Tag: books

Medieval maps and other finds

stitchesoftime1 Comment

As you may know I love old maps, I also love new ones but old ones are of particular fascination to me. I am in awe of the early sailors who tried to interpret what they saw in map form and love looking at them.

I have had the Mappa Mundi, at Hereford Cathedral, on my wish list for a very long time and so that had to be part of my recent Hereford explorations.

The Mappa Mundi is very different to other maps, being a representation of the earth as an example of what are known as TO maps. They are circular, often with heaven at the top, and the world at the bottom. The O is the whole map, and the T inside it divides the world into three sections.

Most of these maps have Jerusalem at the centre as they represent the Christian world. The Mappa Mundi has the East at the top and has Europe in the lower left section. The maps have drawings of real and imaginary beasts and buildings.

This map is one of the largest in the world, at about 5 by 4 feet, and is made of a single piece of calf skin. It dates from about 1300. It is an amazing thing to see, and the interpretation explains it really well.

The cathedral also contains the world’s largest chained library, as books were very precious. The library has a range of volumes from different centuries and scholars would be allowed to come and look at the books by resting them on the shelves below. So different to our public libraries now.

The needlework in the cathedral was also particularly impressive. The choir stalls had beautiful needlepoint cushions, many with heraldry on. There was so much stitching here, a real treasure trove of church needlework.

There was also a wonderful two panel applique telling the story of St Thomas, whose tomb has been restored to how it would have originally looked in the medieval period.

This is such a brilliant way to interpret the tomb and the piece was beautifully executed. There was no information about who made it but congratulations to the stitching team for such a wonderful piece.

I will definitely have to go back to the Hereford area, and the bordering counties as there was so much to see. I still have many Trust properties to visit in the area and due to bad weather didn’t get to do the black and white houses village trail. This area has such a wealth of medieval and Tudor history, having been the site of many border conflicts with Wales.

My next post will be about my time in Lincolnshire, an area I had never really been to before this year. That is part of what my plan was for this summer, in-between the festivals, to really explore very different parts of the UK.

I will see you all hopefully again soon, until then have fun, take care, stay safe and thanks for visiting.

The Reading List

stitchesoftime4 Comments

As you may know, I love reading with a passion. I read for relaxation, education, information and entertainment. One of my greatest joys about retirement is the chance to usually read for at least 2 hours a day.

One of the books that I really enjoyed recently was called The Reading List, by Sara Nisha Adams. It is not just about the power of books, but that is its central theme, and as the title suggests there is a reading list at the heart of the story.

At the end of the book the author gives her own version of a list of books that she thinks everyone should read, and some of these have already gone on my wishlist.

It got me thinking about what my recommended list would be, so I have put one together for you, along with some short notes on why I chose these books. Some are from many years ago, some I have read recently, but all are chosen for their power to transform what we think, as well as their story. They are in no particular order, and all images are from the internet.

‘The Women’s Room’ by Marilyn French

I have read this book twice, and will definitely read it again. Sometimes with books what you get when you first read is very different from a second reading and for me that was very much the case between reading it in my 20s and in my 50s. A really powerful novel, that although it didn’t change my life, certainly made me reflect on it a lot.

‘The Forty Rules of Love’ by Elif Shafak

This was the first of Elif’s books that I read, a charity shop find some years ago. I love her work, but this book is exceptional. For me, it was the way that the two sides of the story are woven together, and the chance to find out more about the literature from another culture in such an exciting way, that makes this so brilliant.

‘The Book of Lost Names‘ by Kristin Harmel

Another charity shop find, I read this book in a day, it was genuinely that compelling a story. It is one of the books that tell you about things that you never thought that you needed to know. While it is about World War Two, it is a very unusual aspect of what happened, and brings together so many different themes about books themselves and their power.

‘The Beekeeper of Aleppo’ by Christy Lefteri

This is one of those books that I have recommended to so many people, and one that I think deserves to be on school reading lists. It is not an easy read by any means, but the fact that it is based on Christy’s volunteer work, makes it all the more powerful.

