Socks & gloves

 

 

I finished my first pair of socks, but one is bigger than the other … hmmm, time to knit a third one :-). In the meantime, I've put these stockings on my to do list. They're from Ariadne magazine, April 1975 . And I'm also thinking about these lovely gloves. The pattern is from the Handbook of Wool Knitting and Crochet (1918), downloable for free here.

Mijn eerste paar sokken is af, maar … de ene sok is groter dan de andere... Tijd om een derde te breien dus :-) Ik vind deze kousen uit Ariadne, april 1975, ook prachtig. En deze handschoenen zien er ook geweldig uit. Je kunt het patroon gratis on-line vinden in het Handbook of Wool Knitting and Crochet (1918).

The Antique Pattern Library

The Antique Pattern Library has updated their site. I just found out because some of the links in my posts on vintage needlecraft books don't work anymore. That's a pity, but the good thing is that the new site is very easy to navigate. You can browse alphabetically or by technique, you can see the cover page of each book (very inspring!) and you can download the books for free. If you enjoy browsing through vintage needlecraft books, this site is a must read! This cover is from a Dillmont book on embroidery, the yellow flowers really put me in a Spring mood :-)

ps: I haven't posted for quite some time, because I was applying for a job. I didn't get it....ohh well, I hope I'll have more luck next time!!

De Antique Pattern Library heeft een nieuwe site. Dit ontdekte ik, toen sommige links in mijn posts opeens niet meer werkten... Dat is jammer, maar de nieuwe site is wel een stuk praktischer dan de vorige. Je kunt nu naar vintage handwerkboeken zoeken op alfabet of op techniek, je kunt de kaft van het boek zien (heel inspirerend!) en de boeken zijn gratis te downloaden! Ik vond deze kaft van een Dillmont borduurboek heel mooi, echt iets voor de lente!

Ps: Ik heb een tijdje niet geschreven, omdat ik in een sollicitatieprocedure zat. Ik ben het helaas niet geworden, volgende keer beter!

Embroidered fabric samples from 1866

Needleprint, a wonderful textile craft blog, wrote about The Textile Manufactures of India a few days ago, and I knew I just had to share this with you. By the way, if you're interested in historical embroidery, you just have to read Needleprint!

The Textile Manufactures of India is a collection of fabric sample books from 1866 . These books are now published on-line here. You can browse the database by material, object type, origin, pattern, technique and use. I browsed by technique and found some lovely embroidered fabrics, sigh....

ps: I'm trying to customize my new blogger template :-)
 

 

Images from The textile manufactures of India

Th. de Dillmont art nouveau embroidery book, 1895

images from Dillmont, Th. de, ed D.M.C. Motifs pour Broderies [1, Mulhouse, Dollfus-Mieg & Cie, [c.1895], 112 pgs, download part 1 , part 2

A few weeks ago, I found a copy of a Th. De Dillmont art nouveau embroidery book in an open air book fair (one of those things I love about summer!). Because the weather is so bad, I haven't taken pictures of it yet. I did find a similar copy online, so you can get an idea of what it looks like. It's really worth taking a look at the transfer sheets at the end of the book. I may not like the colors that were used in the examples, but the transfers really show the designs and those are definitely inspiring!

May colors

I haven't posted for some time, because of a crafty deadline :-) I had to finish some medieval embroidery because the reenactment festival season is starting again. I finished a smocked apron for my daughter, and a linen embroidered cap for myself. This is an image of me wearing my medieval outfit :-)

The Priscilla bedspread book, 1914

As you may have guessed, I have a thing for throws and blankets. That's why I really liked the Priscilla bedspread book. It's a collection of crochet patterns for lovely bedspreads, downloadable for free here. These are some of my favorite designs:



Throws with flower and lace designs like these would not be warm, they would be an awful lot of work to make, but they are so so pretty! I also like the idea of making a throw with pieces of fabric and crocheted borders, like the one below:

