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 49 - Tonttu

Today's Advent calendar picture is a vintage Christmas ornament. This tonttu elf is double sided, printed on cardboard, and with a jingle to decorate his long red peaked cap.

      

The style of this drawing reminds me of Swedish  Christmas cards by Jenny Nyström, but it is not signed. The clogs make me believe the tonttu is from Sweden. Here they wear felt boots.

     

Remember to go to Suzanne's blog and visit all the lovely places with vintage thingies on Thursdays!

Vintage Thingies 48 - More Simplicity Patterns

This week I'm joining in the Vintage Thingies Thursday again. Coloradolady Suzanne is hosting with a Christmas theme. I will just show you the rest of my old patterns for clothes.

Do you still remember the time when maternity clothes were wide and doing their best to hide the changing figure of the future mother? Like this:

I think it looks great when the young mothers today wear stretchy shirts keeping the bump warm without hiding it.

After the baby is born, he or she needs clothes. The second folder from the left is for dolls' clothes.

The next pattern is again from Stil, I think it was a Scandinavian pattern. Nightwear for about 12 to 14 years old girls.

The last pattern is by Sorja, a Finnish magazine. My mother sewed me this outfit in the 60's. It was a dark blue woollen sailor's jacket with woollen hipster trousers. I don't remember if they were striped, but I do remember the beautiful red suede ankle length shoes I had with them. I felt so fashionable!

This was all from me for this week's vintage. I try to find some Christmas vintage for next week!

Vintage Thingies 47 - Simplicity Patterns

When I was digging in my drawers to find some buttons, I came across the Simplicity and other patterns I have kept for whatever reason.

This is a teenage size, so I must have kept it for sentimental reasons only. What about these:

See how the middle girl on the first pattern has been cut off? That is what my mother did when she had bought the pattern and the fabric but had no time to sew it for Christmas or a birthday. She would wrap the fabric nicely, with the little picture, telling "you will get this of this fabric, when I have time". My overall was of a soft blue flowery synthetic material. Lovely to wear but not so nice when you had to go.

These dresses were probably not for me but for one of my elder sisters. I think the yellow suit in the top pattern looks very elegant.

The last set of overalls may be too new to be vintage, but it sure looks old fashioned. The big shoulders made my proportions look better, but taht is all I miss from this time. You can see the girl on the left carry a shoulder bag, so these are not pyjamas patters! Did you wear overalls?

This is of course Vintage Thingies Thursday, hosted by the Coloradolady Suzanne. Click here to get to her blog with today's list of links to vintage stories.

Vintage Thingies 46 - Sewing Notions

The weeks seem to miss a day or two, because Thursday aways comes sooner than I expect. I had no pictures prepared for this week, so I remembered the tatting shuttle I told you about last week.



No luck finding the shuttle in the places I looked for it. I found some other old tools instead:

The little embroidery scissors are made in Germany. My mother gave them to me when I was supposed to read for my final exams and was cross-stitching instead. The thimble is just an old thimble, my size but not my favourite shape. The knife is made by Fiskars in Finland. It has been my mother's, and she gave it to me to be used as a ripper. I love the smooth wooden handle.

The next two pictures are of the same items; I just wanted you to see both sides of the pincushion. My sister Maija gave me that pincushion together with a calender printed on fabric. She lived in Germany already, the year was 1970 or a little later.

The folklore clothes are so special! When we visited DH's sister in Munich earlier this year, I bought a Trachten vest for me. What I really would like to try on is a complete outfit with a wide skirt, white blouse and tight vest.

The scissors here remind me of the numerous times I was shopping for fabrics with my mother for her sewing. The fabric shop ladies always had such curved scissors with rounded points in their pocket, and when they cut the fabric on the big table, I heard that lovely sound. It took me years to understand that the scissors must touch the table to make the sound; and if you only have paper to cut and your scissors are made of plastic, you just are not big enough to make such sounds. What did you love most in fabric shops when you were little?

