Posts Tagged ‘fabric’

Fair Finds

Friday, February 3rd, 2012

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selection of antique & vintage homewares bought at Lincoln Show

We made the trip to Lincoln Antiques and Home Fair on Monday. Our alarm was set for 5.30am, so it was quite an early start in the cold and the dark. Add in a few hours driving and you have to hope that the effort will be worthwhile.

selection of antique & vintage homewares bought at Lincoln Show including a bolt of vintage 1950s fabric, set of sky blue Czech enamel containers, circular Nymolle pottery plaques designed by Bjorn Wiinblad, trio, vintage Marks and Spencer blue and purple floral curtains of fat lava West German vases and antique 18th/19th century wooden pie/bread peel

Fortunately it was – and we picked up some very nice pieces – some favourites are shown here. It’s mainly vintage, mid 20th century stuff; but we couldn’t resist a couple of country antiques too, such as this beautiful 18th century bowl and bread/pie oven peel.

selection of antique & vintage homewares bought at Lincoln Show with antique 18th/19th century turned wooden bowl highlighted

We bought quite a few West German ‘fat lava’ pots, concentrating on bold reds & oranges. Their prices are certainly on the rise. Other ceramics included the wall plaques designed by Bjorn Wiinblad for Nymolle of Denmark. Each one represents a month of the year and features a loving couple’s story – from courtship to parenthood. We like the whimsical, folk art design and we’ve actually got a set on our kitchen wall.

selection of antique & vintage homewares bought at Lincoln Show highlighting a set of 1950s teak coasters in a matching lidded holder

A slightly more recent piece of wood was to be found in the shape of this 1950s/60s teak coaster set. We’re not sure who the maker is, but it’s got real quality to it – it’s very Scandinavian and has a gorgeous, warm colour.  There was no shortage of enamelware to be found – we plumped for this set of graduated blue kitchen pots – the largest has an impressive 18 litre capacity!

selection of antique & vintage homewares bought at Lincoln Show

The sewing box dates from the 1960s and is made of a plastic weave material. Some people call in Dandycord – which we think was a trade name or brand of PVC flooring. The same material was used in the manufacture of these sewing boxes. You also see chairs, plant pot holders, magazine racks etc from the same period made from it. We were given a real flash of flower power colour when we lifted the lid!  Equally bold & bright were the lovely little teatowel and this absolutely stunning roll of unused 1950s fabric, with it’s classic vase design & period colour combination of yellow, red, grey, black & blue.

It’s always tempting to stay in a warm bed, but we’re glad that we didn’t when we look back at this haul!

Wednesday Wish: Alice Apple retro foodie shopping/tote bag

Wednesday, December 14th, 2011

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Alice Apple's retro foodie shopping/tote bag
Retro foodie shopping/tote bag: Alice Apple, Etsy – £15 SOLD

I added Alice Apple‘s cute, handmade shopping bag to my Etsy favourites & Pinterest wish list board a couple of months ago. I should have known that it wouldn’t last long – it was a one off and I missed my chance. Please Alice, will you be making some more?

Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair ’11

Saturday, October 22nd, 2011

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Ken Eardley ceramic jugs and spoons on display

The Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair 2011 is being held this weekend in Manchester city centre – we went to the preview night on Thursday.

a selection of Ken Eardley ceramics on display shelves

It was great to see designer-makers whose work we’ve long admired – there was also the thrill of seeing fresh, new exhibitors.

a selection of Ken Eardley ceramics on display shelves with a recent article about him in BBC Homes & Antiques magazine open on a table

We featured Ken Eardley, whose ceramics are shown above in last year’s GNCCF blog post – once again, his stand had real impact. Things are going really well for him with magazine features such as this recent one in BBC Homes & Antiques.

a display of Jane Blease's handcrafted wooden artworks, lampshades and jewellery

Another striking space belonged to Jane Blease who works primarily with bentwood & reclaimed plastic often with her characteristic hand worked thread detailing. A recent artist residency in India has clearly inspired some of Jane’s new pieces. It’s interesting charting artists’ new developments & influences.

