Monday, January 13, 2014

Small World...

My sewing machine has been kept busy as usual, as I work on re-stocking my shop after Christmas, as well as making pieces to put away for upcoming fairs...I've booked quite a few so far, the first of which will be the Original Vintage & Handmade February Fling, Chipping Sodbury on Feb 22nd. 

Organisers Michele and Jayne have made a change to their usual line-up of fairs this year, turning the February and September Textile Fairs into regular Vintage & Handmade ones, which are always so popular with the visitors. This means there will be four of them to enjoy, including the usual May and December ones!  
I've made a pair of pretty springtime cushions using some vintage hand embroidered linen and cheerful vintage gingham.
They are filled with feather pads and fasten with ties on the back for ease of laundering.
The embroidery is beautifully stitched.

More vintage hand embroidery feature on my next creation. I snipped these little butterfly motifs from the edge of an old damaged tray cloth...
I then simply stitched them onto cotton tape to make a pretty garland, similar to ones I've made in the past.
They'd add a pretty summery accent to a dresser...

To continue the heart theme of my previous post, I made these lavender-filled ones from antique linen and hand stitched cutwork. 


Finally, one of my handmade flapper style hat stands, that I make using as many authentic materials as possible.  
Close-up.
***
I've been doing a bit more vintage shopping too - Always on the look out for treasures large and small...
Large certainly sums up this original oil painting on canvas...
It measures a whopping 34" x 44".

It is beautifully painted and would provide a stunning focal point in the vintage style home.

I also uncovered some beautiful 'smalls' being offered for sale at one of my local haunts, by my vintage buddy Lyn. 
And how is this for a coincidence? - Lyn tells me that she was able to by a large quantity of beautiful haberdashery items recently from a lady from France, who turns out to be Claude from Dinan. Madame was a lovely lady I met back in 2009. 

On returning from our holiday to France of that year, I wrote my favourite blog post, where I enthused about all that was for sale and included many photos of the truly awesome haberdashery shop in Dinan. 

Owner Claude has now closed the shop, but has turned it into an English style Tea Rooms, which open during the French school holidays. Her blog with all the details can be found here.
Wonderful to know my latest finds have this provenance! I shall enjoy using these special treasures on some of my fairy dolls in the future.
:) 
Wishing you a happy week,
Niki x
PS: My thanks to Belinda for writing a post about my Nostalgia calendars on her blog

5 comments:

  1. its all so beautiful, cheered me up with my morning cuppa x

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  2. Pretty things
    Julie xxxxxxxx

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  3. Hi I've just been on the tour of your gorgeous summer house,it's exquisite and full of everything that I adore.It bought back warm memories of the lovely summer that we had in 2013.Can we maybe see what it looks like this summer?Kind regards Pam.

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  4. Hi I've just been on the tour of your gorgeous summer house,it's exquisite and full of everything that I adore.It bought back warm memories of the lovely summer that we had in 2013.Can we maybe see what it looks like this summer?Kind regards Pam.

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  5. Hi Pam,
    Thanks for your comment and for visiting my little hideaway in the garden. I was planing on changing the inside of it this year, as it needs a re-coat of paint...Maybe I'll show photos later in the year...
    Niki

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Thank you for finding the time to visit me...
Niki xx