I haven't blogged in awhile! I've been too busy trying to keep up with the sewing and inventory. But today I had an opportunity to go to an old mill and snatch up some antique flour sacks that haven't seen the light of day since the 60's! It was quite a dusty adventure. Where are those American Pickers when you need them??
See that little window up there? Oh yeah... that's where I was. I suspect that window is how the raccoons get in. Lucky for me, I didn't have to go through the window, and no racoons were there today. I only saw, um, "evidence" of them.
This building is part of an old Mill owned by some super awesome folks in Hurdle Mills, North Carolina. Ms. Harriet saw me at a craft show with some of my bags and it triggered her memory about having a lot of old feed sacks and flour sacks stored. She and her husband were nice enough to let me get dirty in the mill and see what they had!
This building is part of an old Mill owned by some super awesome folks in Hurdle Mills, North Carolina. Ms. Harriet saw me at a craft show with some of my bags and it triggered her memory about having a lot of old feed sacks and flour sacks stored. She and her husband were nice enough to let me get dirty in the mill and see what they had!
The only way to get up there (for humans) is by using a ladder. I wouldn't have minded the ladder being a little taller (like 3 more feet) but Mr. Mick climbed up first and helped me.
We realized shortly after climbing up that dust masks would have been a great idea (note to self for future trip). It was DIRTY. I really don't know how pickers do this sort of thing without a full-blown hazmat suit.. But with our goal in mind, we started working through a very large pile of bags. There would be 50 or more bags folded within a single bag, so there were lots of "bundles" of them.
What you saw on the outside looked pretty bad, but the bags on the inside were in very good condition. Some were practically flawless.
See those beauties on the top? With these bags being from the 60's era, that is something to behold. This picture was taken while we were sorting through them. We found bags that Mick and Harriet didn't even know they had. We made a stack by the ladder opening, then we sort of relayed them to each other to get them down. Its hard for me to believe that I didn't even leave with half of what was there, and it still filled the back of my car!
So that's it! You just take them home and start making handbags out of them, right? OH I WISH!! Unfortunately, back in those times they made bags with ink that could be removed easily, so that women could then reuse the fabric to make clothing and other items. You have to set the ink. The only method I have found that works is washing them. This is a total gamble. You never know which bags will retain enough ink to remain lovely or loose so much ink they become a sad, blank memory of their former self.
Step one: Turn some bags inside out and wash them on delicate. And Pray. I have a front loader washer and it is hard not to keeping staring in there, mentally forcing the bags to keep enough ink to look decent... While that is going on - SHOWER! Scalding hot extra soap kinda shower.
And take Claritin (ah-choo!!). Did I mention how dirty that trip was??
And take Claritin (ah-choo!!). Did I mention how dirty that trip was??
Step two: Turn the bags right side out (VERY IMPORTANT), and line dry. If you keep the bags inside out some craziness occurs where the bag continues to bleed on itself. It is not good. Today it was 43 degrees outside, so line drying was not going to work. I had sacks draped over every usable surface to dry. After a few hours they were good to go. I usually pop them in the dryer for a few minutes once they are about 95% dry, and this works fine.
Step three: Iron... and I mean, Immediately. They will be wrinkled, and the sooner you jump on it the better. They actually feel a little "cruchy" and ironing takes care of that also. Remember how I said it was a crap shoot whether or not they would look nice coming out of the wash? Here is a great example. Both of these were washed the exact same way, but one is clearly more defined than the other.
Certainly the bolder one is ideal, BUT I can work with the faded one also. When you choose the right accent fabrics you can work with most things. Vintage bags are often faded before they hit the wash, so I'm already used to that challenge. Not all of the bags will be turned into handbags though. I'm helping Harriet and Mick sell off some bags on Ebay. Those that we are selling are not being washed first so they are in their original state. Go check them out - my seller name is loriesz
Here are the different styles that we found today:
Here are the different styles that we found today:
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Gorgeous, right?? That White Rose bag is very pretty. It is also one that looks nice when it has been washed and is faded. Here is one that I made for Harriett previously. She wanted a tote bag style for a friend and I used some recycled jeans with it.
Check back to see how the handbags shape up! If you haven't liked my Facebook page be sure to do so. Whenever I list a new bag I always post there as well. And if you get any leads on vintage bags please let me know!
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