Saturday 1 September 2012

A cake stand of brooches...

Not sure how this came about but next to my sewing machine I keep a cake stand of brooches - well it started off as being used for souvenir patches and then all sorts got added in to the mix.  Bronte likes to rummage through and find something 'new' to sew on or wear.  Yesterday I decided that it needed a clearing so now I just have some embroidered brooches. Oh and some wooden ones that I made from an old puzzle..more of that in a moment.




The green one (bottom left) was given to me by one of my sisters when I was about 12/13 years old I think. It is precious to me and worth more than anything made of gold. Sister Sue always gave me something old/second hand for birthdays and Christmas and I have kept all but one of those presents.  One year (approx. 16th birthday) I was given a pair of BEAUTIFUL 1940s Church's (I come from Northamptonshire - the home of the boot and shoes industry so I appreciated them for their fineness) leather brogues - they were the most wonderous shoes. I cannot describe their wonderment. No one but no one I knew would have appreciated those shoes (this would be the 1970s) but me. Everybody else was wearing platforms. I was (still am) an oddball.  I loved those shoes and though they were a little big I created a pad to put in the heel so that I could wear them.  I kept them under my bed. When I left home I  left them behind by mistake....they got thrown away....I have been searching for another pair ever since....




The puzzle brooches story - a couple of years ago an elderly gentleman was selling some of his things at a car boot.  'Oh could you not give this to someone in your family' I said.  He had no family...this wooden puzzle clock was 20p - heartbreaking really. Half the pieces were missing (judicious photography here) so eventually I decided to make the removable pieces into brooches - one for a different time of the day and different seasons (I am quite busy 'brooch changing') !!!  Today I will be wearing the 'beach' brooch!



Just dug out the older photos of previous incarnations that this cake stand has been used for!

Bronte purloined most of these badges to sew on to a top

The house is in a constant state of flux!



 I have also used bits of old wooden Galt puzzles and made them into fridge magnets - I have a few old Galt puzzles...and a few old puzzles......another day perhaps...

30 comments:

  1. Your house sounds a bit like mine!
    I love those embroidered brooches -I have a two!
    Julie xxxxxxxx

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    1. Sounds lovely Julie - I would love to see those brooches.
      Best wishes
      Jenny

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  2. Aha now I know what you meant! I've not seen little mini garden brooches and yes you were quite right, I do need one to carry my garden around with me!
    How fabulous... and a great idea with the puzzles they look great and a good memory aid too...
    I do like a brooch or two myself another thing to keep my eyes out for, a garden and I'd rather like an allotment one!

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    1. Oooo an allotment one sounds just super - I have some old 'blank' brooches that are waiting for an embroidery. Goodness me those stitches would need to be tiny. Lovely idea
      Best wishes
      Jenny

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  3. Love those embroidered brooches. The clock puzzle pieces are just lovely!
    Liz @ Shortbread & Ginger

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    1. Many thanks Liz - a use for tablecloth scraps too perhaps?
      Best wishes
      Jenny

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  4. I have that clock puzzle complete - was rescued from my parents attic the other year when they had a good clear out. Love the idea of using incomplete puzzle pieces as brooches though but my puzzle is staying safely away from the glue gun!

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    1. Yes indeed - glue gun not wanted if all is intact. I have become quiet steely over the years and but I would not break up something that was perfectly usable just as it was. It is a lovely puzzle indeed
      Best wishes
      Jenny

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  5. Beautiful brooches and beautiful blog ... lovely to have found you ... Bee xx

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    1. Welcome Bee - I will be popping round soon
      Best wishes
      Jenny

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  6. I can remember Churches shoes - they were considered the next best thing to having bespoke shoes made as they didn't just have width fittings but also ankle fittings - I have feet like a duck - they are about as broad as any foot can get but when I was younger I had a very narrow ankle..I almost bought a pair of Churches in the 1980's and I can remember how they felt like a second skin.....sadly these days no one goes to that much detail.
    I like the image of children making pretty tape...although in my mental image it doesn't end well.....ha haha

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    1. Sniff, sniff - oh those shoes....I had a look on Ebay after posting this and saw the cost of those shoes today!!! Goodness me they have gone up in price a bit! I too have extra wide feet (good for stability but useless for shoe fitting) - I always say to the children that I have to have shoes that are shaped like boats in order to accommodate...
      Have a good day
      Jenny

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  7. I have a bakelite box full of buckles - some vintage bakelite, others metal , others plastic. Any inspiration about projects for using some of them up?

