Love is all you need...

Hello, apologies its been such a long time since my last post.  The reason behind this is my daughter and her naps... or lack or them.  The terrible twos have hit and now I am no longer getting my window of crafting time.  I swear there are not enough hours in the day! 

 

I finally got to do some sewing at the weekend and was feeling inspired by a "HOME" picture I had seen ages ago by Dottie Angel, with a doily for the O in HOME (sorry I can't seem to find the original photo anywhere, but it was very similar to this image.) So I donned a floaty skirt to get me in the vintage sewing zone and set to work...

 

 

I have had this old picture frame (which I saved from the dustbin/freebie) knocking around for ages, and all the fabrics were either thrifted or from my scraps box.  The letters were all machine sewn on and I hand stitched the doily on around all the twirly whirly hoops with contrasting pink thread.  (It took a very long time!)

 

 

I also hand sewed this little hanging heart, to sit alongside the picture frame.

 

 

I even gave cross stitch a go for the first time in about twenty years.  It really was quite therapeutic! 

 

 

Slowly our little housie is becoming more and more homely... 

 

 

Happy little housie, happy little me :o)

 

 

 

Doily designs

I've been struck with inspiration over the weekend.  Although not much actual sewing has gone on, I've been working on lots of ideas, laying out fabrics, deciding on colours, playing around with composition, etc.  Quite often the actual design process can be more difficult than the sewing and putting together of pieces!

 

I have been gathering quite a nice little collection of doilies of late.  Although I fear someone else is now buying up all the lace pieces, as there were none in my favourite charity shop on Friday.  Not even any of the odd ones I had discarded the previous week, thinking I shouldn't really buy so many in one go, oh dear!  Oh well, I'm sure if I bumped into this other doily enthusiast, we would probably get on rather well.  Spread the doily love!

 

 

Here's a little glimpse of what I've been working on:

 

 

I'm hoping to add a lovely large tear drop chandelier piece to this one, as I think it will work well with the shimmery voile and metallic threads.

 

 

Feeling inspired by all the wonderful sunny weather we had this week, I almost forgot myself as its now snowing.  I can't wait to get out in the garden and get planting!

 

 

A wee pink number.

 

 

Last but not least, my current favourite, as I love all the bright colours.  I am also rather fond of this little beige doily.

Some thrify finds

  

At the weekend I went to the visiting antiques fair at the Royal Norfolk Show Ground.  They are few and far between in this area, so I was quite excited to have a bit of a rummage around!  I stumbled upon a shoe box of twisted up cottons and picked out a few threads and a roll of white bias tape.  I probably would have picked up some more cottons while I was there, but everything was so tangled in the box and it was so cold I had lost the feeling in my hands and feet!

  

 

I also found another stall which had suitcases bursting open with antique lace clothes, handkerchiefs and fabric items.  I picked up lots of doilies, three rolls of lace trims and lots of other lovely bits and pieces.

  

 

 I think some of the pieces of lace are handmade and really quite old.  They must have taken a long time to make originally and a heck of a lot of patience!

 

 

 These ones are extra delicate!

 

 

 

This one was a little bit different.  Its an oval in sheer material with little flowers on, edged in lace.  I expect its more modern than a lot of the other ones, but it stood out to me. I thought it was quite twee and imagined it was originally sat on a dressing table, as its a bit bedroom looking.

 

Once I had been round the fair, I doubled back on myself and went back to the stalls outside for a second look.  I felt that a lot of the indoor stalls were a little over priced for my liking, no matter how warm it was!  I was on a bargain hunt, not specifically looking for pricey antiques.  I found a large crochet blanket in brights and pastel squares, with a zig-zag edging.  But after giving the blanket a bit of a sniff, I put it back as it smelled a little too funky for my liking.  It was also sat on an old pram with visible mildew marks.  I do like thrifty finds, but I definitely do not like wifty finds!  There is also nothing worse than washing and rewashing second hand things, to find that you just can't shift the smell.

 

I headed back to the stall with the antique clothes and fabrics for another look around.  I found this huge crochet blanket in white cotton.  Its a large double bed throw and is edged with a zig-zag pattern.  After lots of umming and ahhing with the stall holder I bought what I consider to be a bit of a bargain, given how many zillions of hours it must have taken!

  

 

It is a little bit thread bare in places and will take a lot of TLC to fix up, but I think its lovely.  It reminds me of a huge papercut, and looks so beautiful held up to the light.

  

 

This is some of the damage on the blanket.  I am hoping I can restore it sympathetically with some plain cotton thread.  I can see places where someone has tried to fix it before with the wrong nylon thread and it sticks out like a sore thumb to me.  Hopefully I can do a better job, and if not I might be able patch it with something new.  Maybe I could cover the damage with material backing and some crochet flowers... hmmm.

 

 

Wonderful crochet windows :o)