Suzanne is hosting this week's Vintage Thingies Thursday with memories of her childhood. Go back there and see the list with links to other vintage lovers.

Vintage Thingies 45 - Tatted Lace Tablecloth

It has been a while without Vintage Thingies Thursdays for me, but now I'm back again here too. It is time to show our vintage treasures and share the fun through Suzanne's blog.




My entry this week is a little table cloth with tatted lace and embroidery. Great Auntie Saima, who else, tried her hand on tatting as well. You can click the picture to see the details.

I wanted to show her knotting shuttle, too, but (because my sewing room in the cellar is such a mess) couldn't find it just now. Maybe later, on another Thursday.

Please visit all the blogs showing Vintage Thingies this Thursday, the link list is on Coloradolady's blog here.

Vintage Thingies 44 - Apron

It's unbelievable how time flies, I hardly have time to blog once between the Vintage Thingies Thursdays! This is something I don't want to miss. See the list on links on Suzanne's blog here.



This week my vintage thingie is something brand new but still vintage. My faithful readers know by now that I come from a long line of women who like to start sewing things, saving things and not throwing away things you might be able to use for something. Today you will see a perfect example for this all.


This is my newest apron, I made it in class two weeks ago. Originally it was half of a summer dress my mother had sewn for my grandmother, who died in 1963 so the fabric must be vintage. My mother then at some point took the dress apart and started making two aprons of it. As it often happens to our projects, this project was not finished but put aside to be finished later. Last month when I was visiting my mother and digging in the boxes at the attic (you remember the itchy woollen dresses I found), I found a pile of UFOs. After my mother had seen them and told me the history, she gave the lot to me so I could do whatever I want with them. Well, a mother can never have too many aprons, I think, so I put this one together:



The other apron will have a different bib part and a wide waistband, so it will be made later for someone with a waistline. This one is mine. If you click on the picture you can see the tiny dots cheering up this brown and white fabric.


I took the picture yesterday, but there is still some of the first snow left we had on Monday morning. This is very early for snow in Southern Finland. There are still so much leaves in the trees, they must fall before the snow is welcome!


Happy VTT! Go on with the link list Suzanne is hosting, there are such treasures to see on the blogs.

Vintage Thingies 43 - Old Pattern Folders

Welcome to Vintage Thingies Thursday again! You can join the fun at Suzanne's blog, where you also will find all the links to other blogs playing along this week.


Last week I showed you the old handicraft magazines my mother gave me, and today you will see the pattern folders. They are like the one I showed some time ago, each folder containing 10 to 20 patterns for table cloths, towels, wall hangings and cushion covers.


The first one is called Women's handicraft, Folder VII. The patterns are from the first decades of the 20th century.



This is the cover I love most. The birds are great black woodpeckers, handsome birds, popular in the Finnish national romantic style.

The next folder is for whitework, same author as in the top one.

The next two are also by her, handicraft for the home I and II

The flowers in this last folder remind me of many tablecloths we used to have at home. Some were given for our playhouse and they most probably were ruined in our plays when little flower vases spilled on them; and everything was left in the playhouse over winter. We didn't understand then how lovely memories they could bring to us now.

Last week some of my commentors were curious to see the scary doll's face I tried to hide when I showed the magazines. I was wrong, it was not eyebrows but eyelashes that made the scary look. They were using too much volume mascara then, don't you think?

I hope you can sleep after seeing the dolls. Happy VTT!

Vintage Thingies 42 - Handicraft Magazines

... because it is Thursday. This week I will show you some of the old magazines my mother gave me to keep when I visited her. These are the Omin käsin (by hand, or by my own hands) magazine's issues from the 50's. Patterns for the loom, second from the right are bands made with tablet weave or crios techniques, and on the right some modern embroideries on wool. I remember some cushion covers my mother embroidered at that time, wool on wool.

These are newer issues, 60's to 70's. Patterns for clothes, jewelry, cross stitch ...

Here you have a chance for some neck gymnastics, blogger insists this picture should be shown rotated this way! Soft toys from mouse to elephant.

