Valentino Spring 2012

As I flipped through magazine after magazine, a particular trend caught my eye.

Louis Vuitton Spring 2012

Designers were embracing lace.

Dolce & Gabbana Spring 2012

A LOT of lace.

Which means that the current trend for vintage lace in interiors is only going to get stronger.  But how do you embrace the look without going full on frilly?  Here are some suggestions….

First off, you should limit yourself to only one, at most two, lace items in a room.  This vintage lace hanging lamp, from Etsy seller Nice, makes a great statement, without seeming fussy.  Plus, the shadows from the lace further soften the room.

Speaking of softening a room, that is the second thing you should take away from this post – lace works best as a way to introduce a softer line to rooms that would otherwise seem too harsh or stark.  So if there is a room in your house that feels dead or cold, try adding a touch of lace.

Lastly, keep in mind that the vintage lace look doesn’t actually have to be, well,… lace.  It can take the form of a stenciled floor…

a pretty piece of decorative ceramic (love these bird bowls!)…

or even a concrete curtain.

So go on, give vintage lace a try.  You KNOW you want to!

Oh, and to find out more about these images, and many other cool ways to use lace, check out my Trending – Vintage Lace board on Pinterest.

Thanks for visiting!

Rachel

Since I can already anticipate the scent of ocean air, and the feel of warm sand between my toes, my brain can think of nothing but the amazing Pacific Ocean whose shore I will be on soon.  So here you are – my ocean themed Etsy finds.  Enjoy, and have a wonderful weekend!

Shadow of the Ocean bowl by Azulado

Recycled chenille pillows by Hepstyles

Bench made of reclaimed Hammonasset Beach boardwalk wood, by Timsway.

Hand printed, organic linen Mussel napkins, by Madderroot.

Reclaimed wood coat rack, by Kraftworx

Traditional sling chair made of reclaimed wood, by TenahseeTreasures.

After gathering at the lovely French General for the workshop, we all carpooled over to the park where our dyeing experience would take place.

Once at the park we got a delightful and informative overview of the history of woad dyeing from Denise Lambet, who flew all the way from the South of France just to create a legion of new woad addicts dyers.  After regaling us with stories of previous woad workshop students stripping down to their skivvies in an attempt to have just ONE more garment to dunk in the vats, she proceeded to explain how the process worked, and what we would need to do to have a successful dyeing experience.  Then we got to work.

We were each provided with a bucket full of water and a stick, and told we needed to get our items thoroughly wet – NO air bubbles allowed!  Air is not your friend when you are dyeing with woad. Not only will air bubbles in your fabric block the dye from bonding with it, they also cause the woad to activate to a blue color prematurely, rendering the batch of woad weaker.

In case you didn’t look at the previous post, here is what a fresh batch of woad dye looks like.  Delicious, no?

After a brief moment of hesitancy, we all started cautiously dipping our first textiles into the woad.

Then we progressively got bolder… 

Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.

Ahem.  OK, maybe not THAT bold.

Pretty soon we were plunging our hands in as well as our fabrics.  Thank goodness we were wearing gloves!

Well, most of us were anyway.  A few hardy souls decided to go into full on woad mode, leaving their hands a lovely shade of blue that will last them for weeks.  Badge of honor I guess.

That is some yarn being dyed.  I would love to see something made from it!

Sometimes, strange “creatures” would float to the surface of a vat.  Any guesses what that is?

As soon as you dyed something, you needed to hang it up so the initial yellowish color could oxygenate to the final lovely blue.  You could watch it happen as you ran to the line.  Pretty cool.

Here are a few of the items I dyed.  The depth of blue depended on the strength of the batch (they varied over the 6 or so vats available), the type of fiber, and the time you left it in the dye.

Soon the drying lines started to fill up, so they had to put up more line…

and more line…

until we ran out, and we started to use the rock walls.

This is one of those times when I wish I had an extreme wide angle lens, because I want to badly so show you how there was blue EVERYWHERE in sight.  It was almost 360 degrees of blue.  So beautiful!

