Valerean

This vintage cross-stitched piece, labeled as a dragon napkin, is one of four finds I made in May at our local antique mall. I love this one booth where the owner staples reproductions of old photos to bags of stuff. These blue buttons will embellish a lot of projects now and in the future. Have to support our local beaders, so I picked up this pretty bracelet for Kat. Finally I invested in a jar of jewelry and beads. Stop buy tomorrow and I'll show you what's inside.

After successfully washing this vintage cross stitch sampler I noticed something I hadn't before: it's not finished. One wheel is missing from the pull-toy lamb on the right. Two wheels and the pull string handle and cord are also missing from the bunny on the right. I haven't done cross stitch in years, but it's pretty simple and all I had to do was match the color of the embroidery thread in those areas. Once I fund the right floss, I went ahead and finished stitching the sampler. My stitching isn't as perfect as the original maker's, but it blends in okay. Here's the end result. I think the original maker would be pleased.

The second cross stitch sampler that I thrifted is this lovely sampler with lambs and bunnies. It is slightly soiled and stained, so I think it needs a soak. Please note I am not an expert in cleaning vintage needlework, and for any valuable pieces you should consult a professional cleaner or conservator. For soaking purposes I'll use my handwashing bin, cold tap water and a little mild detergent. I did a thread test first, and the embroidery thread did not bleed. I then treated the perimeter of the cross stitch fabic where it had the worst foxing with stain remover. You can also rub in a little baking soda and water to remove stains (I use an old soft toothbrush to apply it,) but that can also bleach out very old embroidery cloth, so do a patch test first where it won't be noticeable. Lettin the piece soak for six hours was the next step. I then rinsed it out and hung it to air dry. After pressing it the same way I did the Santa sampler, this is how it turn...

Last month I got a lovely little collection of cross stitch pieces in my lot of fabric for my friend's quilting class. She kindly allowed me to keep them, so first I decided to clean and frame the two samplers that came in the collection. Cleaning cross stitch can be tricky, but there is a process -- and please note, this is my own process. I am not an expert, and for any valuable vintage needlework you should consult a professional cleaner or conservator. This particular piece has a lot of red embroidery thread. I will guess it's DMC brand, which tends to be colorfast. However, in my experience red almost always bleeds, and I'm not positive about the brand of thread, so it would be risky to water-wash it (to test the thread, snip a tiny piece from the tails on the back side, weet the snippet, and place it on a white paper towel to dry. If it bleeds, it will leave a color mark on the towel.) Luckily this piece also has no patchy stains or foxing. I first t...