POULSBO — Tucked neatly in a corner overlooking the Cat’s Meow antique mall in the heart of Little Norway, Margaret Foster has opened her treasure chest of vintage fabrics and textiles to the public.

From late 1800s lace doilies to 1950s atomic design fabrics, Foster places a special emphasis on vintage style.

“It’s got to be from the ‘50s and older,” she said. “One hundred percent of what I sell is older than 1950.”

Among her prized items are a small collection of tan lace doilies that date back to the late 1800s.

“One-hundred-fifty years ago with all the things women had to do, they still took their time to do this,” she said. “It’s artwork.”

Another of her more unique fabrics is some Vera Neumann prints, which are simply known by her first name, Vera, Foster said.

“She was famous for her scarves in the ‘40s and ‘50s,” she said.

That sense of style dates back to her childhood, when Foster said she vividly remembers sewing her own doll clothes and inheriting her grandmother’s button collection.

“I have a natural love of fabric, and then I started sewing vintage era costumes in (Los Angeles) for Renaissance fairs,” she said.

That costume design and production carried on to her daughter, for whom she made all of her costumes for the various plays she was in, Foster said.

While she doesn’t do much costume design these days, Foster said she still enjoys sewing and producing things like curtains and other interior furnishings from the vintage fabrics she’s collected through the years.

“Anything that requires fabric and a needle I can do,” she said. “I’m happy to do that.”

For customers who are looking for a vintage look, but aren’t sure exactly how to proceed, Foster said she is available for consultants and can offer advice on how to find exactly what the customer seeks.

“They can bring pictures or come by,” she said. “I’m very customer service oriented.”

Finding vintage fabrics and items isn’t a problem for Foster, who has been selling vintage fabrics on eBay for several years.

“A lot of times people will call me and say, ‘I have all of this stuff and don’t know what to do with it,’” she said.

Those items are often discovered when people are cleaning out their loved ones estates and find things that their grandmother had packed away in a drawer or chest, she said.

Instead of seeing it thrown away, Foster said she will either purchase the items herself or help the family sell them online.