New friends - old dreams

A sample card of linen tapes for apron ties and a colourful ticking used for feather beds

Since posting my website, which took me several days to compose with a lot of help from friends, I have embarked on this Blogsite and apart from some good business, it has put me in touch with many new contacts all over the world. I try not to make it a complete chat item, and to pass on a little lore on textiles, and a modest account of the old ways of rustic French life as told to me by the old traditional brocanteurs who have memories of Old France and are glad to have a keen listener to their tales. Many of my new friends overseas have been to France and have wonderful memories too, of armoires stacked with folded linen and bunches of lavender to make it sweet-smelling, of rough old fruitwood tables covered in snow-white linen cloths and laden with delicious local food, vegetables and fruit and jugs of wine or cider, cold from the cellars, I think they might find a lot of this magic gone, but would have to remember that life was very hard for many, that electricity, gas and drainage came very late to many rural areas, just before the last war. The peasant women in Northern France and Brittany wore heavy black cotton overall dresses and did all the household chores wearing a strong work apron, changing to a dressy one for going out. They lived in dark beamed kitchens with tiled floors and brown furniture so it is not surprising that they cheered the place, and themselves, up with bright checked curtains, frilly nets and creamy linen embroidered trims on all the shelves, mantelpieces and pelmets, and they collected bright china with lustre decoration to reflect the fire and window lights.

FLOWERS, FLASHES AND SHOOTS

Gabi Tubbs, journalist and friend, who first wrote about my tickings 20 years ago in Country Living, was here today for a magazine feature with a young photographer, Jody Stewart. He is the son of another old friend, Gloria Stewart, who has done up lots of grand old houses in the Dordogne and is an antiques consultant for Judith Miller of the Miller antiques reference books. So it was a happy reunion and Gabi worked hard for two whole days fixing everything just so. Flowers had to be placed in strategic positions, ornaments tweaked into empty spaces and the lamps adjusted for light and shadow. Peering through the lens of high tech. small cameras, everything was vetted before 'shooting' and it was hard work for the pair of them to get round their chosen spots. I thought it was wonderful that the very experienced Gabi who has worked with many top photo people, was sharing her expertise with a younger specialist, and no doubt, he, too, will make the most of these opportunities - getting into good magazines is very difficult now that they are drawing in their horns and preferring to use 'in-house' staff, all for economy. Gloria will be here at my home in Bradford on Avon with a collection of fine brocante at our July 9th /10th Fair here. Apply for invites to me via dbaer@onetel.com with your full address please. gabitubbs@aol.com Jody 07964 553229

BON VOYAGE

If you are keen to learn a bit more about France, want to go there but are a bit unsure how to go about it, I can highly recommend you start with my friend and fellow dealer, Rosie Murton, who has been scouting round the country for many years - she is a great guide, a good driver and you will enjoy it all with her generous help and advice. Contact her at 01952 883709 and she will tell you more and her dates for travel. She calls her business SAVOIR FAIRE and it is well-named

It is highly recommended by a friend of mine who has launched herself into the brocante trade with some success.

IS HEMP REALLY GREEN?

hemp and linen clothing

Hemp peasant shirt with linen collar


Yes, it is one of the most environmentally 'green' fibres. It grows like a weed, enhances the soil where it is grown and does not need any of the 8000 chemicals used to grow and process conventional cotton which hugely damage the environment. Linen is similarly almost pollution free and both need little water to grow, again quite unlike cotton (even the organic type) and in addition to making fibre for textiles, supply seeds, oil and pulp used for bank notes, building material, and other industrial processes, not to mention cosmetic creams , soap and cooking oils
You could also say that most linen and hemp cloths are re-used, second-hand, in vast quantities, making a huge saving. Most old household linens are passed on to new users until they literally fall to pieces, and the French were particularly good at this. They patched and darned the holes made by the cruel loose iron springs on the beds, the rips and tears from the hedges and bushes used to dry the wash, and sometimes you come across a darn that is a real work of art (probably as taught by the nuns who trained little girls to do it)and the end result is a circle formed by weaving in and out of the spokes sewn across each hole in a spider web pattern. I once had a textile student customer who collected all forms of mending, patching and darning for her thesis, which taught me that everything has a value to someone and nothing should be thrown away! Today I had a customer from Japan who makes very fashion-conscious bags and she specifically chose damaged hemp feed sacks, darned and patched oddments together with every tiny scrap of indigo dyed and printed material I had in my rag-bag. She sells these things in a remote, rural island in Japan and sews them all by hand with some old tape and linen thread I was able to find for her. Her grateful smiles were reward enough and she left happy with lots of new ideas for sewing, while she travelled round the South West. A lovely enterprising girl!

