1930 Original textile artwork....

Good morning all

When I went to Frome to the vintage textile fair I found an original piece of artwork for fabric.  I was so thrilled as it has written in pencil the date etc and I will be framing it and hanging it in my work room for the pure pleasure of looking at its beauty.

It is a textile design from 1930 and it is French.  The former fern textile mill that it was made in is now unfortunately closed.  There is a copy right on the back but I can not read it as its in pencil and a little faded.

It is hand painted and the background is blue with a white rose like flower painted on with ribbon like tendrils coming off of the flower.  It has been numbered 2953.

I am enchanted with my purchase and so happy to have some textile history for my work room, it seems fitting somehow.

It is still done like this today.  Liberty in London have designers for their fabrics and they still visit the archives for inspiration, can you imagine what wonderful designs are there.... I can only dream about it!

I think this is stunning

Can you imagine what originals are out there? somewhere there is the William Morris original design for The Strawberry Thief.... He painted that design in 1883 after watching birds in his kitchen garden at Kelmscott Manor in Gloucestershire.  I would love to see that, but for now I will just show you a picture of some of the fabric from that design...

Then my other favourite of his is the dove and the rose and I found this picture on google from its printing patterns for the textile.

So I think I will take some inspiration myself from these stunning designs and see what I can do with scraps of vintage fabrics and embroidery.....

Happy Stitching !

A Date for your diary....

Happy Weekend !

This is a date for your diary vintage lovers..... A talent for textile fair.

Brownsword Hall
Pummery Square
Poundbury
Dorchester
DT1 3GN

It is on Thursday July 10th 2014
9.30 - 4.00pm  and the entrance is Free.

There will be a great selection of antique linens and lace with fabrics and clothes and brocante.

There is a popular cafe nearby and plenty of free parking in the vicinity......

Some of the stall holders include ... The washerwoman, Donna Flower and Vintage to Victorian, with oodles more stalls as well.

I will be attending and hope to see some of you there.

Brownsword Hall at Poundbury

Have a great weekend and Happy Stitching !

Somerset Life Magazine

Good Morning all

Well drum roll ..... The July/Aug/Sept issue of Somerset Life has published one of my Vintage Wedding Samplers and also I wrote the article myself.

It is wonderful to see what you make in print and I have to say the photography I thought was wonderful!

I am working on more at the moment so watch this space :)

You can not buy the magazine here in England but they sent me a copy and it was a great day when I received it.

The front cover of the issue.

I am very pleased with the result and loved their layout for my sampler.

I have pictures of my wedding samplers that I have made people and

the thank you notes from the couples they were made for.

I love what I do and lots of care goes into my work but it is lovely when you know they really did love their gift that someone had commissioned for them!

Designing in the sun..... Treasures of the sea.

Good morning all

Well I am going to make the most of this glorious weather we are having here in the South of England.

Today I am going to take my design book into the garden and sit at the table under the umbrella and sit and sketch some new ideas and designs.... I have some lovely vintage fabrics to play with and I will be in the garden whilst working!!..... I am so pleased not to work in an office...

Last week I had a lovely walk at Mudeford Quay with a friend and wandered along the shoreline in amongst the pebbles and drift wood.  I found some stunning shells and all manner of great gifts that the sea gave up, so I will be looking at some of that for some great inspiration as well.

I have some stunning sea pottery as well so although it is not stitching, something will have to be done with that I think ...

Enjoy your day and hope you too can get to enjoy this great weather we are experiencing in England...

Happy Stitching!

I love it when the sea gives up treasures !!

Little pieces of vintage fabrics.....

Good Morning all

When I am cutting out applique pieces from my precious vintage fabrics, unless it is just but a thread left, I save all bits of fabrics.  I have a clip box and they go in there.  It is great if you just want to cut out a small heart, lets say, you can dig around in the box and you will find a lovely bit of fabric.

But I have discovered if you get some pieces and cut into small squares, then fold it into a triangle and back into itself as a triangle.  Then cut in half and sew along the bottom pulling the thread, it becomes a petal of a flower!  ... you can do each petal in different fabrics.  It is a great way of using all the bits of fabric up.

You can stitch them on to cardigans, handbags, cushions or make brooches or head bands......

It really is a great way to make scraps useful again.  Give it a go.

Well today I am going to be hopefully be sat in the garden if the weather holds and do some stitching and embroidery..... Have a great day.

Happy Stitching!

Cut five squares. fold in half and then back into its self and cut.

Five petals ready to stitch

do running stitch along bottom and add on next.

pull all five together stitch a vintage button in the middle and a pin on back

You could do every petal in a different vintage fabric, the possibilities are endless!

The Southbourne Shake and Stir vintage festival

Good Morning all

I wanted to share with you all a great vintage fair that was held in my home town of Southbourne in Bournemouth..... Shake and Stir!

It was on all over the weekend and I went to it on Sunday as I was in Frome on Saturday as you all know.

The Shake and Stir has stalls all along Fisherman's Walk with food and drink and a band stand with music going throughout the day along with 40/50's music playing in between.

The first sights as we walked along this wooded area were these beauties!

We could hear music playing and the sun shone for the whole event.  People were wandering around smiling and happy a there were lots of people who were dressed for the occasion.!

Some lads who were all dressed up and soaking in the atmosphere kindly posed for me!









They had some great stalls all through the walk including vintage type food places as well!

The Camp Cooks!

The coffee car was amazing! it was a green 1964 Morris Minor Traveller nick named  a moggie!  It was in great condition and my husband happily sampled a cup of great artisan coffee, he is OCD about his coffee and he thought this was excellent.... www.kingsjive.co.uk

Their motto is Have Wheels will travel  They are available for hire for weddings as well.

