Confessions of a Fabric Hoarder

In my house, there's a linen cupboard in the hallway. It's a feature common to the kind of home I live in - a slightly elderly ex-State house, circa 1940. These state houses were built in New Zealand from 1937 onwards, as part of the Labour government's scheme to provide quality rental housing for those who couldn't afford homes of their own. Nowadays, houses of this era are sought after for their solid construction, native timber flooring (often buried under acres of swirly carpet), old-fashioned back gardens and maybe even linen cupboards!

These are some of my most treasured fabric remnants. Two pillowcases, one belonging to me and the other to my two (usually fighting) younger brothers. As a child, I liked to imagine the red-headed one was me, because I had red hair too. The cotton is so soft and worn now that it's full of holes. I've bumped the colour up on the photos so you can see the illustrations more clearly, but sadly it seems as if they are slowly fading away in the same way that memories often do.

1Little fabric-covered cane boxes with birds, found at a charity shop. The birds have been embroidered on a textured linen base.

2Vintage buttons and buckles from a German button factory, discovered in the basement of a dusty junk shop.

3Neatly folded piles of bright retro fabric, seen in a shop window. If only my own fabric collection looked as pretty as this!

4My old Singer sewing machine - it only stitches forward and is operated by a knee lever. It's a Singer 99K, made in Clydesdale, Scotland in 1948.

5One of my favourite places to visit for incredible material: Retro Vintage Fabric. Based in Australia, they are the world's largest online vintage fabric store.

I'm an avid collector of retro and vintage kitchenware, and that of course includes all the fabric I can lay my hands on. Some of it even makes its way out of the cupboard and into my real kitchen, especially the tea towels (or kitchen towels) and tablecloths.

My favourite pieces are souvenir linen tea towels from New Zealand - with some equally kitsch offerings from Australia and the Pacific. Often decorated with maps, little Kiwis and native plants, they are prime examples of what we call vintage or retro Kiwiana.

1The girly pink, cream and mint-green rose-covered bedspreads at my best friend's house - I was jealous and wanted them for my own.

2Emptying my mother's jar of buttons out onto my white candlewick bedspread and arranging them into colour-matched groups, for hours of endless entertainment.

3The spare room with its two single beds - each with its own pristine pale yellow candlewick cover, floral sheets and matching pillowcases.

Candlewick is made from cotton yarn, twisted and then cut to form a tufted pattern and often made into dressing gowns and bedspreads. Like many retro fabrics, it descended from 1970s coolness into frumpy obscurity, but has recently been resurrected with the rising popularity of recycling. New uses of candlewick include couture clothing, upholstery and cushions. I'm still hanging on to my candlewick bedspreads though - I like the look of them just as they are!

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