Bringing Chenille Out of the Closet

Before I can get started embroidering again, I have some major cleaning up to do.  

It's been about three years since I re-filed beads and threads for some of my major projects.   I know it's not sexy but it has to be done.

The good news is that I'm opening drawers and cleaning out closets and uncovering lots of little treasures I haven't seen in a while.

Look what was wrapped in tissue on a back shelf in the closet of my sewing room...

It's a handmade box with the top embroidered in silk chenille on velvet and it's still in great condition.  I have often admired antique samples of chenille embroidery but must admit to being challenged with using chenille myself.  

That being said, the thread has a wonderfully rich texture and blends beautifully with velvet and other chenille threads.  It's an underused and undervalued thread in our contemporary embroidery arsenal and I've always wanted to find more contemporary methods for using it.

On this box top, the chenille has aged such that both the nap of the velvet and the nap of the chenille thread blend seamlessly with one another...

Wool was used to stitch the daisies and I can see some padding underneath the flower in this picture where some of the wool has pulled away...

That makes sense since otherwise the wool stitches wouldn't lie as nicely and might get lost amongst the velvet's nap.

There are also a few variegated chenille threads and at least seven different shades of green and green/brown were used in the leaves and stems.

You can really see all the colors of the threads in this padded bud below...

I would have never thought to pile on the stitches in that way but the overall effect in the entire composition is stunning.

The interior of the box is finished beautifully and remains in very good condition...

I'm particularly fond of the hand-stitched box pleats and the bobbin lace tucked underneath...

Too pretty not to share.

Now back to cleaning and organizing for me...

One Treasure Put to Good Use

We all have them. Little treasures tucked away.

A beautifully-carved shell button. A cabochon with a pansy, painted to perfection. A box of exceptionally-woven ribbons.

And these treasures are stored away waiting for us to find them anew...

And to re-discover their delight.


And try as we might to actually use one of these treasures in our artwork, more often than not we find we cannot do it. We cannot part with it.

It's too precious...too rare...we may never find one again...

But what use is it sitting in a drawer hidden away where we can't enjoy it?

Maybe we should use it on something that we'll see and use every day. Someplace where it will completely perk up the neighborhood...


I've never had so much fun attaching a strap to a camera.

And it was one of the quickest and easiest projects I've ever done, once I got past the decision to actually use the ribbon.


And I'm so glad I did. Now I'll see it every day.

And just in case I'll regret using that ribbon, I took a pretty picture to tuck away for safekeeping.


And to share with all of you.

A simple but extraordinary pleasure.

And speaking of pleasure...I've been away a lot in the past month as you may have guessed. Next week I plan to return to a regular posting, reading and conversing schedule. Until then, I'll remain a bit erratic...albeit with a stunning camera strap...

Go ahead, use a treasure. It wasn't so bad...

Antique Textiles

Today the sun is shining and it makes me feel light and energetic, much in the same way that I felt when I read all of your kind and supportive comments regarding my bead journal Valentine. I feel so very good today and I'm pretty certain a lot of that is thanks to all of you, my kindred spirits, my friends. The power of the blogging and bjp community never ceases to amaze me...

And, so today, I'm sharing another amazing side of our blogging community...the sharing of information and images which there is no way we would be able to access if it weren't for the vehicle of blogs...Grap a cup of your favorite elixir, and here we go:

Trouvais --


Trish from Trouvais has a unique ability to combine images that she collects from print and digital media into the most cohesive and inspirational posts...


She has a love for antique beauty, French style and embroidery/textiles! Some of my favorite posts are Gilded Opulence; Darkly, Deeply, Beautifully Blue; Plum; Revelry and Reverie...not to mention the one of Fanny Brawne and Hogspear and many, many more! Thank you Trish for bringing us all of these found treasures!

Another find, yet completely different, is Sri Threads...the blog of a Textile Gallery in Brooklyn, NY specializing in antique folk textiles, particularly the indigo-dyed textiles worn by the everyday Japanese worker and the boro or pieces which have been patched or mended.


To me, these patched and mended pieces are some of the most beautiful examples of patchwork in the world. I particularly enjoyed this post on the intriguing story behind this magnificently pieced 19th century silk Han Juban - worn under a kimono.


And for those of you who aren't aware of Lacis, a little treasure of a shop for needleworkers in Berkeley, CA with the most significant library of international books on textiles, needlework and techniques I've found anywhere...not to mention their incredible textile collection housed in the Lacis Museum! I had the pleasure of visiting Lacis for the first time last Summer and three hours was not nearly enough!! They sell all forms of needlework supplies, often the very hard-to-find, on their website.

