Collection 1 January 2011

I decided that this year I would take photographs of some of my collections in The Woodshed and post them to my blog.  I have quite a nice collection of vintage white garments.  I display some of them as window curtains.  This is a photograph of the window near my desk--two white cotton nightgowns, a chemise, bloomers, and an embroidered bureau scarf.  In the window over my desk in the studio I have children's clothing and the other window in that room is festooned with a collection of vintage white aprons.  I have a large basket of old white goods next to my sewing table, and I've been thinking of ways to upcycle them, to reuse them in items of contemporary clothing.  This collection began when I was scouting for costume pieces for community and high school theatre groups.  Many of these items have been on stage at one time or another.  For example, the bloomers, chemise, and one of the nightgowns were all worn by "Eliza Doolittle" in a production of MY FAIR LADY.   The nightgown on the left in the photo has really interesting patches.  I have my eye on another one at an antique mall in Hallowell, again with lots and lots of patches but it also needs more repair as it is in pretty bad shape.  People don't expect to see items of vintage clothing used as curtains but it makes perfect sense to me as a way to show them off and reuse them.