"It takes ages to finish a quilt you're not working on!"

Tuesday, August 22, 2017

What does one do with damaged linens?

I would never dream of cutting up any of my precious linen collection to make something else!  But people do, and they can be very creative too.  I even find it hard to part with finely embroidered items that have substantial damage to them, and I have had a stack of them in a bag for some years, waiting for inspiration.  Enter Pinterest :-)  After finding dozens of ideas there, I printed off some examples, and decided on one style.  It meant cutting the best embroidered bits off my linens, into pieces all the same size.  Sometimes the remaining stitching was too small, so I joined two bits together to come up with the size I wanted (4" x 5.5'").   Next, I pulled out some fabrics from my stash of small pieces, and cut 1.5 inch strips to match the embroidery patches.  I sewed the strips at the bottom, then along one side of each piece, to give me these:

I have since sewn them together and put a pale blue border around it, which looks very sweet.  Once I put a back on it and bind it with a darker blue material, I will post another photo.

4 comments:

Meow (aka Connie) said...

Looks lovely, and a great idea ... but I don't think I could've cut up any of those pretty linens !! It's gonna look wonderful when it's finished.
Well done, Gina xx

selina said...

it would be hard but what else do you do with the damaged ones? at least now they can be admired & saved in parts
very pretty, can't wait to see the final result
thanx for sharing

Jane said...

If they're damaged, it's great to be able to make them into something beautiful and get to enjoy them again

Wendy said...

What a beautiful idea! You are so creative with these. After looking at all your doily posts I now have doily envy!:) In a good way! I cannot wait to see what you make with all of these treasures that you have.