Needlework find from the past

So, there I am, moving some stuff around so I can get back to doing some
garment sewing (something I must do for a friend/client today), and can't
resist looking in a box that is in the heap from the storage unit. I have
moved this box about 4-5 times - from NC to FL to Pittsburgh to MD to VA to
NM to VA. I recognize it because it was from some equipment in my aunts
office (the surgeon), and had sewing/knitting stuff in it - 1 of 2 similar
boxes. Like a book-size carton. I open it, and find some packages of
fabric and patterns - all set - never cut or sewn. Some really lovely sage,
soft cordouroy. Some ugly as sin printed - like a border print - deep green
and pink cordorouy - what was I thinking. The clothes patterns are nice -
imaging Vogue patterns for $2.50. One of them, I think would be nice now -
it's a Betsy Johnson cool looking hooded sundress - of course my size is
doubled, but, hey. A couple of other things - must've been about to make
a pillow - complete with some very usable yardage of trim tassels, and some
poly crepe de' chine in a little sweet floral - I'd never make a garment
with it - but it could be used for display stuff. Then I find a bag with
several skeins of boucle, lovely heather colored, yarn, -sadly acrylic - and
what seems to be a back, and 1 raglan sleeve. Hmmm - well - I did used to
be much smaller - but I honestly don't remember knitting this 25 years ago -
though it's possible. And then, in the bottom of the bag - an old
Waldenbooks bag - behind the yarn - is a huge piece of linen. And an old
aluminum embroidery hoop. And a little baggie of what I think is ORTs, but
I now believe to be the yarn. It's a piece of crewel work - a lute and
mandolin, with some curlicue border - the size of a dresser cloth topper or
the like. The linen looks great - and the thing is 90% done - except for
the ends of the curlicues. There are many of them, and the body is done in
a satin stitch of goldish/yellow yarn - but the ends where it is very thin
and then curls look to be maybe a stem stitch, and in brown. Some of the
pattern in the middle of the piece is chain stitch. It's a stamped piece.
So, since it was in the bag with the wool I'm thinking that my mom must've
been working on this on some trip and it got put away. Has to be close to
30 years old - judging from the old tape receipt in the bag for some book.

Anyhow - not being much of a crewel person - I guess I'll try to finish
this up - after I clean it a bit and press it. I'll probably post a pic on
RCTNP and ask advice. Just seems that if my mom had started this thing, it
would be cool to finish it. And then it can sit on one of the antique
dressers . Very nostalgic. Plus, I found 1 of the office boxes full of
XS. Darn it - more UFOs to put in my neatly organized bin. Darn it.
Including the 1st ever piece I did on linen - and still haven't finished. I
did open it up, look at it, and shake my head - what was I thinking. And a
small painted canvas from Julie Mars - that is 1/2 done. And now, of
course, with my higher standards, I clearly have to frog out the top part as
I didn't use a laying tool and to my current eye it looks baaaaad.

Oh, well, thought I'd share. Now back downstairs to some sewing.

ellice

Thanks for sharing your finds Ellice.........

Seems I'm in the same "moving" boat as you......we're still in the
stages of unpacking boxes despite the huge move-in the end of last Nov
& I don't think we're going to get done unpacking any time
soon.....too many interruptions.....the lastest being this past Mon
when we had to have a new hot water heater installed......it started
leaking in the wee hours of Sun morning.....fortunately the HVAC sub
contractors that worked on the house was able to come Mon to install a
new tank......it was nerve wracking the whole time until it was done
as we had visions of 50 gallons of water flooding the basement full of
boxes and many piles of old mags and books stacked all over!

Finding boxes full of "old" stuff is fun......the reason why the
unpacking has been going so slow! I've got to pause and spend time
going through re-discovered treasures as well as wondering what to do
with things I no longer find interesting.

Speaking of patterns, I was real happy to find what might now be
labeled a "vintage" Vogue Designer pattern that would still be good
looking today....I have plans to finally get it made by someone since
I don't know how to sew clothing but liked the pattern when I saw it
over 20+ years ago and had to have it anyway!
Also found several Folkwear patterns, the ones of exotic folk style
clothing from other cultures.....one is a Syrian dress with a large
front panel to be completely cross stitched!

