This vivid shade of scarlet has been a favorite, ever since a reasonable way to keep it colorfast was formulated -- by the Turks. Who had an interesting habit of killing anyone who knew the secret to their dye...and wanted to leave. Talk about proprietary information!
The National Museums of Scotland website has an incredible online exhibit of Turkey Red prints -- plus lots of juicy history about the dye's origins. (Mostly from the Scottish viewpoint, of course.)
Sprint over to this site -- if you're interested in old fabrics at all, you'll love the variety here.
Have fun. Don't drool.
What's Turkey Red? Here's some, from an 1888 Grover Cleveland campaign bandanna
2 comments:
I too love these fabrics and agree with those that say there should be a book that we could purchase from that collection. I love the themes shown at that site and have quite a collection of newer fabrics myself. I love how you can coordinate a redwork project based on the themes.
Publishers out there -- are you listening??
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