How To Make An Heirloom

Heirlooms are losing their value... 

Not the monetary value, the intrinsic value that comes from tradition, memories, honor and love.  With the loss of Sunday lunches at Mom’s or Grandmother’s house, comes the loss of knowing her table will be graced with fine white linen, carefully washed and ironed, the loss of snowy white cotton napkins at each place, her china and crystal beautifully set. We’ve lost seeing her bustling about in a serviceable but lovely apron to cover her good church clothes while she prepares the meal. Each step of preparation completed with a sense of tradition, love and family and the incredible value of effort.  At some point in our busy lives, convenience became more important, we needed to make the next game or prepare for the next work day, see the next tv show or rush out to meet friends. We moved to paper plates, take out lunch and throwaway utensils. 

I miss the tradition and the treasures of that bygone era. I love the memories seeing them provokes. I enjoy finding such treasures at estate sales and imagining their use and value – judging by the way they’ve stored, their condition and their place in the home.

So many of those treasures fall into our hands, but a few are a little damaged through age, use and general conditions.  It would be good, we thought to create new heirlooms and hopefully help bring back a bit of their lost value.

Over the months we have accumulated a laundry basket (or 2, maybe 3) of what the Middle One refers to as ‘Franken-linens’. Her term for pieces that are mostly whole, but have a small amount of damage that prevents them from being sold.  Why couldn’t we turn them into new heirlooms, but do so in a manner that would echo the period they originally came from?

We could embrace reduce, reuse, recycle!

I purchased a 1940’s apron pattern, used another apron or two we had acquired as a pattern and set out to see what could be created.

For the first attempt I found a sheet made in the 1930’s.  What wonderful cotton they used! These were meant to last. They were meant to withstand hard scrubbing, harsh lye soap, starch and irons heated by the fire.  I honestly don’t think you can find fabric like this anymore.  To decorate these aprons I gathered all the lady’s handkerchiefs that had a small hole (or a big one), and my box of vintage buttons and added them to the pile. It wasn’t smart to trust vintage thread so that had to be new, as did a bit of binding.

It’s a shame to see so many very lovely pieces go to waste so if we can create something new, practical, beautiful and worth saving, it can only be a good thing right? Now, I’ve never sewn anything to sell. I’ve bartered with it a little, and done a few favors, and I sewed for myself and my girls when they were younger. But this is a whole new experience for me.

Battenburg Lace Half Apron

The sheet became the body of the aprons, the handkerchiefs the pockets, and the buttons for accent. A single beautiful tablecloth became an apron and then two pockets for other pieces.

This week I added my first creations to the shop, Estatelyladies, and I’m sharing them here with you! We chose to list them as created by Mimi's Estatements to separate them from true vintage items. If these go over well there will soon be pillows, Christmas stockings, and who knows what else!

Full Apron   Advance Pattern 7856 from the 1940's - Body from vintage sheet, lace pocket from vintage lady's handkerchief, vintage yellow pearl buttons and buttery yellow binding and now raw seams!

Full Apron     Pattern made from a vintage apron that was beyond saving. The body is from a vintage sheet, the pocket and bib are decorated with a lady's handkerchief damaged in one corner. Bright blue piping accents!

Half Apron  designed using measurements from a 1950's apron. The body is from the same vintage sheet as above (it was a very generous sheet!) and the pocket is a cheerful lady's handkerchief!

Mommy and Me set - dimensions from a vintage apron. The body is, once again, a crisp vintage sheet, the pockets are from the battenburg lace tablecloth and the all is set off with bright spring green binding!

Major Gifts

Among the many questions we have been asked, (ok, in my mind you people ask a lot of questions), two of the most prevalent are: where do you find all your treasures? And, who is the Major?  Well, here you go, it’s time to answer both of these.

To begin, the Major is my husband and the Middle One’s father, (there are also two other daughters, the Master Chef and the Little Mama). He is called the Major because, though he started his career in the Army, he retired from the USAF as a Major.  Clever huh? Now, he’s also a “collector” and a one of those people that everyone loves. He’s never met a stranger, and yes, he could in fact, sell ice in the Arctic Circle. Seriously, he is man, myth and legend.  Though his current interest is vintage/antique cameras, in the past he’s accumulated vintage/antique tools, vintage/antique sewing machines and cars… not running, valuable cars, he acquired cars that needed “a little work”… over 300 cars.  Years ago, while taking a public speaking class for the Army, he chose the speech topic of “Why You Should Buy My Truck”.  Yep, he sold it.  He sold it to someone in the class - that day.

The USAF sent us to England, we moved with 7 ½ crates, four years later when we moved home… 21 crates.  Scary, huh?? We are used to this, but to those outside the family it is often a bit of a surprise. 

To give you the complete picture – he is also an OR nurse, photographer, humorist, grandfather, teaches motorcycle safety, and rides his 40^th anniversary edition Honda Gold Wing as often as is possible. 

So these questions may not seem like they have anything in common but they do. You see, one of the places we find our treasures, is through the Major.  Take the bags of linens he brought to us, he found them at a flea market. After asking the per item price, he inquired on the price for multiple items, then the per bag price, then made an offer on all the bags – of $20. He’s the king of $20 bargains.  In the middle of all the asking and offering, he chats.  He smiles, he asks questions, maybe tells a story and while seeking a bargain, often makes a friend.  At one auction he sent me a picture of a shelf of glassware, I was interested in one item… one, single item … as the auction progressed the entire shelf was offered and he bid $5, they offered a follow on of the next 3 shelves at $5 each.  Guess what…. All 4 shelves, $20, over 100 pieces. He once gifted us with a box of dominoes he paid $5 for, “just to get us started”.  It was full of vintage dominoes sets ~ really cool sets. (There are 3 more boxes of ‘stuff’ acquired at the same time, all totaling $20 but he kept those) You would not believe how many things he’s brought home over the years. 

The Major is currently mastering the art of FaceTime from estate sales. Right now he’s got accessing it down pat, but he needs a little work on the steady motion part. Sometimes I need a little Dramamine.  We also have to work out some sort of code talk to keep from alerting others to what we value! Still, despite being in our practice stage, our last try netted 157 individual vintage Fisher Price pieces.  Yes, that’s right 157.  As well as some truly nice vintage linens, soon to make an appearance in our shop.

I suppose, at the end of the day, there are a couple of important things to know about the Major.  He served his country for over 30 years, through multiple deployments, several moves, two services and so very many great stories. He enjoys his Goldwing and photography. He loves his 5 grandchildren. He is incredibly funny in a self deprecating, slightly quirky way. Oh, and he has his own Etsy shop Premier Vintage Studio  and yes, he is a competitor. 

If he tries to bargain with you…you have two choices; 
Give in to the bargain, its going to happen, you can’t win

Or

Play the bargain; exchange some stories, toe the dirt, make a wild offer, dicker, counter offer, and in the end shake hands and walk away knowing you made a friend, sold or bought for a fair price, and most of all, you had some fun getting to know a truly good man.