And on the Washing Line this week......................

A selection of newly acquired textiles this week includes a David Whitehead pair of curtains, "Mosques" design, slightly damaged, but still plenty of fabric to work with.

Funky French Children's fabric called "Billy Boy", love the colours in this one! Still on a Children's theme are these 1970's Action Man curtains.

Lots of vibrant 1950's colours and some great graphics.

The piece below is towelling, the colours being as crisp as the day they were new, over 50 years ago.

Another towelling item, this time a pair of much loved (and slightly faded) Swan design bathroom curtains.

Rose design bedroom curtains, also dating from the 1950's.

Lastly a snippet of a large bolt of dress fabric. It is hard to put a date to this, but it is certainly very eye catching. Most of these items will be coming with me to the Vintage and Handmade fair in Chipping Sodbury on Saturday. Open from 10 am to 4 pm. Hope to see you there!

Sun.. shells and shutters

Today Flossie is sporting a 1940's blouse and the cutest shell necklace. Both destined for the Ashley Hall Fair in The Assembly Rooms in Bath this coming Sunday. Opens at 9 am and finishes at 4 pm.

I will also take along some of these pretty vintage children's pinafore dresses from France. I have several, so will also be taking some to the Dairy House  next week.

I will also be taking this "shell bunting" (if you can imagine such a thing!) Some very patient person has threaded shells with string making a very unusual decoration for your home, garden or beach hut! 

These beauties are also destined for the Dairy House. I would have loved to have kept them.. just to have them propped in a room or conservatory would be great feature, and a real talking point.

The mangle cloths are another great find this week, some of these will be coming to Bath, and the rest to the Dairy House next week.

As you can see I am making the most of the sun for the photo-shoot, so now back to the ironing! Have a great weekend.

Meet Flossie and Barbara....

Last week I spent a few days in France searching for new stock in preparation for the busy months ahead.
In a particularly dusty Depo Vente I found myself in "Mannequin Heaven". I was so over excited that I sent a text to Niki as she shares my passion for these rare beauties. Sadly my camera wasn't working, so I took some photos on my phone. So far I have been unable to upload them as somebody has gone off with the cable!

After some deliberation I bought this one, she was cheaper that the rest and missing her limbs - so easier to transport. As you can see she was a little worse for wear, but I could see potential....

Today I have spent a pleasant few hours with some poly-filler and youngest son's Warhammer paints (that will teach him not to lose the cable for the computer!)
I am fairly pleased with the restoration, and have named her Flossie as that has always been our nickname for a particularly formidable owner of a Depo that we have visited over the years.

Barbara on the other hand is English (I think) I have had her for ages and not had the time to restore her.

Once the Polly filler was mixed up, there was no stopping me! Her nose is still a little lacking in shape, but a light dusting of silver paint has hidden most of her blemishes and returned her to a more sleek and haughty former self.