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)

More photos of antique textiles

I am now using flikr to show some of the antique and vintage linen not on the website

http://www.flickr.com/photos/parnalinen/

Hemp sheets

I now use vintage hemp sheets for bedding and towels, it all started when I was staying with one of my suppliers in Transylvania and they were explaining to me the benefits of hemp sheets so I thought that I just had to try! The advantage of sleeping on these sheets apart from the fact that they are beautiful and entirely natural is that hemp fabric acts acts as a tempertaure regulator. Hemp is a fibrous cloth, with hollw stems and because of this absorbs moisture. Hemp sheets also make brilliant towels-swaddling yourself in these 100-200 year old hand woven fabric is wonderful , I now take them to the Turkish baths , wrapping myself in one of these sheets and lying on the rest beds for 10 minutes makes a perfect end to the bathing experience!

Transylvanian textiles

Before 1920 and the treat of Trianon the area of Romania known as Transylvania used to belong to Hungary. The tradition of Hungarian folk crafts and culture is still very much alive in parts of Transylvania. It is still possible to find women weavimg and embroidering textiles. Zsu zsu, having spent her life in a very traditional village has spent years dealing in antique textiles. Recently she has worked at trying to reproduce the textiles of the past, harnessing the skills of women weavers she has developed a range of typical Transylvanian textiles. Each is made of hand woven fabric and trimmed with hand made crochet.

Hemp

Vintage, home loomed linen and hemp is lovely but one day there will be no more left to source. I have been on the look out for altenatives for ages and have found a small co-opertive who grow, harvest and hand weave their own hemp to make tea towels. More on this coming soon I hope.

Vintage hemp

More lovely, strong, eco friendly vintage linen and hemp rolls. Fantastic for bench cushions.

Perfect for table runners, soft furnishings, window dressings and upholstery

Most commonly available in a variety of neutral backgounds with red or blue stripes. I have also got some more unsuual colours: green, caramel, blue and red- email me kath@parna.co.uk for details.

Vintage embrodiered pieces

Wall hangings, kitchen linen, clothes, sheets and even sacks were beautifully hand embroidered. Sometimes for the dowry chest, sometimes, as in the case of vintage grain sacks, for functional purposes and sometimes to decorate the home. Wallhangings, often with a slogan would be hung in the kitchen, on the wall alongside the bed to add warmth and in the best room for decorative purposes.