Hankie cloth

Hi beautiful

It's hankie time!

Do you have a stash of hankies just waiting to be loved? I have a pillowcase full, compliments of my mother. So late in March I selected 28 from their hideaway and went to town giving them a facelift.

Using the gelli plate, foam stamps and fabric paint, I transformed the plain hankies into a kaleidoscope of colours. Here they are drying off.

Gelli printed hankies

A couple of months passed by while I mulled over "now what?" Then inspiration hit one Sunday morning in late July while playing with another project. A tablecloth! For the rest of the day I delightedly pinned and sewed hankies onto a recycled piece of calico.

Hankies pinned to calico

It took another session to finish sewing on all the hankies. Then some more colour fun with zig zag machine stitching around some of the edges.

At the beginning of August, I began hand stitching here and there, choosing some of the stamped images. Here are some close ups.

Flower in stem stitch

Heart edged in blanket stitch

Heart in double chain stitch

Today I added more stitching, this time with crochet cotton, rather than stranded cotton - background and one edge.

Running stitch background

In progress - Edge in up and down buttonhole stitch

Finished edge in up and down buttonhole stitch

This cloth has 20 hankies in total - 5 rows of 4. It will be a long term project, for those days when I feel like slow stitching. Who knows what delights will be stitched onto this piece? I hope to use more old fabric pieces of my mum. The time I spend on this cloth has become my conversation time with my mum. She was a good dressmaker and embroiderer. While I still have my mum, sadly she has dementia and is unable to chat or remember. This is my conversation with her.

Enjoy recycling your hankies!

Cara