White linens.

I've washed and ironed the first batch of linens from the stack I showed in the picture here. I sorted them out into large white linens, smaller whites, large coloured embroidery cloths, smaller coloured embroidery doilies. The coloured cloths and doiles are now soaking in the laundry and will be hung out to dry tomorrow (Sunday). All going well, I will be ironing them tomorrow night, but probably won't have enough time to photograph them all and post them here, so you won't see them until Monday.
In the meantime, here is what I've cleaned up so far:

This is one of two very large cotton clothes with heavily crocheted edges.  This one has a seam down the centre, and I suspect it was originally a sheet that was worn through, and subsequently cut in half and re-sewn to make a 'new' sheet.  Some time later maybe, the crocheted edge was added to make it a bed topper for a single bed.  (I've got it hanging over the shower recess in this photo - while it is still damp, it's too big and heavy to put on the clothes horse, and I don't like to put any of my vintage linens in the electric drier.)


This is a lovely supper cloth with beautiful white stitching, and in very good condition.  No stains at all.





Another white supper cloth with gorgeous filet crochet instead of embroidery.  Also in perfect condition.




This is a pillow slip, plain cotton with a lace edge.  Rather tattered and probably not usable as a pillow case, but I wondering if any of my readers would like it in order to salvage the lace edge for a future project?




A little white doiley that is pretty but not out of the ordinary....

 until you put it on top of a coloured piece of fabric - voila!



This photo shows the drawn thread work on a very long table runner which is in good condition apart from several stains that didn't come out with Napisan.  It is such a shame, and as I was pressing it, I was wondering what could be done with it in its present condition.   I was thinking about all the patchwork table runners I've seen in craft magazines that I'd like to make one day, and I had a light bulb moment - why not use this runner as the base for a patchwork runner, filling in the centre to hide the stains, but leaving the drawn thread area as it is for a border?  What do you think?