Oodles and oodles

Whatever it is, it's fun

I like embroidery, and I like mysteries, and now I have an embroidery mystery to solve. I don't know what this embroidery technique is called, and I can't find a reference to it anywhere. It's similar to huck embroidery, but any huck embroidery I've ever seen has rows of woven, geometric designs. This doesn't.

 

 Here's where the mystery begins. Two of these stamped towels were among some linens I bought a few years ago at a sale. I thought they were standard-issue stamped embroidery, that would call for the usual embroidery stitches.

 

Fortunately, the original instructions were folded in with one of the towels. The instructions called for weaving rows of floss in the designs, then finishing with standard embroidery stitches.

 
 
You can see the weave of the fabric really well in these closeups. Trust me, it is not that obvious while you're stitching. This is a project that requires good light and good eyesight. Nonetheless, it is really fun. Those rows fill right in.

 

The outline stitch, which is not one of my favorites, is really necessary to define the design.
 
 

You could adapt any embroidery design to this technique, as long as it wasn't terribly intricate and provided some nice, open spaces. I think bolder colors work best. On the other towel, I'll probably use a darker shade of pink. I used three strands of floss for the weaving and two strands for most of the outlining. I ended up using three strands of pink for the outlining on the rose on the right, because the outlining on the pink on the left looked a little too thin.

 

And here's the finished design, before the towel was hemmed. I've since hemmed it, and now all it needs is the technique identified. Does anyone know? Whatever it is, it's extremely addictive, and I'm eager to try it out on some other projects.

p.s. The unidentified object in yesterday's post was a ketchup bottle cover, which Jenifir guessed right away. It was not, ahem, a cover for beer or cheap gin.

 
  
 
  

Crafts from the past

 

It was quite the Valentines weekend at Camp Oodles. We had planned to go out to dinner, the three of us, on Saturday night, but my daughter came up with a clever suggestion. Instead of saying, "I'm 15 years old and there's nothing I fear more than being seen with my parents in a restaurant," she said, "Why don't you make it a date night and I'll stay home?" So we did. And it was quite a treat.
 
On Sunday I went to a Valentines tea hosted by Margaret, where I caught up with Linda and saw a few dear friends that I literally have not seen in years. I managed to map a route to Margaret's house that took me by a little junk shop, where I found five of these tiny buttons, still on the cards.
 
 

 I also found a little bundle of these chenille bees.

 
 
And a big stack of 1950s and '60s knit and crochet pattern books, destined for Etsy. The shop had an enormous pile of them, but the newly organized me was more discerning than usual about which ones to buy. Part of the allure of old crafts books, other than the occasionally useful pattern, is the reassurance that you haven't gone so far round the bend that you're crocheting toilet-seat covers.
 
 

Every surface was fair game for crochet back in those days. Want to guess what this crocheted object is hiding?  I'll give you a hint: It's not a syrup bottle. There is a pattern in this book for a little beehive cover for a syrup bottle (it sounds cuter than it is). Sticky syrup and crocheted objects sound like a bad combination to me.

 

I like these little cases. I have a small collection of crocheted hat pincushions, and these would be a nice complement to them.

 
  
There are these tiny crocheted baskets, too, which an ambitious person might want to tackle for Easter. (In a more pleasing color combination, though, than gold and red with pastel candies.) There's another use for these baskets, too, and I'll quote directly from the book: "A sparkling golden basket ... to hold cigarettes for the bridge club."

Embroidering

A friend once told me that a person's brain waves, when she is embroidering, are similar to the brain waves produced during meditation. I have no idea if this is true, but it seems true and a harmless enough belief, so I've accepted it as fact.
 
 

I don't know that there's a huge difference between new floss and old floss. Old floss often turns up in boxes of sewing notions, like a little bonus. I like the soft lime color on the bottom and wonder if that was a color unique to the time. I do like those old labels.

 

The old hoops definitely are prettier. The wood is nicer and often has a little sheen to it. You know how people are embroidering pieces and framing them in embroidery hoops? I remember when that was popular before, maybe in the 1970s? You know what Oprah says about fashion: If you were young enough to wear it the first time a style went around, you're too old to wear it the next time it comes around. (See: bell bottoms, short skirts, leggings, etc.) I wonder if the same is true with crafts.
 
 
 
I think this is called a penny square - a little square to embroider and then use in a small quilt, sold for a penny. Maybe one of my quilting friends knows. Not that I plan to do it, but I think this would be nice to make in multiples in different colors. If embroidery does not produce meditative brain waves, certainly cross-stitching does. Such a nice rhythm, up and down, over and back. I suspect that if you right-click on this and print it out, you could make your own pattern.

 

I've had this piece, with the embroidery lines printed in color, for years. Very sweet, but I suspect that if I were going to make it, I'd have done so by now. By the way, the Great Backyard Bird Count starts today. You can be a good citizen, help the birds and never even leave the comfort of your warm and cozy home!

