VTT 2 - Lacy Thingies

Two weeks ago I posted about my Christmas presents, the tatting shuttle and other treasures from my big sis P. Well, my little sister T commented on that post and promised to send me another shuttle, so now I have two of them!  Here is the new one, again from the 1920's and from our dear Great Aunt Saima:

and a side view:

I studied the books I have and the comments received, and ended up buying a book + DVD together with some proper tatting thread. I intend to try my fingers on this, but I also want to save the original threads on the shuttles. I guess you are never too old to learn something new. (The book has not yet arrived, so I still feel confident!)

T also sent me some other family historical items. First there was this table topper or tray mat in redwork

It is like the one I have shown before, but with more embroidery. I have reason to believe that this one has belonged to our great-grandmother.

Our grandmother used to wear suit dresses, and she had blouse fronts to wear under them: blouses with no back and sleeves, just the front and collar, and an elastic band at the waist to keep it in place. Even before we were born she wore loose collars and ruffles attached to a simple blouse with a brooch. T sent me one of these ruffles:

                 

Fine ladies would never go out without gloves, not even in the summer, at least not in town:

        

This reminds me of my own lace gloves, I had a pair when I was about 10 years old. They were made of the new crepe nylon material, stretchy and soft compared to these. Nothing can beat the elegance of this pair! Thank you T, and P, I will start a tiny museum.

This last picture is not vintage at all, it is just to cheer you up. Yesterday I visited my mother, and on the way from the bus stop to her house I saw this jolly snowman. It reminded me of the wonderful childhood (= vintage) winters with lots of snow like this year, snow castles and caves, and snowmen guarding them.

     

Happy VTT, remember to go through the list of links on Coloradolady's blog. You never know what interesting treasures the others have to show and tell about today!

Vintage Thingies 28 - Teacup and Table Cloth

Time to play VTT again! Last week I promised you more vintage teacups, but before we come to that, I'll show you my special table cloth. This is a coffee table cloth for a big table, sewn by my mother for me. The reason I wanted to show it today, is that she intended to make it for my christening party on 10th June back then when I was a baby. Well, I was the fifth child in the family so she may have had other things to do, and the work wasn't finished by that date. I had apple blossoms on the christening gown, and I'm sure she had another beautiful table cloth for the table instead of this.

She finished it later, and gave it to me when I was grown up. I use it when we have finer coffee parties. Every square is different, and there is bobbin lace inlaid and at each end.

I do iron the cloth when I use it!

Now to the teacups. Or just one for this week, this is so special. Great Auntie Saima (don't you think you already know her!) painted this cup for my mother for Easter 1929, when she (mother) was 12 years old. I talked with my mother on the phone yesterday about the details.

She remembered the cup when I told her about the pictures. They are based on a song about a young man who wanted to pick a rose.

A bee didn't agree with the idea, and the man had to defend himself with his umbrella.

This was all for this week. Suzanne of Coloradolady is hosting VTT, and there is a long list of links to visit.

Bobbin lace once more

I just needed to share this sunrise with you. Last Friday April 18th we had some new snow during the night, and a little after six in the morning the world looked like this when the sun reached the forest on the west side of our house. The next day the new snow was gone again, but we still have some old snow in shadowy places and where it has been pushed from the driveway.

This is the second part of my Spring Exhibition report, concentrating on bobbin lace. I have posted about it here and here earlier.

This group has been working really hard and I'm showing you some of their finished work. The world map must have been difficult to make.

This is something more traditional, a broad lace at the end of a linen table runner.

This is where bobbin lace is done. My cushion - still misplaced - is of another type with a straight back edge and a roll for the pattern, meant for long lace rather than round tablecloths or very wide lace. The crocheted tie keeps the bobbins in their right position when the work is interrupted.

The teacher was kind enough to show us how the bobbins are held, two in each hand between the fingers. You can always click the pictures to enlarge.

Here some different types of work.

And finally another round little table topper. There should be a seam somewhere, I think, but I can't find it.

Lacy stories

I promised some of you to show some bobbin lace after I showed great aunty Saima's lace book on Vintage Thingies Thursday. This lace is also called bone lace, pillow lace, Honiton lace and Chantilly lace according to my little Glossary of Arts and Crafts. This is the tail of my wedding dress:


My mother made the dress using some old machine made bobbin lace. For the next photo I inserted some tan fabric to show the lace better. The lace goes like this on the back too.



It was a long bit of lace! Even the cuffs are made of the same lace.

For the veil we used tatted lace made by dear great aunt Saima. I can say "we" here, because I sewed the lace on the veil! Tatted lace is made with a small shuttle kind of a tool and looks rather different.

And finally some hand-made bobbin lace. My mother-in-law was also a very talented craftswoman, and she made this runner for me. The middle part is made separately, and the surrounding edge is all in one piece, going around the corners. You can hardly see the seam (well, you can't see it, because it happens to be at the other end!). The thread is unbleached linen.

This is another table runner she made for me. White linen fabric, stitched in white pearl cotton, and the lace white linen thread, again with built-in corners. She also made some runners using silk thread, but I think linen is more suitable for this technique.