Vintage Inspired Hanky

Inspired by some of the booklets at antiquepatternlibrary.org, I did a simple, filet edging on a 12" linen handkerchief.  I've never considered finishing an edge with single crochet.  Turns out it works quit well.  I used size 10 crochet cotton, which I realize now is much to heavy for the lightweight linen.  Next time I'll try embroidery floss.  This was fun and worked up in just a couple hours, the hardest part was getting the single crochets even.

Antique Patterns

"The stitches used in modern embroidery are not productions of this age.  They belong to the art of to-day through adaptation.  They have a value because of their antiquity far above any value which new inventions in this line could possess.  Their application has been tried without limit and the extent of expression and delineation through them is well know.  The science of embroidery is established; its methods are perfected.  The art is rich in its heritage."      L. Barton Wilson, Corticelli Home Needlework (1898) 

I just discovered antiquepatternlibrary.org.  This catalog of antique books and patterns (in pdf form) is extensive, with patterns from the 19th and early 20th centuries, and even a reprint of a German pattern book originally published in 1533.

There are so many ideas, patterns, and lessons on crochet, knitting, Irish crochet, tatting, embroidery and more, it's going to take quite a while to look through all of it.  So far, Sherwood's Impression Powder and Perforated Patterns (1865)  is my favorite.

Sunshine & Sun Bonnets

The long cold spring is almost over!  The sunshine this weekend prompted me to switch out our dark grey duvet with the bright sun bonnet girls quilt.  My great grandma Susie made these squares for me long before I was born.  Although I never got to meet her, I feel very close to her from the stories my mom and grandma tell.  And we share the same birthday, June 6th (along with her mother, my great great grandmother, Polly).  When I graduated from high school, my grandma made this quilt with help from her friends at the senior center.  It's completely hand quilted.  I remember one day visiting the senior center and putting in a few stitches myself.  So in this quilt are a lot of grandma Susie's stitches and a few of mine, linking us across the generations.

great grandma Susie (middle), her mother, Polly (left), and her grandmother (right)

A Very Merry Birthday

Last summer my grandmother was moving into a smaller apartment just as Jason and I were moving into a larger one.  So we inherited a few things that she no longer has room for.  The most special of these things is her old sewing machine.  She purchased it from Sears, Roebuck and Co. in the winter of 1941.  Over the years it's been used to make everything you can imagine.  My mother remembers using it when she was a girl to sew a dress out of an old coat lining.  This winter I've been learning to sew with it.  I've made several bags, pajama pants, and a shirt.  The old machine can be temperamental, but it's been fun to use.

That is, it was fun, until I got bold enough to try my hand at dress making.  As I sat sewing an invisible zipper in by hand, I dreamed of newer machines, ones that could finish hems and sew zippers with ease.  Jason, evidently, was listening to my complaining, because my new machine is everything I dreamed of.  Thank you, dear!!