Exciting News in the World of Antique and Vintage Textiles and Trimmings.

The forthcoming auction at Dreweatts Apsley Road sale room in Bristol will include lots sourced from the famous BBC Costume Department. The collection was originally sold in 2008, and most of the garments were purchased by Angels in London. Marigold Costumes bought the trimmings and other workroom items, and it is some of this that will be included in the sale.

The collection to be included in the sale includes lengths of metallic lace from France, Victorian beaded trimmings, ribbon woven with metallic thread, tassels and trimmings with intricate patterns and designs woven with tiny beads and sequins.

There is also a good selection of lace from the same source. The reason that the BBC collection is so highly sought after is due to the fact that it had been amassed over so many years. Some of the items in our sale have old shop labels from Hopkins (a supplier in London) and also from Paris. The quality of the collection reflects the high standard of costume making undertaken by the BBC costume designers over the past 40 to 50 years.

These items are now highly sought after by fashion designers and costume designers for the theatre, Opera and film industry.

It seems often the case that when interesting items come to an auction they attract similarly rare items to the same saleroom and this has certainly been the case with this auction. As well as the wonderful items with the BBC provenance we have delicious boxes of old lace and trimmings from private homes and other collections.

One example of this came in an old Marshell and Snelgrove hat box which when opened revealed a huge quantity of lace, embroidery and passmenterie.

Liberty is a long established name in the world of textiles and there will be a good selection of vintage Liberty fabric in the sale. At the moment there is a huge resurgence and enthusiasm for dressmaking, patchwork and sewing in general which will make these lots very popular. Once again the designers from film and theatre will be keen to purchase lengths of unused dress fabric from the past 60 years.

For day to day wear, there are several gorgeous vintage Liberty dresses, skirts and jackets - some with original labels.
The catalogue for the sale will be available to view on-line in a few weeks time.

Textiles and Treasures!

The best finds are when you come across a"job lot".. for example an old wooden French trunk over-flowing with buttons, buckles, fabric, trimmings.... which is just what Mr W found for me last week at the fair in Newark!

It has taken me many hours to sort through it all and decide what will be going where? A lot will be coming to The Vintage and Handmade Textile Fair on Saturday the 25th of February.

 As will this gorgeous Spring ensemble. A matching 1950's dress and jacket - approx size 12. A perfect for attending a vintage style wedding!

 Next stop after the Vintage and Handmade will be The Vintage Bazaar's Rag and Remnant Rummage which takes place on Saturday 3rd March at The Trull Village Memorial Hall, Church Road, Trull, Taunton, Somerset. TA3 7JZ . Doors open at 9.30 and the fair will close at 14.00. Admission 50p.

 There will be over 20 stands piled high with a selection of goodies for every pocket. Textiles, trimmings, buttons & bits from the workrooms of West Country makers, collectors and dealers. It will be a fun day, so hope to see you there.

It would appear that I am not the only one who is busy preparing. Check here for another sneak preview!

A Chilly Week in Newark's Textile Tent

 Greetings faithful readers! Firstly, many apologies for the lack of postings on the blog. 2012 has taken off at break-neck speed and the month of January having gone by in a flash! This week was the first IACF Newark fair of the year. We set off in trepidation, keeping a firm eye on weather forecasts as we drove North.

 Thursday morning dawned and the sun rose weakly over the showground. The four of us who share the Textile Tent quickly set up our stands and got the kettle on! As usual Maud had been working very hard to prepare mountains of pristine linens......

 Business was brisk throughout the morning despite the snow flurries and sub-zero temperatures. As the day progressed the sun shone through now and then. Part-way through the afternoon I managed to meet and chat to the lovely Nilly Hall. Do check out her clever and informative blog, it is one of the best blogs around in my opinion.

After an excellent overnight stay here I was ready for day two of the fair. On Friday the sun was shining through and illuminating the marquee. Business was brisk for a few hours, and I met another blogger - Wend from Ticking Stripes - another of my regular reads!

I managed to take a few photos and wanted to add this one to remind everyone to get the date of Sunday 15th of April in your Vintage Diary! It is the 3rd Annual Vintage Textile and Costume Day at Dairy House Antiques. Hope to see you there!

Dreweatts and Bloomsbury Auction. Put the date in your Vintage Diary!

 As I mentioned in a previous post (here) I have been gathering some beautiful textiles for the forthcoming auction in Bristol  on Tuesday the 3rd of April 2012.

 Here is a taster of some of the items to be included in the sale. Please note that they may not be lotted as they are shown here. The auction will be shown on line where you will be able to ascertain which items are in their specific lots.

