A mixed bag this month - how to make rugs by knotting pieces of rag around and through two strands of heavy cord*, tips on trimming using ric-rac, a very PA Dutch-looking tulip applique quilt, a baby's bonnet in crochet, and three pages of patterns to send away for - cross-stitch tea cloths, wooden garden markers, and an embroidered hanging. Full PDF can be downloaded from the Antique Pattern Library.
*The same technique is illustrated/explained much more completely in the Popular Mechanics reprint The Girl Mechanic, if you're really interested.
Just got 2 rag rugs my great-grandmother crocheted from, my aunt. Not the same sunny colors as the braided rag rug that died from overuse, but still lovely.
ReplyDeleteMy grandmother used to twist two colors of rick-rack together so she had a strip of alternating colors. She'd crochet edges along both sides and use this as an insert on a child's dress or trim on a pillowcase. I tried to removed the trim from old pillowcases, but I always ruined the edges. I don't know how to crochet, but I saved the trim for eons, until I faced the fact that I wasn't going to be able to salvage the stuff. For a congenital hoarder, that didn't come easily.
ReplyDeleteHas anyone ever seen an extra large pattern for an embroidered cottage in a garden picture from the UK? My landlady of a long time ago had a completed one, on linen, that her mother or grandmother had done before WWII, all framed, hanging in her living room. It was about 2'x3', just bursting with a flower border that would have done Gertrude Jekyll proud, the cottage being just background. I've been looking for one for years without success. Anyone?
ReplyDeleteCan you check out the five issues of "Good Needlework" on Sarah Bradberry's site, knitting-and.com? I have seen several cottage embroideries BUT you will have to copy and enlarge them.
ReplyDeleteShay - Thanks for the site. Fingers crossed, I finally find something.
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