12 Days of Christmas Swap - the results!

 The Twelve Days of Christmas have some to an end and so has the swap, organised by Jo at Through the Keyhole.  I was partnered up with Sally at Crafty Northerner.  We did the usual checking each other's blogs and emailing to find out particular likes and dislikes and then got making, buying, wrapping and posting.  I really enjoyed this swap and received some wonderful gifts.

 A week planner and pencil; snowman socks; Star Baker notebook (perfect for special recipes), hundreds and thousands and a cake fridge magnet; heart ribbon and Christmas baubles ribbon.

 Then there was: a bag of glass beads; some gorgeous red and white Scandi inspired material; The Miniaturist novel; a red bead bracelet.

 The final four gifts were: a bag of assorted pretty buttons and a crocheted star brooch; a felt Christmas tree decoration; magnetic pegs; some luxurious glitter paper.  Didn't I do well?  Sally managed this despite having a house for sale and getting sorted, so a HUGE thank you goes to her!

It's interesting how similar some of the things we sent were. Sally told me she liked flamingos, blue, making cards and baking, so off I went...  I sent her a little pack of papers and card making bits and pieces; some ribbon; some magnets and magnet pegs; a notebook with a flamingo painted on it; a set of Christmas cake cases with some chocs, a blue bracelet; a pair of earrings; a blue keyring; some pens; a felt star decoration; flamingo bunting and a cuddly flamingo (yes, there was a little bit of a theme!)

I was especially pleased to have been able to find the different flamingo material and Chris liked the finished bunting, suggesting that we should have some for us as well!
Many thanks go to Jo for doing all the organising (I really hope she'll run the swap again next year because it was lovely to put together all the gifts and made Christmas last just that little bit longer) and also to Sally for being such a great swap partner.

Christmas Cracker swap

I have been taking part in Tracy's from Mad About Bags Christmas Cracker swap for the past three years and it is a lovely one to do as you are limited to what can be fitted inside a kitchen roll, which gives you a real challenge.  This year, I was paired up with the lovely Alison from  fatdormouse and View from the Teapot.  We emailed and I discovered that she didn't sew, so she asked whether I could wrap the cracker in paper, for paper crafting, rather than material. Of course I could!  We found out about likes and dislikes and then got on with the making and buying.  We swapped our crackers and here's what I received:

 A cracker with an added extra of the most beautiful rich purple coloured felting wool...

 ...and when I opened it up...well!  What a lot of goodies!  Alison had even drawn a zentangle picture featuring a cat, which was also ingeniously wrapped around the cracker.

 Lovely buttons, a necklace, a key ring, two corn dolly decorations (which will be going on the tree), chocolate coins...

lollipops, ribbons, mints, toiletries - how lucky I was!  A HUGE thank you to Alison for her generosity

Here's what I sent (although, rather foolishly, I forgot to take a photo of the wrapped cracker): hot chocolate, Lindt bears, a felt heart, star decoration, quartz earrings, ribbons and cosmos seeds.

I found this rather gorgeous hand made paper so wrapped that around the kitchen roll before wrapping in paper and adding ribbon.  It was a lovely swap, so thank you to Tracy for organising and many thanks to Alison.  

Golden Autumn Blog Swap

I really enjoy taking part in blog swaps now and again and this is one of my favourites.  It is run by Blueberry Heart and this is the third year I have joined in.  I was partnered with Amanda from Crafty in the Med and after emailing a few times and doing some research about likes and dislikes, we started gathering and making.  We swapped parcels last week and goodness me, what a wonderful selection of goodies I unwrapped.

Here they all are, waiting to be unwrapped.

 Here is everything once unwrapped.  I was so lucky as Amanda had been very generous.

Saffron (I know, I need to find some special recipes to use this in), watermelon seeds, hazelnut chocolate and a notebook.

 Some gorgeous crochet including a doily, a crochet bracelet (which is really light and comfortable to wear), a crochet purse containing another surprise and a beautiful crocheted collar.

 The surprise was a lovely ceramic magnet which is at the top of the picture and there was also a beautifully decorated bowl and a brochure about a traditional Spanish costume.

 More things kept appearing - badges, ribbons, charms, buttons, needles and pins.

I loved this badge - very appropriate indeed!  A huge thank you to Amanda, who was an amazing swap partner.

Here's what I sent to Amanda - lots of autumnal coloured bits and pieces, including felt and jewellery (of course). She said she liked orange, so as you can see, that colour featured quite a bit! Her post about my parcel can be found here.

Here are my parcels ready to be wrapped and sent off.  Thanks to Blueberry Heart for organising the swap, thanks to Amanda and here's to the Autumn swap next year!

Christmas Cracker Swap 2013

I have just taken part in Tracy's (from Mad About Bags) Christmas Cracker Swap.  I first joined the swap last year and thoroughly enjoyed it, so was hoping she would run it again.  This year, I was partnered with Jille.  We emailed each other to find out addresses for posting and discovered we lived reasonably close to each other so would meet up to swap, rather than post.  We had the grand meet up yesterday and enjoyed a cup of tea and an hour long natter - it felt like we'd known each other for years.

