Portlandia, Vintage Linens, and my Feelings about Machine Embroidery

I have been bird craazy lately.  I know birds are overrated and overdone but I still love them.  I know Portlandia is a satire but obviously I am a true Oregonian since I want to put a bird  on everything. I have been making lots of birds lately, just for me.  I have a whole bowl full of birds in my living room.  I have also been osbsessed with vintage linens lately too.  I made this bird from a recent tea towel purchase.

I went to an estate sale a couple of weeks ago that was the motherlode for vintage linens.  There were stacks of doilies, emboidered tea towels, tablecloths, and table runners.  They had a box full of fine men's handkerchiefs, soft and white.  There was also a box full of lady's hankies.  Some were plain other were embroidered or had crochet trim.  It was amazing.  Being the bargain shopper I am I only bought a few pieces on Saturday knowing that on Sunday it would all be 50% off.  Sadly, when I went back late Sunday so much good stuff was gone.  Sad face.  But I scored some great items nonetheless which got all my creative juices flowing.

I have been poring over this book called Mixed and Stitched by Jen Osborne recently and she had a whole thing in the book about dyeing fabrics and how well vintage fabrics take the dye.  So I did the unspeakable and I cut up some of these great estate sale treasures and I got some iDye and cooked up some dye on the stove. 

This is a crocheted doily that I dyed red.  I love the way it came out.

All three of the above pics came from the same dye lot.  One of the things she said in the book is that you will get different shades depending on the fabric.  I was counting on that to be the truth and was thrilled to see the results.  Now I want to take these and turn them into birds.  Actually the bird above made from the embroidered tea towel has a wing from a bit of dyed-blue doily.

I have a whole box of vintage linens that I collect, many from my mother and grandmother.  When I was going through the box looking for things to dye I found this wall hanging that my grandmother had made for my mother when she was a child.  This one I will not be cutting or dyeing but may take it in and have it matted and reframed.  Machine embroidery looks as good my ass!