Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Vintage Textile Soak - Christmas Handkerchief Ornament





You can find many ideas online for making ornaments. I particularly liked some clear ornaments which held pretty handkerchiefs, both holiday and non-holiday.  Since I had two vintage Christmas handkerchiefs, I decided to give it a try. One small problem . . . one handkerchief had turned brown with age along the folds and also had a few dark spots. This is when I tried "Vintage Textile Soak" which I had previously purchased online. After letting them soak for a couple of days and then rinsing, the handkerchief went from this . . . 


to this. It really worked pretty well. Perhaps I might have used a bit more of the powder, but it turned out fine for my purposes.


As a test, I also soaked the doily below which went from being stained and aged to like new.  Since I have so many of these crochet doilies, this one may eventually end up in one of my crazy quilt pieces.



I posted this in case anyone else may have any vintage textiles that need to be cleaned. I have some some beautiful, embroidery tablecloths done by my aunts that unfortunately, have some faded, old food stains; I may eventually attempt to clean and use these pieces. There are other products also specifically meant to restore vintage textiles; if the pieces are valuable or treasured, I might suggest trying it on a napkin or small area first.

By the way, I fed the handkerchief into the ornament's tiny opening using a long skinny skewer to adjust the placement of the material. 

Now I have to go and shovel a bit of slushy snow from winter's first storm before the slush hardens as the temperature drops later tonight. Yesterday, my Italian conversation friends came for an impromptu lunch, and it had been bright and sunny enough to be out on the sunporch. I was also so happy to have warm weather on Sunday when my Aunt Joan came for lunch. My cousin Greg brought his mom who is in early nineties, and Emma was equally thrilled to see her. I have brought Emma with me a number of times when I have visited my aunt. Emma had been on the sunporch while Aunt Joan was coming in and getting settled in the living room, but when Greg opened the back door, Emma blew past him to greet Aunt Joan and in a matter of moments she was happily perched on my aunt's lap. :-) 

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