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We try to respond email within 24 hours.  We ar a small studio so if we are on site there may be a bit of a delay but email is usually faster then telephone. thank you for your patience!

 

As of March 4, 2017, we are having problems with this email link. Please Use your own email program to write to us at info@annwallace.com. Thanks for your patience!

Box 79341
Los Angeles, CO 90079

213-614-1757

Textiles for early twentieth century and Arts & Crafts decor. We've been sewing for over 20 years. Curtains, shades, bedding accessories and many more resources for those who admire vintage style.

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Ann's Vintage Textile Blog

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I will blog once a month, approximately on the 15th

 

Creatures Great & Small

ann wallace

A good hidden observation point

A good hidden observation point

Anyone who has noticed my ads, or the header picture for this page, knows that I love animals. Living with them AND textiles can be a project however. Here are some of the animal friendly projects I’ve done over the years:
Small stencilled curtains for the lower part of glass doors to protect them from dog drool AND keep the dogs from getting too excited at outdoor goings-on.
A Roman shade that only covered part of the window so that the dogs could see out.
Stencilled linen drop cloths to attractively protect the furniture from dogs.
Special washable cushion covers for a home with a cat with a urinary infection

We made some linen drop clothes for these sweet boys.

We made some linen drop clothes for these sweet boys.

Here’s what I’ve learned:
Oatmeal linen is the most pet friendly fabric. Its slightly rough and texture and uneven color shows spots and marks the least.

Stay on top of the fur removal as best you can. My dog is a Korean Jindo - a true fur machine with a tough over coat that seems to hook in to fabric. I find a sticky roll type lint remover works best. During shedding season I use it daily! A damp sponge can work for cat fur and feels less wasteful - it won’t hurt the linen. Pet fur has natural oils and can stain fabric if left on too long.

Pet drool (!) is a protein based stain and responds well to immediate attention with spray spot removers like SHOUT. Don’t wait too long! Use an glass cleaner like WINDEX on roller shades and try to avoid scrubbing over any stencilling.

As for that beloved cat with the urinary infection....that is really tough. The smell of cat urine is very difficult to remove but a surprisingly effective tool is...air! Hang your textile where there is good air circulation all around it (NOT a closet). It can take weeks but eventually those odor molecules basically float away. I once saved a vintage portiere by airing it for a month where there was agentle, constant breeze. This works for mildew as well.

Crazy Color

ann wallace

Looking through a HUGE file of old pictures, I came across a picture of a Pine Cone runner we did sometime ago (2005!!), a custom order in a very unusual color scheme. As is often the case, I never got to see the runner in it final location but I imagine a kind of mash up of Wiener Werkstatte colors and traditional Stickley motifs...a nifty idea.

AquaPineCone

Accessories offer a good opportunity to expand the colors in a room and were often used in the period to introduce quite bright color accents. Here's an actual period kit, never completed but intact with instructions, thread, backing and all! But look at those colors. Most of the vintage embroidery we see has faded and you have to look at the back to see how intense the colors were.

VintageEmbroideryKit

Nothing quite matches an aqua pine cone, but here are some other interesting color ways we've done for clients.

Dragonfly stencil border

Dragonfly stencil border

Oak Leaf Border

Oak Leaf Border

Poppy Border

Poppy Border

Tree Stencil

Tree Stencil

Sue Ellen's Lily Applique

Sue Ellen's Lily Applique

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