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    1. Dear Angela - I have made a little post with ideas and will post that soon. Hang on to them!

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  8. I think you should catalogue the 'entire' contents of your cupboards into a book...it would be a serious thrifters paradise! {and a hefty book to boot ;~)}
    I love it all
    Nicky
    x

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    1. Aww rthank you Nicky - some cupboards are a sight to behold (you can interpret that a number of ways of course) - favourite being The Christmas Cupboard (in fact an old wardrobe), one or two bits in there...
      I will be canvassing some publishers today and keep you posted ho ho!
      Best wishes
      Jenny

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  9. I love those old badges - I have loads on my guide Camp Blanket and put some French ones onto a handbag last year - lots of fun! It was the embroidered brooches that really caught my eye, though. I met a lady at my dad's church last Sunday who was wearing one and I complimented her on it. She told me a friend had bought it for her in Australia! It was black silk with flowers, in an ornate silver setting. Really lovely...

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    1. That is really sweet Floss - I wish that I had a Camp Blanket, sounds delicious. The brooch sounds a real wonderment - I shall keep an eye out for one with a black background as I do think that black is a good setting for colour.
      Best wishes Jenny

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  10. What a lovely collection, and such sweet stories! You really are a magpie aren't you! Your Sister knows you so well! Ada :)

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    1. Moi - Magpie!! I always thought that I was a careful curator of collectables...aka Magpie...
      Many thanks Ada
      Best wishes
      Jenny

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  11. I have to say I have never seen embroidered brooches such as yours but perhaps I have been looking in the wrong places. They are certainly lovely. I am always buying brooches so I shall have to look out for these. The jigsaw piece brooches are a great idea.
    My sister gave me a present that I really loved too. It was my first training bra, size 30AAA!!!!!! Oh I loved it with its pretty turquoise flowers but I had to stuff it with tissues until I finally grew into it. Goodness knows where that memory came from! Philippa xx

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    1. Oh Philippa this made me roar with laughter - thank you for your bra tale. I think that this is what second hand, 'vintage' is all about don't you - just memories and 'ooo I remember that' type stuff. Happy bra memories!
      Best wishes
      Jenny

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  12. Your brooches are so pretty, I love the jigsaw too
    Thea x

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  13. All the embroidered brooches are so pretty - love the jigsaw ones too :)
    x

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    1. Lovely to meet you here Barbara - thank you again for your kind supportive words
      Best wishes
      Jenny

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  14. I often see those old puzzles what a great idea to make them into brooches, I've never seen those embroidered brooches before thanks for sharing, Lucey x

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    1. Or fridge magnets can be good Lucey - I had too many of them so had to give some away in order to open the door! Ho ho! Will do a little posting on other uses eventually
      Best wishes
      Jenny

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  15. I feel strange when I read that Lemodade Kitty or other blog friends don't have any of those embroiredered brooches... I'm French (they're totally unknown here) and very proud that I have about 30 or 40. All bought on Ebay about 10 years ago... They are so cute pieces of past; and at the begining, I did not realised that some of them where not really hand embroidered but filled with Kensitas flowers... So it made me get interested in Kensitas silk woven flowers also... A nice add to any cartonnage or embroidered creation...
    I sign for a B&B journey to Jenny's treasure chests!
    Joyeux dimanche!
    Amicalement,
    Anne-Sophie

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    1. Goodness me that is a collection and a half Anne-Sophie!! I too love those Kensitas silk flowers - only last week a woman in front of me bagged a nice little collection of them for 3.99. I did not mind.....much!!!
      Thank you as always
      Best wishes
      Jenny

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