TOILE BY THE SEA

L'Offrande de l'Amour ' Le Premier Navigateur

The lovely Toile de Nantes, (1805) on the right, is one of the many designs from the factory there which flourished during the years of T. de Jouy and other mills producing cloths of this genre. It is titled 'Le Premier Navigateur' and is from the collection of Elizabeth Gibbons, a well lnown dealer and collector of fine textiles.

The first example is original Toile de Jouy, 1792 - 1815 a very popular one and reprinted in different colours, purple, red and bistre, many times. The Offering to Love is full of romance and beauty. Many of these designs are reproduced in attractive books, but there are still many not listed and people like Morgaine le Fay http://www.antiquetextilesandmore.com/ , whose instructive, excellent blogs showing rare examples in wonderful detail, are worth studying. The other day I bought and sold quickly an attractive print on linen, showing a cherub riding on a dolphin, enough for a cushion, and was rather mortified to find, on a re-read of my reference book that it was a true Toile and it had skipped through my hands without a proper provenance - my loss and my customer's gain! Or did she think, like me, it was just a pretty old scrap ?

KNOT SO EASY

Here is a puzzle for a rainy day, no interruptions and a bright light - plus plenty of patience! The diagram is about as clear as it could be and it reminds me a bit of learning how to re-cane a Regency chair. I did my chair in two days hard work, 15 years ago, but with a poor quality lot of split cane and I sat through it this week, so that has top priority over turks-head knots which I do like and admire on other peoples coats and jackets. How many of my readers have ever made one? If you can't read the instructions I will make a copy on my scanner which will be larger and clearer, SAE please and send me your postal address.

RESTFUL SPACE

This bedroom corner was styled years ago by a friend, Gabi Tubbs, editor, decorator and author, using some of Jane Sacchi's tickings, Mulberry curtains, Ian Mankin fabrics, and, I think, it achieves a perfect ballance of stripes, checks and pretty faded florals. The colours are warm and restful , the furniture is simple and comfy and all invite peace and relaxation. This shows how careful use of textiles and fabrics can give the mood to any decorative scheme - the scale is quite important, the colours must blend and the texture and weight of the cloth must be suitable for its use. Ticking is ideal for valances, cushions, squabs and bolsters which get hard use, lighter cotton for bedroom curtains can be lined and interlined for extra cosiness and bedcovers should be washable if possible. Gabi was with Country Living for many years and is now free-lance and living in Brighton in a Georgian house, which I long to visit as it will be full of inspiration. gabitubbs@aol.com

Linen is for Life.

Linen and hemp are the oldest known cloths and are still with us, prized as long-lasting, comfortable and healthy; France used both until the beginning of the last war for most of their household linens. Skilled weavers produced sheets, other bed linen and towels, kitchen and farm cloths as well as material for all kinds of clothes. I have gathered large quantities of all these fine and useful domestic items and there are many excellent uses in the modern house. I have supplied much linen to top decorators for all kinds of furnishing and also huge quantities for costumes in the film industry. The picture shows some hanks of linen thread used for weaving cloth for clothing circa 1870, found in the attics of a seven-generation weaving family farm in Brittany. These hanks were often called 'cheveux d'anges' (angels' hair) and were used to decorate doorways on certain Holy days. From time to time I find these beautiful hanks and they are soon snapped up by weavers and craft workers. See my websitehttp://www.elizabethbaertextiles.com/ for examples of all kinds of linen and hemp articles.