Choosing vintage fabrics (part1)

It is sometimes difficult when choosing fabrics online to get a clear idea of the subtleties of weave, weight and tone. This can be especially tricky when considering which fabrics complement each other and/or colour schemes.

Most of our antique and vintage linen has either a stone/oatmeal or cream/wheat coloured base. We try our best to accurately describe tones. When choosing fabrics to be used together the background tone is probably the most important consideration and going for either the grey/stone/ porridge tones or the wheat/cream/yellow tones is a good starting point

Mixing striped linen with plain often works well and for larger projects using any combination of grain sacks, cart covers, mattress covers, sacks and sheets with the same tones can produce stunning results.

Over the next few weeks we will be presenting examples of combinations of vintage linen which could be used for interior projects. We will also be suggesting complementary Farrow and Ball paint colours as we aware that like us many of our customers use Farrow and Ball.

(Farrow and Ball is an English company producing environmentally friendly paints with a fantastic range of neutral (and other) colours. They go particularly well with our vintage fabrics.

Period Living

Featured in Junes issue of Period living (UK). This shows one of our cushions from grain sack fabric ( not a chunky hemp cushion as it says in the caption!)

Indigo dyed vintage linen and hemp

Indigo dyed in vats uing traditional methods. The vintage linen hemp sheets and sacks Dipped in dye baths up to 30 times to produce this extraordinary depth of colour.

Resist dyeimng is a traditional craft in Hungary. Patterns are stamped onto the fabric in wax, some using very old stamp blocks others using newer designs. We are awaitng delivery of our first batch of resist dyed indigo fabric.

Chelsea Flower show

Parna vintage linen will be feautured on the Hartley Botanic stand at the Chelsea Flower show. Vintage linen and hemp is fantastic for upholstery and soft furnishings and blends well with both contemporary and antique textiles and interiors. Parna was asked to supply fabric to upholster a small chair and for curtains which will feature on the stand.

Hartley Botanic, in association with their media partners, Period Living, have worked with Philip Hooper, of Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler, to create an integrated garden and interior, planned to appeal to gardeners and decorators alike. Internally, the main glasshouse reflects a loose interpretation of late eighteenth century style, with a nod to the gothic and Mughal architecture and decoration so popular the time, to tie in with the external theme.

The horticultural theme is inspired by the bi-centenary of Thomas Andrew Knight, a fruit grower and gentleman botanist, who moved to Elton Hall in Cambridgeshire, (rebuilt in romantic gothic style about 1760), when he married in 1791. (information courtersy of Hartley Botanic)