It’s 31F here, and starting tonight, we’re supposed to have ice showers, sleet and other slippery stuff for the next two days; so, my Sunday Stroll will be an indoor edition.
While ironing pillowcases for my newly changed bed, I reflected on how many of them incorporate flowers and how much I love to iron them. Each week, I get to pick out a new set of embroidered flowers and smell freshly pressed cotton and lemon scented starch. As a child, I ironed pillowcases for my mother for the princely sum of five cents a case. I thought I was making the big money back then.
They remind me, too, of sleeping at Grandma Nita’s house on clean, starched sheets so slick I slipped right into them after my bath.
My favorites are the oldest ones because they were stitched on really good, thick, cotton material, and it shows. I started collecting them about the same time I began collecting Blue Bubble Depression Glassware, over twenty years ago. As I iron, I wonder, who were these women who stitched each small flower so faithfully? The lilies on the Lily Pads, the blue Forget-Me-Nots, the hand-tatted lace?
Most of the ones I’ve found over the years involve flowers and usually have pinks and blues with the occasional purple and yellow. Although they’re getting more difficult to find, they are still available because, as my mother explained, they were never used, except when entertaining guests. What a charming welcome for the weary traveler who journeyed to visit.
They are also a wonderful way to dispel winter’s gloom. In the land of vintage pillowcases, it is never winter, and the flowers are always at the height of perfection. No drought filled summers, just an eternal spring.
My friend, Becky, nicely let me know that what I thought was crochet was actually tatted. I have changed the post accordingly. Thanks Becky!
For more Sunday strolls, head on over to Aisling’s Quiet Country House where she takes us all by the hand and leads us along the primrose path. Won’t you come along?
Each stitch is a gift of love … no wonder your heart swells handling these precious treasures 🙂
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Flowers are beautiful in this form, too. My mom has made me several sets of pillowcases, and I treasure them.
Did you get the ice storm there? All my family was without power for a day or two in Cherokee County.
Those are all so sweet. My husband’s then-92-year-old grandmother gave us embroidered dishtowels, which I didn’t want to use and get dirty. She scolded me, saying “That’s what they’re for!” As an aside, I sheepishly admit to not even knowing where my iron is.
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Those are beautiful and bring back memories. My mother used to embroider pillowcases. She still does a little bit of embroidery once in a while but it’s been decades since she’s done a pillowcase.
Hi Dee, oh those are so lovely. And you are using them too? I have a huge stack that belonged to my grandmother. Most of them have yellowed but the crochet and other edgings and stitching are stick intact. I used to iron pillowcases, and napkins!, for my mother too. Ironing was a big deal and there were always piles everywhere in our basement. The work on these in so detailed, just beautiful. I do hope you are staying inside with the horrible ice storms that are being shown on the weather channel in OK!
Frances
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those are great. I have some with cats.
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Love them.
I have some from my husband’s grandmother. They don’t sit on a shelf, life is too short for that, we use them. She would appreciate that.
However, I don’t iron them.
I think my grand would want me to use them too. Anyway, I do and love them so much.~~Dee
Hey, your friend, Becky is right! That is tatting. Just plain old tatting. Not “Hand crocheted tatting”. There’s nothing crocheted about it! The Vintage embroidery pieces are lovely, too! Hop on over to my blog if you’d like to know more about tatting! 🙂
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Well, to my uninformed eye, plain old tatting is simply beautiful. Thanks for setting me straight about this. I don’t think I have time to learn to tat.~~Dee
Hi Dee, if I had those lovely pillow cases, I wouldn’t mind ironing;) How do you keep them so white?
Marnie
How beautiful the pillow cases are! Now I have something else to look for and cherish. Thanks for the beautiful flowers on a cold winter day.
Dee, when I saw your Blog you just brought back a flood of wonderful memories of my grandma! I have a pillowcase that she embroidered with 2 little “bambi” like deer and flowers encircling them. I used them on my children’s beds and now I have them waiting for my grandchildren! I love those wonderful pillowcases you showed us. What treasures!
Oh, Sherri, those are the kind of stories which just make my heart sing. I put them on my children’s beds too, along with quilts. Every child should have a quilt of some kind I think.~~Dee
Your linens are beautiful. I was going through a box of stuff from my Grandmother’s stuff and found a few crewel dish towels. I almost cried.
Lovely flowers you showed us today, Dee. The perfect winter post! You reminded me that I made an embroidered pillowcase as a child and I have it … somewhere. I’ll have to go digging — it might be in the attic and I should get it out and put it on my bed. Thanks for reminding me with your beautiful cases.
