Neither the towels or the flowers appear to be hand-made but they are very cute (& could be hand-made). Another idea & not enough time.
A few lazy daisy stitches, french knots, and stem stitches looks like all that was needed for this towel. But, the pink and yellow heart outline really sets the pink bouquet of flowers off for me. Again, I have no history.
Here are 3 towels from possibly the 70s that appear to be my grandmothers work. Looks like a simple darning pattern to me with an outline stitch. There is a nice shading effect for the yellow flowers. And, she added crocheting on the bottom of the calla lily towel (I placed a black cloth underneath for the picture).
I’m getting back to my vintage items uncovered and never seen before by myself or my sister. I wish I had some history about them. Aren’t these just adorable! Too pretty to use.
I’m not sure who made these place mats & napkins but they look Christmasy. They have buttons & beads with a little gold embellishment stitched on them. Very good shape & makes a nice set with the different colored napkins.
I’m still incorporating my grandmother’s vintage finished needlepoint pieces into our house. This hooked pillow was done by her many years ago. And, it is in very good shape. I think anything hooked is quite durable anyway.
For now anyway, this butterfly has landed in our rose garden (pillow on our bed). I am mixing cross-stitch & hooking but, thematically it works for me. And, the colors go together good enough.
These are stamped cross-stitched pillow cases that I did long enough ago that they are probably vintage too!!
I’m still organizing my needlepoint & found the cases & the instructions. So, as my last rose bloom of the year adorns our back yard, I decided that I’d take a break & show you. There really wasn’t much to the kit beyond a color key for the 4 colors & chart.
I had used them some but they started pilling & I stopped using them. So, I got my pilling shaver & it worked great. So, back on the bed they go. Our blanket happens to be light green & so these go nicely on the bed.
Filed under: Vintage Linens
Another interesting vintage find was this spool of non-tarnishing, washable metallic thread. It’s not been opened yet & should be interesting to work with – eventually when I figure out what to do with it! The thread itself looks flat like ribbon.
On the internet, I found a catalog from 1937 & one from the early 60’s in which they advertise, “For more than 40 years the knitters favorite.” So, the time frame would be my grandmothers.
Filed under: Vintage Linens
Finding these vintage pieces is a wonderful opportunity to learn more about the craft of needlework. It looked like a Pulled Thread technique but wasn’t sure. So, I googled it. Thanks to Nordic Needle’s website, I learned about the broad categories of whitework & the more specific areas of open-work called Pulled Thread & Drawn Thread. This could have examples of both. Drawn work involves cutting threads & removing them. While pulled involves no cutting. But, I continued to explore & see that it may well be Hardanger Embroidery which employs a combination of techniques including the use of satin stitch & eyelets which this table-cloth has too.
All sorts of wonderful information at Nordic Needle!!
http://www.nordicneedle.net/guides/stitchology/pulled-vs-drawn-thread/
http://www.nordicneedle.net/guides/stitching-techniques/hardanger-embroidery/
This is a large table-cloth which measures 52″ x 68″. There is still a tag attached but all it says is Hand Embroidery Florence Made in Italy. Beautifully done!
Filed under: Vintage Linens
These were a wedding gift to my mom & dad. The set includes 1 table-cloth (41″ x 41″), 4 place mats (13″ x 13″), & 6 napkins (14″ x 14″). They are irish linen with threads drawn by hand. A Gold Medal Brand. They were never used as far as I can tell. Simple but pretty. All square items, including the table-cloth which seems different from you’d find today.
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