Old fashioned household chores

Nothing makes me feel more like an old fashioned Domestic Goddess than the post holiday ironing of tablecloths and napkins. I have lost track of the number of tablecloths and napkins that were washed and ironed since yesterday. There have been many dinners in the past few weeks that have required a step up in the napery department.

Actually the thing that makes me feel the MOST like a Domestic Goddess is noting holes in said napery as I was ironing and then deciding to mend the holes--today. This is exactly the sort of advice that one finds in the introductory chapters to sewing books from the early part of the 20th Century. Mend those holes and rips as soon as you find them.

These charming napkins came into my life, perhaps from the large linen stash given to me from my friend Vivian from her mother's and grandmother's collection.

I noticed that one of the napkins was full of holes. The photo below is of the half dozen or so holes in the napkin.

Just as there are many ways to skin a cat, there are also many ways to mend a hole. My old sewing books are filled with advice about how best to mend such holes either my hand or by machine. I have learned over the years that machine mending is often quicker. I decided to go that route.

Below you can see some of my machine mends.

The final step is starching and ironing the napkin.

The mends are pretty much invisible and these 100 year old napkins can keep being used until the next batch of holes crop up.

I used to not mend these sorts of linens. But after I had gotten the giant stash of really old linens from Vivian I soon realized that so many of them have been mended over the years. It made me feel braver about attempting to keep these old textiles going.

I figure that if the choice is between having these lovely old things moldering away in a drawer or being used and appreciated, I would much rather have these old treasures used and part of our memories of the holidays .

A dresser scarf was also saved from oblivion today.

Below you see an old hand mend and a machine mend below it.

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sarah in nyc

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