Monday 31 December 2012

Pretty Patterns

I thought I'd share these pretty little images with you on this, the last day of 2012.  Here in Scotland we call today - Hogmanay! 

 
The pictures are from a little leaflet advertising patterns which could be sent away for.  They are from Woman & Home Magazine and their address at the time was Bear Alley, Farringdon Street, London.  They seem to feature a fabric called Dayella - hadn't heard of that before.

 
Do you think they are from the 40s or 50s?

 
Super cute!

 
There were some transfers to send away for too - little animals for nursery items.

 
Love, Liz

Saturday 29 December 2012

Last Charity Shop Find Of 2012 ..... Probably!

My last charity shop find of 2012 is an absolute bargain!

 
I paid £1.49 for this gorgeous H & K Tunstall Old English Needlepoint plate - can you believe that?  The charity shop was having a sale, wonder if it was because they wanted to get rid of stuff so that there would be room for everyone's unwanted Christmas prezzies!

 
 
I already have a plate in this pattern and I think that it is lovely, so was delighted to find another.

 
Love, Liz

Thanks to all of you who responded to my last post.  Looks as if embroidery and other hand crafts were indeed used as therapy for soldiers.  Interesting!

Saturday 22 December 2012

Needlecraft for HM Forces

Here's another fascinating item from Pandora's Breadbin.

 
Its a little leaflet entitled Needlecraft for HM Forces produced by Penelope, probably about 1940.

 
It was produced by W Briggs & Co of Manchester and gives all the instructions for making a table cover or runner.

 
I couldn't find out too much about this, but I believe that embroidery was used as therapy for servicemen and these leaflets and kits were produced for that purpose.   I'd love to find out more and I'm hoping someone out there might have some information.

 
 
Enjoy your weekend.
Love, Liz

Wednesday 19 December 2012

Crochet Granny Square Scarf

Finished my latest project -  its a crochet granny square scarf.  Decided to make it up in greys, black and white to go with my black jacket.  Its made up of fourteen squares, each of five rounds - no two squares the same.  I can always add to it if I feel it is too short.

 
Took me longer than I expected because I was so into the crochet that I got a blister on my finger and had to stop for a few days!  Have you ever had a crochet related injury?

 
Decided that I have to have both  knitting and crochet on the go at the same time to ensure it doesn't happen again.  I really like this colour combination so I decided to make a tea cosy in these colours.  Just started last night and loving it already! 

 
Going to knit more cosies in muted, vintage colours next year - just to see if they look authentic 40s and 50s.  What do you think?

 
Yarn gathered for next project!  I've noticed that many of the shops have baby things in lovely lemons and beige colours, which I think look great together.  Can't decide though whether to add pale pink and blue .... hmm.  What do you lovely modern mums out there think?

Love, Liz

Tuesday 18 December 2012

Another Charity Shop Embroidery!

I had another lucky find in one of Greenock's charity shops.

 
Its a gorgeous little vintage tablecloth, about 30 inches square.  The embroidery is beautifully finished and the colours are so vibrant.

 
It was very grubby and dirty, but I had a feeling that a good soak and wash would make it good as new and for 20 pence, I was hardly going to lose out!  Got a very funny look from the lady behind the counter when I handed over my 20p!

 
I've been really lucky with fabric finds recently - hope it lasts!

 
Love, Liz
I'm going to be an Op-Shop Show-Off and join Max at Blackbird Has Spoken.  Come on over and show everyone your bargains!
Also joining Lakota for Ta-Dah Tuesday.

Monday 17 December 2012

Meet Hector the Dog

This is Hector.

 
I found him yesterday, sitting in a puddle of rainwater in a grotty old suitcase outside an "antique shop".  Surrounded by junk and tat, he just looked so out of place - he had to come home with me!

 
A warm bubble bath to get rid of the grime!

 
Isn't he a handsome fellow?

 
He even let me tie a tartan ribbon round his neck.  I'm so please he has found a home with us.
Well, would you have left him alone, in the rain?

Love, Liz

Sunday 16 December 2012

Cake Stands and Gifts

Cake stands look great with Christmas baubles arranged on them.

 
Don't hide your lovely cake stands away when you are not using them for cakes - use them for lots of things.  I usually have little soaps arranged on this one - you know the kind that actually look like cakes.  So, for the festive season, I've added a bit of colour and sparkle!

 
I got the most amazing gift through the post last week.  The lovely Bombay Jules in India sent me this lovely  fabric bag - and inside -

 
 
wonderful squares of cotton in the most amazing colours and patterns.  They are from the Anokhi Museum of Hand Printing and you can read Julia's very interesting post about it here.

 
Love the paisley prints and look at these elephants!

 
Looks like I've a new year project lined up - think they will look lovely as a throw or perhaps some bags.

 
Thank you so much, Julia! 

Love, Liz

Thursday 13 December 2012

Knit Your Own ..... Wedding Dress!

Seriously!


I found the pattern for this dress in a copy of the magazine Womancraft of March 1980.  I had to double check the date - really, a hand knitted wedding dress in 1980?  Still, I suppose it would come in handy later - you could always rip it out and knit baby things in due course!  (Can you tell I'm a Scot?)

 
 
Here's some of the detail.   Anyone want the pattern?  Do you know anyone who wore a knitted wedding dress?

 
From the same magazine is this recipe for Cheesy Onions - doesn't it sound revolting.  Surely one for Kylie's next retro cook-off!

 
This magazine was one of the more "modern" items in Pandora's Breadbin!


This has more of an 80s vibe!
Love, Liz

Wednesday 12 December 2012

Vintage Tins and Threads

More goodies from Pandora's Breadbin!

 
This is what lay underneath the magazines:-  A gorgeous vintage tin showing the Forth Rail Bridge and a fabric covered box.  Underneath those was this gorgeous little tin - its pattern and colours are still vivid and bright.  It once contained CWS (Co-Operative Wholesale Society) biscuits.  It was empty!

 
 
 
Now for the fabric covered box - I opened it up and wow!!!!

 
 
It was full of old reels of thread!  How wonderful is that?! 

 
My photography isn't good enough to let you see the lovely sheen on these threads - some have hardly faded.  The peacock blue and pink are particularly striking!  Wonder how old some of these are?

 
There were also some little pieces of the most delicate crochet.

 
This is the gift that just keep giving!!!!!!!!!!  Loads more to come - I haven't even explored the Forth Rail Bridge tin yet!!! 

Love, Liz

I remember when I first started blogging I would read posts about people coming across or being given the most marvellous vintage things and I used to think that I would never be so lucky.  Persevere!

Tuesday 11 December 2012

Baby Blue Crochet

I rushed to get this little crochet baby pram blanket finished yesterday so that I could photograph it while there was still some light.  Actually it was a lovely cold, but sunny day here in Greenock yesterday.

 
Listening to the radio while I was making this, the song Visions by Cliff Richard came on - some of the lyrics are - visions of you in shades of blue.  From then on, every time I picked this up to work on it, that song would go through my head.  Click here to listen (try, if you can, to ignore what he is wearing!).

 
I'm pleased with the way it has turned out - there were so many different shades of blue to choose and I loved making each square different.

 
So now that that's finished, the yarn is assembled for the next project - can't wait to start!

Love, Liz