I also loved the fact that a local beekeeping project in my old village of Marsden, The Buzz Project, is run by a Syrian refugee who was a beekeeper in Damascus. It is run in conjunction with a project for refugees that a friend of mine works for and it is a fitting real life end to the fictional story in the book.

‘The Storyteller of Casablanca’ by Fiona Valpy

I have read most of Fiona’s books and this is the most stunning of all of them. The two stories are beautifully written and it is one of those books that makes you want to visit the city. Again it is partly set in World War 2, but gives a very different part of the story about refugees in Africa.

‘The Ballroom’ by Anna Hope

One of the reasons that I love this book is that it gives a very human perspective to something that I used to teach about, namely the debates around compulsory sterilisation in the early part of the twentieth century, and the 1913 Mental Deficiency Act. You can tell from this that the book is not an easy read, but the characters and the debates are portrayed so well in this novel.

‘The Echo of Old Books’ by Barbara Davis

I discovered this as a suggestion from my Kindle Unlimited and what I love most about this book is the wonderful quotes about the power of old books that start each chapter. There are so many themes about books explored in this one, it is a book lover’s dream, as well as a wonderful story.

‘The Poppy Factory’ by Liz Trenow

Another charity shop find, I nearly didn’t pick this one up as I thought I had read enough about the impact of World War 1. However this book has a very current and thought provoking storyline and the way that the story is told is just beautiful, if heart breaking at times.

‘The Sunrise’ by Victoria Hislop

I have mentioned this one before, as my inspiration to visit Cyprus. Victoria is a very well-known author, but few people seem to have read this, which I think is one of my favourite novels ever. A superbly well researched story about an event that still has drastic repercussions for the city and its people today.

‘To The River’ by Olivia Laing

This was one of the books that we read an extract from on my WEA Writing Course last year and I just had to go and buy the book that day. It is part a travel book, writing beautifully about the River Ouse in Suffolk, and its history. It is also a personal story, and links to the author’s love of books, and the rivers connection with the writer Virginia Woolf.

You may have noticed that most of my titles start with ‘the’. I think that this is just a coincidence but will have to monitor my future reading to see if this is a theme!

I hope that you have enjoyed reading my list, and that you might be inspired to look at some of the books I love, or make up your own list. I hope that you read books, and if you don’t please try it, it is the most magical thing!

Until next time, have fun, (read something), take care, stay safe and thanks for visiting.

Venice, palazzos, pizzas and more

stitchesoftimeLeave a comment

Our recent trip to Venice was very interesting, and not just for all the usual reasons such as the stunning scenery and the delicious food. Yes, there was all that in abundance, however there was also a chance to think about the city in its modern context, not just as a fascinating historical city.

One of the things that I remember seeing in lockdown was photos of dolphins swimming in clear waters in the canals of Venice as the tourists were not there, and consequently there was not the constant traffic of vaporettos, water taxis, ferries and gondolas.

The Grand Canal is amazing, and I loved looking at all of palazzos as we passed and wondering about all the people who had built them and lived in them over the centuries.

Venice is one of the most visited cities in the world, with over 25 million individual visits in 2019 and the pandemic and the restarting of travel has prompted Venetians and others to try and think differently about the city.

There are around 250,000 residents in the greater Venice area and only 55,000 who live on the main island. The population is shrinking by around a thousand a year, partly because properties get sold for tourist purposes rather than being affordable for locals.

I was glad that we had already planned lots of the things that are recommended to make travel there more sustainable. We were staying for a week, when many visits to the city are for just a day, especially from people on cruises.

That makes the central areas, such as St Mark’s Square above, very crowded, and also does not benefit the whole of the city as much. One of the arguments for tourism is always the economic benefit that it brings so I was pleased that we had the chance to visit the more outlying parts of the lagoon in our time there.

I knew that Venice was in danger of degrading, but had not really considered what I as a visitor could do about it. However reading information left at the apartment, and later some websites and books about Venice, made me think about my trip in a different way. I travel not just to look at wonderful things, but also to learn about the places that I visit, and this holiday really made me think.

