On The First Day of Christmas My True Love Gave To Me...

On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me: a partridge in a pear tree,

Two turtle doves,

Three French hens,

Four calling birds,

Five gold rings,

Six geese-a-laying,

Seven swans a-swimming,

Eight maids a-milking,

Nine Ladies dancing,

Ten lords a-leaping,

Eleven pipers piping,

Twelve drummers drumming.

Season's Greetings to you all, many thanks for all your support and wonderful comments throughout the year, it has been a lot of fun! Merry Christmas everyone xxxxx

Victorian Woolwork Embroidery

I have a real soft spot for Victorian embroidery, especially the garish, somewhat cluttered designs that appear in Berlin woolwork. Sometime around the mid 1800s, aniline or artificial dyes were introduced, giving a different range of colour possibilities in textile production. For a while the Victorians used colour with gay abandon, sometimes quite harshly, but time generally mellows all but the most strident of colours in wool and silk, the decorative, typically Victorian embroidered pictures still have great appeal. Often worked from mass-produced painted cardboard gridded designs, and eventually on pre-printed canvas, the Victorians displayed an extraordinary sense of verve and colour in their work.

Please click on each photogragh to see the detail.

Shiny Happy People! Time to sort out the Christmas trims

Well, its approaching that time of the year, my favourite festival, midwinter and Christmas, as the days grow steadily shorter and darker as the end of the year approaches. What better way to prepare than to start sorting out shiny, lustrous vintage French ribbons and trims ready for tying presents and parcels and adding extra glimmer & gleam to festive decorations or projects. I bought most of these beautiful items a while ago from a chap who had bought up the stock of a French ribbon-making factory and a manufacturer of metal embroidery threads and braids from Lyon, both of which had closed down. I tend to hoard it all, a bit like a dragon, sitting on top of my heap of treasure, but now, the time is right to start to put it to good use!

A fabulous little French lace-making pillow for use in the home

This is a really pretty item in its own right, but also incredibly practical! It is a lace making pillow from France dating to about 1900. It was used to make Le Puy bobbin lace in the home. While lace could easily be purchased at the time, lacemaking was still a popular pastime, making edgings for clothes, linens etc.

It is quite a robust object, made from wood and covered with pretty floral patterned oilcloth. Cardboard patterns were either bought or made, and fitted onto a roller in the middle of the pillow, and pins put into the pattern. The roller could be turned as the work progressed, and the pins reinserted carefully and the work could then progress to the required length. The fine linen, cotton or silk threads on any number of little wooden bobbins was passed around the pins in order to create a length of lace. There. That sounds easy, doesn't it! I am sure it is much harder than it looks, a skill that improved with practise. I purchased this for a customer a while ago, but rather regret selling it, so I will be looking out for another one if possible. I think I would like to have a go at making some simple lace myself!

There is a handy comparment in the back for holdingspare bobbins, thread and pins etc, and inside, I found a piece of newspaper that had been folded up and thread wound onto it. I carefully removed the thread, and was fascinated to read the little advertisements etc, and even found a date of 1911. A wonderful piece of cultural history.

Fabulous Vintage French finds, from Christmas cards through to vintage silk nighties!

I got a phone call from one of my favourite dealers last week, so I made my way to their lock-up in the country with a rising sense of anticipation, as this lady has exquisite taste, and always come across some real treasures.


I was completely spoilt for choice, and had some very hard decisions to make, as I couldn't afford everything I would have liked to buy! I decided on a mixture of things this time instead of just textiles, as I wanted to try to find some bits & bobs for Christmas as well as some stock. Here are some of the treasures I selected: some beautiful French hand-coloured Christmas postcards dating to about 1900, I think, some delightful Christening gift boxes from the 1920s, a selection of 19th century lace, including Honiton, Filet, Brussels etc, an Ayrshire work Christening cap c1850 and a couple of lace & embroidered lady's caps, along with a selection of the most beautiful vintage French silk & satin nightdresses & petticoats in baby pinks & blues.

What a treat! Plenty to sell, the pick of the pieces for Christmas presents, and some to keep. Perfect!

An Unusual Toile Apron, Joan of Arc

I was very intrigued when I came across 2 of these beautiful toile aprons. They were both made up into pinnies at some point around the late 1800s to early 1900s, I think, but the fabric is quite a bit older, an indigo dyed cotton Toile de Nantes c1815 depicting the story of Jeanne d'Arc, or Joan of Arc. I am trying to imagine the woman that worked away in her kitchen etc proudly sporting such strong patriotic & religious ideas upon her pinny! I shall be wearing mine while preparing Sunday lunch tomorrow...

I did a little research and apparently, quite a few toile manufacturers produced Jeanne d'Arc prints around the same time, probably inspired by a 'politically timed historical novel (by Madame du Genlis in 1816) about The medieval Maid of Orleans. In retelling her triumphs for the French Crown, the author contributed to the revival of her popularity as a national symbol for the Bourbon restoration.' Toiles For All Seasons, Printed French & English Textiles, by Starr Siegele.

I would imagine that the toile was originally used for curtains or beddding, as pictorial toiles where invariably upholstery fabrics. These would have been very costly, and would have been a one-off purchase, usually just after marriage, and would be expected to last a lifetime, and even when damaged or worn, the fabric would never have been thrown away, it was too precious a resource. It would have been folded away safely somewhere until a use could be found for it, or passed on to a poorer relative or favoured servant. Lessons for us to learn here, as usual!

A lovely little piece of cultural history, the stories about their origins usually connect to some kind of contemporary cultural resonance, one of the main reasons I am so besotted with pictorial toiles of the period, especially when seeing the fabrics in the context of domestic use.

Lest We Forget

'No words could express the beauty of it. The dreary dismal mud was baked white and pure - dazzling white. White daisies, red poppies and a blue flower, great masses of them, stretched for miles and miles. The sky a pure, dark blue and the whole air, up to a height of about 40 feet, thick with white butterflies: your clothes were covered with butterflies. It was like an enchanted land, but in the place of fairies were thousands of little white crosses, marked 'Unknown British Soldier' for the most part.'

William Orpen, the war artist describing the Somme 6 months after the battle in 1917