Chuffed

As you know, I love old books so I always have to have a good rummage through all the boxes of books whenever I'm in a charity shop, or at a jumble sale or flea market!

Just over a year ago I bought a 1949 edition of Dorothy Whipple's Because of the Lockwoods - you might remember me blogging about here. It's taken me a while to read it, not because it's a difficult read, but mainly because the only time I read is at bedtime and I tend to fall asleep, which is most annoying! Anyway, such was my enjoyment of this book from the outset that I vowed to look out for more of Dorothy Whipple's work. I have since purchased the Persephone edition of Someone at a Distance, but I really like to get my hands on old editions...there's just something about the old ones! So you can imagine how chuffed I was to come across this one recently at a local fleamarket:

No dust jacket and a little bit of damage to the spine, but I'm not bothered about that...I'm a book lover, not a book dealer! It has an inscription inside the front cover: "To Dad, With Best Wishes from John - Christmas 1941", which just makes me love it all the more! And, at 50p, I was even more chuffed!

I couldn't resist bringing home the needlework and dressmaking book - again 50p! It was a text book at Bingley Grammar School for Joan, Kathleen, Mary and Barbara, girls of Form 5A - I cannot be sure when, but the book is the 1937 edition. It is full of useful information, as well as snippets that make me smile, such as the advice when choosing the style and colour of a garment: "The Stout should always avoid bouffon style. Taffeta, for instance, is never a suitable material for a stout woman"!

I'm home alone today so, if I finish this now and speed through all my chores, I must just have time to read a little without nodding off!

Back soon,

Rebecca

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Tips for Tat

It's not very often that my 16 year old daugher and I have the chance to go charity shop browsing together so that in itself has been a real treat during this half term week. I've not had much luck in charity shops recently so I was delighted to find these:

Vintage pattern books and some old spoons...they're only EPNS but I love them, especially the small one from Harrods!

My daughter loves vintage clothes and has promised herself that, once her GCSEs are over, she is going to have a go at making herself a dress with some vintage fabric that she bought a year or so ago. These vintage patterns at 10p each were right up her street! The green dress in the centre is her favourite!

A bag of delights...well, to me anyway...full of embroidery threads and tapisserie wools for 50p!

Looking through our finds when we arrived home, we were both amazed at the intricacy of the gorgeous lace in the 'Tatting Designs' booklet and my daughter wondered how it was done. I had never tried tatting, but I knew that it involved a shuttle and that I didn't have one amongst all my bits and bobs, which meant that we would remain unenlightened! Imagine our surprise when, as I continued pulling different coloured skeins of embroidery thread from my 50p bag of delights, I found a shuttle complete with small piece of tatting (shown in the foreground of the photo below)! There was no longer any excuse not to tat! So we consulted YouTube for video demonstrations...the ladies there make it look so easy! I was all fingers and thumbs with it - lefthandedness, that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it! My daughter had slightly more success!

Hers is the piece that looks slightly more like knotting than tatting, but she has improved since and can 'double' and make a 'picot'! I think it could be a while before we have this gorgeous lace collar and cuffs set from 'Tatting Design' though!

Such skill, such patience and such beautiful end results! Any tips on how to tat?

Back soon,

Rebecca

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