We also stayed on the outskirts of the main island, a decision made out of practicality for us, as I remember the difficulty of finding our hotel last time, but one which is recommended by those who are trying to save Venice from becoming overloaded.

We had the most gorgeous apartment, Apartment Ganeo, in an area called Sant Elena, situated in a beautiful and quiet wooded area, but still on the main No 1 vaporetto route.

That meant that we could use the local facilities there such as the little shops, and three excellent restaurants and bars minutes from our apartment, that served the most delicious pizzas. I can heartily recommend Vincent Bar for the food, hospitality and the view, as we also got to enjoy some amazing sunsets over the Grand Canal.

We also got a chance to see some of what real life was like for the residents of Venice. Being in a more normal part of Venice, where we were finding out about how the rubbish is collected, (door to door each morning and you sort your recyclables before collection), really makes you think about your individual impact as a tourist.

I came across this book in one of the museums and downloaded the Kindle version when I got back. Reading something like this makes you think far more about the impact of mass tourism, especially in such a small city. I love to travel, obviously, and live in an area of a country famous for mass tourism, so it is good for me to think about what I do, both here and when I go away, so that my travel can be as beneficial as possible for everyone.

I have also ordered Jan Morris’ book about the history of Venice to read, which will be waiting for me when I return to the UK.

One of the things that we did was buy a museum pass, and that meant that we visited museums that we not have otherwise, as there were eleven included. This meant we visited some of the smaller, and less well know ones, as well as the wonderful Doges’ Palace pictured below.

That gave us a really good sense of the history of Venice in many different aspects, as well as the chance to admire some truly splendid ceilings, such as these in the Correr Museum!

On the top floor of the modern art gallery in Ca’ Pesaro is the Museum of Oriental Art , there was an amazing collection of Asian weapons, art and lacquerware. It was fascinating to see this, especially having just visited Japan.

I will share some more of the museums in a future post as there were some really exciting textile finds, as well as wonderful medieval art and maps in the Correr Museum.

I appreciate that by visiting Venice I may be considered part of the problem, rather than part of the solution. However I was glad to know that my impact might have been more beneficial than other types of stay. It is good to be aware of these aspects and was something that I will definitely apply to my future travels.

My friends who were visiting me in Spain have now all left. I have had a brilliant ten days and despite dire forecasts the weather was fine most of the time. It is a really hot day today, so I am getting all of my washing dried and planning an afternoon sewing quilt blocks, possibly followed by another trip to the pool if the forecast rain does not appear this afternoon.

I hope that you have had a lovely week, and are enjoying sunny weather and the Bank Holiday if you are in the UK. Whatever you are doing enjoy it, have fun, take care, stay safe and thanks for visiting.

Travel inspiration

stitchesoftime1 Comment

I mentioned in a previous post that there were many reasons why I wanted to visit Cyprus. One of these was came from a book I read some years ago, by Victoria Hislop, called, ‘The Sunrise’. I am putting links in for all of the books I write about here but I am not sponsored, it is just in case you wish to follow up any for yourselves.

The book is about Famagusta, in Cyprus, not far from where I was staying in Aiya Napa, and starts when the city is a popular tourist destination in the early 1970s. This was before the conflicts between the Greek and Turkish people led to the splitting of the country into two areas, divided by a buffer zone. Parts of Famagusta are now a ghost town that the inhabitants have not been able to return to since they left.

I found the book absolutely fascinating. I had been aware of the fact that the country was divided, but had no idea of what had happened, even though it all took place when I was a teenager. It was an immensely compelling, and tragic story and made me want to visit the country, even though I am not actually going to Famagusta on this trip.

Victoria Hislop is a wonderful writer and I love the research that she does for her novels. As an aspiring writer, and one who is very much enjoying the research for my first book, I love to read books that have been so well researched and where that research is so carefully woven into the story.

I can also recommend another of her books, ‘The Return’, which is set in Granada. I visited that city in Spring last year for the second time.

