Samplers - Early Blogs

Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC, Textiles: Samplers

Seems a new idea

"Look at me, I was here."

Samplers were blogs too!

Embellishment Inspiration: Personable Lions - Antique Printed Fabric

 These charming lions were block printed on cotton fabric, in Iran,  sometimes between the 10'th and 11th centuries. Eventually traders imported block printed fabric on to other lands and  Europeans were inspired by the use of wooden or metal blocks, to print on fabric of their own. 

I think this design would make a charming modern fabric. A quilt for a child? Definitely! But also I can imagine borrowing this pattern for patch pockets, tote bags, or miniaturized for a border print on a skirt hem or shirt cuffs.

Web Resources: Fashion and Virtue

Textile Patterns and the Print Revolution, 1520–1620

Antique-Retro Threads: Plum-Purple Pocket Dress - Mid Twentieth Century

   

 I have  been thinking about adding embellishments to basic patterns lately, as I've been working on creating a rather

challenging embellishment on the straight skirt I've been sewing, using a pattern I created from my sloper. I haven't blogged about that project yet, other than a posting describing how I created the pattern.  

My own embellishment work got me thinking about this plum-purple frock,  that caught my eye at  the exhibit From Rationing to Rationing at the Museum of Vancouver. I saw it on our visit to Vancouver Canada in the fall of 2014. Yup, that's the visit, for which, I created my audio show  Embellishment Via Vancouver B.C.

 ~ ~ ~ 

Pensamientos/Thoughts for this plum-purple pocket dress...

Fashion doesn't necessarily move as fast in real life as it does on the pages of a magazine. I recall dresses from my own childhood, in the 1960's, that harked back to many of the design elements in this dress, which is probably an end-of-the war, or just post-war creation.
* The fitted bodice is very mid-twentieth century
* Dainty collars added a popular innocent look
* No-button buttons were a simple embellishment many home sewers added. Buttons were often recycled from worn-out garments, so sewists had them around
* Short puffed sleeves stayed in style for several decades, certainly through the seventies
* Yokes also stayed popular through the late seventies
* Lots of pretty edging and trims like these, served up on plain fabric backgrounds,  are really reminiscent of the mid-century, before the mid-sixties, when dresses got much shorter and styles became all about crazy prints. Sewing up prints was in vogue, because printed fabrics were suddenly much more affordable and available.

And what about that pocket!

I created a similar pocket on my favorite black velvet bath robe, a few years back, by angling out the sides of a rounded pocket pattern. This one looks even more full. I must try fooling around with a pocket pattern to get a similar effect.

The pocket also  dips down in a heart shape in the center. And what about that beautiful embroidered velvet trim! It really tops off the pocket nicely.

* Lots of detail on the yoke was again very popular. It works because of the plain-colored background, even this peach colored lace can be over-embellished. I think that trim worked with ribbon is called insertion.
* Dark colored velvet bows at the neckline have a very mid-twentieth-century look as well. Doris Day often wore bows like this in her movies, especially black ones. Velvet bows were also popular as hair adornments. That was a signature style for Rosemarie in the Dick Van Dyke show, of course. Well into the sixties we could buy velvet bows on hair clips at the 5 and 10 cent store. I guess that would be the 5 and 10 dollar store now!

Reflecting on styles that affected fashions from my childhood, and considering embellishment elements that still work today - That's the kind of thing that keeps me ...

Enchanted By Sewing!

Ench By Sew-31: Historical Bathing Beauties

The April Enchanted By Sewing, Episode 31 Audio Show is Up !

Option I) Listen to the Audio right on the web by clicking on this link - No need to download 

~ OR ~

Option II)  Click on this link to iTunes  to download this and other Enchanted by Sewing shows to your mobile device (iPhone, Android, etc.) free from iTunes

Bathing and swim wear has certainly changed from the cover-em-up days!

 Have you ever sewn your own swim or bathing suit? I created a couple of bikinis way, way back in high school, but since then, frankly, I’ve been happier to buy my suits. I do however often stop off at various sewing blogs to sample bathing fashion creations that other sewists have created, and daydream a little at trying my hand at another suit one day.

