Tag: vintage fabric
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Artist Textiles.
The early 20th century saw the rise of artists having their designs printed on fabric to be used in the house or as pieces of clothing. This meant that their art was accessible to the masses rather than being owned by galleries or the very rich. After the war a movement called ‘a masterpiece in…
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20th Century Rayon Dress Making Fabric
Considered the oldest manufactured fabric, rayon is made from cellulose ( often wood pulp), and thought of as semi-synthetic. There are several different ways of processing the cellulose each producing slightly different fabrics such as viscose, modal, lyocell and tencel. Known as artificial silk when it was first introduced in the late 1800’s early 19o0’s, it…
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David Whitehead & Sons Fabrics
The Lancashire textile company David Whitehead & Sons originally set up in 1815, came to prominence in the 1950’s having exhibited at the Festival of Britain in 1951. The company produced some wonderful fabric during the 1950’s by artists and designers such as John Piper, Marian Mahler, Jaqueline Groag, Terence Conran and Henry Moore. Many can be found in the…
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Bernard Wardle Fabric Design
The company Bernard Wardle started in the 1930’s and by the late 40’s were producing a wonderful variety of designs in cotton chintz and hand & roller printed linen for interiors from their base in Stockport, Cheshire. Above picture shows the bee logo on the selvedge of a piece of 1930’s /40’s linen. ‘french garden’ an early…
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Laura Ashley and the Bloomsbury Group
The Bloomsbury set were group of artists and writers of the early 1900’s that included Virginia Woolf, her sister Vanessa Bell, Maynard Keynes, Duncan Grant, Lytton Strachey, T S Eliot and E M Forster. They were considered both bohemian and intellectual and had a great influence on art and philosophy of the 20th century. Lytton Strachey, sitting, Duncan…
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Malvern Flea Markets
Malvern Flea markets are organised by B2B events on the Three Counties Show ground, in the shadow of the beautiful Malvern hills .. There are about 10 a year, three on bank holiday markets, these can be huge and quite exhausting with so much to see and such a big area to cover. The flea markets…
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What People Make with Vintage Fabric – Tim Zercie Tapestries
Artist Tim Zercie is producing some amazing works of art using vintage fabric in his tapestries. Born in the USA he is at present living and working in London and has exhibited in both America and the UK. Check out his website to see more of his work. Tim Zercie ‘A family…
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Weekly Blog – Number 5 – Laura Ashley Patchwork in Ross-on-Wye
I recently bought a huge bag of fabric pieces from someone having a clear out. It was full of small pieces of Laura Ashley fabric from the 1970’s and 80’s. I so enjoyed sorting it all out when I got home. It brought back great memories of my patchwork making days when I was still at college. Living…
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Weekly Blog – Number 2 – The Tale of Two Scarves
I am always hesitant about buying fine wool scarves from flea markets or car-boot sales, as the chances are that the moths will have got to them. However at Ledburys first boot sale of the year I gave in to temptation. The first one from the 1980’s by my favourite designers of the time Collier…
Ali Vintage Fabric 