After much hard work, and sourcing of some beautiful fabric, cushion cover production has finally sprung into action. My favourite fabric at the moment is a real joy, French vintage white linen, now very hard to find.
Years ago, several decades in fact, when a woman got married it was standard practice to enter the new marital home with a trousseau, pride of place was a full set of good, high quality bed linen, and it was real linen in many cases.
The top sheet often had an embroidered monogram. This identified, and celebrated the status of the newly married couple, but it also helped the laundry work out whose bed linen belonged to whom.
Embroidery of the monogram, would have been done by close relatives - a mother, an aunt, a cousin, or even the bride herself. Sadly, in the age of fitted sheets and washing machines, bed linen is now a much more prosaic affair. The romance and love that went into these monograms is long gone.
In France, it's still possible to come across monogrammed linen bed-sheets. Some are old and worn in places, frequently repaired and seamed together down the years. Some I've come across are in immaculate condition, and look as if they've never been used. Every sheet, tells a story, or would if it could talk - babies born and more conceived, death, adultery, sleepless nights, who knows what else. One set of sheets I've found has the original monogram embroidered on it, but next to it had a smaller, machined set of initials, leading me to suppose they must have been later passed along, maybe to a grand-daughter or daughter in law.
It's hard not to be capitvated by the feel of linen, the way it falls and folds, it's durability, it's coolness and of course, over time it becomes softened and mellow. It's a timeless, classic fabric. White, of course, matches everything and nothing is more luxurious and relaxing to fall into on a hot day.
A set of plain white linen cushion covers is perfect for summer, though keep animals and children away from them. I've got a variety of sizes available both plain and with monograms, and other details added. Check out what's available at my ebay shop:
http://stores.ebay.co.uk/dartyandpike