I also get a kick out of hearing and reading about how bathing suits have changed over time, and thinking about what a shock people must have had to suddenly start seeing others, especially women, revealing so much of their flesh on beaches! The big changes in swim suit styling around the 1920’s seem to have been about the time when the  sport changed from ‘bathing’ to ‘swimming’ in the English speaking world. It wasn’t enough just to immerse ourselves in water outside, as we did indoors anymore. Now more people wanted to get some exercise when they went into a pool, river or ocean.

This month I’m sharing a walk around an historical bathing suit exhibit I saw at the Vancouver Maritime Museum in the fall of 2014. Won’t you let me know if this show gets you in the mood to sew your own modern day or historically inspired bathing or swimming suit, by posting below?

Babes & Bathers: History of the Swimsuit
http://vancouvermaritimemuseum.com/press/babes-bathers-exhibit-opens-maritime-museum.

Here is the promotion for the exhibit, from the web link at the museum. Please note that the show is no longer running.
‘
"In a city surrounded by water, swimsuits have always been an essential part of our wardrobe as Vancouverites. From swimming costumes to bikinis, bathing suit styles have fluctuated from the modest to the more revealing, all in a desire to make us fashionable by the water’s edge. Drawing on the private collections of celebrated fashion historian Ivan Sayers, you can now see the modest suits, revealing bikinis, and sometimes outrageous costumes that have been spotted on Vancouver beaches since the 1890s. "  http://www.vancouvermaritimemuseum.com/

Grandmother Ruby's Dance Dress

What inspired you to sew this dance dress back in 1940, Grandmother Ruby?

Where did you get the fabric? Could it have been silk taffeta? Was this before fabric rationing?

How long did it take you to fit and sew the pattern?

Did anybody in the family help you to make up the beautiful blue dress?

Who did you dance with when you wore it?

Did you wear the dress many times after this? Did anybody else in the family wear it?

Did you ever make the dress over into another garment?

What's the story, Grandmother Ruby?

Antique Threads - Up to Dating Ruffles and Teacups (Historic Inspiration)

If you listened to my July podcast from the fashion gallery of the Victoria and Albert (V&A) in London, you'll recall that I was in sewist heaven when it came to studying fashions in the V&A's collection.

I haven't even finished blogging about some of my ideas from that trip yet - thoughts on creating new looks based on gorgeous antique and retro garments I talked about and photographed in the V&A - before a new book purchase*  get me heading out to search the free on-web collection at the V&A museum, to look up more details from several historic beauties mentioned in this delicious book.

What's the appeal? Not only are were the
edges of these silk strips left raw, the gathered band
was also twisted in a sinuous pattern.

As a result, I have fallen for a dress. 

It's one of those sewing danger things, right? Bad enough when the inspiration garment is something I might wear only once to a wedding or a performance at the opera, but I had to get knocked over by an embroidered silk doozy from the late eighteenth century. 

We're talking here about twenty or thirty yards of silk. We're talking about major ruffles and teacups. We are talking about something that would not even fit through the door of the mini van!

It's the pinked and scalloped strips of silk on this gown** from the late eighteen century that have me itching to come up with a modern way to use this style of embellishment. But I haven't been able to see past the style of this lovely, but totally impractical for modern times (!) sack-back gown. I couldn't see it in a vest, jacket or skirt. OK, I could but the look would have been waaayyyy too fussy. 

.

I had forgotten, however, about this outfit*** I pinned on my Pinterest Historic and Retro Sewing Board. Me oh my, it gives me ideas for deploying that really cool ruffle. 

Can't you just see that snakey, raw edged, twisted, ruffle in a very light weight denim? I can. It's slithering along the edge of a nicely flowing denim shirt or jacket. Perhaps it's just a touch narrower. And in combination with something like this floral skirt in a lovely, fluid voile - or maybe a homespun style check or plaid like the trim on this skirt -, it would really hit the spot.

I bet you know how it goes. Historically inspired, modern fashion is the kind of sewing daydream that keeps me....

Enchanted by Sewing!

