Turning something old into something new

It's always a sign that if there are no posts on the blog that it's unlikely that there has been any stitching going on at my house. Work and home commitments have been absorbing much of my time - poor Frieda is languishing with only two borders actually stitched on. I hope to get back to her soon.

In the meantime I've been filling the odd free moment with some hand stitching on what will become a collar for myself. It's a collar with family history. My mother tatted this collar when she was about 10 years old. Hard to imagine any 10 year old these days being able to whip something like this up!

She made the collar to be part of her school uniform in anticipation for when she performed in the school orchestra. It was a requirement of her school, the Catholic school in Timaru - imagine that! Unfortunately she never made it into the orchestra so the collar has sat for over 70 years waiting to be pressed into service.

I'm mounting it onto felted wool and am toying with the idea of adding a few beads onto it to highlight the design. Time will, as always, tell.

When I showed it to my daughter she told me I was very on trend as the shops are full of lace collars - it was almost enough to make me stop but mine will be a collar with provenance, rather than something mass manufactured in China.

And while considering felted wool I thought you'd also like to see this felt cushion cover I bought some time ago. I thought it was irresistible. It dates from around the 1930s or 40s when embroideries and home textiles often featured dutch motifs. I particularly enjoy the cigarette dangling from his lips, something it would be difficult to imagine being included in contemporary work - how times have changed.