"Lady in crochet"

I just snapped this pic with my camera from a magazine that was sitting on my desk - McCall Needlework, Winter 1948-9.

Show and tell

Just a quick show and tell of something I stitched up recently, a HIS pillowcase, featuring the bird and violin from Beetastic's Vogart 707 and I used the "his" transfer from one of my old mystery sheets. I added the music notes for a touch of kitsch.

Bonnets and baking (Workbasket 2-910)

In direct contrast to my previous post, today's pattern is a totally clothed woman from the Workbasket magazine, dating from November 1944. The sheet has 7 Colonial lady motifs for DOW tea towels, and patterns for an "Animal Collection" of little stuffed toys, including a chick, duck, giraffe, zebra, camel, elephant and rabbit all around 5 inches high.

The lady with the bonnet (and cap) is doing your usual things, Monday washing etc, although on Wednesday she's sitting in a rocking chair knitting. I picked Saturday's baking pic to show you, as I thought it might go nicely with Vogart's "Bake on Saturday" design. Plus, baking is the only household chore I have any interest in! Let me know if you'd like to see any of the others.

PS. I might have to re-scan this one, as the quality is lacking.

Stitchy Facelift!

I'm always playing with the blog template, I was about to say "no prizes for guessing the inspiration", but well... If you leave a comment and tell me which pattern company inflenced the latest header design, I'll pick one of the comments at random and send you a transfer by that same company. Just to say thanks for reading, and to encourage de-lurking!

xx Drewzel

NB. I can't guarantee which transfer, if it's complete or uncut, etc etc, but it will be stitchable and nice.

By request : for the birds

A veritable deluge of stitching delights here for you this week on the Stitchy Britches! Mostly because my carpal tunnel is giving me grief, so no stitching for me. (The operation is looking more appealing every day.) As birdie love is strong out there, here's some extra birdie designs for you. I'm always happy to check the collection for motifs you'd like to see, but make sure you let me know and show me if you stitch it up!

First one, from the aforeblogged Vogart 703, especially for Claire:

And here are a couple of modern ones that I found at the op-shop on Monday - scanned for Steph:

A little wee bird:
If you drop by, be sure to vote in my sidebar poll - so far "people" are leading! It also lets me know what you'd like to see more of. I seem to be the only punter who voted for "kitties" ...and I didn't dare put "chickens" as an option!

Workbasket 82 : DOW tea towel girls

I think this one is a Workbasket transfer, although it has no markings, only the number 82. The instructions, paper and colour of the sheet are the same as the Workbasket sheets, and this one features morning glories, pansy pillowcase, and these little girls. One thing I like about the Workbasket sheets is how the artists seem to fill in the gaps with random flowers, scrolls and anything that takes their fancy. This one has a smiling kitty for no apparent reason:

Although now that I think about it, maybe you're supposed to put him with the little girls, he's the right scale for that.
There's no word lettering on this one, so for a change, you can choose what day you do which chore (except for maybe church on Sunday, the little girl is there with a hymnbook singing away. ) Anyway, I picked baking and ironing to share...I love her frilly bloomers!

Hola! It's Workbasket 2-943

This sheet is the usual panoply of designs and projects, there's a luncheon cloth, pillowslip, scarf, and child's garment motifs. I found out here that it dates to August 1947.

As I was extracting the morning glories from this Workbasket transfer, I thought I'd show you the "Mexican designs for luncheon cloths and napkins." The instructions recommend using "bright fiesta colours - red, green, blue, orange and turquoise". The girl is rather pretty:

I'm not sure if she's got her eyes shut in a coquettish flutter, or she's about to pass out from the weight of the fruit on her head! I've never been to Mexico, but from my impressions of the country from Stitchy World, every woman walks around with a fruit basket on her head, and every man will sing to you:

This mariachi fellow looks a bit cheesy to me!

And of course, there's always a donkey:

Alas, no chickens.
Ole!

Morning Glories

Yesterday Jeanne asked about morning glory patterns, so I went through my stash last night (after I sorted this out). I only found two, so here they are.

The first one is a Workbasket transfer, from sheet 2-943:

[click on the pic for large size}


The other one is an anonymous pattern that was included in a bundle I got somewhere along the line. It also has roses and there are no markings on the sheet. My guess is that it was made by Superior, as the transfer ink is a sort of metallic green that I've noticed on the older Superior transfers I've got. This pattern is for cutwork, and I'm thinking it's pre-1940 by the design style and the age of the paper.