~ ~ ~

Resources

* Seventeenth and Eighteenth-Century Fashion in Detail, by Avril Hart and Susan North 

Search the V&A Collections http://collections.vam.ac.uk

** Details on and photos of the glorious gold sack-back gown at http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O127134/sack-back-gown-unknown/

I have several Pinterest sewing theme boards at http://www.pinterest.com/lrshimer/ You don't have to join Pinterest to look at them.


*** I'm not sure of the original context for this garment. I saw it on someone else's board. The only link that comes up for it is 
http://p7.storage.canalblog.com/76/26/647625/85282790_o.jpg

Antique Threads: Miss Firbank's Pink Linen Cuff (Victoria and Albert Fashion Gallery)

One hundred of
Miss Heather Firbank's
garments can by found by
searching the V&A collection

In the Enchanted by Sewing Podcast for July, I took my listeners on an audio tour of London's Victoria and Albert Fashion Gallery. There I described numerous historic garments, as I encountered them. (You can listen to this podcast on line, or download it to your iPhone, Android or other mobile device http://www.enchantedbysewing.blogspot.com) You'll recall that several of the fashions I mentioned in the show, were from the wardrobe of Miss Heather Firbank (daughter of M.P. Sir Thomas Firbank and sister of the novelist Ronald Firbank). She wore them in the early part of the twentieth century (Edwardian  Era 1910-1920).

Well of course that bodice lace is
gorgeous. And we always get a kick from
the s-shaped bodice that made fashionable
gals look like pouter pigeons.

One of Miss Firbank's garments was a beautiful pink linen day dress. It's got a very Gibson Girl look, and reminds me of several of the photos from Agatha Christie's autobiography. You can read more about this dress yourself, by following this link to the V&A collection . That link also brings up other views of the dress and more about the garment. Don't get me started on the pouter pigeon/S-Shaped look and the kind of corset a woman had to wear to create that shape under her clothes. Let's just say that her inner organs were possibly affected and leave it at that.

What most struck me, other than fact that I am particularly

Love the way the round shape of the
self-fabric covered button
draws attention to the squared off tabs
and rounded half circle rising up to meet it.
The lace is pretty,
but don't you think it distracts from
the cuff?

partial to pastel shades of linen, was the cuff.   I'm glad I snapped some detail showing the cuff, because whoever took this part of the collection photograph for the V&A, went mainly for the whole-garment, with some images of the stand-out bodice as well. I know that photographer's not a sewist because he/she didn't include a special photo of the cool cuff.

Don't you love those tabs, cut whole as part of the cuff? And how about those big self-fabric covered buttons and the topstitched edge? Hey, we're sewists! Could we not recreate that? You betcha!

Yes, I do like the waistband too
Don't even get me started on that!

I'm envisioning a loose linen jacket, maybe duster-style, something like what Miss Heather would have worn motoring, except mine would be mid-thigh length and I'd wear it over trousers (no I don't think this fashion forward lady would have been shocked). I'd make my sleeves 3/4 length, like I do my shirts. Because otherwise I always just roll my sleeves up and the beautiful cuff would be lost. I'd love to make a cuff like this up in a shell pink or pale lavender linen. The lace is pretty, but I think it distracts from the shape of those tabs and the nice big buttons. I'd scrap the lace.

Might it also work in a mid-weight dark blue wool jacket or coat, with a red silk lining or piping that just peeked out from behind? I'd cut the cuff lining just slightly bigger than the outside part of the cuff so that it brought up an edge to highlight the tabs. And definitely the topstitching would add the right kind of finish. But blue or red topstitching.... not sure. Would need to test that out. I'm sure I'd find some beautiful buttons to draw attention to the cuffs too - metal maybe...

Or how about one of those polyester (or real silk) brocades that have the pretty wrong side in contrasting colors? Again, cutting the lining side a big longer - and making the wrong side be the right side for the lining - would draw attention to those tabs. And of course then I'd cover the buttons with that wrong side of the fabric too.

Dreaming about how I might incorporate ideas from this gorgeous antique cuff keeps me... enchanted by sewing.

