I like to go to the flea market and when I do I always search for aged buttons and old doilies - and often I find both. One day I discovered a very old and tattered box full of white and shiny mother-of-pearl buttons. I have used a lot of them and still have many left. Sometimes the vendor has a large crocheted tablecloth and she will cut it apart in segments - I suppose it is easier for her to sell the pieces than the whole thing. I have several times bought such cut out circles, they will look like an individual doily - but when I wash them - and of course I HAVE to wash them - they come easily apart. So now I avoid purchasing those and buy only doilies worked in one piece. Nevertheless they also often have holes and are disturbed, but sometimes they are perfect. I love to use them on bags, lavender hearts, small pouches, fabric boxes, clutches etc. I halve and quarter them and while I sew them to fabric I carefully secure the seams. I have used whole ones which were so appealing that I did not have the heart to cut into them.
Some months ago I made a whole lot of small lavender pillows with doilies and scraps of Bedouin embroidery, if you like, you can see them here:
To cheer up those many rainy days we (luckily) lately had, I bought wonderful smelling lavender and made new lavender hearts, using some of the doilies I bought when I visited the flea market with my friend Jill some weeks ago - just squeeze them and breathe deeply! Mhmmmmm... :-) And they turned out so lovely! Sometimes when I find the doilies being to white for my purpose, I just tint them with black tea.
While working with the doilies I imagine the hands which made them. Those stitches are tiny and most of them are done so beautifully! Not all of them are crochet, sometimes I am lucky and find dollies done in lace work, so delicate and pretty. I dearly love them all and I admire and appreciate the work of the women who created them!
Ah, and I almost forgot - I am selling the hearts and I also have still some of the lavender pillows left - contact me if you love one so much that you wish to purchase it!
Ah, and I almost forgot - I am selling the hearts and I also have still some of the lavender pillows left - contact me if you love one so much that you wish to purchase it! (I have sold them, but I can always make more!)
12 comments:
You found a nice bunch of buttons, and I love those last five, they remind me of things in my life.
you reused them in a perfect way ! You really ever should visit Bruges ... the city of Lace in Belgium ... you can have a workshop to learn it :-) it is getting hip again here.
Your hearts are heart-breakingly beautiful, Yael! They are the most beautiful I have ever seen!
And I share your love of doilies and ... oh, everything you do is magnificent!
I remember doilies from Turkey; my sisters-in-law made them to cover up the telefone and any other technical device that might not look charming enough as a naked thing, and so, even the sweeping roller (remember those?) got one for the hours of leisure. These girls who weren't allowed to go out much produced an abundance of crocheting, mostly beaded scarfs (bashlik).
An army of women, working quietly at home! Their work is honored by the way you use it! And they deserve it.
SCRUMPTIOUS! and WONDROUS work, yael! xo
Es duftet bis zu mir ins ♥-en von Frankreich ; )
Frau sieht und spürt, dass da ganz viel Liebe mit eingenäht wurde!!!
Mit ♥-lichen grüssen Brigitte
Liebe Yael,
ich bin echt sprachlos vor Begeisterung. Das alles sieht so fantastisch aus. Da kommt man ja richtig in Versuchung, auch mal was zu nähen.
Liebe Grüße
Jutta
Oh these are SO beautiful, Yael!!!!
And... hmmmm... that delicious, soft, relaxing lavender smell!
(I know what I'm going to squeeze in a minute... :)))
un trabajo maravilloso, que cosas tan bonitas haces!!!
muchos besos
Oh they are beautiful - you are so talented Yael! Sarah xxx
I adore both lace and hearts so this is right up my street. I hope you like my Lavender Heart Pillows
Post a Comment