One of my lovely birthday surprises was an Etsy gift voucher.

Whilst I’m not generally a fan of gift vouchers, if anyone is going to get me one, then that’s definitely the sort I would choose.

There are said to be over 800,000 registered Etsy shops… and if even only a fraction of those have items in stock, that’s a lot of potential browsing!

Personally I have over 1300 favourited items. Phew.

So what to choose? Bet you can’t guess…

Yes, it’s fabric. No surprises there.

But I’ve been hankering after something slightly different from my usual 1960s and 70s fare. These lovelies are what’s been catching my eye…

They’re vintage feedsack fabrics.

Feedsacks originated in the USA in the mid-1800s, when the invention of the stitching machine made it possible to sew sacks strongly enough to use them to transport goods that had previously been packaged in boxes and crates.

Thrifty farm wives soon made use of the empty sack fabric, which manufacturers then picked up on, going on to produce sacks in a dazzling range of prints and colours to tempt buyers to stick with their brands.

I can just imagine the conversations between farmers and their wives and daughters before a trip to collect supplies…

I love the fact that they come in such an array of wonderful patterns.

It makes me wonder who designed them… who were these unsung pattern-creators?

The designs might be smaller in scale than my usual choices, but they are no less beautiful. And I can see them combining with some of my larger-scale prints very nicely thank you.

So I’m going to make some time to find the perfect feedsack selection to buy with my gift voucher.

Because I think that a little of what I fancy will do me good. ♥