People were dyeing everything from yarn, to lace, to small tablecloths, to these sneakers.  After lunch, I only had one item left to dye, and once I was done with that I still felt the itch.  So I did exactly what Denise Lambet predicted…

I took the clothes off my back and plopped them in!  That used to be an oatmeal colored organic cotton sweater I’m standing behind.  Now it is a gorgeous shade of dusky blue.  If there hadn’t been a little bit of a chill in the air (not to mention a few men folk around) I might have been tempted to see what else I had on to toss in a vat.

All in all, it was an amazing afternoon.   The wonderful folks at French General are hoping to offer this workshop again next year.  I’m not sure if I can wait!  That blue is so pretty, I want to dye everything in sight.  My sheets,… my curtains,… my towels,… my cat,….  Oh dear…

Hello, my name is Rachel Hulan, and I have a woad addiction.

Bet you would too!

Woad comes from the common Isatis tinctoria plant.  It has been in use as a pigment and dye since Egyptian times, and possibly longer.  Many have thought that the blue pigment the Picts (early Scottish tribes) used to color their skin blue was woad, although there is some debate about that.  Oddly, for a dye that has been around for so long, it is surprisingly difficult to extract.  Because of that, the cultivation and processing were controlled by wealthy “woad masters” throughout much of European history.  Until Napoleonic times, the extraction method took a full year and a half, and involved a long fermentation in urine filled vats.  I can’t even begin to imagine the smell!  And not just any pee would do.  In order to have the proper ph level. it had to be human male pee.  Thus the preponderance of taverns near where the woad was produced.  Cheers!

image via woad.org.uk

Even once Napoleon’s chemists had figured out a quicker (and hopefully less odoriferous) method, so as to supply his army with blue cloth, the extraction was still a laborious process.  Above are workers hand rolling “woad balls” in order to put them out to dry.  Unfortunately, the heavy manual labor required to extract the dye made it fall out of favor, and the last woad production ended in England in the early part of the 20th century.  Happily, some dedicated people, like those at Bleu de Pastel de  Lectoure , have been working hard, to not only revive the art, but to improve upon it and make it a commercially viable, natural, alternative to synthetic dyes.

image via woad.org.uk

Here is a contemporary woad ball, from which you can see dripping one of the most interesting aspects of woad.  It isn’t actually blue.  Well, at least not to start.  The dye begins as a sickly greenish yellow.

Here is an image I took of one of the vats we used last weekend.  Looks SO appealing, doesn’t it?  And by the way, although no pee is involved in the process these days, the smell is still a bit on the strong side.  At this point in the game, I was not feeling quite so enthused.

However, if you notice the color of the bubble sludge forming at the top, you will see a lovely blue color.  This is the amazing thing with woad.  It needs oxygen to turn blue!  I’ll tell you more about that in my second installment next week.

Woad can be used as either a dye or a pigment, and it is light fast, unlike indigo.  That makes it a really useful substitute for synthetic pigments used in everything from printing to car paint.  Above you can see a comparison of indigo (the darker blue on the left) and woad pigment powder.  The color of woad truly is unique, and in many ways I now prefer it to indigo.

So now that you know a little bit about woad, I thought I would give you a peek at how the French General workshop day started.

As everyone arrived at the shop, we were each greeted warmly by owner Kaari Meng.  Although I came by myself, I instantly felt comfortable and amongst friends (of the “I just met you but you seem cool” sort).  There were tables upon tables of delightful linens, fabric scraps and sundries, all for sale and ready for dyeing.  I had picked out a few items from home to dye, but couldn’t resist getting a few extra things to try out too.  Here is what I planned to dye:

Doilies???  Yep, I bought some doilies, and you know what?  I am SO glad I did, because they were some of my favorite pieces once they were dyed.  You can also see a white cotton blouse, a bundle of fabric scraps, and a bit of the two tablecloths I brought along.

Check back Monday for An Ode to Woad – Part 2, in which I discover that I now have a serious addiction problem.