a display of Jane Blease's handcrafted wooden jewellery

The Radiance stand belonging to Hannah Nunn always delivers the goods – her hand cut paper light shades look great when displayed en masse…

a display of Hannah Nunn's Radiance mini lamps

…and we loved her new seed pod window hangings.

detail of the display of Hannah Nunn's Radiance newly designed seedpod window/wall hanging a display of Hannah Nunn's Radiance newly designed seedpod window/wall hanging

Ruth Green, who we’ve seen at GNCCF in previous years, also had some lovely new works…

display of Ruth Green's limited edition framed prints

…and she’s also branched out into illustrated books, notebooks & note cards.

display of Ruth Green's limited edition prints, posters and illustrated books & notebooks

With autumn setting in, Andrea Lord’s &made display offered some warm seasonal comforts…

display of &Made's cream coloured hand knitted mug cosy with grey felt cushion in the background

…such as these gorgeous cushions & cosies.

display of &Made's yellow ochre hand knitted tea cosies

As we mentioned earlier, it’s really exciting to discover new makers and their work…

Gemma Truman's seagrass & glass works inspired by weaverbirds' nests

…we’ll highlight just a couple who made an impact on us.

The first was Gemma Truman, whose hand-blown glass & seagrass hangings and vases are absolutely exquisite – they’re inspired by South African weaverbird nests. We also thought they were very reminiscent of those old fashioned glass fishing net floats.

detail from Gemma Truman's seagrass & glass works inspired by weaverbirds' nests

Second was Louise Hibbert.

display of Louise Hibbert's wooden salt & pepper mills

Her pieces have a natural feel and use subtle, earthy, yet striking colours.

display of Louise Hibbert's wooden salt & pepper mills

As you can see from her salt & pepper mills, they’re organic, tactile and oh so beautiful – they just cry out to be picked up, handled and caressed.

display of Louise Hibbert's coloured wooden salt & pepper mills

The show runs till this Sunday, so visit if you can! We’ve only featured homewares in this post, but there’s also lots of jewellery and fashion on display… and all of it’s for sale… so go on, get your Christmas shopping done early!

Life’s a Beach!

Saturday, September 3rd, 2011

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vintage beach bag made of bright yellow 1950s towelling fabric with beach umbrella and male & female swim-suited figures pattern

It’s pouring with rain as we write this, so not exactly sunbathing weather, but we had to highlight this fantastic vintage bag we found this week.

detail of vintage beach bag made of bright yellow 1950s towelling fabric with beach umbrella and male & female swim-suited figures pattern

The bag is ideal for the beach – big enough for your towel, phone, purse, suntan lotion, book, swimming cossie & sunglasses.

And the fabric… how perfect!

detail of vintage beach bag made of bright yellow 1950s towelling fabric with beach umbrella and male & female swim-suited figures pattern with vintage Biba sunglasses sitting on top

And, speaking of sunglasses – we bought this vintage Biba pair at the same market a few weeks earlier. There’s been quite a delay with them reaching the website as Adelle hasn’t stopped wearing them!

detail of vintage 1960s op art patterned inflatable li-lo detail of vintage 1960s op art patterned inflatable li-lo

Two fab beach items that are actually available – both from the 60s/70s. The first is a real eye popping airbed/lilo in shades of orange. The second is a nifty drawstring bag that can be inflated to form a pillow.

detail of vintage 1960s op art patterned inflatable li-lo detail of vintage 1960s op art patterned inflatable li-lo

It’s not quite Autumn yet, so there should be a few more beach days left this year!

Vintage Fabric Redux

Friday, March 25th, 2011

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collection of vintage 1950s fabric hanging on a washing line

 

We’ve just received another consignment of vintage fabrics from our long-time friend Shaun. They’re in pristine condition, but a bit musty – here’s a selection airing in the garden.

As with the last lot of vintage fabric, they’ve laid untouched in a warehouse for about 50 years. This batch includes short lengths, remnants, single curtains, cushion covers etc etc. Again they date from the 1950s/60s and are a mixture of abstract, atomic and florals.

We’ve done a little slideshow of favourites for all you vintage fabric fans – in addition to an airing they’ll obviously need a good iron!























They’re a myriad of sizes, so we’ll list them individually over the coming weeks & months – they’ll be perfect for all manner of crafty projects.

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