Pull Up a Chair in My California Driveway (Garden)

I sure appreciated the opportunity to spend an hour gardening in my driveway. The drive is the only place we get much sun. The birds and I love all the trees and bushes, but roses, succulents and geraniums do better on the drive. Another good reason to stick with only one car! 

Do you like gardening in pots as much as I do? They are definitely less challenging than real yard stuff, which takes more expertise and long-term thought and planning. I also planted some citron and deep blue colored hostas and iris in the yard. Hopefully they'll flourish. Also hopefully the slugs and snails won't be leaving too many calling cards. I understand coffee grounds help with that. First we have to see if those bulbs sprout. I was trying for a native plant garden in the shady spot I dug up for those today, but no dice. Native plants are, of course, harder to establish than domesticated European ones.

You have to know when to call it quits when it comes to busted chairs. It was a lovely antique'y looking thing, but had broken in a no-good-way-to-fix-it manner.  It came out of the house and sat forlornly in the drive, supposedly waiting to go out on big garbage day, then O'Malley Cat took it over.  O'Malley is unhappy with me for taking over his old cat nap chair. However, he still has full access to a spot on our bed, as well as several benches in the yard, and a variety of other cosy warm spots on the car hood, along the fence, etc.. I think he'll survive my theft.

Tit forTatting... Embellishing my Buttercup Purse

I love this way this bag looks
with my new yellow tee shirt
The combination inspires me to get a camisole sewn
for this tee sooner rather than later.

You may also enjoy 

Do you Love Butter? In Praise of the Buttercup Purse

In case English isn't your first language, or you just never encountered the expression before, tit for tat refers to payback. For example, if you used my new sewing scissors to cut out paper, I might borrow your hammer to pound the pavement and leave it out in the rain. I'd never do that of course, just saying....

I don't know of any actual connection between my piece of tatting and that idiomatic phrase.

Yes, hooray! I finished my new bluebird buttercup purse. In Do you Love Butter? In Praise of the Buttercup Purse, I  had a lot of fun blogging about the buttercup game (as played by my mother when she was a little girl) that this pattern brings to mind. 

What do I especially like about my new bag?
1) Simple quilting, batting and crinoline interfacing gives it real substance and the potential to hold up to what I put in her.
2) An excuse to embellish a covered button with a bluebird's face. Isn't that a darling closure?
3) The opportunity to make use of eight inches of vintage tatting that I bought at last weeks De Anza Flea Market. I'm pretty sure that's a world's record for me when it comes to speed at which I used a newly acquired embellishment.

Closeup of bag, tatting
and covered button

I also love the way this bag goes with this sheer yellow tee shirt I finished a few weeks back. Unfortunately I can't wear them out together until I get a camisole sewn to go under the tee, as it's quite sheer. 

A Milk Can Remembers

Please click on the picture above

to enjoy more detailed milk can memories.

How many days, in her day after day never ending job, did Whilhelmina get up at 3 or 4 in the morning, to go out to the barn? The dozen patient Holsteins knew her touch so well. It was a rare day when she had to fix the stanchion in place to keep them still. Bucket after bucket filled to the brim, were poured into the big metal can. Did she sing “Springfield Mountain” to them while she worked? Or did she maybe whistle the jaunty little air she’d played on the piano the night before?

How many pounds of butter did she make? How many children on her farm, or just down the road in the new town, where people didn’t have enough land to keep a cow, flourished on the milk?

Even the metal remains of the old milk can, carry me back through time.

Searching for Csilla: The Library in Part 4

Please click on the picture above to enjoy the details of this library,

an illustration in the serial story, Searching for Csilla

Once she’d confirmed that the lovely, Romanesque style red brick building two blocks down, was indeed 1229, Ezther was ready to move on.

“Wait a minute.” I scurried up the steps to read from a brass plaque bolted to the wall. “The sign says it’s the original library and it was built in 1917.”

“Oh you and your old buildings!”

Catchup on the story, Searching for Csilla

Searching for Csilla: Part 4

Did you miss any previous episodes in this serial?

Searching for Csilla: Part 1, Searching for Csilla: Part 2, Searching for Csilla: Part 3

The old mission buildings had been restored about five years before. I stopped to run my fingers over the rough walls and admire the bits of gravel and ancient straw that had been left sticking out of the plaster.