1.  Cute, simple DIY clip art rail made from an old yardstick and some cheerfully painted wooden clothes pins.  Perfect for a kids room.  (re-nest)

2.  Is it a chair that looks like a sweater, or the other way around?  You decide.  Either way, it’s an amazing piece of knitting! (Craft)

3.  I’m really surprised at how great looking these re-purposed 50 gallon metal barrels are.  I love that someone thought “hey, with some glossy paint, that would make a terrific cabinet”.  And they were right!  (re-nest)

4.  Buy one, give one – that’s the concept behind this bedding company’s new program.  What a great way to reach out and help a homeless child stay warm.  (Green Your Decor)

5.  Thinking of attempting a green remodel?  Here are some really useful tips from “The Not So Big Remodeling” author Sarah Susanka. (Inhabitat)

6.  A designer writes about rustic wooden walls and why they make spaces feel so cozy to her, even though she is a modernist at heart.  I’ll be writing more about the trend in reclaimed wood walls later, but the two images she uses to ilustrate her post are well worth taking a look-see at.  (The Design Confidential)

7.  And lastly, another cat thing (see Metronome Kitty from last Friday).  This time someone simply, and cleverly, took a few old wine crates and make a pretty good looking cat “bunk bed”.  Being that my husband is in the wine business, AND we have two cats, this is so going to be my weekend project!  (Shelteriffic)

Have a great weekend everyone!

And apparently the baby above loves it too!  This pattern is called Fish and Pebbles, and it’s one of the most attractive, least twee prints I’ve ever seen for a nursery.

The bright, cheerful orange and yellow print called Hearts and Flowers might just be girly enough to woo some of the tween girls I know away from the ever present pink that colors their world.

And for those who come into this world with an innate sense of curiosity and adventure, they can follow the tracks on their own Dinosaur bedding.

Available in sets for both crib and twin, Argington also makes cute floor mats and pillows.

Click here for a list of stores and online retailers.

Meanwhile, lots o’ pretty interesting stuff spied on the web this week.

image by jewelweeds

I’m entranced by these lovely hand blocked organic cotton linens from Jewelweeds. (mochatini)

Great, ethereal looking Tonic pendant lamp, made of 100% post consumer acrylic. (chictip)

More fun cardboard fort analysis! (BuildBlog)

Grandma’s old National Geographic collection transformed into a shelf. (Craft)

How to design in “Itty Bitty” spaces. (Inspired Design Daily)

Love the colorful glass bottle walls in this post. (re-nest)

Cute task lamp made of recycled egg cartons. (Dezeen)

Wishing everyone a relaxing, restful weekend.  See you Monday!

Sometimes finding coordinated organic cotton bedding and pillows can be frustrating.  The patterns are often fairly plain, and the colors lean more towards earth tones.  Not so with Plover Organic’s linens!

Owners Marisa Kula Mercer, Sheila Mulvihill and Julia Wilbur, have cooked up a cornicopia of lovely, coordinating patterns to mix and match.

Founded in 2007, Plover Organic’s line is manufactured in India, in strict compliance with the Republic of India’s labor standards, as well as with Fair Labor practices.  All cotton is certified according to the standards of the Organic Trade Association (OTA) in the United States, and by those of IFOAM and SKAL internationally.  The dyes are all low-impact and fiber reactive, and all dye material is reclaimed so as not to be released into rivers or soil.

While the prints are fun and fresh, the pattern influence of East Indian block printing is easily seen.  In fact, Plover’s textiles ARE block-printed – by hand – so color and print variations sometimes occur.  I personally think that makes the prints even more appealing.

And for those looking for baby linens that are colorful and charming, in a very un-twee way, Plover Organics has those too!

Plover Organics can be found at many green retailers throughout the United States and Canada – check here for a list.  They can also be ordered online through EdenHome.com and Livingreen.com

image by Amenity Home

I’m a sucker for squirrels, so It’s no wonder I’m absolutely in love with this adorable organic bedding collection from Amenity Nursery.

image by Amenity Home

And if squirrels aren’t your thing, how about this great little duck family, which I swear looks like one of the early reader books from when I was a kid.

image by Amenity Home

Made from 100% organic cotton, each of the four collections has coordinating blankets, sheets, pillowcases, and an organic wool filled crib bumper.

Image by Amenity Home

And for the kid in all of us, they also make stretched prints and floor pillows.  After all, grown-ups can love bunnies too!

For trade pricing and sales, contact Amenity Home

For retail orders, go online at www.amenityhome.com, or locate a retailer through their store locator.