One of the greatest things about Lacis is their museum website where they photograph the current exhibition and put it into a slideshow. Check out the most recent slideshow on Bobbin Lace -- it's absolutely beautiful.


Not only that, they still have available all of their previous exhibitions online as well -- so, even if you missed one, you can go back and view it anytime. I particulary loved Memories in Beads, Beyond the Pattern and Whitework. And, if lace is your interest, there are oodles of exhibitions of the myriad types of beautiful laces made all over the world. Joining their mailing list is a MUST!

And last but not least, I found this little gem of a blog, The Helen Louise Textile Collection through Each Little World ( a magnificent garden blog with reading and textiles too!) . This blog is documenting the moving of a 13,000 piece textile collection to a new location. I have learned many interesting facts in caring for textiles from this new blog...and this post about the unique issues of conserving crazy quilts was very interesting...and this one on Chinese textiles, this one on a beaded bell pull, and this one on a German Sampler...

Phew! Hope you enjoyed your tour!

Charm School: Extra Credit and Research

A few years back, I had the lucky fortune of acquiring this little gem of vintage ribbonwork.


I was immediately infatuated with the idea of a stitchable ombre ribbon. See how the ombre is always going in the same direction? The effect is quite lovely. The trick was trying to find ombre ribbon that was only 2mm wide...

Well, when Allie and I visited Mokuba in New York in May, they had it! I had found a source...yippee! You may remember in the first week of Charm School I used the pink ombre ribbon to weave a zig-zag background for my charm.

Since then, I have been smitten with this little ribbon and itching to try out a leaf...So, I decided to make this extra charm this week...



Just one leaf...it was a little tricky because I sewed the ribbon onto crinoline and then attached the crinoline to the copper leaf finding...I then outlined it with pearl purl and added two other baubles to charm it up...


I would prefer working this technique directly onto my crazy quilt block rather than onto crinoline. That being said, I predict that this wonderful little skinny ombre ribbon has tons of beautiful uses...

The other thing that had me infatuated was this passage from Helen Gibb's Ribbonwork book...

During the 1920s, many of the formal gowns of the day were embellished with ribbonwork. One Paris design house, Boue Souers, who dressed the European aristocracy, was famous for its lace- and ribbon-trimmed gowns.

Boue Souers? I had never heard of it so I googled it and I found this wonderful, short and informative post about the sisters. It's really a delicious little read and the pictures are worth the visit alone.


Oh, but the creme de la creme (sorry, for some reason, I keep writing French words but I can't figure out how to make my accented "e"s...forgive my faux pas), comes to us from the study of Sacheverelle via fashionspot.com where she posts her study pics of a Boue Soeurs Court Presentation Gown that she undertook at the Met, NYC in 1997.


*sigh** It doesn't get much more charming than that...

There are more pics of the dress on the site if you find yourself intoxicated and hyperventilating after seeing all of those pictures...

Off to get my oxygen...

In the Mail...

Look what arrived on my porch! It's from French General which means it's my Pants Pants Revolution prize!


To my delight, there was an autographed copy of Kaari Meng's new book, Home Sewn. I had forgotten that, in addition to a $100 gift certificate, I was also receiving a copy of this book.

And a beautifully presented book it is. The binding for this book is one of my favorites. A hard linen-like cover enclosing a spiral so the book can lie flat open but looks great on a shelf as well.


I loved that Kaari wrote a note of congratulations on the inside -- it adds to our memory in such a nice way.

And, I took it upon myself to briefly peruse this book on your behalf. It's full of over 25 sewing patterns for linens for your home. Home Sewn is a very good title since I cannot think of another item that I would sew for my house that wasn't included as a pattern in this book. Kaari starts out with a chapter discussing antique french linens, their types and their care. To be honest, I didn't know so much about hemp, linen and nettle as fibers and I found this section really educational.

As for the projects, there is everything from bedding, to bathroom linens, to floor poufs, you name it! What I liked, was that the patterns are basic and provide the perfect canvas for hand embroidery and embellishment.

I loved the scallops on this table cloth and ottoman cover...


And how can I not love this notions keeper? The picture alone is adorable!


I can't wait to see what the girls will want to make. I thought this market bag was adorable...But I liked the idea of pillowcases as well -- I think they'd use them more. Of course, I'll have to wait to hear what they say...


Patterns for three lavender stuffed hearts are also included. And what a delight to receive this one made by Kaari herself using antique french linen collection and included in the box that held my pants.


The smell of lavender coming from the box -- the entire presentation -- was a beautiful conclusion to such a fun chapter in our lives.

Accessories of Old Giveaway

Hi everybody. Allow me to introduce Andrew. He's the engaging and charismatic guy who, together with his wife Lisa, own and operate one of the best vintage notions shops in the country -- Accessories of Old in Bethesda, Maryland.


