When you get to buy vintage fabrics there are a few thing you need to know. Here are the different types of natural fabrics that I know:

Pure Linen:
It's the most rare and expensive type of fabric. Some of them are even weaved by hand. You can tell by the seam in the middle of the fabric, the loom was not very wide so sometimes the fabrics needed to be sewn together to make larger piece for bedding for instance.
The pure linen is very heavy and pleasant as bedding, it's cool in summer and warm in winter.
The fabric is quite stiff when new but becomes softer and softer with use. It dries quick and makes really beautiful curtains as it's heavy and falls beautifully.
This fabric used to be advised to ease children with eczema.
To know more: wiki

Métis (coton and linen blend):
Mostly used in more recent fabrics. It makes the fabric softer.
The softness depends of the quantity of coton. But the high quantity of flax makes it last longer. There is a minimum of 40% of lax.
This fabric is less expensive and really enjoyable for an everyday use.

Batiste:
Fine linen used in ancient clothing. Mostly found in nightgown. Can be quite rough when new but soften easily.
Very pleasant in summer since it is very lightweight and breathable.

Linon:
Most fine linen existing. Very soft. Used for hankerchief or shirts.

Hemp:
Very rought fabric but also very durable. Used for cloths in ancient times, the rich people made their servant wear them to soften them before they wear them. It was also weared by the penance.
Perfect for tablecloth, curtain, upholstery and any craft project.

Please be indulgent if I have made a mistake and tell me so I can correct it.
These information come from my own knowledge and what my mom and grandma told me and people can make mistakes!
Thank you.

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Lorsque vous acheter du linge ancien, il y a certaines choses qu'il faut savoir. Voici les différents types de tissus que je connais:

Le pur lin:
C'est un type de tissus parmi les plus rares et chers. Certains d'entre eux sont tissées à la main. Vous pouvez le voir grace à la couture au milieu de l'étoffe, le métier à tisser n'était pas très large donc parfois les tissus devaient être cousues ensemble pour faire de plus gros morceaux, pour les draps par exemple.
Le lin est très lourd et agréable pour le linge de lit, il est frais en été et chaud en hiver.
Le tissu est assez raide à l'état neuf mais devient plus doux et souple à l'usage. Il sèche rapidement et fait de beaux rideaux car il a un merveilleux tomber.
Ce tissus est recommandé pour les enfants ayant de l'eczéma, il soulage les démangeaisons durant la nuit (recette de grand-mère testée et approuvée).

Métis (coton et lin mélangés):
Principalement utilisés dans les tissus plus récents. C'est un tissus plus doux que le pure lin.
La douceur dépend de la quantité de coton. Mais la grande quantité de lin fait durer plus longtemps. Il y a un minimum de 40% de lin pour l'appellation métis.
Ce tissu est moins cher et vraiment agréable pour un usage quotidien.

Batiste:
C'est une toile de lin fin utilisé dans les vêtements anciens. Trouvé principalement dans les chemises de nuit. Il peut être assez raide quand il est neuf mais s'adoucis facilement.
Très agréable en été car il est très léger et respirant.

Linon:
Toile de lin très fine et douce utilisée pour les mouchoirs et les chemises.

Chanvre:
Tissus assez grossier et raide mais aussi très résistant et lourd. Anciennement utilisé pour les vêtements, les riches les faisaient porter par leur serviteurs pour les adoucir un peu avant de les porter eux-memes. C'était aussi les chemises portées par les pénitents. Ceci vous donne une idée de la douceur du tissus :).
Idéal pour les nappes, rideaux, tissus d'ameublement et de tout projet de travaux manuel. Donne un très bel aspect rustique et ancien.

S'il vous plaît soyez indulgents si j'ai fait une erreur et dites-le moi pour que je puisse la corriger.
Ces informations proviennent de mes propres connaissances et de ce que ma mère et grand-mère m'ont dit et les gens peuvent faire des erreurs!
Merci.

My mom always dragged me to these giant yard sales on sundays. I used to hate it.
She was always looking for ancient things and talking about what things were and what they were used for.
So little by little my knowledge was growing and so did my interest!

When she got married to my step dad, my step dad's mom (who only had boys) started to look at her like the daughter she never had. Her passion was the ancient fabrics and she had quite a collection (still has).
She always wanted to give us pieces of her collection as a way to thak us for sharing it with her. We actually refused often since we didn't wanted to disperce her collection.
So she took us to the places she got her most beautiful pieces from.

She had quite a lot of friends in the parish and so had a pass for their secret collections!
The parish received lots of gifts from elderly persons or evn persons who passed and don't had family. So they end up having this huge quantity of the most amazing beddings. They begin to sell it to help for the church renovation or other things. The sell still exist but is really famous now. But thanks to my step grandma we have the opportunity to go before the sale begins. Haha!
So we now have the chance to buy the most beautiful and rare linen that has been kept and cherished like treasures that they are by generations of women.

