In a wicker basket, just inside the entrance of a little antique shop, a flash of beautiful blue caught my eye. Folded neatly and unfinished, a pair of bluebirds forming on soft and creamy linen. Oh, my! For just a few dollars I brought it home along with a few other finds...
Beautiful, unfinished bluebirds & two cross-stitched doilies.
I would love to find matching threads and finish these beautiful blue birds. Originally part of a Semco traced-linen embroidery kit, the creamy vintage linen is so soft and light. It's gorgeous! Once I've finished the stitching, I'd like to turn what would've been an afternoon tea cloth into something special. Something where these beautiful bluebirds take flight. Any ideas?
Light flowery fabric with that creamy bluebirds linen.
The tied bundle of floaty and flowery fabric cost me just $2 and is perfect for sewing into a Strata top of my own for Autumn. I think it will drape beautifully! (My copy of the Strata top pattern by Meg McElwee came in the special "Make" edition of Taproot magazine that I treated myself to for Christmas. So much handmade goodness inside!) *I am not sponsored to say that, I just love leafing through the pages and finding so much inspiration.*
Lovely linen tea towels.
At a little op-shop, just a short stroll from the antique shop, I found these three soft and stripy linen tea towels. I love their colours! Together with the cross-stitched doilies in the first photo, I plan on using them in little sewing projects. I want to make cushion covers out of the two matching tea towels. (This is the tutorial I'll be following.) The other tea towel and a doily will be lovely sewn up into a pretty drawstring bag like the ones that Jude Van Heel makes and shared the instructions for in a recent edition of Grassroots magazine (No. 244 Dec/Jan 2017/18). You can see one of her pretty bags here on one of her Fairy Wren Cottage Pinterest boards. The other little doily will look very sweet decorating a drawstring bags, like this one, that I like to make from repurposed flour bags. It seems I have some making to do!
I love how little serendipitous finds, like these old linens and fabrics, can spark a desire to create new and purposeful things from something old or worn or discarded. I'm sure I can find some time, over this upcoming long weekend, to get started on my little projects. I hope you have something lovely planned for your weekend too.
Meg
I love how little serendipitous finds, like these old linens and fabrics, can spark a desire to create new and purposeful things from something old or worn or discarded. I'm sure I can find some time, over this upcoming long weekend, to get started on my little projects. I hope you have something lovely planned for your weekend too.
Meg
What wonderful finds, the bluebirds will look amazing when finished, love the linen tea towels.
ReplyDeleteThose bluebirds were such a lovely discovery, Marlene. I am glad that one of them is complete because it will help me to work out how to stitch the others to finish them. I have to do a bit of research on the blue thread and see what I can source to use. I really like the linen tea towels and I'm hoping the cushions I make will look good on our new sofa. Meg:)
DeleteMeg the bluebirds should look very pretty when finished. Linen tea towels are so good for wiping up once they have softened and last forever. Can't wait to see what you make with them.
ReplyDeleteThe stitching that has been done so far is so fine, Chel. I think it will be lovely to finish them ... I just hope I can make tiny stitches as delicately and carefully as the person who started the embroidery. Meg:)
DeleteSuch fabulous finds Meg, my darling Mum used to do “Fancy Work” as she called it, she was a very patient lady. I look forward to seeing the bluebirds project finished. Have a lovely day and a great long weekend.
ReplyDeleteFi
I think the bluebirds will take me a long time to finish, Fi, but I love that such beautiful things can form from just a few tiny stitches at a time. I hope your long weekend is lovely too! Meg:)
DeleteGreat finds for your craft activities.
ReplyDeleteVery serendipitous finds, I can't believe someone else hadn't taken those bluebirds home before me! Meg:)
DeleteI loved reading about your gorgeous vintage linen 'finds' Meg. I often think that he perfect item will be waiting for us when we go into an op-shop. So much more fun than going into a 'regular' shop!
ReplyDeleteI love the serendipity of op-shop finds, Fran. Every now and again, I unearth what to me is a real treasure. Finding the bluebirds linen (I think it is Irish linen) was one of those lucky and happy moments! Meg:)
DeleteYou found some real treasures! I do hope you are able to find matching thread colors so you can finish that lovely bluebird piece. I can see why it caught your eye. :)
ReplyDeleteIt was the tiniest hint of blue that caught my eye, Debbie. I'm so glad that I took a peek in that basket. Meg:)
DeleteI love your bluebirds too! I do hope you can find the thread to finish them. I inherited some old pieces from my grandmother but couldn't find matching threads. I think mine were like pure silk and nothing I bought was as silky looking. Good luck with your search and let us know if you find the threads.
ReplyDeleteThe threads I need are very fine, Rosemary. I will have to do a little research and see what types of threads were in the Semco traced linen embroidery kits. I will also need to try to match the colour of these beautiful blues. There are also little flowers to stitch on the cloth as well and I hope to find some pretty threads to finish those. Meg:)
DeleteI often buy tea towels for their linen, even new ones are a better value than material by the meter. I love the birds, I can understand how you could not leave them behind. Good finds.
ReplyDeleteSoft and worn linen is so beautiful to stitch onto, Marlene. It just feels so lovely. The tea towels are near new so they were a lucky find too. Meg:)
DeleteWhat superb op-shop and bargain buys Meg. I'm not at all crafty so I sent some of the doilies that I found in my cupboard to my friend Jude Van Heel in Tasmania. I also sent her the link to your blog. Keep an eye open for more articles from Jude in Grass Roots Mag, my favourite magazine. I look forward to seeing your photos of things you will make from your fabrics.
ReplyDeleteGrassroots magazine is one of my favourites, Sally. I buy far fewer magazines than I used to but I still pick up Grassroots whenever I see it at the newsagents. How lovely to pass on your doilies to Jude, I'm sure she will make beautiful things with them! Meg:)
DeleteSuch lovely thrifty finds Meg. Those bluebirds are going to be gorgeous once you can finish them. Hope you are able to match up the thread colours.
ReplyDeleteI love old crispy linen tea-towels and always grab them when I see them. You wont find too many modern day tea towels in my drawer :)
I cant wait to see the cushion you are going to create, the one on that link looks great!
xTania
I'm in the middle of making cushions, out of old touristy teatowels, as a birthday gift for my mum. I'm using the same tutorial for these cushion covers and it's really easy to follow. I have one more touristy tea towel that I want to make a little fabric bucket out of using instructions I found in a grassroots magazine. It seems there's lots you can do with an old linen teatowel!! Meg:)
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