My daughter passed the time while I admired the building, checking her incoming text messages.

“Really Ezter, you ought to look at the color of this stucco. Isn’t it gorgeous? Can you imagine the people who did all this labor? I wonder what they talked about when they were working and what they thought of it when it was done.”

“Umm. We had to listen to a whole lecture on it in my class. Do you know what the population of native people was estimated at before the friends-of-the-inquisition arrived and forced the locals to build this place? And do you know how many of them died from the diseases the Spaniards introduced?”

“No. How many before and after?”

“Unh, well I forget. I learned it for the midterm, though. And if you recall, our people didn’t hold up so well in that era either.” Ezter slipped her phone back in her purse and gestured down the street. I think the numbers go up if we go that way. I’m looking for 1229.”

I took one glance back at the red tiled roofs, sent out a brief wordless message to the people who’d built them, as well as those who’d been compelled to create buildings from the monuments of Rome to the great white buildings in Washington D.C. , and followed after my daughter.

Once she’d confirmed that the lovely, Romanesque style red brick building two blocks down, was indeed 1229, Ezther was ready to move on.

“Wait a minute.” I scurried up the steps to read from a brass plaque bolted to the wall. “The sign says it’s the original library and it was built in 1917.”

“Oh you and your old buildings!”

“It’s one of your old buildings, isn’t it? Didn’t you say this is where your field trip is? It’s probably to do with the library.”

“No. It’s something about a time capsule that was buried in the yard when they built this. One of the humanities profs is opening it tomorrow. And there’s some guest coming from somewhere in Europe I think. I’m not sure.”

“If it was built in 1917 that was just a year after my great-aunt and her husband moved here from Hungary. You remember what I told you about your Grandmother and her twin? They were so close. And her sister left before things got so terrible for Jewish people during and after the war. But then Csilla died here and Grandmother survived to come later.”

“Un huh,” Ezther was clearly unimpressed. At this point in her life, her interest in history didn’t extend back much beyond how many pounds she’d pressed the day before, and how long it had been since she’d eaten apple cobbler.

I moved around the brick porch and read the rest of the plaques, using the light of my phone to pick out the letters under the dimness of the overhanging roof. I learned that the library had been built using money from one of the Carnegie grants, and that the original site had been something to do with an area called ‘Las Pilitas’.

By the time I finished reading the plaques and descended the steps, Ezther had found a flat square of grass and was doing some kind of abdominal exercises. They looked painful. There was an old walkway of colored mosaic tiles that wandered around past the steps and disappeared on the other side of an ancient growth of prickly pear cactus, that was covered in beautiful apricot and yellow buds .

The path was clearly a lot older than the library. I followed it around to the back of the building. It looked a lot like an old television show from my sixties-era childhood, called ‘Old Mission Days’.

There was a circular courtyard of terracotta pavers complete with a bubbling fountain, well stocked with algae but charming non the less. An adobe bench had been shaped out of a crumbling wall topped with more of the mosaics. The broken shards shimmered in the afternoon sun. Just as I’d been attracted to the walls of the mission, their very age made me want to touch them. I sat down on the old seat and slid a hesitant finger over the plaster, enjoying the rough texture and the warmth that rose from the old material after a day of absorbing the sun’s energy. Something swished past the fountain and a large, marmalade tom cat advanced slowly across the pavers in my direction. I wiggled one foot encouragingly

The motion raised some loose gravel that shot back under a gap in the bench and I felt a whiff of warm air rise up from underneath. There was a kind of faint snuffling sound and something rustled along beneath my seat. I’d had one or two encounters with mice that I hadn’t particularly enjoyed. I rose up quickly as the marmalade gentleman shot across the patio, his chubby cheeks aquiver with interest, and disappeared under the ledge of the stucco bench.

To Be Continued

Csilla's Story: Part 3

Please click on the picture above for more clues-following detail

Did you miss any previous episodes in this serial?