I have just finished another book set here during the same time frame, it is one that I came across while doing one of my previous creative writing courses with the Workers’ Educational Association WEA as we read an extract from the book. Again this is one of my favourite authors, a previous read of hers, ‘The Forty Rules of Love’, being one of the best books I have ever read.

This one is called, ‘The Island of Missing Trees’. Elif Shafak, is a Turkish author who writes on a wide variety of topics linked to her culture and experiences, and this one is set in the capital city of Cyprus, Nicosia.

This is again a very powerful book and one that has a very compelling and unusual structure to it. I won’t say too much in case you want to read it, but it gives a very unique perspective into not only the social history of the island, but also its natural history.

I love to read books that tell the stories of the country while I am travelling there. Many years ago I read a book called, ‘A Tree grows in Brooklyn’, by Betty Smith.

The author was the daughter of German immigrants to America, born in the late 1890s, and writes about a young girl growing up amongst the poverty of Brooklyn.

This book, along with others such as, ‘Ellis Island’, by Kate Kerrigan, and a recent read on my trip to New York, The Weaver’ Legacy, by Olive Collins, all add to my enjoyment of visits such as the recent trip to the Ellis Island Immigration Museum.

I am currently reading some more books based on my USA trip. These have been on my Kindle list for a long time and combine stories of immigration with stories of the fashion industry in America at the start of the 20th century. The first one is called, The Pattern Artist, and they are all by Nancy Moser.

I do so love reading, and my Kindle Unlimited is one of my best things ever, along with my little library corner in the camper full of my charity shop purchases.

One of my greatest joys of retirement is the chance to read every day. Often I can read five books a week. At home in Spain I spend the warm evenings sitting on my terrace reading, and drinking wine 😉 It is such a wonderful pleasure and I hope that you enjoy any of my recommendations here for you. Whether you travel or not, reading is a fantastic way to experience other cultures and histories.

I will be back soon with more of lovely Larnaca, the weather is being quite kind to me, a few showers now but since I am mainly here to visit museums and churches it has not been a problem. Hope you are all having a nice week and as always, have fun, take care, stay safe and thanks for visiting.

It is all happening here!

stitchesoftime6 Comments

Well dear readers, there has been much excitement since I last posted. I have been very busy with work, done the final, final, final bits of decorating, the estate agent has been and taken all the pictures, I have had two driving lessons…and I found out last week that I have passed my doctorate!

To say I am pleased is very much an understatement, I only resubmitted on the 9th April so was not expecting to hear back so soon but it was all sorted very quickly. It is such a relief to have that all completed (after a mere 8 and a half years!) and to be able to get on with all my other plans.

I did treat myself to some lovely fabric for Luna dresses and the other two Luna books as a reward for submitting and have been busy making two very cute little dresses. I have some work in progress pictures but will show you the finished garments when Ellen brings the Luna I made back this weekend so that I can model them.

I have a lot of Liberty for Luna ears but needed larger quantities for the clothes so I bought some beautiful Rose and Hubble fabrics from two new suppliers on Ebay, Pastel Rose and Pretti Fabrics .They have so many gorgeous designs I am sure that I will use them again.

The books contain some beautiful outfits. I am have made this two piece set in this Liberty print and some of the braid we bought recently from The Range.

I am just finishing off a version of the T – Shirt dress. I decided to go with a lace bow, rather than a fabric one. The instructions are very clear and even if if it is a little fiddly at times fitting tiny sleeves you know how much I love sewing in miniature.

I really want to make some of the other designs as well, I think that this dress would look adorable in either the dark blue or turquoise print and I did plan to make either a nightdress or pyjamas from the lilac fabric.

I also ordered some of the lace from Bertie’s Bows that Ellen had for her pyjamas and also got some other edged lace and flowered bias binding. They have an amazing selection of all sorts of bias in different fabrics so that is a really good find. I love the packaging as well, so cute.

I need to think about which fabric I can use for this beautiful coat. I really do not enjoy working with velvet but have some lovely silk in my doll stash so will see if I can use some of that.

