BEDSPREADS When considering vintage chenille for the bed in a room you are redecorating, it is important to make the bedspread your FIRST priority. The reason is twofold. First, it may take you a while to get exactly what you want and secondly, the available colors are not infinite, making color matching after the fact difficult. Vintage chenille bedspreads are usually rich in texture. In the 1940's they were made one stitch at a time, resulting in various heights of tufting and, in some cases, various types of stitches all in the same bedspread. That kind of detail is not employed in 100% cotton domestically manufactured bedspreads of this era. MATTERS OF SIZE Vintage chenille bedspreads were made to go to the floor. I have noticed that the older the spread, the less likely they are to actually reach the floor. Bed frames, mattresses and boxsprings have undergone many more changes than is generally imagined in the last fifty years. Chenille bedspreads from the late 1960's on will generally reach the floor. Earlier, more intricate bedspreads may need the addition of a dust ruffle to give complete to-the-floor coverage. When chenille was at its height, there was no such thing as either a queen size or a king size bed. Queen size became popular as the chenille industry was downsizing. King size came into vogue when chenille had all but ceased to exist. If you find a vintage king size bedspread on one of the auctions, it is probably not technically chenille, but rather the Martha Washington type of fabric which continued to be produced until the end of the last century. Check carefully, as it is often confused with chenille but does not exhibit the characteristic fuzziness associated with true chenille. King and queen sizes are available in new chenille bedspreads. The range of colors is not infinite and there are few choices in terms of patterns. My selection is limited at the moment, but worth a peek if you need something as large as these. DUST RUFFLE MAGIC The addition of a dust ruffle to any size bed will give you far more options than you would have otherwise. A dust ruffle on a queen size bed allows you to use a vintage full size spread, which gives you a very broad range of choices. Typically 2" to 3" of ruffle will show all around, sometimes more. Queen size beds are also a bit longer than the standard double bed, so there will not be as much to cover the bed pillows, but often the addition of decorative pillows will take care of that issue. On a king size bed, a dust ruffle will allow you to use a full or a queen as a coverlet style bedspread. This means that the spread will come just to the top of the dust ruffle itself. This also works when using a twin size chenille bedspread on a full size bed. DUST RUFFLE OPTIONS I like lace. I like hand crocheted lace most specifically. These days I keep an eye out for vintage crocheted tablecloths and bedspreads to use as dust ruffles. They can be draped over the box spring to fall gently to the floor and lend a very elegant air to your bedding. If you do not want the transparency of the crochet, use a basic dust ruffle beneath. I also like the look of eyelet lace with chenille. It adds a bit more visual interest if your room is on the feminine side. Raw silk looks great. Almost anything that is texturally compatible can be used. The dust ruffle itself can be tailored, simple with only a pleat or two at the corners or it can be gather a little or a lot. The choice is yours. We are quite fond of the mixed texture chenille dust ruffles that we make for our clients. We combine several types of vintage chenille with Martha Washington fabric and voila!, a wonderful compliment to most types of bedding. We make them any length you need, in either white or ecru. We also make duvet covers, shower curtains and window valances in the same manner. Country Living Magazine asked me to outfit a bed for a photoshoot they were doing and they wanted a very tightly gathered dust ruffle. I pulled three vintage hobnail bedspreads, from the same manufacturer, from my collection. I was able to fashion the dust ruffle, which looked great, but the weight of the chenille made the gathering less effective than I would have liked. Keep the heaviness of chenille in mind when working with the fabric in any form. OTHER ELEMENTS When we do a full bedroom, we like to add chenille in a couple of other places, to tie the room together. We offer chenille valances, for example, which make a wonderful treatment on the windows of almost any room. Sometimes we make them nice a flat, other times gathered. Often they will have pom pom fringe along the edge, but tailored piping looks nice too. Our valances are available in mixed textures, which looks best gathered, or in one texture, such as popcorn or hobnail, even Martha Washington, in the flat, more tailored style. Anyway you use them, they look great with sheers floating beneath them. There are so many wonderful types, with subtle patterns, available now. A wealth of choices. Blinds are a very solid choice under the valances as well. We also make custom curtain panels, in the textural mix of whites that we love so much. They look great on a bathroom window with a matching shower curtain over the tub. One client used them, full length and lined, over a sliding glass door. Very elegant. |
| * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Please feel free to email me. I check it daily and will make every effort to reply in a timely fashion. Call me directly, at 908-638-4426, alternate number if busy: 908-638-9066, to place your order. I am available 9 A.M. to 9 P.M. EST. Please call during those hours only. CoCo:Chenille, Inc. 76 Main Street High Bridge, New Jersey 08829 Telephone: (908)638-4426 or (908)638-9066 Email: christina@cocochenille.com. Use a subject line that includes the word "chenille". Emails with no subject or without the word "chenille," will be deleted as SPAM. Web: www.cocochenille.com I will not make your email address available to anyone else and will maintain your privacy. Copyright 2008 / CoCo:Chenille, Inc./Christina Lynn Whited |