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!

Holiday Time continued......

 Still catching up with everything after being away! Have had a look at my pictures from the 2nd stage of our hols and see that most of the images are similar to this......

 ..and involving quite a lot of this....

Despite being on holiday it is inevitable that I will come home with lots and lots of this......!

 Nearly all these items will be coming with me to the Fair at Newark next week. I will be in my usual spot, The "Textiles Tent" inbetween the Lady Eastwood Building and the George Stephenson. Click on the link for opening times for the event which takes place on Thursday 18th and Friday 19th August.

PS and if that wasn't enough excitement for the week, Clare and I have organised an exciting new event for Summer 2012. Click here for details!

Hit The Road Jack!

 Enjoying a sunny day here in the garden pricing an enormous quantity of lace, crochet, Broderie Anglais, trim etc for the Fairs....

 It looks to be a busy few days. Starting with The Original Vintage & Handmade fair tomorrow in Chipping Sodbury. The basket, horse & mannequin will then make their way to Poundbury for a Textile Fair in the Brownsword Hall on Wednesday 8th June.

The next stop is The Antique and Collecters Fair at Newark where I have a stand for 2 days with the rest of the textile travelling gang! Might see you somewhere in the next 7 days?

The New Textile Tent at Newark Antiques and Collectors Fair.

Here is a photo of our lovely Textile Marquee at Newark last week. IACF Antique Fairs certainly were most helpful and obliging in getting the 4 of us together in this fantastic space.

My new French and English finds looked good in the bright sunshine that poured into the tent.....

There was a bit of a wedding theme going on with this fantastic 40's headdress, veil and poignant photograph of the bride. In front of it is a French wedding cake decoration from the same period.

Amazing 40's French platform shoes soon found a home...

I didn't get the chance to take further photos of Maud or Michelle's stand...

.. but the funky shoes, magazines and fabric (below) are all from Alan's stand which was next to mine.

If you didn't get to Newark, there is always Ardingly next week where I will have my usual stand near the refreshment area, alongside Maud  and Rosie.... might see you there!

The New Textile and Decorative Marquee at Newark

The organisers of  The Newark Antique Fairs have been incredibly helpful over the past few weeks. They have given 4 of us our very own marquee! We had all been finding it difficult to sell textiles and vintage clothing at such a huge fair as there is just so much to see over a large area and customers do not always find us.

We knew the formula worked well at Ardingly, where 4 of us are grouped together in one place. Like-minded customers now know where to find us (near the refreshment stand at Ardingly)

At The Newark Fair we are in marquee  9A, which is near the shippers area and The Lady Eastwood. The 4 of us at Newark are Michele (above 3 images from her beautiful stand at Shepton Mallet last week)

Maud from Beyond France with her fantastic range of linen, rugs, bags and much more................

My stand will have an eclectic mix of Vintage costume, vintage knitwear, textiles, trimmings, buttons and French Treasures.

Alan brings from France more wonderful goodies. Anybody who has seen his stand at the Bath Fair will know that his stock is extensive. Vintage shoes jostle for space with fabric covered boxes, piles of wonderful fabric and trimmings.

The next Fair in Newark is on Thursday the 7th of April to Friday the 8th. Click on the website link here for details of opening times. It is one of the largest fairs in the country, so not to be missed!

Pretty Patchwork Pieces, Dolls and Chairs!

 This patchwork has a beautiful soft palette of colours. It isn't quite finished so that whoever buys it from me at the coming Antique fairs will have a little bit of work to do...

 There are some quite delicious cottons in the design. I would say that it dates from the 1930's and 1940's .

 It came with a later set of patchwork pieces, I am guessing from the 1970s?

Some are already sewn into usable shaped pieces, but this bag is brimming with a whole big project!

I will be bringing all these items and more to The Shepton Mallet 3 day Antiques Fair at the Bath and West showground in Somerset this coming weekend. Click on the link to reach the IACF website for full details of opening times. Please note that complimentary tickets can only be used on the Saturday and Sunday.

As well as my usual costume, textiles and decorative bits and bobs, I am also taking a selection of small pieces of furniture. All being well (and weather permitting) we should be able to display items outside at the front of the tent....

Lace........................

I was recently fortunate in having the opportunity to purchase this collection of beautiful lace. It would appear to have been several Edwardian dresses at one time.....

But for some reason they have been totally dismantled  - and now come in "kit form" for some talented person to put back together.....

My Vintage mannequin is doing her best to give you an idea.......

I will be bringing this collection of lace to the Talent for Textiles Fair in Ilminster on Saturday. The event is held in the Meeting House at the top of the High Street. Always a lovely occasion, the small hall will be brimming with textiles and treasures, and there will be stalls outside too.

The doors open at 9.30, so might see you there?