Once Upon a Pillow

Book excerpt: Once Upon A Pillow is the first book to highlight a designer making luxury pillows from antique textiles. Features an extensive glossary of sewing, stitching, and textile terms and categories. Once Upon a Pillow features a stunning collectionof pillows and accessories designed by Rebecca Vizard. Celebrated for herinnovative use of rare antique textiles -- from the embroidered metallicthreads of ecclesiastical vestments to Venetian Fortuny draperies and CentralAsian suzanis --her designs present a perfect balance of art and materialculture. A favorite of designers and a discerning public, her pillows andaccessories adorn some of America's finest homes. An early childhoodfascination with textiles eventually led her to create pillows from her growingpersonal collection of rare textiles and, when Neiman Marcus placed its firstorder in 1999, B VIZ Design was officially launched. While her collectingforays frequently take her abroad, she returns to her Louisiana roots and itsrich history and tradition of decorative arts for inspiration. In addition toMs. Vizard's home, rooms in a range of styles and periods by such top flightdesigners as Gerrie Bremermann, Barry Dixon, Suzanne Kasler and Matthew PatrickSmyth are included to illustrate embroidery, applique, tapestry, needlepoint, Fortuny, damask and brocade and suzani and ethnic pillows. A selection ofaccessories from lighting, gifts and dog wear of Fortuny fabric is alsohighlighted and an annotated textile glossary is included. Early in her career, whileworking on interior design projects from New York to New Orleans, RebeccaVizard noticed a void in the pillow market. Discovering a niche for antiquetextiles, Vizard focused on designing these one of a kind pillows for clients, and in the process employed many local seamstresses. Soon pillows sold toNeiman Marcus and other exclusive stores. Her pillows frequently grace thecovers of national publications, such as House Beautiful, Veranda, Elle Decor, Traditional Home, and Architectural Digest.