The Return of the Doily

If you were born in the 40's or 50's chances are you will have visited many homes where doilies were a common decorating accent.  As a child I remember beautiful crocheted pieces on end tables under lamps, on table tops, even on furniture backs and arms.  Antimacassars?  Does a young woman of today even know what these are  - or even care?

I have to admit (secretly) that I have always loved doilies and lace.  Call me old-fashioned but there is nothing lovelier than a polished wood table with a white or off white pineapple doily resting on top of it.  I have even used doilies on my own dinning room table from time to time - but sadly not recently.

I have a comforter bag filled with doilies that were my Mom's.  Some in that stash were made by my grandmothers, and a few even from great grandmothers.  They are made from the finest threads with stitches so intricate I cannot even imagine trying to do them.  They are works of art, indeed - but there they lay in a pile in my linen closet.

In the April 2012 edition of Chatelaine magazine, low and behold - the doilies have returned.  Not in the same way they were before, but still in a way where they can be used and enjoyed... and the young women who are using them are thrilled and proud to display them on their re-purposed wood tables...

They are now called Vintage - and vintage anything is "In".

Sew a bunch of doilies together and make a really beautiful and trendy table runner, these are spectacular and are something that even the novice seamstress can accomplish.  I think I'm going to give this a try...



ashleyannphotography.com/blog/2009/12/16/diy-doily-table-runner

So dig out Granny's treasures - I am going to try and find uses for all on them - eventually!