My last purchase is some more lace from Feathers Creations on Ebay as I used up all of the previous lace from The Range on the other two dresses. They are a perfect match for my new fabric.

After all this excitement in my life I am looking forward to a lovely calm rest of the week and weekend. I am planning more Luna making at the weekend, as well as putting together the knitted animals.

Ellen are I are going away to Northumberland for a few days next week in a beautiful cabin overlooking the sea. We booked it back in September, not thinking that there would be any restrictions at this point but luckily we can still go. It will be a lovely celebration of all of the good things that are happening in my life. I feel very blessed and very lucky.

I hope you are all well and happy and are enjoying spring if you are in the UK, we have had some lovely sunny days and my flowers look wonderful and that makes me happy as well.

Take care, have fun, stay safe and thanks for visiting.

Luna Lapin love

stitchesoftime7 Comments

Ellen and I had a brilliant Easter weekend and I am now officially addicted to Luna (and friends). I will, of course always love my Little Cotton Rabbits and will continue making those in the evenings but I am so enjoying this new crafting adventure. Not only are there all the cute animals, there are so many clothes to make as well. There is also a Facebook group for even more inspiration that can be found here.

I may just have had to order some new fabric for the clothes 😉 although I have lots of Liberty for the rabbits’ ears and feet, the clothes need a lot more fabric than the fat 8ths I have. I have treated myself to some lovely Rose and Hubble fabric for more dresses. I will show you that in a later post along with my first completed outfit.

Ellen had already cut out the pieces for two rabbits, I only had one prepared out of linen so she was working on one from some recycled denim and one from a gorgeous brushed cotton that she has had in her stash for about 9 years. It was at one time going to be a baby quilt but it has made the most gorgeous soft rabbit and a pair of pyjamas for another rabbit. She has given me the supplier details for the beautiful lace trimmed bias here so I have ordered some of that as well.

She finished her rabbit in time for us to have a little photo shoot in the sun. The weather was so much better than forecast last weekend so we went for a walk on Sunday, but it has been snowing on and off this week, including this morning. Thankfully it has not settled.

The rabbits are not complex to make, and there are very good instructions in the book, but it did take me about 7 hours to complete. That was with cutting out and zig zagging all of the pieces previously and making the ears. I did have to re-do several things as I put the legs on back to front the first time and then had the re-do the base several times. Next time I will be much faster.

The three of them look very cute together and I am very pleased with what we accomplished. It was such a lovely weekend, with no decorating or household tasks to do and so nice to just relax and celebrate.

We were not only celebrating Easter but also the brilliant news that she has got a new job. She was made redundant last year from the National Trust and has been doing some part-time work and volunteering since Oct. She was working part-time with the Bassetlaw Foodbank from Jan and I am very, very pleased to tell you that she has now been appointed as their full-time Assistant Manager. I am so very proud of her, it has been a very challenging year for her, as for many people, and she has coped really well with all of it. She is so enthusiastic about her new career and will be able to use many of her mentoring and volunteer management skills from her work with the Trust.

I am also very pleased to say that Jake is staying at the same primary school in Tokyo with the same children, who are now in Year 2, but will also be teaching older children in Year 3 as well. He has also coped with all the disruption of the last year really well, and I am so very proud of him for that. He has not had the same restrictions as us in the UK but his life has still been disrupted and he has done brilliantly and stayed positive throughout. Fingers crossed the rest of 2021 will be full of equally good news for everyone as we move back to normality.

I have had a good week as well, I have submitted the second revision of my doctorate. Hopefully this will be the last one, I leave in a couple of months so doubt I would have time to do anything further anyway. I am feeling very relieved and looking forward to next week when Jacky and I are going to the Dales again for a few days in her campervan. It will be so nice to see her again, the last time was in October, and we are looking forward to some great waterfall exploring.

I am having a quiet weekend after all the excitement of the last couple of weeks. I have just bought the other two Luna books as a treat for me for submitting my doctorate, so I am going to be cutting out more clothes and finishing knitting a Little Cotton Rabbits bear.