Kings Jive Tea, Coffee and Treats.

Sampling the coffee!

The music was playing and there were lots of great stalls selling all manor of things.  There was a guy selling mirrors made from driftwood found locally.  There were vintage clothes and shoes.

Then I came across Sarah's Victoriously Vintage stall.  This lady not only sells amazing picnic baskets and china but hires table settings like the one below!

Table settings for hire. 

Vintage picnic baskets for sale.


Website: sarahsvictoriouslyvintage.com

Every where you looked there were amazing stalls to tempt you including this one called Dark Matters. Which sold Brownies and Truffles.

Even the trees were ' in the mood '

There were areas with wild flowers, all the trees had bunting on them and my husband became a human sign for a while as it had fallen down !

wild flowers growing by the trees at Fishermans walk.

Fishermans walk.

The stalls went all the way through until you end up at the Beach on the cliff of Southbourne.  The venue is stunning.  You keep walking to the cliff top and come across the Vintage Village.

They had a huge marquee where there was music and entertainment all day which was free and in the evenings it was ticketed at £10 and had live music from Rockin the joint  at 7pm - 9pm  and The Regular Joes  from 9pm until 11pm.

The vintage village had a food vans and bars with bales of hay to sit on either in the sun or under shelter.  There was an information tent with the organisers in there to help you and give FREE programme's for the whole weekends events....

vintage goodies made from vintage blankets.

vintage clothes, hats and jewellery for sale.

This event is wonderful and next year I will be getting involved in it and will be having a stall myself.  I will be letting you know the dates in the next few weeks... so there is one for your diary for 2015 and not to be missed.  Bournemouth has some of the best and safest beaches and some lovely holiday flats, Hotels and Bed and Breakfasts.  There are also great camp sites as well.

I hope you have enjoyed this tip toe through a wonderful vintage festival.

Happy Stitching!

All the fun of the vintage fair!

Good morning all

And what a wonderful morning it is, the weather is so beautiful.

As you all know I went to the Vintage Bazaar on Saturday at Frome and it was amazing!  It was their annual textile fair and I felt that the organisers had pushed the boat out and gathered some amazing people selling such wonderful fabrics.  The organisers are Liz and Clare and they work extremely hard to make it look so easy and enjoyable!

When we arrived at the Cheese and Grain in Frome, you knew you were at the right place as this darling was parked outside.

We went inside and paid our £2 entry fee.  Always, there are lots of leaflets with up and coming vintage fairs and you can gather those up.

I was told by Jack that there was a stall with oodles of vintage paisley and to head for that straight away which I did..... I must report that I bought some amazing ones in such stunning colours and I am thrilled.

This stall was Nostalgia at No 1 stall with paisley's!

When you go to these events some people dress for the occasion and for some it is a life style.  I met two such people.

This lady is Marion and she always dresses in vintage clothes, I have seen her before and she was in the most stunning outfit in duck egg.  I plucked up the courage on Saturday to ask if I may take a photo of her for you all to see!

Then I moved along and met a wonderful lady called Emma who had a stall as well and she informed me she dresses in vintage clothes all the time.  She is allergic to the likes of top shop and other high street shops, she told me.  I think you will agree she looks amazing and so was her stall.

The lovely Emma and her stall.

Then I moved on and went to see the lovely Donna Flower and her beautiful stall.  I was able to pick up some really beautiful pieces of vintage quilts for my needle work cases that I make.  In addition to that I purchased some lovely fabrics and a rare hand painted design for fabric which was done in the 1930's.... this was the original art work for fabric to go to print.  I am going to frame it for my stitching room.  I now own a wonderful piece of fabric history!

Donna Flower

By now the place was packed out and the atmosphere was great.  I had said that I would find a lady there who belonged to my blog and who had a stall.  I am pleased to say I met a few of my blog members and it was lovely to put a face to some names.

This stall was vintage Jane's stall that she shared with a friend and it was wonderful to meet her.  We had a great chat and she had some great stock.  Her vintage buttons were stitched to old playing cards... it was really a great way to display them.

The next stall was Vintage to Victorian and this stock and stall is owned by a lovely lady by the name of Sue......  We had a lot of laughs and great chats about vintage fabrics and buttons and life in general.  I bought a great piece of vintage paisley from her and some mother of pearl buttons.  We have arranged that I will phone her to meet up again.....  To meet people so knowledgeable about fabrics and who are so passionate about the same things is a great thing.  In fact I was talking to Donna Flower about the same thing earlier.... We no longer felt like Dodo's... there are more of us!!

The stalls were buzzing and people chatting and happy and I got to say hello to Liz and Clare who both had stalls as well as organising the event.  People had come miles to be there and it was certainly worth it.  The hard work that goes into it and the hours these people put in is phenomenal.

 Clare's stall.

The Cheese and Grain was full of wonderful vintage fabrics and goodies to purchase.

The weather was so beautiful and we had lunch outside the Cheese and Grain and then I went back in and stayed to the end at 3pm.  I had purchased some stunning fabrics, buttons, lace and other fabric goodies.  Met up with some lovely friends, chatted and learnt more about how to tell the age of certain fabrics and lace.  The people who have the stalls are very knowledgeable and helpful. Anyone who was buying vintage for the first time would have had help from the best.

The above photos are taken from the stage in the Cheese and Grain of the view at the stalls below.  As you can see it was packed with stalls.  This was early morning before the crowds.... 

We had a great day and now I have to wait until Oct/Nov before the next vintage bazaar.... although there are lots of other venues for the summer and the stall holders will be attending some of those.

I hope you have enjoyed a quick walk through the vintage bazaar and have a Happy Stitching Day!