All images were taken from The Priscilla bedspread book, 1914

A beautiful blog on 18th and 19th century dress

Images via Hats & Laces

Hats & Laces is a Tumbr blog full of pictures of beautiful dresses (swoon!) focusing mainly on the 18^th and 19^th century. I completely fell in love with this dress from ca 1885: the colors, the ribbon details, the flower patterned stripes, … Maybe I should have been a period drama actress :-)

There was no background information, so I don't know where this dress is from. That's a typical problem of sites like Pinterest or Tumblr: sometimes images are reblogged so often that the original image credits get lost...

Am embroidered panel, ca 1909

An embroidered panel by Helen Adelaide Lamb, 1909
Image via The Textile Blog

I haven't posted much these weeks, because it's busy at work.... There will be a lot of deadlines this year, so maybe I'll be posting less frequently..

I really love the embroidery above, that's why I wanted to share it with you. You can read more this, and about Scottish embroidery from ca 1900, on the Textile Blog.

Knitted leaf & lace squares: some on-line patterns

Some weeks ago, I wrote about a leaf & lace square pattern I'm trying to knit. I found some on-line patterns of this type of knitting :-) If you want to see how this would look like in a contemporary interior, take look at Molitli's work here.

Image and pattern/tutorial via Vintage Craft Patterns

Image and pattern/tutorial via Megan Mills


Pattern for sale on Etsy via Lost Craft Patterns

Knitted leaf & lace squares

The holidays are a perfect time to learn something new, and I really wanted to learn how to knit lace & leaf squares. I first came across this pattern when I bought a Thérèse de Dillmont DMC Knitting album:

Die Strickarbeit, 1er Serie, for bibliographical data, see image. I couldn't find a publication date in the album.

Each of these designs is beautiful, but I really love the one in the left corner below! I'm glad I found a Dutch translation of this design in this book:

De techniek van het kunstbreien. Kanten en patronen. H. Van der Klift-Tellegen, 1984, Cantecleer, De Bilt.

You can also find something similar in this book in English.

This is my first attempt, knitted with 4,5 mm needles in Laluca Cotton. I'm halfway now, so the final square will be around 40*40 cm. I would love to knit a throw like this in soft light army green :-) Actually, I thought I had bought green, but I should have known shop lights can be deceiving...

ps: The reason I'm writing about it now, is that I was reminded of this pattern when I saw pictures of similar designs made by the Dutch company Molitli. Take a look at their beautiful work here.

An on-line needlework book from 1899

For obvious reasons (perfect shade of blue, flowing art nouveau lines!), I love this cover. It belongs to a book by a silk manufacturer and it offers embroidery, knitting and crochet projects:

Ford, Anna Grayson, ed., et al., Treatise on Embroidery, Crochet and Knitting with Illustrations, adapted to the use of M. Heminway & Sons’ Wash Silks (Oriental Dyes). New York, M. Heminway & Sons Silk Co., 1899.

You can browse and/or download it for free here. Here are some of my personal favorites:

Embroidered strawberries

Crochet designs for trims and edgings (yes, I'm still into crochet trims!)

Crocheted wristlets.

I'm seeing a lot of wristlets in the blogosphere these days, such as these. (or try searching for wrist warmers on Etsy). Yesterday I even tried some on in Accesorize. I think I definitely want to make some... (and it's a great reason to try a new lace knitting pattern!)

all images are taken from Treatise on Embroidery, Crochet and Knitting with Illustrations

Crochet trims on pillowcases, 1915 and now

Sometimes, something grabs my attention, and then I can't help seeing it everywhere. These past few weeks, I couldn't stop noticing crochet trims on pillowcases :-) (yes, I'd really like to make a set of this type of pillowcases, and no, I really don't have the time for it..)

