At the weekend I went to the visiting antiques fair at the Royal Norfolk Show Ground. They are few and far between in this area, so I was quite excited to have a bit of a rummage around! I stumbled upon a shoe box of twisted up cottons and picked out a few threads and a roll of white bias tape. I probably would have picked up some more cottons while I was there, but everything was so tangled in the box and it was so cold I had lost the feeling in my hands and feet!
I also found another stall which had suitcases bursting open with antique lace clothes, handkerchiefs and fabric items. I picked up lots of doilies, three rolls of lace trims and lots of other lovely bits and pieces.
I think some of the pieces of lace are handmade and really quite old. They must have taken a long time to make originally and a heck of a lot of patience!
These ones are extra delicate!
This one was a little bit different. Its an oval in sheer material with little flowers on, edged in lace. I expect its more modern than a lot of the other ones, but it stood out to me. I thought it was quite twee and imagined it was originally sat on a dressing table, as its a bit bedroom looking.
Once I had been round the fair, I doubled back on myself and went back to the stalls outside for a second look. I felt that a lot of the indoor stalls were a little over priced for my liking, no matter how warm it was! I was on a bargain hunt, not specifically looking for pricey antiques. I found a large crochet blanket in brights and pastel squares, with a zig-zag edging. But after giving the blanket a bit of a sniff, I put it back as it smelled a little too funky for my liking. It was also sat on an old pram with visible mildew marks. I do like thrifty finds, but I definitely do not like wifty finds! There is also nothing worse than washing and rewashing second hand things, to find that you just can't shift the smell.
I headed back to the stall with the antique clothes and fabrics for another look around. I found this huge crochet blanket in white cotton. Its a large double bed throw and is edged with a zig-zag pattern. After lots of umming and ahhing with the stall holder I bought what I consider to be a bit of a bargain, given how many zillions of hours it must have taken!
It is a little bit thread bare in places and will take a lot of TLC to fix up, but I think its lovely. It reminds me of a huge papercut, and looks so beautiful held up to the light.
This is some of the damage on the blanket. I am hoping I can restore it sympathetically with some plain cotton thread. I can see places where someone has tried to fix it before with the wrong nylon thread and it sticks out like a sore thumb to me. Hopefully I can do a better job, and if not I might be able patch it with something new. Maybe I could cover the damage with material backing and some crochet flowers... hmmm.
Wonderful crochet windows :o)
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