I received a lovely parcel this week from a former student, she’s been sorting through her mum’s house and wanted to pass on the textiles. I love working with vintage fabrics, they are usually a great quality and have interesting embroidered and printed features. This parcel didn’t disappoint!

There are lots of lovely white embroidered pieces including a pair of Mr and Mrs pillowcases and a set of bolster cases. I’d love to work into these using the existing embroidery and adding my own details. The back of the pillowcases is great for making my hand embroidered pincushions.

I don’t usually buy bright colours when I’m looking at vintage textiles, I have a box full of white and cream pieces like tray cloths and sheets. There was a lovely hand embroidered blue linen tray cloth in the parcel, the herring gull design seemed very appropriate for my new home. I’d love to use this for a coastal inspired piece of work.

Now the charity shops are open again I encourage you to have a look for some vintage textiles for your own stash. You can pick up some bargains and it’s more eco friendly than always buying new fabrics.