I hope that you have had a good week and have a lovely weekend and week ahead. Take care, have fun, stay safe and thanks for visiting.

Easter Bunnies.. the fabric kind

stitchesoftime1 Comment

Ellen has just left after another very busy weekend of decorating and decluttering. Thankfully that is everything inside the house done so the next time she visits we can just have fun! We did spend part of this morning buying supplies for her latest crafting project. It is her birthday on Tuesday and as she has been making these adorable Luna Lapin rabbits and clothes I bought her some more Liberty fabric and some new books.

She already has the original book Luna Lapin by Sarah Peel and has made this adorable rabbit and clothes for her. Look at the wonderful detail on the dress with its little lace cardigan and the so cute winter dress and red coat!

For her birthday I bought her Sewing Luna’s Friends. I have just ordered one of these for me as well as an end of term, add to stash gift 🙂 I have always loved making fabric dolls so am looking forward to making these and the little clothes as some point. I love all the detail in the outfits with the lace and pintucks.

This outfit is one of my favourites, partly because of the little Liberty quilt.

I also ordered her the other Luna Making New Friends book as well, look at the cuteness of the squirrel and reindeer here!

She needed some felt to make the squirrel, fox and badger so we found some excellent supplies here at Billow Fabrics on Ebay, who I have used before for lovely Liberty supplies.

I am very much looking forward to the next three weeks, the last teaching (ever!) has been done and I am going to have a busy but enjoyable time. Hopefully the weather will be nice as I have outdoor painting and planting to do, and am praying that the sheep don’t come and eat my just about to bloom tulips before the house goes on the market 🙂 There may well be some crafting time as well, and the final, final re-write of the doctorate!

Here’s hoping and praying that the transition to more normal life goes smoothly as well. It has been a very good week for the family, with my finishing teaching, and Jacob having his contract renewed for another year in Japan, so fingers crossed our good luck will continue.

Hope that things are going well wherever you are and that you have a good week ahead. Take care, stay safe, have fun and thanks for visiting.

A thing of beauty

stitchesoftime7 Comments

I have recently re-subscribed to Today’s Quilter magazine, this was actually pre- pandemic and it has been lovely to have the delivery every month, plus some useful free gifts like templates.I had stopped as I seemed to have a lot of quilt magazines already but I will pass them on once the charity shops re-open so someone else can share the love.

April Quilt Mag

This month’s magazine had a special feature and a pattern by Sarah Fielke and when I looked at the picture of an amazing Liberty log cabin quilt I remembered that I had bought the book a while ago. I met Sarah when she was doing a European tour in July 2016, on my son’s graduation day actually, and ordered the book straight after that.

Sarah Fielke Book 1

The book, Old Quilts, New Life,  is a wonderful combination of a history of quilting book and interpretations of the quilts. There is a reproduction version and an interpretation one for each of  9 quilts from the American Folk Art Museum.Below are some of my favourites and I love the different interpretations like the two colour one that just uses one of the flower motifs from the older quilt.

The quilt that I spotted in the magazine is called Liberty Belle and it has to be one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. I finished another Liberty log cabin last weekend and so I now have two of these blocks.

Sarah Fielke Book 2

I was thinking that I might just put them with all of the other Liberty blocks but now that I have seen this I might be tempted to just do a quilt of all Liberty log cabins as it is so gorgeous.The nice thing about using Liberty is all of the fabrics look so good together.

Liberty log cabin final 1

These blocks are very different to the other blocks that I have made as there is no white in them so I was wondering if they would go. We shall see, it would mean I have to purchase some more Liberty, (oh dear 🙂  ) ,as I have run out of longer pieces for the outer borders. However I may have a lot more time on my hands this summer and at least this keeps me amused as the blocks take me such a long time to complete.

Liberty log cabin final 2

I have found a new supplier of Liberty as well from the quilt magazine. Not that I really need a new supplier but I love the web site for Duck Egg Threads  as it has such a fab design. I have so much Liberty that I don’t know the name of each fabric but this site has them organised by colour and names them so you can easily order the colour you need.