Here are some cute examples from 1915. The one with the little violets is probably my favorite. They're taken from the book "Valeire, Anna. Crochet & Tatting Craft Book No. 1, Edgings Medallions & Insertions, with full instructions on over sixty pieces for use in lingerie & the home. St. Louis, Missouri, E.C.Spueler, c. 1915" , which you can download and/or browse for free here.



Here are some modern examples (warning: they will make you want to start crocheting right away :-):
FRYD+DESIGN
Rose hip's flickr folder

ca 1900 embroidered dresses at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

I love browsing on line museum collections, and that's how I found these gorgeous dresses. I can totally picture myself wearing each one of them :-) Click on the link below each dress to read more about it in the Met database.

ps: I'm typing away a lot of deadlines these days. I've decided to spare my arms by taking a little crochet and knitting break.

French ballgown, ca 1902


Evening dress, 1910


Silk dress, 1880

The Columbia Book of Yarns, 1915

The Columbia Book of Yarns (1915) is a charming collection of knitted and crocheted clothes for men, women and children. The cover really speaks to me, which must be because this is one of my favorite shades of red:


I would really like to try some of the crochet patterns (my list of things I'd love to make one day is growing longer and longer...), such as this scalloped, shell- like border:



I also love this jacket. The book doesn't give directions for sizes, which makes me wonder what size this might be. I'm quite tall, so it may not fit me..


All images are taken from The Columbia Book of Yarns. You can browse and/or download this book for free here.

Happiness

One of the things that really make me happy is working with sumptuous yarns in gorgeous colors: pink silk yarn and fabric, gold thread, a little white linen... These are the ingredients of my “girly” 14^th century pouch. I've been working on it for quite some time now, and it's still not finished, but I'm enjoying every step on the way :-)

The embroidery pattern can be downloaded from Wymarc. If you like this type of embroidery, take a look at his site for more!

Vintage embroidered whitework border

This is one of the "scraps" I bought at Brocante aan de Yssel a few weeks ago. (I tried to take pictures of the other pieces as well, but those images didn't turn out the way I wanted too :-) It's a long strip of whitework embroidery, maybe cut off from a night dress or something. I saw some aprons with this type of embroidery too. I don't know what time frame this is from, but it would be a really cute border on a nightgown like this.

Seven centuries of lace, Maria Margaret Pollen, 1908

Image from Seven centuries of Lace, by Maria Margaret Pollen

The past few weeks, my attention has been drawn by lace of all sorts... It started at the Brocante and Antiques Fair in Deventer, where I bought some gorgeous scraps of lace (no pictures yet, it takes time with an analog camera.... Then, Racaire wrote about the blog Italian Needlework, which is a must-read for anyone interested in historical needlework.

And now, I found this wonderful on-line book Seven centuries of Lace, by Maria Margaret Pollen (1908). You can download or browse it for free here.

The 17th century Italian towels above are really nice, and macrame is such a fun thing to do :-)

Embroidering a tablecloth in a perfect world

Image via the New York Public Library Digital Archive

In a perfect world, embroidering a large tablecloth would probably look like this (notice the serene smile on her face...). In the real world ... argghll... I keep having problems with managing a piece of fabric of 110 *300 cm. That's why I still haven't done more embroidery on my linen tablecloth... I hope that one day, I''ll have the perfect frame so I can move on!

ps: the flower border she's embroidering looks very cute!

Les ouvrages 1932

Some weeks ago, I was in France and I came across this needlework magazine from 1932. The cover really made me smile: doing some embroidery in the garden while the birds are feeding their young (I don't know why they choose this image as their Fall cover... :-) There are some patterns for lovely embroidered linen shifts in this issue:

I'd love to have one with the bows on the shoulders. It's also funny to see that they've got the same hair style my grandmother used to have...

19th century reproductions of medieval flower designs

Images via the NYPL Digital Archive
click on images for more information

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the New York Public Library Digital Archive. It's a great source of inspiration! I really like these flower designs: it would be nice to have fabric with this print, and use it to make a quilt :-)