Searching for Csilla: Part 1

Searching for Csilla: Part 2

As I reached behind the art deco lamp and drew out the antique secretary box that Hilda pointed out, something inside me quivered. There was a something in this box, that was meant just for me.

The sensation reminded of a popular British mystery series my mother likes to read. The detective is an antiques dealer who has a sixth sense for the truly valuable, the one in a thousand true finds. She always feels a sudden tingling in her flesh when she touches something old that is truly unique. And of course that same little bit of e.s.p. always led her to discern who-done-it. I had tried one of the books and found myself unable to buy into the fantasy of the psychic reaction. Now my own skin was prickling.

I was sure I could feel something pulsing as I began thumbing through the old ivory edges in their plastic sleeves. The light was so dim in my corner of the shop, that I could barely make out the images of European castles, outsized pieces of fruit and scenic wonders of the western United States.

By the time I got to the very last card in the box, my hand was actually shaking. The card had fallen over onto it’s face and lay wedged against the back of the box. I’d known all along that this was it, the quest for this object had drawn me to this shop.

Was it a mistake that had positioned the card like this, I wondered? Or had some unseen presence hiding the image from a chance glance placed it there, just for me to find? Carefully, I dug the card out and, still keeping it upside down, I walked across the store to lay my find atop a red lacquer table that stood beneath an art deco skylight. Very slowly, I turned the plastic wrapped image over.

A beautiful, ribbon bedecked pig smiled up at me. So much for my spiritual quest.

“Did you find something, you liked?” Hilda was at my elbow, eyeing the red lacquered table in an appraising manner.

I picked up the card and pointed to it’s $3.95 tag. “Yes. My daughter has a collection of vintage Lucky Pig cards. She ought to like this one.”

“Oh yes? Did you look through that whole drawer? I just got that batch of cards in a few days ago. Maybe whoever brought them in was a collector as well. I’ll tell you what, you write down your name and email and I’ll keep my eyes peeled for you.”

As I followed her back to the counter I guessed that any future lucky pigs were going to cost me more than a nickel short of four bucks. Really the mystical spirit that moved me had been my daughters pig collection! Did I not have a life?

The two dealers were examining an old Raleigh bike in the front of the shop when I went up to pay for my solitary card.

“They just never believe me when I tell them I can’t pay more than forty or fifty dollars for an early twentieth century bike! It’s ninety years old and it works. Must be worth a fortune!”

“Especially since that article in the local about that Sudbo that turned up. Didn’t somebody pay ten thousand for it? Well you never know, Gail. Maybe somebody will bring us in one of those next. After all, he did build a hundred of them. There might just be another one in a shed somewhere that didn’t make it to the scrap yard.”

“Stranger things have happened. Hey, speaking of hot finds, did you hear that “County Pickers” got-“

I tuned out the two dealers fond hopes, and went on my way with my solitary pig card rattling around in it’s paper bag. Ezter had better appreciate it. I was starting to laugh at myself for putting together my fantasy discovery story. I’d wanted to see my daughter and made up an excuse to make it happen. I wondered what specials were on the menu at the Bear Valley Diner.

Over a a late lunch for me, and a very early supper for my daughter, I heard about Ezter’s three new clients at the gym. Two had asked for her by name. She had changed her major from business to sports nutrition that semester, and the new job was about all she seemed to think about, or at least it was all she was willing to tell her mother about.

I remembered the lucky pig card, midway through the apple cobbler à la mode. My daughter examined it briefly and dropped it casually in a plastic envelope in her purse. “Don’t lose it I snapped I paid $3.95 for it. When you decide to sell that prize collection of yours, in twenty years it could be worth $4.50.”

“Why are you being crabby, Mom? Bet you didn’t get enough exercise with driving down and all.” Besides, she added practically, they don’t put out the free cookies in your hotel until 4 o’clock.”

My daughter, the personal trainer was probably right. A walk after a big meal was always a good idea. And I still had that deflated feeling, as though something, but what I didn’t know, hadn’t panned out.

“Where do you want to go? Monterey?”

Monterey Street contained three of Ezter’s favorite clothing stores.

“I knew what’ll happen if we go that way. Let’s shop for you tomorrow morning before I leave. You probably need two new pairs of workout pants and at least three of those sixty dollar lace bras that last about four months.”