Duck Egg Threads site

I think I am going to have to order some from them just to thank them for that as a resource for us Liberty fans.They also have a Liberty monthly fabric club that they will be re-starting once they can do deliveries again so I might just have to subscribe to support a small business!

I have also made this week’s Riley Blake Block Challenge blocks, two Friendship Star blocks using this very useful tutorial, which shows you how to make them in multiple sizes. These are very quick to do and I am very pleased with the matching of the seams on these. I am clearly getting better at this compared to the last block challenge that we did five years ago where points and seams were all over the place!

Friendship Star block 1

Friendship Star block 4

Next week’s block is the Economy Block so I am going to make two of those as well.I am officially back at work now, (that just means sitting on the sofa with my computer rather than my needlework box!), as no-one is going anywhere soon in the UK unless they need to.

However, I am finishing work at 4pm each day, taking advantage of the lack of travel time which means I can start earlier, so am having a few hours of sewing each day which is lovely. I do miss my colleagues but realistically we would have been finishing term anyway in the next couple of weeks so life is not that different for me at the moment anyway.

In that respect I am very lucky as working from home is a peaceful activity unlike many of my colleagues who are trying to do it while homeschooling children, sharing workspace with partners and being interrupted by cats and dogs who wonder why their humans are suddenly around all of the time.

I hope you and your family are all ok, stay safe, take care and thanks for visiting. It is lovely to see my visitor stats each week and to have so many more people following me now. I am feeling very loved so thank you 🙂

 

 

 

Costume inspiration

stitchesoftime3 Comments

The recent visit to Bankfield Museum gave us so many ideas for future Steampunk costume. There were some lovely fashion plates up the stairs and decorating the rooms and then some gorgeous Victorian gowns. I really love this purpley/grey one on the left here and Ellie would love to make the pink one below.

Costume Bankfield 3

Costume Bankfield 4

Costume Bankfield 11

The dress in the foreground of the picture above was originally purple and you can see that on the fringe and the mottling on the back of the dress. The one at the back is so elegant, I love the shaping on the jacket.

We also loved the fact that they  had dress up, and not just for children. These top pictures were really high quality reproductions of two of the Regency outfits they had on display, the embroidery on waistcoats from this period is always stunning.

There were also some displays of local textile production, including a lovely collection of hat pins, cuff links and buttons all made from casein which is actually milk protein! Fascinating to think that buttons can be made of milk.

It is so nice as well to see pictures of the women who made the hat pins. There was such a huge demand for them then. I think it is a great pity there is not more hat wearing, and I don’t just mean woolly ones in winter. Bring back hats for everyday wear!

Costume Bankfield 13

There was also the display of the gorgeous costumes from the Gentleman Jack TV series, part of which was filmed in Halifax, at Shibden Hall where Ann Lister lived. This is the fourth TV costume exhibition we have seen, the others being Victoria, Downton Abbey and a sneak peek at some of the Wolf Hall ones from before the exhibition . I really like seeing the clothes in detail, close up without the cases the museum pieces often have to be in. The sleeve silhouettes on these dresses are gorgeous and I love the lace shawls.

In the cases round the room there were also some fascinating needlework tools and accessories and samplers, I love seeing things like these, they really make you think about who was using them and what they were making and the skill level of these very young needlewomen.

One of the most interesting was this pincushion made from a shell. You can also see a walnut thimble case in one of the above pictures, next to the miniature sewing machine.

Costume Bankfield 32

I have started reading the Elm Creek Quilts book series again, I first read them all about 10 years ago and loved them so have the joy of re-reading all 20 books in the series and was very excited to learn that a new story is being published. It is definitely making me want to make more quilt blocks again after all the Yarndale stock is finished.

I am interspersing time in the craft room doing that with finishing off a knitted animal and then am going to work on some Christmas and birthday gifts. As well as more Barbie clothes I really want to make a quiet book. I have been doing some research and have found some gorgeous ideas. I particularly love the ones that are little doll houses like this one in this video. Look at the cuteness of the little cat and teddy and that wonderful wardrobe!

