Vintage embroidery put to good use...

Welcome to new followers and kind words.  Still time to enter giveaway if wished.

So  busy with work so why then do I find myself being drawn to doing anything but that which I am supposed to be doing.......

This is an old photo of mine from defunct Flickr account.....  Sorry if it is old hat and you have seen it before .  I made these for a great niece but I find it very difficult to figure patterns out sometimes so the main bit of the embroidery ended up on the underneath bit - I was so cross they went into the 'Drawer of Shame' (said in an echoey voice - keep up...you should know the format by now...).  I have a mind to dig them out and make another pair today - though my great niece is now far too old.

I thought that I had placed the pattern so a nice 'scrolly' bit went over the top.  It is a bit like cutting an angled piece of wood - I have to think really, really hard about it.  I cannot reverse a car into a tight parking spot for the same reason - I cannot for the life of me figure out what the mirror is trying to convey to me!

Back to the drawing board as usual

Oh - I did manage to make a little blanket from vintage embroideries - as she is half Irish I placed a shamrock within it as well as a blue bird of happiness for good fortune all of her life.

I started this little dress the other day because one of my sisters rang to say that my nephew and young family are going to come and stay at the end of September  - just cut a bodice pattern from paper (the back two bits need to overlap for button purposes) and will gather a ruffle of vintage fabricos for the skirt

Should it be lace?

Found that red ric rac - might change the skirt fabric altogether to match the red or might do something completely different - the joy of homemade things!

I am a bit slow on the uptake and only just realised that the lining of the shoes, some patches on the blanket and the skirt of the dress are all made from the same fabric - yet all made over a long'ish time period! I must have been subliminally drawn to it - in reality a pair of large old curtain but soft, soft cotton so nice for small people to wear.

General Pearls of Wisdom when using old embroideries:
1.  I have never chopped up a perfectly decent embroidered tablecloth (my bulging cupboards can bear testament to that...cough... cough....it is has been a while since I counted them...this wretched cough...but I think that there are one or two........................).
2. Endeavour to use originals for intended purpose wherever possible: table runners for tables, antimacassars for anti-grease warfare, embroidered placemats for place settings etc, etc
3.  Consider wisely before launching into a chopping up session - THINK FIRST - can this burn be neatly concealed by discreet overstitching/embroidery, could a light peppering of bootons save the day, would a generous overnight soak get rid of this mark........what would Mother have done?
4. Always think very, very carefully before you snippity snip - there is no going back you know!
5. If your mind is resolved and you are very, very sure then consider reinforcing the reverse first - especially if the underlying fabricos is a little on the delicarto side!
6.  Think backwards from your end 'design' (grand - I have never had one of those in my life but sounds good!) -  how much embroidery can you save and create your 'design' on the basis of maximum embroidery salvage
7.Check again - are you really sure?????????
8. Do not - I repeat - do not - make that first snip and then retract - IT IS TOO LATE NOW!!
9. Commit and go..
10.  Tra la la down the High Street swinging your latest tra la la

Using my flickr photographs I have figured that if I do a post every day I should have cleared the decks IN about three years!  Sorry that that is a bit dull and 'oh not the old stuff again...'

Full frontal for Angela and a bit of 50s china

Thank you to all entrants in the giveaway and thank you so much for kind words and coronets.  Decided that I will 'do the draw' (and get the children to write all the names out!) on Thursday evening as I am busy, busy until then.  Edge of the seat drama!!

 Just a little post showing a full frontal picture of the bag (you didn't think that I meant anything else did you!!) that I mentioned the other day as Angela had asked about ways of using buckles. So here you need to make the handles of your bag the right fit for the buckle

In the photo I think that the buckle looks out of kilter but I feel that it works in 'real life' (though it looked like a bandolier the other day when I wore it to work!).  I made a 'Four Marys' bag the other day that if I can take better photos I will do a little post on.....in theory it was all a good idea....

The one below I think went to live with you Anne-Sophie!

Buckle of no practical purpose but I do find them reassuring to fiddle with!