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How pretty, Dee! I remember sleeping on such cases at my grandmother’s house too. I stitched a few along these lines too, when I was a little girl, on cases with a design printed on in pale blue. Thank you for sharing these vintage “pretties” and for bringing back nice memories of days gone by!
Hi Aisling, I’ve made a few myself, and I may do some others sometime, but I don’t think we can find pillowcases as good as those made of that wonderful old cotton.~~Dee
What lovely flowers . . . and I bet they also bring lovely dreams! Thanks for sharing!
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Hi Ruth, thanks for stopping by. Yes, I usually dream of flowers. :)~~Dee
Like everyone else, I remember ironing pillowcases and all the hankies(before Kleenex). Mother didn’t pay, I was doing my share she said. I also got to fold towels. Seeing your stash of pillowslips took me down a sweet memory road. Thanks.
Hi Cloudhands, so glad you came by to visit. Yes, I also did many chores just because I was part of the family. She just let me iron to earn a little extra. I also received a small allowance when she could pay it.~~Dee
Dee, I just heard on the national evening news that you all are in for some bad ice weather. Oh, I am glad to be out of the Oklahoma strange weather right now! When I think of ice I think of falling face down in it. Not to mention downed power lines and tree limbs! Stay warm and safe, my friend!
Brenda
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Yeah, Brenda, I’m hoping the forecasters are wrong on this one. We get the crazy stuff until April now.~~Dee
Dear Dee, I love them, too. I have more than a few pillow case sets, even doilies my grandmother made. The cotton smells wonderful when newly washed and I love to cuddle up next to them. This spring when we can once again hang laundry outside they will smell as fresh as my grandmothers did when I was little..Thank you for the sweet reminders. Gail
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Ah, Gail, I also have doilies. I love doilies and antique jewelry and china. I don’t have a clothesline. HH won’t hang one for me. I wish I did.~~Dee
Dee, I had to come back here and tell you I clicked on the link to your grandmother’s house and became lost in your memories and mine. Oh, how I enjoyed that post. Thank you!
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Oh, I’m so glad, Barbee. I loved my Grandma Nita so much.~~Dee
Aren’t those pretty? I have one set of embroidered pillowcases, which were a gift from an elderly relative, and I save them for guests. Your collection is lovely, Dee.
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Hi Pam, see you’re continuing the tradition.~~Dee
You hit me right in the heart with this post. I love the old fashioned pillow cases. I inherited a few and did buy one set I found at a wildflower sale.
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I say grab all of them that you can get. They are getting scarce as hen’s teeth.~~Dee
My grandmother was an antiques dealer years ago and she always was on the hunt for old embroidered or crocheted linens and depression glass. Yours are quite pretty. 🙂
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Thanks, Racquel. I didn’t know that about your grandmother. I bet you know a thing or two about antiques.~~Dee
Aren’t they fabulous! It’s wonderful that you use them instead of letting then languish in a closet.
Robin Wedewer
P.S.
Glad to know someone else who still irons!
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Hi Robin, I do still iron, although not that much, just whatever I want to wear and pillowcases. Also, the occasional tablecloth.~~Dee
These are lovely, and so homey-looking. 🙂
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Thanks, Susan. I love homey stuff, and living in a log cabin, they kind of fit my decor.~~Dee
Love these pillowcases Dee. You still iron! I ironed for my Mom when I was a child too but I didn’t get paid. Had to iron my Dad’s hankies too.
Hey Lisa, my dad didn’t use hankies much, and we didn’t iron them. Now, I find I love handkerchiefs, although kleenex is much easier to use and probably more sanitary. It’s good we learned to iron. Everyone, girls and boys, should also learn to sew on a button and to hem a pair of pants I think.~~Dee
I love those old pillowcases. My grandmother embroidered many pillowcases, and somewhere around here I think I have one or two of them. You’ve put me in the mood to find them and put them on my pillow. I might just have sweet dreams of gardens.
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Oh, yes, Carol, I think you should. You’ll have the sweetest dreams of a scented flower garden.~~Dee
They remind me of threadbare pillowcases I got from my mother that my grandmother embroidered. They were loved to death and are no more. We never thought of them as collectible. To us they were old-fashioned! I wish I could bring them back!
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No kidding. I’m careful with mine. We actually sleep on another pillowcase and use these for underneath.~~Dee
Those are just wonderful! I’d consider framing them instead of using them. What fine work went into each one.
Like all my old things, I use them, but I’m careful with them. We don’t actually place our heads on them. Each of us has one regular pillowcase for that. I put the others underneath and then pull them out in the morning.~~Dee