To say that their shop is a treasure trove is an understatement. There are vintage trims, vintage ribbons,


vintage buttons, vintage millinery flowers...


and oodles and oodles of vintage seed beads that are still in their brown paper packages and have not seen the light of day in over 50 years! ALL vintage!


The goods in their shop are fabulous but, honestly...


it's their friendliness, their positive life attitude, and their willingness to build relationships for the long haul that makes Accessories of Old unique and worth going back to over and over again...


Yesterday, I had to conduct "real business" with Andrew and Lisa because we are planning to host an exclusive opening of their shop on a Sunday in May when Allison Aller will be in town teaching her Crazy for Flowers workshop.


They both agreed, without reservation, to open their shop on Sunday and offer a special shopping event to our Guild. Woohoo!!!


Now, Andrew and Lisa deserve the Best Buddy award for that feat alone but...they also deserve it for giving me EIGHT cards of vintage glass buttons to giveaway to all of you!

These cards are unbelievably pristine and gorgeous -- and I have EIGHT to giveaway!



So here's what I need you to do...leave a comment on this post and answer this question..."If you had $100 to spend in Accessories of Old...what would you most want to buy and why?"

I'll pick EIGHT winners from the comments I receive on Tuesday night and announce the winners on Wednesday morning. Have fun shopping!


Oh yeah, and should you click over to Accessories of Old and not see something you're looking for...don't hesitate to pick up the phone and call Lisa or Andrew. I guarantee you, they will go out of their way to assist!

P.S. Thanks for all the Pants Pants Revolution love from yesterday. You sure know how to make a girl feel good!

From Extraordinary to Extra-Extraordinary

Let's face it. At the Academy Awards we expect the extraordinary -- that's why so many of us tune in and watch it. So to be extra-extraordinary you have to re-define and rethink your approach to the evening. We have all come to expect that everyone will be beautiful.

But I believe that there was one woman who fit the occasion better and was more beautiful, more extra-extraordinary than anyone else.

Penelope Cruz showed up in a 60-year old vintage couture gown by Parisian designer Pierre Baumain. This was a dress that she had seen eight years ago and dreamed that she would one day have the opportunity to wear it. When she was nominated, she tracked down the dress, was delighted to find that it was still available and she bought it. I mean, this is a story of consummated love!. It's extraordinary -- and the fact that she found it, loved it, wore it beautifully to one of the most important events in her life; and then, be-decked in Chopard jewels, she WINS best-supporting actress and becomes the first Spanish actress ever to win an Oscar. Not only that, but the whole theme for the Oscars last night was that 1940's/50's Old Hollywood Glam and she couldn't have been more perfectly coifed.

That, my friends, is extra-extraordinary!! She loved that dress and that dress loved her and she glowed because of it. And her acceptance speech was my favorite of the evening -- she was absolutely RADIANT.


And she probably wins my Extra-Extraordinary Award because there was someone else there last night to compare her too.

Someone else tried to carry off the same look.

Now don't get me wrong, I like Sarah Jessica Parker...

But for some reason when I saw her, I couldn't help but think that her look had been done before...


When she walked out on stage I thought she looked just like Glinda, minus the wings...I think it was the hair?


OK. So I give best all-around dress, dress performance and Extra-Extraordinary Award to Penelope Cruz...

Here are the nominees for best FABRIC on a dress...

1st is Anne Hathaway for all those billions of beautiful, catch-the-light paillettes...wow!

2nd is Kate Winslet for her hand embroidered and beaded black lace that draped from her shoulder to her waist and down the back of her dress...stunning....

and 3rd is Penelope again for her vintage gown with all of its ruching and ornate detailing...

But I've got to give it to Kate Winslet who was just breathtaking, and she won an Oscar for Best Actress too! It's so nice when my favorite dresses are also the winners of the awards!


And I LOVED that five of the prior winners of the Best Actor/Actress awards came up to introduce the nominees and announce the winner. It was a beautiful way to welcome the new winner into the sorority of best actresses.

Of course, I was very curious about Ms. Cruz' dress so I found some pictures courtesy of e.coleman p.r. of backstage shots of a couture show of Pierre Balmain's in 1954. Aren't they grand?


Pierre was known for his ornate detailing and he dressed Hollywood starlets such as


Marlene Dietrich, Ava Gardner, Brigitte Bardo and Kathryn Hepburn...

We just don't do detail like they used to...sigh...

Oh, and forgive me but I have to show you one more from the woman who I think is one of the most beautiful on the face of this earth...

Halle Berry. *sigh.