Quiet book doll houseSo many lovely things to make and luckily more time to do them! Jake is happily finding his feet in Japan, the doctorate is done 🙂 apart from the final proof read and printing off so I can indulge myself in all manner of crafty loveliness with all this free time I now have!

 

Hope that you are having a nice weekend as well. I will be back soon with some of the Lincoln Steampunk costumes.Take care and thanks for visiting.

Making do – the shirt transformation

stitchesoftime2 Comments

I am well underway with all my lovely Make Do and Mend things for my display. I have not only been making things but also acquiring some really interesting things from Ebay. One of the lovely things about this period is that I can actually afford the real artifacts from the period, unlike medieval where they are all in museums or long gone.

I have so much to show you that I am splitting it up into several posts. This one is about one of the charity shop bargain shirts that I got for £1 that I have given a makeover. It did take me a little longer than the one hour they give them on the Sewing Bee but I really enjoyed the process and am very happy with the results.

MDaM -shirt 1

MDaM -shirt 13

I won’t actually wear this one as it is a little short for my taste but will do the same again with other finds as I loved the experimentation. I kept the collar as it was in the end but altered the buttons for some that had a more vintage feel, took in the sleeves and shortened them, added bust darts and shortened it, using the spare material for a cute frill.

I was going to use this piece of embroidered doily for a pocket and so I removed the pocket (thankfully very carefully), and cut it out of the doily but it did not look right so I just used some of the flower motifs for the pocket and collar. I also added some vintage lace to the sleeves.

MDaM -shirt 7

MDaM -shirt 8

MDaM -shirt 11

MDaM -shirt 10

MDaM -shirt 12

I was inspired by advice in the books that I had bought previously on Make do and Mend such as the one below on making new clothes out of worn ones.

MDaM -shirt 2

I have just finished reading the wonderful Stitching for Victory book as well which has lots of similar adverts for patterns and detail about all of the sewing during the war.This pattern uses very much the same idea as above and could be bought for 1 shilling from the Girl’s Own Paper.

MDaM - SfV book 1

They also had an advert for a pattern for lingerie, if you were lucky enough to get your hands on some parachute silk or old clothing that was suitable.

MDaM - SfV book 3

Stitching for Victory is such an amazing book that I will have to do a whole post about it, one of the best books I have ever read about stitching history, so much wonderful detail. It is currently available on Amazon for less than £3 so it is a real bargain as well. One of the very lovely things is that there are lots of quotes from the stitchers of the period, so often the makers’ voices get lost in museum exhibits and the history records so it is wonderful to have the words and pictures from all those wonderful people.

One of the other things that I am loving about this period is that I have so many techniques that I can use for my work. Medieval is wonderful but often I have not been able to do something as it does not fit the period whereas there are less restrictions with this so I am really enjoying that freedom, very much like Steampunk although it is lovely to do the research on the history as well and find authentic things for the period.

I wanted a banner for my table display and was trying to think of what I could do when I spotted an embroidery of ‘make do and mend’ on my craft room wall. It was one of Jenny of Elefantz’s designs that is waiting to be made up into something and it gave me the ideas to stitch the slogan onto something. I was looking for some vintage linen and came across this embroidered traycloth in my stash that made the perfect frame. I learnt to do chain stitch last year so embroidered the letters in the same colours as the original embroidery and am very pleased with it.

MDaM -banner 1

MDaM -banner 2

I am making a demonstration pair of slippers from some felt and scraps of Liberty for hexagons so I will show you those next time and I have just started making some gorgeous felt flowers.

I have a new hat that I ordered from Ebay that needed a little something. I remember seeing some 1940s brooches years ago on Hen House’s blog and thinking they were really lovely and I have come across lots of inspiration such as this diagram in the Stitching for Victory book so I am on with that at the moment.

MDaM - SfV book 5

I hope that you are all having a lovely creative time with whatever you are doing, take care and thanks for visiting.