I find this so amazing and completly fell in love with this when I discovered how long it took to make some of the pieces (weave the linen by hand or embroiden). Some embroideries are made by two to three generations of women from a family. It takes decades to finish!

So when something who was loved like that comes between your hand, you can't help to love it yourself.

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Ma mère m'a toujours traînée à ces enormes marchés aux puces le dimanche. Je détestais ca!
Elle a était toujours à la recherche d'objets anciens et passait son temps à me montrer des objets et à m'expliquer à quoi ils servaient.
Ainsi, peu à peu ma connaissance augmentait et mon intérêt aussi!

Quand elle s'est mariée à mon beau-père, sa belle-mère (qui n'avait que des garçons) a commencé à la considérer comme la fille qu'elle n'a jamais eue. Sa passion était les tissus anciens et elle en avait une collection magnifique.
Elle a toujours voulu nous en donner des parties comme un moyen de nous remercier de partager sa passion. Nous avons en fait souvent refusé parce que nous ne voulions pas disperser sa collection.
Alors, nous a amenés là où elle avait trouvé ses plus belles pièces.

Elle avait beaucoup d'amis dans la paroisse et avait donc un laissez-passer pour leur collection secrète!
La paroisse recevait de nombreux dons des personnes âgées ou des héritages de peronnes décédées sans famille. Alors, ils ont finis par avoir cette énorme quantité de draps plus beaux les uns que les autres. La paroisse a donc commencé à organiser des ventes de ces objets pour financer des rénovations d'églises ou autre. Ces ventes existent toujours, mais elles sont très connues maintenant. Mais grace à ma grand-mère (par alliance) nous avons la chance de pouvoir acheter avant le début officiel de la vente. Haha!
Nous avons donc maintenant la possibilité d'acheter du très beau linge souvent très rare qui a été conservé et chéris comme un trésor par des générations de femmes.

Je trouve cela tellement incroyable et je suis immédiatement tombée amoureuse de ces pièces. Quand j'ai découvert combien de temps il fallait pour créer certaienes de ces pièces (tisser le lin à la main, broder les motifs), j'ai été époustouflée. Certaines broderies sont faites par deux à trois générations de femmes d'une même famille. Cela peut prendre des décennies à finir!

Donc, quand quelque chose qui a été aimé comme cela arrive entre vos mains, vous ne pouvez pas vous empecher de l'aimer à votre tour.

You probably already know the traditionnal Alsatian costume without even knowing.
You know, the girl that looks super lame with her huuuuge bow on the head:

(I'm sorry girls, you're pretty tho)

So let me tell you all I know about the traditionnal costume from Alsace.
I don't know much and there aren't many photo existing but I'll try anyway.

The bow or coif:

Probably the most well-known part of the costume and quite caricatural. Starting 1850 it became the "bigger the better" with a climax in 1910 that will conduct to it's gradual dissapearance during WWII.
The coif has two parts: the cap mostly in velvet with embroideries that are hidden by the bow, it's sort of a "hiden treasure".. The second part is the bow itself. It's color changes with the region of Alsace you're in and the religion of the lady. For protestants it's black, catholics young ladies mostly red or squarred but black again when they get married.

(my grandma's sister who passed a couple of years ago,
the photo was taken during a reconstitution of a traditionnal wedding)

The skirt:

The most important part of the costume. For protestant women, it's color changes with the day and her marital status:
Black is for wedding, mourning, vendredi saint (the friday before easter)
Red is for Lundi de pâques (easter monday), Lundi de pentecote (pentecost monday), Saint Etienne (Don't know why)
Dark blue or purple is for christmas and confirmation (it's the name of the protestant communion when the child is about 14)
Light blue is for Easter sunday and
Green is for Pentecost sunday and messti (a fair in the village every year)
The fabric of the skirt is really heavy (believe me, I wore it once during summer) mostly in wool for winter and flanel in summer.
The skirt is actually a sort of jumper. It has a upper part that goesuntil under the breast and suspenders this part is in black velvet. There is also a taffeta ribbon down the skirt with often flowers embroidery.

(I'm the sassy girl in the middle with the red apron)

The collar:

It's a beautiful piece of linen with many many laces that covers the neck and shoulder in oder to hide the top of the shirt.
It has to stand a bit on the shoulder that's why it is pretty starched and it itches like hell!

The breastplate:

People often say it's a piece of golsmiths. First it was ment to protect from the cold but evolved. It's mostly composed of little pearls, lace and sequins. It's the "show off" part of the costume.

This one is a bit old and in bad shape but still pretty.
You can see the shirt, scarf and the upper part of the skirt.

