Its not all glamour you know...;-))

Here is a collection of 1950's fabrics that I found yesterday. The huge pile on the left is actually 6 curtains and a single bedspread. These were all piled in a heap on the floor at a recent sale I attended. Initially I was a little unsure about buying them...lets just say that there was an odour about them that suggested they had been hidden away for many years...

The dealer told me that they had come from a large manor house in Bath. Now I make it a rule to not always believe what I am told when it comes to some of the stories that go along with vintage and antique items...

But it was clear that the curtains were beautifully made and would have been very expensive in their day.

Each one was stitched by hand and had been heavily interlined and also cotton lined. Sadly these linings were stained and in shreds...

But this did reveal the Paris label printed on the selvedge of the fabric. So I decided to take a risk that the fabric would be a wise investment and I bought the lot. I had to strip out all of the old linings - a bit grim, with lots of dust flying about, but I was able to do it outside yesterday as the sun was shining.

I was then left with a large pile of French 50's fabric. These all went into the washing machine on a high heat and then had a good blow on the washing line to dry.

Just the acres of ironing to do now, but it was worth all the dust and effort. There will be a few sections that I won't be able to re-use, as they haven't aged well, but generally it will have been well worth the investment of time and money.

Other finds yesterday were a lot less work...

Pretty china and some of the brooches that I collect...

And I always love to find old wedding photographs.

It doesn't take much to make my happy...I thank you for your kind emails that were sent to me after yesterdays post - I usually make it a rule not to post on down-days, so thanks for putting up with it!

Have a great week,

Niki x

PS: Have you seen this? - you NEED to scroll through all the photos - Truly inspirational! An enchanting fairytale cabin was created by Sandra Foster in the Catskills - you can read more on her blog here.

Photo by Trevor Tondro for the New York Times.