She wrinkled her nose but gave in.

“What about that area around the mission? I’ve got to drive down there on a field trip for my architecture class tomorrow afternoon, and I need to figure out where we’re going and if there’s parking.”

“Field trip on a Saturday?”

She shrugged. “It was the only time everybody could go. We’re not weekend slugs like when you were in college, Mom. You have no idea how much harder it is to be a student than it was when you were one.”

I kept my mouth firmly closed, having heard it before.

To be continued

Time Travel: A Primer, Lesson 7, Future Travel and Talk

I stumble on the remnants of the work of women who came before me, laying around in drawers, stores and flea markets. On a recent there-and-back-in-a-day trip to San Luis Obispo , I found 4 small embroidered napkins in an antique store for $1.50. I am not the person who will save the challenged economy with my spending habits.

I took the original photo of the street sign that I used to create this picture, in Madrid. (Go ahead and CLICK ON IT to enjoy the full beauty) It reminds me how much committed, work time hand embroidery takes. Even when I sit down to a spot of machine embroidery, it takes a good bit of labor.

These have definitely been well-used by a generation or more of mouth wipers, which was why they were priced so kindly. Who embroidered them? Did she enjoy herself, sitting out under the orchard on her farm in S.L.O. working away with that orange, yellow and red floss?

The napkins will work to line the inside top of a grocery carry bag I plan to sew . The embroidery can peep out and the stains will be down inside under the head of lettuce and can of beans. Somebody’s careful labor will live on for another generation or so and a San Luis Obispan farm woman, will travel forward in time to accompany me on my walk home.

She ought to be good for telling me a story.

Time Travel: A Primer, Lesson 2, Goin' for Baroque

~Please CLICK on this image to see the beautiful details~

The reason this gal is sitting down and her fella is standing, is because his clothes are a LOT more comfortable than hers. Breathing must have been really fun in that corset. Not to mention the probable height of her heels. They likely didn't make walking all that easy. Those corsets were so great for women's health :-) My Euro ancestress'ess likely didn't have to worry about that, because they were probably hanging out in the scullery or doing the laundry.

It looks like the well-dressed swell is playing a lute. The piece of music I included in this piece was written for Mozart for a keyboard, I'm sure this musical couple were influenced by it, though. His lady friend is apparently doing the singing, she has a little book on her lap.

I found this old pin at an antique shop yard sale. It's marked "Limoges" on the back, so I guess it is, though the original design is quite naive, not at all like the elegant china that is associated with Limoges. The little picture had a fair amount of missing bits and places where somebody tried to paint over some of the big scratches. When you play around with a piece this much, it takes you back to the first person that owned it. Wouldn't it be dandy to imagine that Rosine gave it to her sister Martha for her birthday? (For more about Martha and Rosine, see my blog entries for May 26 and May 27 ).

It looks like this little token of sisterly affection has been well loved over the years. The catch wasn't working any more. Clearly Martha wore it a lot. Maybe she was an amateur musician, like me and that's why her sister picked out the musical setting. Did she and Rosine play simple, parlor music like I do? Did they laugh at the artfully posed couple's outfits and compare the damsels torturous undergarments to their own modern and up to date health corsets?

It was a lot of fun cleaning up Martha's pin, then taking it from a blotchy little painting into a blurry landscape style, and, finally, securing it's place in time with a collage, using Photoshop CS4.

Martha Knuth's Birthday Card

Here is Martha Knuth's birthday card from Rosine. I altered the original quite a bit using Photoshop CS4. I wrote about this yesterday in my blog entry "From your Sister Rosine".

In the 'midst of a lot of hectic, I finished reading Nella Larsen's Passing * . It engaged me further in the question of people's concept of ethnicity and race. My daughter looks for a strong link with a group of people. But for me, my parents, and my grandparents, we focused more on reinventing ourselves within each generation.

The book club notes in the back of the book don't touch on these ideas at all. Another reason not to read what other people say about anything arty until I develop my own response.

* I cannot get 'underline' to work for the book title even when I edit the html directly