The scarf:

The scarf is in silk, cachemire or taffeta with embroideries. It can be every color. There were long fringes all the way around. It is a square folded in two to make a triangle with the tip in the lower back. The lady make a knot in the front and hides it behind the breastplate.
It was really important to have lots of colors and to note match the skirt, the apron or the scarf together because it was supposed to show that you had lots of different pieces of clothing.

My mom with two of her students from alsatian class

The apron:

A long apron is covering the front of the dress until the lower ribbon of the skirt. It holds with a ribbon tied in the front.
Mostly in silk or taffetas it's also embroided. If the apron is used to protect the dress in the veryday outfit, it embellishes outting tenue.

The outfit I've been discribing is the one of the protestant religion (that I know) and the region called "Le pays de Hanau" (where I'm from. There are many many other types of costumes. For instance these ladies from my village are wearing the everyday costume (photo taken 10 years ago and they were actually still wearing it every day!!)

Here are a couple pictures from where I come from:

Typical houses:


Look at the colors and the flowers. Flowers at the windows are a full time job in summer!




The houses have a wooden structure called "colombages" each bean has a number incised in it. The filling between the beam is called "torchis" it's a mixture of clay and straw but nowadays it's mostly plaster. To color the outside of the houses whitewash (i'm not sure it's the right term) (chaux in french) was used and sometimes the inside wall too. My grandma used to say "you'd better have taken off your frames before because the painter would have colored them too".
The house is so mostly a wooden structure that can easely be dismantled (therefore the numbers) and transported to another location to be rebuilted.



You often find on the houses these notes that say who had built the house and when.
The first says: Diesen Bau hat gebaut Johannes Donnenwirth und Margaredha Herzog 1847
(This construction was built by ... and ... in 1847 in German)
The second: 1859 Erbaut durch Johannes Leonhard - Catharina Richert
How gentleman of them to have mentionned their ladies!


And this is the house I was born in!
It looks new because during WWII the village was completly burned down by the American army. Actually that was their move then, they bombed the towns to make it safer for the soldiers once they go in the city. But everybody was glad they came. My grandma told me she had been living for a year in the basement before the liberation because the nazis where using the rest. So the house was rebuilt in the late 40's.

I'm a young french stay at home mom who has a soft spot for antiques. Despite the fact that I live in Spain at the moment, I'm from Alsace. Allow me to speak about Alsace to the ones that haven't the luck to know this wonderfull region of France.

Alsace is a little place right next to Germany in France. It is very special and often known for it's role in second world war. The people there are most attached to their tradition than anywere else. People are proud of their ancestors and their legacy. They jalously keep their secrets and sometimes said to be cranky. Don't believe it! Once you've made your way into the heart of an Alsatian, you'll never come out. They are loyal and faithful friends.

My family is Alsatian as far as the genealogical tree goes and they've passed on to me the love of traditions. Although I am far from my roots right now, I have been able to bring some things with me (recipes, objects ...).

In my family, women have passed on the taste for simple things. What I really kept from it is a taste for plum pies and linen sheets.

I decided to open this blog to share my passion for Alsatian and French heritage in general but also to share my knowledge in this area that my mother and my grandmother gave me. I hope it will help people to know more about it and to prevent this knowledge to getting lost.

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Je suis une jeune maman au foyer francaise qui a un faible pour les choses anciennes. Bien que j'habite en Espagne actuellement, je suis d'origine Alsacienne. Permettez-moi de présenter l'Alsace pour ceux qui n'auraient pas la chance de connaitre cette merveilleuse région française.

L'Alsace est une petite partie de la France très spécifique, souvent connue dans son role dans la 2e guerre mondiale. Les gens y sont, il me semble, plus attachés aux traditions que nulle part ailleurs. Les gens sont fières de l'héritage de leurs ancètres et le revendiquent. Ils gardent jalousement leurs secrets et l'ont dit parfois qu'ils sont reveches. N'en croyez pas un mot, une fois que vous etes entré dans le coeur d'un Alsacien, vous n'en sortirez jamais. Ce sont des gens loyaux et fidèles.

Ma famille qui est Alsacienne aussi loin que l'on puisse remonter dans l'arbre généalogique m'a transmis ce gout des traditions et du patrimoine. Meme si je suis loin de mes racines en ce moment, j'ai la chance d'avoir pu emmener certaines choses avec moi (des recettes, des objets...).

Dans ma famille, les femmes se transmettent le gout des choses simples. Ce que j'ai le plus retenu c'est un faible pour les tartes aux quetsches et les draps anciens.

J'ai décidé d'ouvrir ce blog pour pouvoir partager ma passion du patrimoine Alsacien et Francais en général mais aussi pour partager mes connaissances dans ce domaine que ma mère et ma grand-mère m'ont transmis afin qu'elles ne se perdent pas.