A really interesting find was a sample box from a weaving shop in AZ
of "exotic" fibers purchased many years ago.....in the box were eight
generous sample hanks of natural fibers.....the five I can recall
right now are camel hair, alpaca, goat hair, yak hair, mohair......

Then there's the large wicker trunk full of needlework odds &
ends.....filled with kits I once bought to teach myself how to
stitch....several Erica Wilson crewel kits, some Elsa Williams fancy
Williamsburg styles, stamped cross stitch panels......several
needlepoint canvases, some painted and all sorts of other kits &
pieces.
Looking at some of these old bits of unfinished needlework can't help
wondering what I ever saw in some of the designs, the colors or even
the subjects!
It's interesting in a way to see how I've "grown" and my tastes have
changed as I learned more about needlework & stitching.

I used to shop in a favorite needlework shop located in Georgetown
(next to Washington DC)......the shop is no longer there but was once
owned by Lucy Prior & a partner.....Lucy now works with Kaffe Fassett
writing quilting books.
That Georgetown needlework shop to my eyes was the most wonderful
place filled with beautiful yarns & threads both stitching and
knitting.....a ton of interesting canvases, antiques and other
things.....I spent quite a few weekends buying all sorts of stitching
stash from that shop.....now many of those purchases are piled in a
heap inside the wicker trunk. My tastes and ideas have changed through
the years and I lost interest.
I used to feel a little "guilty" about having all these unfinished or
never used things but I got over that a long time ago! Looking through
that trunk brings back many pleasant memories and that's what it's
really all about!

A current new interest is punch needle, so I was pleased to find
several plastic Susan Bates hoops, the ones with the lip that will
hold fabrics taut to punch needle on. One of hoop is quite a large
round one and a nice sized oval one too that I can now work on larger
design areas.

I loved finding all sorts of "forgotten" things acquired through the
years such as trims,beads, buttons and all sorts of other cool things
I can now use for embellishing current mixed media projects! I now
look with anticipation for boxes I've not looked through for ages as I
can't tell what kind of treasures might be lurking in them!

At the rate I've been unpacking, it's going to take another year
before this place gets cleared out of piles and stacks all over!
I've also been painting shop orders too which takes a lot of
time.....the only thing I've not had time to do is create new designs,
knit that new sweater I've been longing to make for myself among
several other projects that should have been done by now!

Speaking of knitting........I unexpectedly found three bags of 100%
merino wool in a denim blue color that I must have bought over ten
years ago!! That was a thrilling find as I finally remembered why I
bought this yarn......I was going to make a fancy Aran pattern
sweater! Now that I've found the wools, don't know where the pattern
is!! Maybe that'll turn up sooner than later as I go through more
boxes in the storage closet! There are also several very large baskets
full of stuff in there that I've not looked at in years!!

One of the main reasons I took this year off from doing any trade
shows was to spend the year designing all new work!! It's now May and
I've not done anything very creative work yet! But, will keep trying
to get there......maybe I should stop unpacking for awhile!!
---
Lula
http://www.woolydream.com
----------------------------------------------------