Yodel hey hey hoo!

This is another little embroidered bag that I made earlier this year (I try not to bore with photos of every single that I make.... 'not that old stuff again Jenny!')

Took a bit of tin searching to find the right button to match the buckle...

In the past I have also made a fabric mini 'belt' thingy, threaded a small buckle through and used as brooches (with extra adornment for extra lilly gilding purposes) and hair clips (smaller ones are good for these).  Does anyone else have some ideas for Angela ?

Phew - after that sit down and have a nice cup of tea....

The cups that match the jug are a favourite (isn't everything a favourite Jenny....) 

I have a few other bits of this design - do look out for it in your travels, I think it is delicious.

When the children were little I would set up a mini version of this for them (in truth I would set up mini versions of all sorts of things - it is the delight of 'smallness' again)

Not sure that you can gauge the scale of the teapot and cups here but it is all small - I love those child sized teapots - it comes as a complete set with a similar coffee pot and jug etc. The teapot chrome cover has a beautiful felt liner just as the large adult version has.  The children would have orange juice in their teapot....

...I would be having the real McCoy!

And something for your carrots!!!

What I like about 50s china is the upliftingness (?) of it all - and of course I love my garden so a double whammy.

Also just adding a few more pictures from my sister's home that I visited earlier this summer

The larger figure in this photo is one that I remember from my own childhood - as a child I would cycle over to my big sister's home in a village a few miles away (I cannot imagine allowing my children to do the same)  and gaze at this figure in wonderment even then. It has got a bit damaged over the years but so beautifully made

Tatty bye for now

Rustling up a rucksack whilst we are waiting for the giveaway to cook

Thank you to all the entrants in the giveaway - feeling nervous now and hope that I haven't 'bigged' up the prizes! Interesting that the embroidered seems to be the favourite - thinking of starting an 'Embroidered Purse Emporium' this afternoon..... I have sooooo many things to make in my head it is a shame that only a few things get out of there to play in the real world!

Will put names into three different (relevant time period) hats next week so time for others to enter if desired.

Just off to work so hastily put together this post.  Bronte put in a request for a rucksack/duffel type bag - I said that she could have free rein on any of the fabrics that I have.....gulp.....a rash moment......I had to wait three days for the decision to be made....gulp again....would it be something very rare...double gulp.....'Mmmm....I'm not sure' said Bronte......triple gulp

In the end Bronte chose some Walt Disney fabric (?from the 1970s or maybe 60s) a pair of curtains that I bought a while ago from a charity shop (4.99 if I remember correctly).

Very simple to make - I used a large dinner plate as a pattern for the bottom and then a simple large rectangle stitched down the side for the main part.

A fold of paper with half a circle made the flappy bit. Bronte is still deciding which button to use as a fastener.  A bit of adjustment to ensure everything fits together neatly

Two strips of fabric for the straps (vintage buckles optional - ho ho). Adjust according to new owners height and personal preferences! Make the lining just the same and stitch together - top stitching optional but I always prefer it.

I then inserted the eyelets - goodness me they were a shock of a price! I have only ever used the small ones before.  Does anyone know where you can buy them cheaply? I realise that I have put them in the wrong way round but either way looks fine to me. Finally thread through the ropey ties and add big beads at the ends for extra jingle jangle

Ta dah

PS: I was quite pleased so now going to make a duffley type bag for myself out of some 50s barkcloth...or maybe a patchwork embroidered one...or perhaps.... so many things to make
 I will work on my eyelet technique....

A giveaway do dah thingy!! First and possibly last! 1. Vintage embroidered purse 2. David Whitehead purse 3. Scandinavian purse. Now closed many thanks

I very much wish to give something away by way of thanks for the many kind words and support  that followers have given to me - you have seen me through CLgate (I wonder who the winner was there - I cannot bring myself to look!!!) and the other 'gate of which we no longer speak..... I am a queer fish and find the machinations of the internet  strange and wonderful  in equal measure.  Anyway I wanted to give some things away by way of thanks. Three different things for three different followers - easy.

