I have acquired a few vintage photographs over the years, and particularly like those featuring horses or dogs, and those where the ‘sitter’ is striking an unusual pose (like the girl doing a handstand below).
At this time of year when a lot of families get together, there is a certain poignant nature to vintage and antique black and white photographs. I hope that the subjects enjoyed many happy Christmases together with those they loved.
In need of a Christmas present for a friend, I had a think about how I might be able to use some lovely soft red leather that I have, and decided on this- a leather envelope clutch. As the recipient is a regular letter writer, I filled the envelope with some hand printed notecards.
Once I had decided on size and design, this was actually a really quick DIY project, and the relatively small amount of leather used means that it could be a way of upcycling a no longer worn leather jacket.
The size of the clutch was determined in this case by the fact that I wanted to fill the finished article with some note cards: I found an appropriately sized paper envelope, opened it up, and used it as a template to cut the leather.
The leather envelope is held together primarily using two heart-shaped split-pins (brads), and one brass eyelet. The envelope was folded up into shape, and holes pierced to insert the split-pins. In order to further stabilise the shape of the envelope I used a small amount of glue to secure the side and lower flaps together (between the bottom corners and the position of the split-pins).
Once the split-pins had been fixed in place, a hole was pierced in the top flap and a brass eyelet inserted.
The eyelet pliers were used to open and flatten the back of the eyelet, fixing it in place.
A ribbon threaded through the eyelet- with a well placed bow- serves to fasten the envelope closed.
I used a rubber stamps to decorate some plain notecards and envelopes, which I placed inside the leather clutch before wrapping it up for Christmas!
This post could also be titled ‘So Many Patterns, So Little Time’! When I do have the time, I look forward to making the Vogue coat pattern shown in red below.
Vintage sewing patterns often have the added bonus of some lovely (and glamorous!) illustrations on the packet.
In preparation for Christmas I have been making a few decorations – a friend requested these yarn and paper pompoms in less traditional Christmas colours, but they look great in green, white or red too.
The yarn pompoms were very quick to make, and are a good stash-busting project to use up small lengths of leftover yarn. The paper honeycomb pompoms were a bit more time-consuming and fiddly, however I felt that they looked good enough when finished to be worth the effort!
I apologise in advance if I am slow to moderate any comments kindly left by you lovely readers over the next week or so. Tomorrow I am going into hospital for a hip replacement, and am currently unsure how many days I’ll be in for.
I have scheduled a few posts in advance for the next two weeks to keep the blog going in my absence, and expect I’ll be back home and making things (and taking photographs) before too long!
Please feel free to leave comments on posts, they are always lovely to receive, and I will moderate them as soon as I can.
I look forward to seeing you all again soon!
With the darker days at this time of year I find bright colours particularly appealing. The colours of these vintage wooden Sylko cotton reels are inspiring me to get sewing!
I started wrapping Christmas presents last week so that they are ready to give to the friends I will be seeing in the run-up to Christmas. I really like the presents I wrap to look nice, so it tends to take a little longer than it should.
I particularly enjoy finding slightly different materials to use, such as the red feathers used on the cube-shaped parcel here. Present wrapping can be a great opportunity for upcycling: the wide, textured, red cotton ribbon actually started life as curtain header tape! And don’t tell anyone, but the lovely, thick, luxurious wrapping paper in these pictures was actually free wallpaper samples…
I’m knitting a few presents to give to friends and family at Christmas this year, and finding inspiration in my stash of yarn. I’ve stuck to my New Year’s Resolution, and haven’t bought any new yarn in 2014! Hopefully I will make it to the end of the year without making any accidental yarn purchases…
I try to buy wooden or bamboo knitting needles, as I find them warmer and more comfortable to work with than metal or plastic ones. The ones shown here were all plain when I bought them; I painted the knob at the end in a bright colour, painted on white polka dots, and then added a coat of varnish. I don’t see why tools shouldn’t look pretty, plus it makes it easier to spot a pair of needles in the size that I am after!
Many Bright Things 