. You don’t pay a cent more than you would otherwise! Our full disclosure is available under About.

Collecting antique textiles can be fun an practical. There are so many items that don’t involve wrestling 120″ long pieces of linen. In selling linens on Ebay, I found that a lot of people give antique linen as gifts. It is something unusual as a hostess gift: not too expensive, but something really fun for them to use and enjoy.

The one drawback is that you do have to iron them, but they are so much more elegant to use than paper napkins, and ironing only takes a few seconds, because they’re usually about 4″ x 6″. Antique coasters are great to use–don’t necessarily have to iron after every use, unless it gets stained, and the lace ones often don’t need ironing.

If you read my post on hankies, you know that I love Madeira embroidery. Cocktail napkins can originate from many places. They can be home-made, and have lace on them, but mostly they have fun figural designs. I think roosters seem to be the most common, but many animals follow.

Cocktail Napkins

These cocktail napkins have an applique rooster on them. Aren’t they adorable!

These napkins are the most common to find. However finding a large set is very unusual.

These Madeira napkins have the original metal tag on them. Items with this tag indicate the highest quality embroidery from Madeira.

This rooster is very well done. I love the red.

Aren’t these works of art! I love these figural napkins.
Wouldn’t you love to get these as a hostess gift!

These appliqued animals are adorable.
I would like 3 dozen, please!

Can you see these in a summer party? On July 4, cherry red works for me!

These were cute in all the colors. The little reticella bird is adorable.

These look like Marghab napkins, but they are a knockoff. How can you tell? The quality-the embroidery is great on the fish, but the edging is frayed. That doesn’t happen on Marghab. However a scissor trim would solve this.

These are handmade applique, aren’t they cute!

Elegant Madeira grape embroidery.

These for sure should be a gift to an interior designer friend!

The napkins above are harder to find than luncheon napkins. The sets below would make great gifts and work well as a hostess gift. Think of a dozen tied up with vintage ribbon.

Fine Madeira embroidery.

Victorian eyelit embroidery

Fabulous set of a dozen cutwork napkins.

Cream Brussels lace edged napkins

Point de Venise lace with filet lace edge.

Really fun fringed napkins with great monogram

High quality fine monogram and embroidery

Fine yellow applique work.

Coasters

Another plentiful option is coasters. They go for a song on Ebay–and I can’t believe how cheap they are.

Check out the wonderful quality–click on photo to enlarge.
These are Madeira, of course.

Fabulous lace coasters.

Madeira applique

It’s always fun when you find the original box. These are a nice simple design.

Awesome example of drawnwork. Each square is a little different.

These wonderful Quimper coasters were too cute to pass up.

Royal Society silk embroidery coasters are still fairly easy to find.

The more ornate the embroidery, the more expensive they are.

These pink rose ones are killer!

Of course, the quality of Marghab embroidery done in Madeira is superb.

A stunning set of Marghab coasters like these would be an awesome gift.

Didn’t see anything that caught your eye? Think they’re a bit too spendy for your budget? Well, we have another idea: Fingertip towels! Below is a photo of a few Madeira and Marghab designs.

You can always find a set of fingertip towels for $2 to $4 each.

I hope you enjoyed this walk through antique linen! Wouldn’t you love it if someone gave you a unique item like this as a hostess gift? I would!

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Angelina July 7, 2013 Uncategorized

Antique Tablecloths

We use affiliate links in our posts and our site. This means if you make a purchase using these links, we may earn a small commission. You don’t pay a cent more than you would otherwise! Our full disclosure is available under About.

I collect antique linen. When my daughter got married, I wanted something extra special in the linen department. The best way to do that…use my collection!

My favorite Needle Lace Cloth!

The bride and groom sweetheart table had a French Cluny Lace tablecloth.

French Cluny Lace

Pt. De Venise inserts in this tablecloth with filet lace borders

My favorite Appenzell cloth

Appenzell is wonderful. It is probably my favorite type of lace. I’ll have to blog about it sometime.

Tablecloth loaded with punchwork and embroidery.

Tablecloth with punchwork.

The guest book is sitting on a wonderful Madeira tablecloth. There is a ton of detailed work that is typically found on Italian reticella. This Maderia cloth is extremely rare and very expensive. If you find one, don’t let it get away!

It actually wound up on the placecard table.

The guest book table had another wonderful Madeira organdy tablecloth on it. I wanted to mix it up a bit. This is the shot at the reception. I don’t have a shot of it in the garden at the wedding.

The italian tole easel and the french pen holder were antiques. The guest book was also an antique that I designed. It was an 1860’s binding, with pages made from business cards from the 1700’s.

Details of Maderia organdy tablecloth on guest book table.

Originally I had planned on using the cloth below, but it was too small. I picked up some Borghese cherub statues to use on the table–they looked lovely with the black urns.

We had a table of wedding photos with a centerpiece of this lovely dress made out of an old spring, decorated with tiny vintage pieces of old lace!

I used 16 tablecloths with needle lace and filet lace inserts. The library had the gift table and I put a piece of french net lace on the bar.

Below is the center medallion. It is quite lovely and romantic.

The dessert room had even more linens!

The non-traditional wedding cake. It has an antique German Erzgebirge couple on top.

There were many things I wasn’t able to do because I broke my hand and had surgery 4 days before the wedding. In fact, looking back it is a miracle I pulled it off at all.

My sister ironed all of the tablecloths before the wedding. That was HUGE. We put down plastic, wool blankets, cotton quilts, sheets, on my 10′ x 55″ table, and away she went! It went so much more quickly than attempting to iron on an ironing board.

In all, the use of the antique linen was a success. I washed all the damask napkins, which were a breeze…. Laundry hints: don’t do a heavy spin, it leaves creases in the napkins…. and run through a mangle on completion, you can iron about 120 in an hour! I can’t take credit, my brother did it all for me. Thanks Lenny.

Punchwork Embroidered Tablecloth

You can find me from time to time selling antique linens on Ebay: antique-monograms— I need to share some of my fabulous finds, I don’t have room for more!

A Lesson on Hankies #3: Embroidered and Petit Point Hankies

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A Lesson on Hankies #1: Antique Monogrammed Hankies

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Making Beautiful Lavender Sachets With Antique Linens – The Perfect Hostess Gift

What could be better than antique beautiful pieces of lace made into lavender sachets. Check out the beautiful ones I made below.

I grow a number of varieties. Hidcote and Purple Ellagance. I seem to ignore all advice on how to grow it. I forget to cut it when I should, and then I’ll whack it when I shouldn’t. I cut it way down into the woody stems, which is supposed to kill the plant, but it doesn’t.

Anyway, I wound up with buckets of lavender. I sometimes cheat and just put them in sachet bags like below. They are handy to hang from hangers in the closet, so they are very useful.

I kept digging around and realized my box of “smalls”, which is mostly antique coasters and doilies less than 4″, is the perfect size for sachets. Don’t you just love the drawnwork square below? The round wheel lace sachets are lovely too.

Below is a fabulous tape lace square I stitched to a sheer organdy “pillow”. I filled it with lavender and it looks wonderful beneath the lace.

I especially love these because you can refresh the lavender easily.

Below is a fingertip towel wrapped around an organdy pillow filled with lavender. I really thought the embroidery was amazing and it makes a wonderful pillow.

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