 

I finished this towel while watching "Project Runway" last night. I'm quite pleased with it. The pink and red are nice for Valentines Day, and the cherries are good for Presidents Day (Monday) and George Washington's birthday (Feb. 22). Every year, my mother made a cherry pie for Washington's birthday. I'm suddenly very, very hungry for a good cherry pie, not with the gloppy pie filling but with real cherries.
  
 
 

The crafting gods must not be ignored

 

First I found these - some little wooden bead toys that belonged to my mom.

 

A few hours later, I found these in a pile of old patterns. They're leaflets with drawings of little wooden bead toys and necklaces.

 
 
Some were cute.

 

And a few looked like the spawn of the devil himself. What the heck is that creature in the lower right corner?

 
 
There also was a leaflet that showed how to make flowerpots filled with wooden bead flowers.

 

In a different pile of patterns, I found this sheet. Within a span of hours, in three different locations, I found a vintage object, illustrations of variations on the vintage object, and then the instructions for making the vintage object. The crafting gods had spoken.

 

 Since I didn't have many kinds of beads, I used buttons, too.

 

I can't make many more lanky farm boys because I don't have many blue-jean colored oblong beads.

 

But I can make quite a few girls.

 

 I made a few for Valentines Day.

 
 
But you could make these for any holiday.

 

Especially any holiday that requires a hat that looks like a daisy.

Want to make some? Here are the directions, a little larger. 

 
 
 

 Have fun!
  
 
  
 
 
  

All-occasion wreaths

 

Good Morning wreath for a Monday morning. (Particularly this Monday morning, when we seem to be shrouded in fog and ice.)

 

Pink wreath for those days when it seems spring just can't get here soon enough.

 

Blue wreath for those times when you're feeling as if you have a chenille-rickrack-vintage button deficit.

 
 
Sometimes photos have a ridiculously cheering effect on me.

 

Yep, I could do this all day.

 
 
Except I really need to eat breakfast.

 

And get dressed. And go to work.

 
 
I'm going now. I'll leave you with directions to my Etsy shop (click right here!) if you want to see more.

 
  
 
  
 
 
 
 
 

Still a work in progress

 

I thought I'd have my project finished to photograph today, but I don't. Fortunately, all of you seem as entertained as I am by the magical combination of old buttons and a super-macro lens.

 

Know where I found this button? At a yard sale. At MY yard sale. Somehow it ended up in the jar of junk buttons. I don't know how that happened, but talk about a close call. The chenille spread in the background was today's thrift store find. It was such a mess I was almost embarrassed to take it to the register. It washed up beautifully, though.

 
 
Here's a still life I'm calling "Thrift Store Chenille Spread with Button, #2."

 

And here's one called "Maybe I'll Get My Project Done Tomorrow."

Just pretty

 

It doesn't happen very often

 

(because usually I make a huge mess when I'm working on something)



but sometimes all those buttons and the rickrack

 

and the pincushion and the button tin

 

look awfully pretty all on their own.


 
 
 
 
 

Today's question

So much to get done. Sending our eldest off to a program at a local college for a week, must pick up forms, shop for some clothes, get him packed. Getting ready for a quick trip to Pennsylvania ourselves, must pack, etc. Also must obsessively clean house, since I have this peculiar inability to leave home unless the house is perfectly clean. Also must purchase various gifts and cards for a number of relatives who decided to marry/graduate/be born in June. Also must find dog's vaccination certificate and pack up his blanky and toys so he can go to the swanky dog motel and not the kennel that scares him. Also must clean out car, which tends to get a bit messy during the yard sale season. Before any of this, laundry. So my question is:

Given everything I need to get done in the next 48 hours, why did making a teacup pincushion with my recently acquired vintage bird fabric become my highest priority?

Sort of new

The only good thing about never, ever getting anything new to wear (not that I'm bitter) is that when I do, I'm just beside myself with joy.

The term "new" might be debatable. The fabric is vintage Greeff that I got in a big box of fabric at a sale a few years ago. I had all the thread and bias tape that I needed. I even had five buttons that matched.

I used my favorite summer dress for the pattern. My favorite summer dress is pretty much two big rectangles with button closures on the shoulders and a tie at the waist, so it was pretty straightforward.

So now I've got something new - or vintage new - to wear to my nephew's graduation party this weekend.

 

p.s. Some of you have asked about the pattern. I traced around my old dress, which I bought about 10 years ago. It's really two big rectangles with curves for the arms and neck - the tie around the waist is what gives it the shape. If anybody knows of a similar pattern, let us all know!

Easy centerpiece

Vintage rack for glasses picked up at a yard sale last year + eight peat pots + eight snapdragons that haven't made it into the garden yet = quick flowers for the picnic table.