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3 Tips for Sewing with Vintage Linens

Today I’m going to share with you a few tips to for caring for and sewing with vintage linens. I’ve also included a list of things you can make with vintage hankies, sheets & pillowcases.

Tips for Sewing with Vintage Linens

I ADORE vintage linens, I love the fabric, the patterns, and the bright and original colors.  

I know that many people believe that you should NOT change/sew/or repurpose vintage handkerchiefs or other linens. I’ll say now, I am not one of those people. I feel like the linens are so much better used and appreciated in a sweet quilt for a baby than in a box sitting in the closet. Obviously, if they are very rare or sentimental to you, you’ll want to leave them intact.

But if you stumble on a pile of vintage linens at a thrift shop that’s just sitting around not being used, you might as well turn them into something beautiful!

Another thing to consider, especially when dealing with vintage sheets (which tend to get thrown out a lot), is that you are repurposing something that might have just ended up in the dumpster.

Vintage Hankie Quilt Pattern

If you’ve not sewn with vintage linens before, there are a few things you should know before you start. They are more fragile than some fabrics produced today so there are some things to keep in mind.

I’m going to share with you a few tips to care for the vintage linens, then give you a few ideas of just what kinds of things you can sew with them.

Tips for Sewing with Vintage Linens

1- How to Clean Vintage Linens:

The first thing you’ll want to do when you get your vintage linens home is to clean them. You have NO idea where they have been and I would not use them at all before they get a good wash. Many of the linens may be stained, and since the fabric is older you need to be very gentle with how you treat it.

Vintage Hankie Quilt Pattern

If your linens seem extra fragile you need to be careful before you wash them. Don’t try this if you think they won’t hold up well to washing. If they are very threadbare or torn they may be better off not being washed. You can also test a small corner with detergent to see how it reacts.

Start with a simple wash in cold water using a gentle phosphate-free detergent like Woolite for Delicates. Fill a sink (or plastic bucket) with cold water and add a capful of detergent. Let soak for about 1 hour. Rinse them VERY well in cold water. If they are clean then lay them flat to dry on a white towel. After that, If they still look stained keep working.

If the Woolite didn’t work try White Vinegar. You’ll just want to use a capful in your bucket.  After the linens have soaked, give them a good rinse.

Sewing tutorial showing how to make baby burp cloths from vintage hankies

If none of those two things worked, pull out a bit of Oxi Clean.  Soak the linens then rinse them well and allow them to dry in the sunshine. Just make sure if you try ALL of these cleaners that you rinse very well in between steps, and you DO NOT combine any of the cleaners with each other. Also, be sure to test for colorfastness before you get ANY vintage linen wet.

To try to remove stains in white linens, you can try a combination of lemon juice and salt.

Projects to Make with Vintage Linens:

Vintage Pillowcase dress spotted at a local fair.

Now that your linens are clean you can start to sew with them. Not sure what to make?  There are a million possibilities. A few suggestions:

I actually wrote an entire post all about project ideas for Vintage Linens, you can see it HERE. 

2- Stretch your Vintage Fabrics by Mixing with other Fabrics

If you are sewing a quilt or other large scale item and find that you run out of vintage linens, you can easily mix store-bought fabric in.

Vintage Hankie Quilt Pattern

Just buy voile lawn or other lightweight cotton fabric, it is the same weight as the vintage hankies and will help you to stretch your stash. You have two options when using other fabrics.

You can either substitute it for the vintage linen (assuming you’re using hankies, tablecloths will be an entirely different weight of fabric) or sew your vintage fabric ONTO the voile. This is what I did for my Vintage Hankie Quilt to make sure that all of the squares in my quilt were the same size.

Vintage Hankie Quilt Pattern

If you sew the hankie fabric onto the voile it will also help to stabilize what may be otherwise fragile fabrics.

3- Sewing Machine Tips for Vintage Linens:

Since many vintage linens are a cotton blend or are a bit fragile, you’ll want to make sure that you use a SHARP needle. This will help the machine more easily feed the fabric. I like to use MicroTex needles. You can also use an 80/12 needle. Just make sure that it’s NEW. If you try to use a dull needle you may pull the fabric.

