Hankies for Hitty Buying Guide

The Practical Hitty Newsletter
Editors: Hitty Henrietta and Charlotte Hitty

Practical Hitty Buying Guide:
How To Find, Select, and Buy Vintage Hankies for Your Hitty
by Sara Cole

Vintage Hankies may provide just the materials you need to make beautiful clothing, linens, and decor for your Hitty, but they are so popular and there are such a bewildering variety, it can be hard to know where to start in collecting hankies for your Hitty projects! This guide can help you to get started in becoming familiar with hankies, selecting the best hankies for your Hittys, and knowing where to find them. Let's get started!
1. Types of Hankies: Hankies come in huge variety of styles and types, and it can be a lot of fun to experiment with a unique hankie, but there are certain main types of hankies that are especially good for Hittys.		Florals: Floral hankies are usually printed with a floral pattern and have a tiny finished edge. It is often hemmed, scalloped, or rolled. These are wonderful for Hitty dresses, and the best hankies for our purposes usually have small floral prints along the borders as opposed to a large floral pattern or a single large floral image in the center.
		Lace Edge: Here are several old lace-edged Hankies. These are often whites and will sometimes have small, delicate lace and cotton or linen fabric that is great for underclothes. Some are plain and some will have monograms or other work. Sometimes in older lace hankies they are worth buying just to salvage the very fine lace.
		Fancy Work: Fancy work hankies are usually handmade and are characterized by embroidery, pullwork, (removing certain threads from the weave in patterns), applique, cutwork, (creating cut-out areas with finished edges in the pattern), etc. These hankies vary in complexity and quality but even absolutely stunning examples are not uncommon and can somtimes be found affordably.

2. Selecting Your Hankies: Type and style, condition and quality will all affect your Hankie buying decision!		Type and style: Perhaps the easiest factor to determine when looking for hankies is the type and style of hankies you're looking for. What kind of project are you doing? For a dress, you might want a finely printed floral hankie, and for undies or bed linens you could look for whites with lace or perhaps fine white pullwork. Fancy work hankies are great for travel wraps, linens, or, removing just the corner, shawls or accents. You may want to look for a particular hankie for a particular project, but other times it is fun to look for the hankies you like the best and allow your projects to be inspired by the original art!
		Condition and Quality: When selecting hankies, be aware of both the condition of the hanky and the quality of the materials. You're looking for good quality linens, cottons, silks, etc, with fine lace or edge finishing, good hems, and pleasing fabrics and prints. This is the quality factor, and you're looking for the best. Condition is also important, but it's not always as important to find hankies in the best condition unless you're using them whole for travel wraps or bed linens. Be aware of tears, fraying, and stains, but more importantly of the sturdiness of the fabric. Tears, stains, frays, or worn spots are important to consider in price, which will be determined by how much of the hankie is still usable. ("Cutter" hankies, hankies that are damaged in some spots but have useful areas left for art and crafts, are GREAT for Hitty since they go for much lower prices than whole, undamaged hankies.) However, the sturdiness of the fabric is MOST important in deciding what to use the hanky for. Be aware of the patterns of any fraying or tears. Do they indicate shattering? Does the fabric still feel strong and sturdy or is it brittle? Don't pay too much for hankies that are not sturdy. Brittle aged fabrics can be quite suitable for Hitty's bed sheets or a wrap if it is a particularly beautiful hankie, but they are NOT suitable for sewing. Trust me, no matter how pretty they are it will break your heart when your masterpiece falls apart!