I’m so excited to say I finally managed to find a copy of the beautiful Furness Tatting Designs number 2 booklet from New Zealand to Share with you! This booklet contains many stunning designs including the bride’s halo shown on the cover, and a really nice baby bonnet that would be a very nice piece for a doll collector or christening outfit.
Check out the full list of tatting booklets available for Furness Tatting Designs numbers 1 and 3.
Now if I could just find number 4…
Those “And So To” puns are going to get old really quickly. I should totally stop that.
🙂
Today we continue “And So To Sew”, and “And So To Embroider” with the second leaflet in each series.
And So To Sew bulletin 2a contains two full patterns for making these cute collars. The one on the left is my favourite.
And So To Embroider 2b (aka “And So To Sew Embroidery Section 2b”) contains lots of new stitches and a section on choosing suitable threads and fabrics for different types of projects.
As always with these leaflets, I have included links to modern video and photo tutorials so that everyone can get the most out of the information within. They’re a real treasure and I wanted to make sure they were as useful to as many people as possible.
Welcome to this week’s knitting freebie! Another booklet of vintage knitting charts from Paragon New Zealand.
Paragon Fair-Isle Chart Book No 2.
This booklet contains black and white charts for small, medium and large designs. As with the original Paragon Fair-Isle Chart Book, I have added the charts in colour, and users of DesignaKnit software can also download them in DAK format.
I have been collecting these vintage leaflets for quite a few years now, and am very excited to finally be able to begin sharing them with you now that I have managed to find complete sets!
Today we begin a journey into vintage sewing and embroidery with the “And So To Sew”, and “and So To Embroider” series from the UK. I have three leaflets for you today, due to a very unexpected surprise while I was scanning. They include two sewing leaflets that cover creating with felt, and one embroidery leaflet covering basic stitches, needle and fabric choices.
Wherever possible, I have included links to modern videos and photo tutorials that cover each topic.
Please note that the early “And So to Embroider” leaflets were named “And So To Sew Embroidery Section”.
And So To Sew 1a – felt mittens and hat. These are also a great pair of patterns for anyone who likes to felt and upcycle old jumpers/sweaters.
And So To Sew 1a – alternate. Felt toys (slightly edited). I suspect this leaflet was released before WW2 and the rationing of fabrics and paper as the toys are very much in the style of the late 30’s. It is never mentioned again in the series, whereas the bulletin with the felt and mittens project is.
And So To Embroider 1b (aka And So To Sew Embroidery Section 1b). Materials, needles and threads. Varieties of running stitch and cross stitches.
Come back next week for the next leaflets in the series, or sign up to be notified of every new post! (on the left on desktop, or under the post on tablets and mobile).
It’s the Summer school holidays here in Australia, which means there’s lots of time for bike riding (when it’s not too hot), swimming (when it’s not raining), and crafts all the time! Here are just some of the projects we’ve been working on.
Charlie asked if he could make his backpack for the new year, and how could I say no!?! We dived into my (and Charlie’s) op shopped stashes and came up with everything we needed.
Charlie sewing a piece of patchwork for the back of his back pack.
He chose all of the fabrics, the design (like my backpack but with squares of different fabrics), and did most of the sewing. I used the outside of the bag to teach Charlie about iron on interfacing, and it’s fully lined, with adjustable straps.
He did a fabulous job! Charlie’s favourite colour is red, which goes well with blue, and everything goes with cats 🙂
Next, we gelli printed on some fabric. We discovered we really liked using a paintbrush to get the paint onto the gelli plate, and drawing designs with a cotton bud. Charlie also worked out that lettering needs to be written backwards. The prints with circles were done with giant sequin waste as a stencil. Sequin waste goes onto the fabric, plop the painted gelli plate on top and press. Then remove the sequin waste (which is now stuck on the gelli plate) and print again for the negative.
Charlie’s gelli printed fabric.
My gelli printed fabric.
Because our finished projects won’t be washed much, we just used ordinary artist’s acrylics on calico. Charlie’s going to sew his into a tote bag, and mine will be embroidered and machine sewn to create the cover of a fabric book for some of my Take a Stitch Tuesday samplers. If we were going to print on clothing, for example, we’d have mixed textile medium with the paint.
Charlie now has his very own embroidery hoop and kit, which he used to design his own Minecraft creeper embroidery. He’s going to add more to this, so we haven’t washed out the water erasable marker yet. He’s getting pretty good at running stitch but needs to learn to look at the back every now and again. I applied some creative cutting and knotting to reduce the tangles on the back 🙂
Sssssssss BOOM!
Those are just the projects I’ve photographed! We also printed Christmas wrapping paper and cards, and there has been much building with Lego. Seriously, there’s Lego EVERYWHERE.
Next up, Charlie wants to sew a monster he has designed, make a drawstring bag for carrying his embroidery around, sew a pair of pyjama shorts and sew his gelli printed fabric into a tote bag.
How many more days are there in the holidays? I need to draft the pattern for his shorts. We’d better get cracking!