If I get any more morning glory patterns, I'll definitely share them.

Update - I just realised I've got some more morning glories on Workbasket 82...here they are:

Baby pillowcase

Birdies pillow case, originally uploaded by Playingwithbrushes.

Speaking of pillowcases, the ever-lovely LucyEllen pointed me to Renee's Embroidery Patterns photoset, and I found this design. Isn't it so sweet? I'll have to stitch this up on a baby quilt or pillowcase, I think it's adorable. Check out the rest of Renee's pics for some very cute patterns to stitch. Hooray for sharing!

Pillowcase lurve

pillowcase lurve, originally uploaded by drewzel.

Just so that you don't think I'm all britchin' and no stitchin' here's a pic of a couple of my latest pillowcases. Stitching pillowcases seems to be my latest obsession, and I can't wait to get them on the bed, so I haven't got a decent photo of them!

You may recognise the sleepy girls from the Vogart pattern, the "sweet dreams" motif is from a 1940's Simplicity pattern, but copyright prevents me from sharing that. (It would be easy to design your own along similar lines.) The rooster case at the back is from a Workbasket sheet I have, and Floresita has also shared it on her blog. (I had to get a chicken into the bedroom somehow!)

As an aside, I didn't make that quilt that they're sitting on, but I couldn't help buying it as I loved the colours.

More kitty fun!

clean kitty, originally uploaded by drewzel.

When I got this kitty and the other 6 DOW transfers, they were already cut, so I didn't know where they were from. I suspected they were Workbasket due to the red ink and type of paper. So hooray for Floresita, who had already identified and shared the "wash" kitty here. I don't have the whole sheet though, only the set of kitties.

This "clean" one was my favourite...although, I have 4 cats, and I've never seen one wielding a broom and doing any cleaning for me!

Birdie love

Over at Sweetbee's Vintage Finds, B was wondering why there's so many embroidery designs with birds on them. Maybe they're popular for pillowcase designs as they're a bit more lively than flowers, and are always sweet and cute. The only answer I can come up with is that everyone loves wee birds...well, I know I do. So to add to the birdie love, here's a pattern from an unknown maker. I suspect this was originally a Laura Wheeler design, as the style and typeface are identical. I'm guessing this one is from the 60's or later, and came out after Laura Wheeler Designs were no more? If anyone knows, please update me.

In the meantime, here's some birdies for "towels, scarves, pillowcases or other household linen." Click on the pic for the full size, and then save, resize, print and stitch away!

Doll accessories

doll, originally uploaded by drewzel.

Here's a nice little pattern from 'Woman and Home' magazine of 1947. Use felt to make some little clothes for someone's favourite dolly. I really like the little booties, and think you could easily resize and adapt them to make cute baby shoes. Click on the picture and "all sizes" in Flickr to print and read instructions.

Donkeys from Vogart 133

2 donkeys, originally uploaded by drewzel.

Here's a scan of them, for your stitching pleasure!

Little Burro

As I'm having a picture day today (well that's what it's turned into) I thought I'd share one I've done.
Further examination of my 'South of the Border' pattern revealed two unused donkey transfers. So I decided to use one for stiching up a redwork "penny square" for a swap I'm in. Much cuteness!

Chicken and Rooster Tea Towel

Chicken and Rooster Tea Towel, originally uploaded by colonial stitcher.

Further to this post, Colonial Stitcher has stitched up the very cute (yes, you know I love chickens!) on a gorgeous tea towel. She sells her work through Etsy - check out her other stitched creations here. (I was going to buy it, but I found her store about 30 minutes after I was told I had to get 4 new tyres for my car, and my bank account shrivelled up.) Anyway...

Yay! I love to see what people make with the patterns.

Brunkhorst Family Heirlooms

Brunkhorst Family Heirlooms, originally uploaded by Gigi & Big Red.

Here's some nice eye candy for you, this is a pic of Gigi's linen collection. Gigi says "My mother-in-law handed all of these gorgeous linens down to me from her two aunties. They will be cherished."
Lucky girl! I think we should all start stitching gorgeous things to either start or add to our own family collections. Alas, I don't have any handed down linens, but my collection of "adoptees" is always growing!