I recently attended a symposium on textiles for historic interiors at Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia. The speakers were phenomenal and I learned many new things about old things. The topics covered textiles for floors, beds, walls, windows and as used for useful household objects.
One thing I learned that I have never considered before was that fabric was precious. It was treated as a treasured item and every bit available was used. Hemming was tiny to conserve fabric and pattern match as we know today was not a priority because it used more fabric.
Enjoy these photos of reproduction textiles and decorative arts from Colonial Williamsburg.