 As well as trimmings, there are Toiles, Passmenterie, beadwork, Samplers, Tapestry, Quilts embroideries, Floral fabric covered boxes and lengths of unused Vintage Dress fabric....

Patchwork pieces......

..lengths and lengths of gold and silver lace.........

More lace... veils...stomachers....

silk flowers for trimming hats...

A 1920's beaded dancers veil, head dress and matching rings and bracelets...

 An amazing velvet bejeweled dress from the 1950's. (above) with an interesting provenance in that it comes from the famous and wonderful BBC (now defunct) costume department. I would love to know which production it was used in?

 These trimmings originate from the same place, some of the colours on the beaded items are breathtaking.

So, don't forget to make this a date! See you at the sale! Click here to reach the website for full details.

New Year Resolutions...getting the brushes out!

 A Happy New Year to everyone! I have been reading other blogs and see that there are many good intentions and New Year Resolutions being aired! I started this week with a frenzy of sorting, tidying and decorating.

 A long overdue project is shown here. I treated myself to a pot of Farrow and Ball cream emulsion for the walls. The tricky bit was painting up to the 1930's paper floral border which I wanted to keep.

 After 2 days of painting I had the fun part of putting everything back into the room, freshly dusted and polished. I have changed the curtains (you can just see a glimpse above) to a vintage linen pair of floral design on a black background.

 Pictures have been moved and changed around with a definite floral and garden theme dominating (oops, sorry about the reflection!)

In between waiting for layers of paint to dry I have been organising a Textile event due to take place on Saturday March 3rd in the Trull Memorial Hall. This has come about from the comments of local friends asking for something to take place in Taunton (our local town).  Details can be seen here on The Vintage Bazaar Blog. It should be a fun event with 20 stalls piled high with Textiles, Linens, trimmings, buttons & bits. Admission is 50p. Hope to see you there!?

The Vintage Bazaar comes to Hampshire!

 Clare and I are pleased to announce The Vintage Bazaar at Hartley Wintney! This beautiful building is a lovely combination of the old and the new coming together to provide an ideal situation for our fair.

 The Victoria Hall was designed in the late 1890's by TE Collcutt at the height of his career. The building ran over budget, but the day was saved by the generosity of Mr Kenwood, Sir Henry Mildmay and Lord Calthorpe. The building was completed and opened by Lady Calthorpe on October 20th 1898 to much acclaim.

The exterior is a pleasing example of The Arts and Crafts style. Inside the structure has a spacious and modern feel which is a result of restoration in the late 1990's.

 Below, you can see the doors which lead into The Victoria Hall, the leaded windows would originally have been on the outside. The space is divided into different areas, which is an obvious change from our fair at the Cheese and Grain in Frome. More to be announced on the Vintage Bazaar blog very soon.

The Vintage Bazaar

At the Victoria Hall

West Green Road

Hartley Wintney

Hampshire RG27 8RE

Saturday 22^nd September 2012

10 am to 3 pm

Admission £1

Merry Christmas everybody!

Just stopping by to say a heartfelt Merry Christmas to all my readers, friends, followers and loyal customers at all the fairs! I hope you have a wonderful time at Christmas, and all the very best for the year ahead! Lizzie xx

Strawberry Hill House, Twickenham.

Recently I had a lovely day out visiting this wonderful house. It is somewhere that I have wanted to visit for several years now. Built by Horace Walpole in the mid-eighteenth century. You can learn all about it here.

The tour started outside the house. Our group stood shivering whilst admiring the Gothic Revival facade, but anxious to get inside!

Once inside we were able to inspect the many beautiful stained glass windows, many of the panels came from the continent.

One of my favourite parts was the hallway and staircase with its incredible carved bannister... and the beautiful stained glass lamp which spread a gloomy sort of light down though the stairwell. Note how the walls are "patchy" as a result of ongoing painstaking restoration to expose the original underneath.

The contrast of light and darkness is deliberate as Horace Walpole wanted to create a gloomy atmosphere of medieval castles and coined the word "Gloomth" to describe this.

The rooms leading from the hallway are cosy and domestic in their proportions. Most of the windows have their original amazing sliding shutters and beautiful fireplaces.....

Sadly, there are few original furnishings, pictures or mirrors as the contents of the house were sold off in the Great Sale of 1842 when one of Walpole's descendants sold everything to pay his debts.

Where you see plain glass in the windows means that the original has been lost.

The final room of the tour was the large Gallery which was a real contrast. Opulent and grand in comparison to the smaller rooms.

This is the ceiling of The Round room which was quite stunning. Do visit Strawberry Hill House if you get the chance. It really is a treat!