tea towel » by elke

Special Linings

As I make the linen totes & actually, all bags, I put a lot of thought into the linings. I think the inside should be just as thought out as the outside. When someone opens their bag it’s always nice to have a little surprise. For instance, when I made a blue & white linen clutch with a leather bottom, the lining was a bright yellow gingham check linen. For the insides of the linen totes, I collected antique cotton feed sacks & embroidered linen tea towels. Some have printed logo’s, stamped numbers or selvage woven stripes incorporated into the layout. They are not perfectly pristine. They had lives of their own. Each bag is so full of history from the shell & bridle straps to the linings.

Silk Screen Totes, Aprons & Dish Towels

I started sewing the silk screen scraps into functional items & so far, this is what I’ve come up with. I’m thinking of putting together just 4 “Ultimate Kitchen Gift Bags” for the holiday Firefly show. Each gift bundle would include a shopping tote, cafe apron, linen dish towel, pot holder & perhaps a selection of different salts…. Any other ideas? Each item has a hand screened picture & the bags were made with the natural vegetan leather straps with the contrast signature painted tips, The dish towels have a linen ribbon attached to the top corner with an antique button for hanging on a hook. Being that repetition is not my strong point, each package will be different & unique.

Pom Pom Pillow

When I saw this tea towel at an antique shop I was automatically drawn to it. The colors are so rich & fantastic, the linen is super soft & it was just so campy. The fuzzy picture at the bottom says “BERN” so it’s apparently a souvenir from there. I cut the towel in 1/2 & I even like the look of the clock tower on the back. The pom pom’s were the final touch which gave it some more dimention & well, just made it more fun. All of a sudden I’m seeing everything as a pillow!

Little Bird Linen Pillow

This week will be a week of PILLOWS! I have been working frantically all week making all sorts of pillows & bracelets & will be making bags for a craft show in September. This week I’ll be posting some of the projects. This first pillow is so sweet. The linen fabric is very textural & the red & blue stripe down the sides adds just enough interest. I’m always on the lookout for beautiful old tea towels as they make really great little pillows for childrens rooms. This would be a special gift for a new baby.