The tales that cloth can tell, take the Jane Austen coverlet?

 

I love history and vintage is my vocabulary

Welcome to my vintage ramble, join me.  You are so welcome, make a warm drink and cosy down in your favourite chair, it is so lovely that you have joined me here for a catch up. Enjoy.

Fabrics such as old linens and cottons really do develop their own softness and character over the decades.  For me, at least there is nothing like them and I really love to go on the hunt for beautiful pieces to use in my designs.  Even the tiniest of scraps are welcome for me and I keep every tiny little scrap when I cut into them.  So many projects can be made from a little bit of beautiful fabric or indeed little bits can be joined up with tiny stitches to make a little patchwork of beauty to use in all sorts of designs.

As you know I always go on about the stories contained within and this sets my imagination on the go and I imagine what some of the stories might be. 

When I went to Jane Austen's cottage in Hampshire  last year, one of the loveliest of things was a quilt or coverlet as there is no wadding between the two layers, that Jane and her sister  Cassandra and their mother made together.   There are surviving letters that speak of the quilt making and reminding one another about finding fabrics from old clothing to be able to continue with the making of this so beautiful of quilts.  I stood there staring at it behind the glass and my mind wondered what stories this beauty had contained within in its weave.  The gossiping and laughter these fabrics were a party to.  The joys and sorrows and dreams of two young woman when at that time their options were limited.  Can you imagine the conversations each little piece of fabric over heard, it fascinates me.

The coverlet/quilt measures approximately  262cm X 232cm  and has a patchwork top and a cotton backing. It has a central panel as a diamond with birds and basket of flowers and the out edge is made of over 2500 tiny diamonds and at least 64 different fabrics. It is said to have been made in C1810/C1811.

We do not know exactly when this patchwork was made, but we do know that the Austen women were working on a quilt in May 1811 as Jane wrote in a letter to her sister, Cassandra, “Have you remembered to collect pieces  for the patchwork – we are at a standstill”. 

 So as you can see every scrap of fabric is useful and every piece has a story ...

I have started a few little fabric scrap tins from the tiniest of pieces to even, as you know, if you have been here with me for a while now my jar of hearts.  The heart jar has some beautiful pieces of fabrics cut into hearts for my work.  Some of which I will probably never come across again.  It is like a time capsule of antique fabrics through the decades and believe me if there was a fire that jar would be rescued and come with me.  A fabric history jar of beauty ..

Sometimes I have been lucky enough to pick up little packs at vintage fairs of tiny pieces of delicate and beautiful antique fabrics.  The joy I feel and the happiness it brings when I pick one or two to add to a project or memory roll. Adding layers and adding to history and I imagine in a 100 years from now who will be wondering about things that I have made or the sewing journals I have penned , will people be wondering like I do? who knows.. only time will tell.

For now I am happy in truffling and bundling fabrics to use.  Cutting little hearts from pieces of fabrics and of course creating and imagining along with designing and sewing.  The mindfulness of every stitch and the food for my soul, it makes me happy and content and brings joy to my life here in Dorset.  Nature here is abundant and so much inspires my everyday. 

It is not too far to go to the beaches.  Sandbanks is only around 12 miles away and Lyme Regis is under an hour for me to get my fix of breathing in the beautiful salty air and beach combing to find gorgeous seaweeds to press which I consider precious gifts the sea gives up to us on occasions.

The weather here has turned really very cold again with hard frost and some flurries of snow, so the log burner is lit and the candles and fairy lights are aglow.  I am working

in my favourite cosy chair and not in my studio.  Watching the flames dance and listening to a podcast or audio book whilst I stitch.  I know Spring is not that far away but for now working from Thimble Cottage is my preferred place to create.

I have been sat sketching designs whilst they are fresh in my mind and to be honest I love the process from drawing to stitching and seeing how my design unfolds.  I love the hand stitching of projects and sorting through any threads and fabrics that I wish to use in my designs.  

French knots are one of my favourite things to embroider, not to everyone's liking I know but what you can achieve by lots of little knots is really quiet amazing I think.

In addition I am loving the running stitch or Kantha stitch as well, it adds depth and texture to a piece and it is so simply to do when you get into the rhythm and flow of it and then the even and slow rocking of the needle and thread makes for a productive method in slow stitch. 

As you all know if you have been with me here of my stitchery journey for a while now, I am an avid journal keeper and especially of my sewing.  I like to document threads, fabrics and some methods and I even note if I have put something into a piece and do not like it.  I try not to have to unpick any work.  On antique fabrics that can be very delicate it can leave marks which I really do not like to do.  I write things down to document my ideas, likes and mistakes that I feel that I have made in a piece that I have stitched.  Little sketches of things and I have a journal purely for quotes or words to use in my work; I enjoy writing and so it adds to my enjoyment of each day.

On a personal level I have started writing out my family history in a journal and hand writing census and family members through through the decades.  My family history on my Fathers bloodline is where I have been researching for years now.  I would love to do my Nonna;s side ( his mum) but she came from an Italian Mum and so it is proving a lot more difficult I must say...  Although my Great Grandmother who was Italian married here in England at a private church on the Cricket St Thomas estate.  I was really amazed at that.  My imagination runs wild over how did they ever meet.  No one left to ask in the family from that era so it will probably remain a mystery ..

Since my last blog I have had a trip to Cheshire as my lovely friend who went back to Oz flew from Manchester Airport so I have been seeing friends up there.  I managed a

little truffling around the area and of course it is old mill country so able to find very old bobbins and some lovely spools of thread and lots of very old pegs to wind some of my beautiful embroidery threads around.  I managed to purchase a very old piece of cotton sheet that was really thin and delicate, to my delight and is easy to tear so that the edges are lightly frayed which I love to use in my work.  In antique shops around there you get a few very old loom shuttles and industrial things like that, I am yet to find old bits of fabrics that I love to use in my stitching but I probably am not looking in the right place ..

I have noticed this week that the days are getting longer and I am so happy with that, it is around 6pm that the sun sets and soon enough the clocks will change and it will be much longer days and night will be shorter which suits me ... my stitching days will be longer and some sewing in the garden listening to the birds will be here.  

On that happy note I will leave you now and thank you all for popping by I appreciate each and every one of you.

Until next time take care and of course HAPPY STITCHING!

Sarah XXX