Vintage Embroidered Linen Doilies

As promised, here are two more embroidered linen doilies made by mum. These are designs and colours she chose to make after she was married in 1969, before I was born in 1971. She says she did them because after she was married, dad didn't want her to work so she was bored and wanted something to do! But don't worry, my mum chose to go back to work when the kids started school.

a gorgeous blue embroidered linen doily with crochet edging made by my mum between 1969 and 1971

These are simply gorgeous and obviously made by a master. My eyes hurt just thinking about trying something like this. These are so very special, I hope you like seeing these photos, but I do apologies for the state they are in. One day when I get the chance, I will wash and press these and take fresh photos for you to enjoy. They are currently tucked away in a safe place in my mother's hoarded stash.

a stunning crochet edged linen doily with pink and purple flowers made by my mum between 1969 and 1971

1960s Highschool Embroidery Samples

This week I'd like to share some photos of vintage crochet and embroidery work, starting with these four embroidery samples made by my mother in the 1960s. I apologise in advance for the state they are in, these samples are in need of washing, pressing and blocking, but I feel a dismayed sense of urgency to record these precious things while I can. When I get a chance, I will share photos of them in better condition.

1960s high-school embroidery on linen made by my mother, one corner detail

this is the 4th embroidery sampler my mother made in high-school

I believe these high-school samples are so very special so I will start with these, although there are many, many photographs to share with you from my mother's stash, including intricate doilies made by my great-grandmothers and great-aunts that were given as wedding gifts to my parent's in 1969. I can only share a few photographs this week, because this is what I managed to get photos of at my last visit on the weekend. We are planning to try and visit my parents once a month, they are couple of hours drive away, and we have now committed ourselves to care for their fruit trees, which are in such a dismal state we can't bare to see them slip further into decline. I will also be posting about that adventure in the near future.

3rd year high-school embroidery sample from the 1960s, the large leaves were made by someone else and added on

When I looked at these samples, I got a sense of the amount of time this intricate work required. Every year the home-economics teachers got the students to make a new sample. By the time you look at the 3rd and 4th sample you can clearly see my mother had already graduated from this skill, so the teachers had set her to some busy work to keep her occupied. I hope to find time to improve my embroidery skill, I do still remember a bit my mother taught me when I was younger, but my skill is very rudimentary to say the least!

2nd year high-school cross-stitch embroidery on linen sample

Personally, I find embroidery, and cross-stitching for that mater, a luxury in time-wasting. In my opinion there are far more productive things you could be making with needle and thread, and quicker ways to decorate with paint and stamps. That's why I think this skill is so treasured. If I find time to improve my emrboidery skill, it will be with the goal to simply sew faces onto crochet toys, I think a face on a toy is best embroidered on. But who has time for this intricate decoration?

this simple red napkin and tray mat set were the 1st sample my mother made in high-school

I hope you enjoyed seeing photographs of this very special embroidery work from the 1960s. Check back on my blog soon for more photos of vintage crochet and embroidery.

Embroidered Sweater

On the day Thomas turned 15 months, he started going to childcare one day a week. I labelled a bunch of clothes for Thomas to wear with laundry pen and blue ribbons attached to the tag inside. Then I needed to label this plain grey sweater. But it was too boring so I decided to do some embroidery instead!

embroidery detail

My mother first showed me how to embroider chain stitch when I was a child. A couple of years ago I wanted to try it but couldn't remember how to do it. I watched a youtube video to remind me so I could embroider a D onto a handkerchief for David.

embroidered grey sweater

Stitching my son's name onto this grey sweater was easy, I drew it first with white crayon. I used some red crochet cotton for a nice contrast to the grey. I'm quite proud of how it turned out in a rustic kind of way.

Pink Doilies my great-grandmother made

These are a pair of embroidered doilies my great-grandmother made which are edged with pink crochet. This is my post for this week's Pink Saturday hosted by Beverly @ How Sweet The Sound.

I remember these from my childhood. My great-grandmother was so very talented with this, there are many samples of her work in our family, these are the few I have in my possession. My great-grandmother (my mother's mother's mother Margaret) embroidered these, as well as the crochet edges. These two are starting to show signs of age, and I know they look like they are in need of an iron, but I dare not touch them!

Here is another doily, this one my grandmother Beverly embroidered. That is my mother's mother. The fine embroidery is so lovely, I hope one day to improve my skill with this, but I don't think I will get it this good.
I hope you enjoyed seeing these two samples of our very special family treasures made by my great-grandmother, and my grandmother.
<3 <3 <3

Be sure to check out other pretty pinks @ Pink Saturday!

Scented Bean Bags

I'd already decided to make these to use up a bunch of dried basil flowers, and cut up the squares last Thursday afternoon. This project turned out to be a way for me to practice my embroidery, and I'm pleased with how that's coming along.

Scented Bean ags numbered sides

On Friday morning I was looking through the Transformation Thursday's party link and found number beanbags at Lemon Tree Creations. I'd already planned my bags, so the ones at Lemon Tree are slightly different, but it's still good to see how they do theirs.

After I sewed the bags on my trusty Husqvarna 2000, I stuffed each one with three tablespoons of old lentils and dried basil flowers. I put 15 tablespoons of lentils and a big heap of basil flowers into a bowl, and then a spoon of lavender oil, so these bags smell lovely. A little aroma therapy there for the kiddies!

reverse sides of the scented bean bags

I planned to do my stitches in thick contrasting coloured cotton. When I went to embroider the "D" on a hanky for David, I had a vague memory of my mum teaching me a chain stitch and tried to replicate it but had a lot of trouble. So for this project I did some research and looked up images of basic embroidery stitches and found a very helpful page at Tipnut. The chain stitch in particular came back to me easily. I also found some youtube videos on how to make a lazy daisy and a french knot.

For this project I used the following embroidery stitches
running stitch
blanket stitch
cross stitch
chain stitch
lazy daisies
french knots

D is for David!

Everyone needs a hanky with their initial on it!

It must be a couple of decades since mum taught me a few lessons in embroidery, I remember the sewing project being a sewing bag with pretty designs on the front. I wonder where mine got to?

Pictured  is the best I can come up with from the top of my head from memory - oh dear! I don't have any blue coloured embroidery thread, just some pink from a little cross-stitch project I started about 4 years ago! So I used the finest blue wool I could find. Teena just went to work (awww) so I just quickly did this in a few minutes, can't you tell? Looks like I'll need to do some research before attempting more ....