I am passionate but not an expert.....
I have been around fabric all of my life but I am far from an expert. My mother was the expert and there is so much I would love to ask her.
Since embarking on this adventure I have learnt so much and, most strikingly, how little I know.
Bay Vintage sources fabric, buttons, haberdashery and other marvelous things from around the world. I have linked into a wonderful group of people who generously share their knowledge as well as offer to me from their amazing stashes of vintage things. I always take the sellers opinion of age, composition, source etc for the items I buy unless I strongly feel something different. And I add as much research as I can reasonably undertake to give as complete and accurate information as possible.
But I am very, very open to learning more. If you feel something I have used to describe an item is not correct or you have further information then please let me know.
I am especially grateful to those who so generously share their wisdom and knowledge with me:
Stacey at The French Mercer: stunning vintage and antique French passementerie and ephemera (stacey@thefrenchmercer.com.au)
Ali from Vintage Fabric in Gloucestershire, UK: wonderfully eclectic collection of British vintage fabric
Judy from Saint Louis, Missouri who has an amazing knowledge of everything about fabric and haby from the 1960s/1970s
Useful resources:
- The colours that I have used in my descriptions
- Everything about buttons including a description of types of button backs
- William Morris - his life and work
- History of Sanderson Fabrics
- Guide to Lace and Linens by Elizabeth M. Kurella
- The Arts and Crafts Home - specialists in the Arts and Crafts movement and Art Nouveau
- The Oxford Companion to the Decorative Arts. Osborne, Harold, Editor, Oxford University Press, 1975