If the linens are very lightweight or somewhat fragile (like Vintage Handkerchiefs), I use a bit of starch to give them a bit more body when I’m working with them.

3- Where to Buy Vintage Linens:

I live in Kentucky and we are lucky to have a lot of thrift and antique stores close by. When we are on road trips I love to stop in vintage shops to see what treasures they may hold.  If you don’t have antique stores in your area, you can buy a lot of vintage linens on Etsy. Just be sure to thoroughly read the sellers reviews before you buy.

Before you buy vintage linen or sheet, check for tears or stains. Depending on what you are making the stains may not make too much of a difference. But if you want the sheet to use for something like a quilt back then you do need to check that.

Also, check the condition, many times you can wash out bad smells and stains. Other times you can’t. The good news is that most vintage sheets are inexpensive so it’s worth the “gamble” to see if you can clean it up and repurpose it.

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13 Comments

  1. I also LOVE and sew with vintage linens. I have lost track of how many tablecloths I have. I love making bags from them. Usually the stains are in the middle, and the prettiest part are the borders. No stains there! I have found that Retro Clean is best for these linens. It works wonderful!! It can be found on Amazon.
    Thanks for a great blog!

  2. I have been following your blog for some time, and just now have been checking out the ideas for linens. They are lovely and I have many pieces, especially hankies. However, most of them are white and some have crocheted edges. Any ideas?

    1. I’ve made little angels out of small white hankies with crocheted edges. I make a little head and attach it to the middle of the right side of the hankie. then I make a little body and sew it to the wrong side of the hankie opposite the head. That way it preserves the hankie. No cutting into it. Then I made it’s hair with grey moss and decorated it all with silk ribbon, beads, etc. It was fun!!

  3. Careful that you don’t use oxy on anything with metallic thread – vintage Christmas ha lies and Tablecloths often have them and Oxy Clean will literally eat away those threads!

  4. If you want to safely remove stains and yellowing from old linens, I recommend Restoration or RetroClean, much safer than Oxiclean. These products can work miracles for most stains. I have a lot of experience using both.

  5. I love when I find an irreprarbly stained or damaged piece of vintage linen, it gives me permission to cut it!
    I also tea dye some linens.
    Thanks for all the tips.

  6. I’m like you as well, I love vintage hankies. I’ve had a collection for quite sometime even before I took up quilting. Now that I’m quilting I’d love to make a top out of mine for display only. I’d love to see pictures of things you’ve made. I live in Kentucky as well. 💕💕

  7. With all due respect, I am shocked u took GORGEOUS antique hankies & didn’t do a thing to display/reflect their beauty. You displayed no respect for such a piece of history; & why put children’s ??? (not sure what they are) with them, instead of featuring them by themselves to show their ‘delicate’ beauty, colors & designs. ALSO, a TIP for removing stains. There’s a BAR of laundry soap called FELSNAPTHA. It’s gold, square in shape, wrapped in a cream & green paper wrapper. You may have difficulty finding it in the south but easily found in North East grocery stores. I always broke it in half, it’s easier to hold & use. Wet the stain area & rub the soap over it till u get a good lather, let sit for 1-2 hrs, then wash with normal clothes or load. If delicate hand wash, just rub the area gently after treating it & the strain should come out the 1st try. If not, u can try again using more or try the lemon juice method, BUT LAY DIRECTLY IN THE SUN, that’s a HUGE help to get out stubborn stains. I realize you won’t like what I’ve said above; but, I’m a senior & remember my aunts, grandmothers & other ladies using handkerchiefs, even if they were poor, they had 2 or 3 & used for special events. I just feel they need to be respected like antique. Respected much more than being put on an unattractive piece of plaid fabric.

  8. I am making a large quilt out of hankies. Some of the white ones have green, yellow or pink crocheted borders. How do you suggest I attach these to the white fabric square? I thought I’d zig zag at the white edge and then hand stitch at the crocheted edge in the same color. What type of stitch would you suggest? Thank you!

  9. Thank you very much for your for your article on what to do with vintage fabrics. I collected doily’s and handkerchiefs some years ago and had no idea what to do with them.All I have to do now is remember where I put them.

    Sue

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