On May 9, 12:24 pm, ellice wrote:
So, there I am, moving some stuff around so I can get back to doing some
garment sewing (something I must do for a friend/client today), and can't
resist looking in a box that is in the heap from the storage unit. I have
moved this box about 4-5 times - from NC to FL to Pittsburgh to MD to VA to
NM to VA. I recognize it because it was from some equipment in my aunts
office (the surgeon), and had sewing/knitting stuff in it - 1 of 2 similar
boxes. Like a book-size carton. I open it, and find some packages of
fabric and patterns - all set - never cut or sewn. Some really lovely sage,
soft cordouroy. Some ugly as sin printed - like a border print - deep green
and pink cordorouy - what was I thinking. The clothes patterns are nice -
imaging Vogue patterns for $2.50. One of them, I think would be nice now -
it's a Betsy Johnson cool looking hooded sundress - of course my size is
doubled, but, hey. A couple of other things - must've been about to make
a pillow - complete with some very usable yardage of trim tassels, and some
poly crepe de' chine in a little sweet floral - I'd never make a garment
with it - but it could be used for display stuff. Then I find a bag with
several skeins of boucle, lovely heather colored, yarn, -sadly acrylic - and
what seems to be a back, and 1 raglan sleeve. Hmmm - well - I did used to
be much smaller - but I honestly don't remember knitting this 25 years ago -
though it's possible. And then, in the bottom of the bag - an old
Waldenbooks bag - behind the yarn - is a huge piece of linen. And an old
aluminum embroidery hoop. And a little baggie of what I think is ORTs, but
I now believe to be the yarn. It's a piece of crewel work - a lute and
mandolin, with some curlicue border - the size of a dresser cloth topper or
the like. The linen looks great - and the thing is 90% done - except for
the ends of the curlicues. There are many of them, and the body is done in
a satin stitch of goldish/yellow yarn - but the ends where it is very thin
and then curls look to be maybe a stem stitch, and in brown. Some of the
pattern in the middle of the piece is chain stitch. It's a stamped piece.
So, since it was in the bag with the wool I'm thinking that my mom must've
been working on this on some trip and it got put away. Has to be close to
30 years old - judging from the old tape receipt in the bag for some book.

Anyhow - not being much of a crewel person - I guess I'll try to finish
this up - after I clean it a bit and press it. I'll probably post a pic on
RCTNP and ask advice. Just seems that if my mom had started this thing, it
would be cool to finish it. And then it can sit on one of the antique
dressers . Very nostalgic. Plus, I found 1 of the office boxes full of
XS. Darn it - more UFOs to put in my neatly organized bin. Darn it.
Including the 1st ever piece I did on linen - and still haven't finished. I
did open it up, look at it, and shake my head - what was I thinking. And a
small painted canvas from Julie Mars - that is 1/2 done. And now, of
course, with my higher standards, I clearly have to frog out the top part as
I didn't use a laying tool and to my current eye it looks baaaaad.

Oh, well, thought I'd share. Now back downstairs to some sewing.

ellice

On May 9, 12:24 pm, ellice wrote:

And then, in the bottom of the bag - an old
Waldenbooks bag - behind the yarn - is a huge piece of linen. And an old
aluminum embroidery hoop. And a little baggie of what I think is ORTs, but
I now believe to be the yarn. It's a piece of crewel work - a lute and
mandolin, with some curlicue border - the size of a dresser cloth topper or
the like. The linen looks great - and the thing is 90% done - except for
the ends of the curlicues. There are many of them, and the body is done in
a satin stitch of goldish/yellow yarn - but the ends where it is very thin
and then curls look to be maybe a stem stitch, and in brown. Some of the
pattern in the middle of the piece is chain stitch. It's a stamped piece.
So, since it was in the bag with the wool I'm thinking that my mom must've
been working on this on some trip and it got put away. Has to be close to
30 years old - judging from the old tape receipt in the bag for some book.

Anyhow - not being much of a crewel person - I guess I'll try to finish
this up - after I clean it a bit and press it. I'll probably post a pic on
RCTNP and ask advice. Just seems that if my mom had started this thing, it
would be cool to finish it. And then it can sit on one of the antique
dressers . Very nostalgic. Plus, I found 1 of the office boxes full of
XS. Darn it - more UFOs to put in my neatly organized bin. Darn it.
Including the 1st ever piece I did on linen - and still haven't finished. I
did open it up, look at it, and shake my head - what was I thinking. And a
small painted canvas from Julie Mars - that is 1/2 done. And now, of
course, with my higher standards, I clearly have to frog out the top part as
I didn't use a laying tool and to my current eye it looks baaaaad.

Oh, well, thought I'd share. Now back downstairs to some sewing.

ellice


I hope you plan on bringing this piece to the Scarlet Thread. Everyone
would love to see it.
I'll be a little late this morning as DD has an eye appointment.

The adventures in unpacking continue at many house apparently. Though
I like what you and Lula find much better than what I find. I finally
found the last unopened box in our house last week. It was on a shelf
in the laundry room and I thought it was our seashells, but when I
turned it around I realized I was wrong. It was one bedside lamp and a
wall light from IKEA where you can change the signs - no jumping, no
smoking, etc. I had totally forgotten this light existed.

Donna in Virginia