I am always delighted to see upcycled doily items by MaillO in my Instagram feed, and it’s pure joy to go through the online MaillO boutique.
Now, I know doilies can get a bad rap – some people see them as fussy, overly intricate, and not very useful.
However, when you see these works of art, I promise you’ll have a whole new appreciation for doilies!
Veronique Damart and MaillO
Veronique Damart, the artist behind MaillO, is a French textile artist who has worked with a long list of designers, including Christian Lacroix, Isabel Marant, Missoni, and Kenzo.
She launched her own company over a decade ago and began to produce textile art for the home. Her pieces are also available for rent as wedding decor, which makes perfect sense when you see these gorgeous items!
Damart’s work focuses on upcycling and modernizing vintage textile pieces, such as doilies.
These images really and truly speak for themselves! Each item is art, each photograph elevates the art even more and the entire collection is a curated set of themed beauty.
Doily Vases
These vases seem to be made from doilies which were wrapped around vases of different sizes and then starched or stiffened to hold their shape. From this angle, you can see that the glass vase has been removed and only the delicate doily vase remains.
Of course, this vase wouldn’t hold water, but it looks so pretty holding a sprig of flowers – maybe they have been dried or are silk? Either way, these make a beautiful accessory.
Lace Glove Hands
These vintage lace gloves have been repurposed into art. They’re positioned into different hand signals (I see “peace,” “okay,” “hang ten,” and “rock on,” to name a few!) and are starched and painted so that they hold their shape.
After that, these hands come to rest on your wall as decor! Which would you choose?
Upcycled Lace Hanging Decorations
These 40 hanging domes are made from upcycled lace doilies and are available for rent as wedding decor from MaillO. In addition to looking beautiful, this is an eco-friendly idea too.
The doilies themselves were already upcycled and given new life when they were crafted into the hanging domes.
Since these items are for rent, they won’t be used for one day and tossed away, either – they can continue to grace wedding after wedding. I love that!
It might be sentimental, but I can imagine the women who originally crafted those doilies would love to know that they’re living on as a part of so many special days.
“Starch Poems”
This collection, entitled “Starch Poems,” was a collaboration with artist Laurence Bonnet, whose work can be found at @minusculerose. In this project, rabbits are dressed in their best dresses and bonnets and are hanging from parasols made of doilies.
Lace Sphere Art Installation
This installation is breathtaking, with dozens of light, lacy spheres seeming to tumble out of a window on St. Louis Island in France.
There are several shots on the MaillO Instagram page that show this installation from various angles and with the light coming through the spheres – it’s amazing!
Nearly 250 lace doilies were used for this project.
Doily Bowls or Baskets
Here is a series of bowls made from doilies. They make such delicate decor, and while the white is pretty I’m especially drawn to the pale pink and teal.
These colors have a way of bringing the doily lace more up-to-date.
Patchwork Lace Curtain
This lace curtain is made from a patchwork of vintage lace doilies. None are white, but rather they are varying shades of beige, ecru, and cream.
They all still fit beautifully together, as they all have the same exquisite detail in their stitching.
Lace Crown
These unique lacy princess crowns seem even more precious than one made of gold, simply because they must be so fragile! There are lots of different colors and designs. I think these would be so cute in a baby’s nursery.
I’m so impressed by the way that Veronique Damart of MaillO breathes new life into these doilies.
These doilies are intricate, detailed pieces of textile art that deserve to be in the spotlight rather than collecting dust in an attic – and she has found so many incredible ways to achieve that!
What was your favorite? Do you think you will try upcycling a doily or perhaps crocheting a doily of your own?
If you enjoyed this post, you can also check out some dresses upcycled from doilies and the history of crochet doilies.
Beautiful!
Is there access to these patterns