 Goodness me that has been a trial and a half - of course I could not decide what it could be as I like sooooooo many different things, soooooooooooo many different styles.  So I have made three things - each thing was a trial  of decision making and I will labour  tell the story of each one here! In no particular order:

Number One - A vintage embroidered purse

Reverse of purse:

I cannot remember how many of these purses I have made - lots and lots of them - I wanted this purse to be  special.  I discovered I only had one purse frame left and a just enough glue...gulp.  Spent a goodly amount of time searching through embroideries - so many are not 'right' for purses in my mind (good for bags/bunting but not purses).  I like the trellis work on this piece (the remainder of it I made into a summer hat a while back) - it is not perfect but we are ok with that aren't we.  The reverse is some lovely vintage Jonelle fabric called Esme - I love the colours. Let me reiterate that I have made lots and lots of these purses - I could not find a pattern that I made previously so made a new one - made it all wrong.  Stitched the pieces together - stitched it together all wrong.  When it came to glueing it in place I was near to explosion point - glue all over the shop - never has happened before.  I see it as positive Karma - something was trying to make me get it right!!!! Then by accident I stabbed my finger with the scissors...

Positive Karma

Lined with vintage Irish double damask.

All done

I also knew that some 50s fabricos had to be used.....well I will not go into the detail of how much searching and sifting had to be done there.....I feel that I looked through several miles of fabricos.  Humming and ha'ing over each piece and trying to second guess what you might like.  Much to my delight I discovered that the price tag was still on this piece (I thought it had dropped off a few years back)

Also found a surprise tag on this piece - 

 9/11 per yard! Anyway after much sifting I did indeed decide upon this David Whitehead fabric - nice rich colours I think.

Number Two:  David Whitehead cosmetic bag

I have made this as a large cosmetic/wash bag so lined with some wipeable fabricos - fine and dandy for weekends away.

I like the mix of graphics with this design and the colour just so happens to match this 50s wallpaper.  I know, I know I said that I would use this but could not bring myself to paste it to the wall.  Daft as now this is being reproduced (but not in this colour!)  I could just buy some more but it is not the same is it.

I then spent an age looking for some old red ric rac for the zip - searched all my ruddy tins (why or why do I have so many...) and I know it is here somewhere.  A bit of ribbon had to suffice for the photo but I will endeavour to find it.

Moving on a few years to the 1960s/70s - I was looking for some Frieda Clowes curtains that I know are in this house somewhere - could I find them...could I?  'No' - was the answer - by this time I was getting a bit hot and bothered.  Found some nice Noddy fabric that I had forgotten about so that was good.  Finally decided upon this Scandinavian fabric that I think dates from the 70s - good strong colours and strong design again.

I have lined this with some vintage bright orange fabric as you can see below.

The same fabric is used on both sides

Being side tracked by tin admiration....oh dear

All three quite different things so hope that I have covered some bases (not all - that would be cuuurrraaazzy)

So just  leave a comment saying whether you would prefer one, two or three and I will enter your name in the hat.  I'll leave this to run for a week (or so - depending how busy work gets - oh dear that sounds a bit half hearted but not intended).  If there are no entrants that will be fine as Bronte is hinting about number three and I have my eye on number one.....

Thank you again as always

PS Worried already as I have just read  that giveaways come under some sort of lottery regulations!! Is that for real!! Crikey!  Also a reminder that contrary to what a friend said I am not doing this in order to exercise control over you! It is just because and 'just because' things are nice to have now and again.

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...

Sending off parcels

Made a little too hastily for Tanya - but will keep the pegs warm and ready for pegging purposes in your new home I hope!

Sent off another little parcel - I like packaging things up!

I have made this type of tape (below) for years - I had no idea that it had a name, Washi tape - easy to make and will use up those extra teeny tiny scraps and weeny off cuts.  Double sided tape is all that is needed - easy for the children to make too and prettier than Sello!

The moral is never throw anything away - the minute you do you know you will find a use for it!!!

A warm welcome to new followers.