The DIY magazine on the left shows such ugly dolls on the cover that I had to hide the face of the other doll, with massive eyebrows! The next magazine is called Kaunis koti, beautiful home, and there are many patterns for curtains, table cloths and so on. Two more issues of Omin käsin, one with modern embroideries again and the one on the right shows how to dye your own wool yarn using cones, lichen, mushrooms or wild flowers. I just love the soft shades of the yarn. If you want to know more about dyeing with plants, you can read the interview I made last autumn with a sewing class friend Hanna.

This was all for this week. Go back to Coloradolady's blog and see all the other vintage thingies of this Thursday. Happy VTT!

Vintage Thingies 41 - Children's House Book

A week has already passed and it is time to join the Vintage Thingies Thursday hosted by Coloradolady Suzanne. Today I'm showing you something that is not mine. When visiting my mother a while ago we found one of her old books from the attic. The spine was off and one page was loose, so I took the book with me so I could ask my daughter Kaija if she could or should repair it. She is a master bookbinder and knows about these things. Anyway, the book was too delicious to be left in the bag without showing you.

This is a doll's house, without any text but originally with paper dolls, unfortunately lost during the years. The pictures are from 1921. You can click all pictures to enlarge and see more details.

This is the hall.

In the cabinet I found a child's coat and hat.

The living room. There are slots in the table cloth for cups and bowls.

The parent's bedroom. Both doors can be opened but don't go through to the next rooms. The paper dolls can be put to bed through a slot between the pillow and the sheet.

The children's room. This page is loose.

Again, a door you can open.

The bathroom picture refused to be shown the right way, so I left it out. There was a toilet and a bathroom, and on the other page a cellar with food and mice!

This is the kitchen. The oven door has come off the hinge and disappeared, but there is a copper kettle and a dotted pot on the stove. The writing on the jars is in German, so the artist was German. The book cover shows the name of the Finnish publisher but I believe the book was printed in Germany, just using a different cover text for the Finnish market.

The whole kitchen view.

And finally the back garden.

My mother is an only child, and I don't remember us having ever played with this book, so it has lasted pretty well the 87 years! I remember I have seen this book, but only looked at it nicely. Mother remembers how she played with this before she had started school in the early 1920's.

I hope you enjoyed this bit of history. Happy VTT, go and see what else is on Suzanne's link list.

Vintage Thingie 40 - Dresses

Today I'm playing along in Suzanne's Vintage Thingies Thursday again.





Last week I was rummaging my mother's attic and found some small and larger scraps of fabric to play with and use for quilts. In one big box were clothes my mother had sewn for us, and I brought home all my old dresses. These are from the time in 1960's when I was expected to grow some more, so there was a wide fold at the hemline. Or maybe it was in the hope that the fashionable length would be more merciful for my poor knees! The shoulders of all my home made dresses are so narrow that nobody else could wear them. (And I did grow, so I can't wear them either.) I'm probably the most pear-shaped person in the country. Anyway, the fabric is itchy wool. The colour made me feel pale and I thought it made all my spots look so much brighter. Not a very favourite dress (or age). I still wouldn't dream of confessing this to my mother.


This other dress is the next Christmas dress, more in my muddy colours, as itchy as the first one. The lace collar and cuffs are antique, from my grandmother or Great Auntie Saima from the early years of the 20th century.

Close-up of the collar. I'm going to take it off and wash it before it goes to a box of other lacy treasures.

On the back my mother has made some little pleats to make the collar fit my dress. Maybe someday I will make another dress for this collar. Or maybe my daughter will. These things are for keeping, but they can be used and worn as well.

And look what I found for my JAJ casseroles: JAJ lids in the right size! Melanie told me they should have lids too, and I decided to keep my eyes open for them. I hadn't even measured the casseroles, but when I bumped into orphan lids at a charity flea market, I risked my 1.80 € and took them home. Voilá!

This was all for this week. Go on with your tour through the link list of Coloradolady. Happy VTT!