 Here's Jill's cracker to me - doesn't it look beautiful?  It almost seemed a shame to open it...almost! The Noel decoration will be going on my tree (when I eventually get round to putting it up!)

 Look at all these goodies - it is amazing what can be fitted into the inside of a kitchen roll.  The fabric was really pretty too - white with little green circles.

 Beads, a flower ring, a gingerbread man brooch, a red spotty heart decoration and a crocheted mistletoe brooch...

 a vintage sewing kit in a pretty tin, some chocs and a Christmas snow globe.

 I am ridiculously excited to have my very own snow globe!  Thank you so much to Jill - what a wonderful selection of gifts!

 Here's my cracker for her.

Cosmos seeds, Christmas ribbons, sequins, embroidery threads, chocolate coins (I fitted as many as I could in, but couldn't quite squeeze the whole bagful in there!), a felt heart, a chocolate reindeer, a polymer clay star decoration and some earrings.
This was a lovely swap to take part in and I hope that Tracy will be running it again next year.

Historical Costume - the final dress

 As we visited Mum and Dad yesterday (to support their village fete - more of that another time), I had the opportunity to photograph the last costume from Mum's hoard.  Above is the bodice front with lots of lace at the neckline and around the sleeves.  It is made from a rather gorgeous brocade with flowers on it and really must have looked quite spectacular. We are really lucky that it has been kept out of the light as the colours are still bright and beautiful.
The photos don't give any idea of how small the person who wore it was - it would only fit a small child these days.  Probably a size 6 or 8 at the most.  Of course, women were smaller in the past, and there would have been a corset under the dress to cinch the waist in even more, and a bustle.

The back of the bodice with red ribbons at the shoulders.

 A close up of the lace edging and material.

 Another view of the bodice, closed at the front showing the square neckline.

 The little bustle top which went round the waist and sat on the bustle.

 The back of the skirt which would have had another skirt underneath as it is cut away.  We don't have the original underskirt.

 The front of the skirt, which has a line of red bows down the centre and is short at the front, going down at the sides. Some stiffener has been used on the edge of the skirt.

 Chris held the skirt up to show the front.

 The maker's label.  As luck would have it, we did some research using trade directories of the day and census information and managed to find some information about 'Bevern'. 

1881 Census - Isabella Bevern

Born: 1836

Place of Birth: Farrington, Lancashire

Age: 45

Occupation: Dressmaker employing about 10 hands

Marital Status: Unmarried

Address: 33 Sackville Street

Also at above address on census day:

Charles Bevern

Age: 51

(from www.familysearch.org)

Business Directory of London 1884

Bevern, Isabella

Court Milliner

33 Sackville Street

Westminster

However, she was not in the Post Offfice Directory of 1895 as either milliner or dressmaker and in the same directory, 33 Sackville Street has other occupants.  In 1895, 32 Sackville Street was described as "Milliners and Dressmakers Provident and Benevolent Institution".  I wonder what happened to her and where she went. She may have retired and moved back to Lancashire, or moved somewhere else in London.

So after all this, it is probably time to show you what the dress might have looked like around the 1870s, which is when we think it was made - just looking at it without a body inside requires a good deal of imagination!

 Teresa Thompson made this doll as well, and scanned in the material which she then printed onto the cotton that she used to make up the costume.  You can see the front of the skirt much more clearly, and how it showed the underskirt.

 In the side view, you can see the bustle top.

The bustle top can be seen here too and the red bows on the shoulders, so that the back of the dress was as impressive as the front.

I wonder what occasion the dress was made for and why Isabella Bevern's establishment was chosen for the commission?  It would be fascinating to know.

New Felt work

 It was my friend and colleague, Rachael's, last day at work yesterday before she goes off to 'that London' to pursue a new life. She had suggested that I should try my hand at a felt decoration with an ethnic feel, using ribbons and bells and rich colours.  So, I thought it might make a good present for her new room in London.  I had already made lovely rich red felt, so I machined the ribbons on (it was quite a challenge trying to keep the stitching straight!), added sequins and a bell at the bottom of the plaited cotton.

Chris suggested that the back needed a little something, and he was quite right, so I added some embroidery and more sequins.  I think Rachael liked it and it was a new challenge for me.

The Regency Dress

Here is the piece de resistance of Mum's costume hoard - a Regency dress dating from around 1803ish. Strictly speaking, this is before the true Regency period which was 1811-1820, but for me,  1795 - 1820 is the time scale I think of to be the 'Regency'. The dress is made from a nude/beige coloured silk and has long sleeves with a gathered bodice piece over the bust.  Unfortunately, the photo of it hung on the door doesn't do justice to its lovely shape and it is difficult to imagine how it would look on a woman.  Twenty years ago, I actually managed to fit in it, but I tried again last time I visited Mum and I have expanded way too much! The moment of defeat came when the under bodice pieces that tie up over the bust ended up somewhere under my chin! Oh well, at least I fitted in it once.

Here is a close up of the front of the dress, showing the lovely bodice detail.  I wonder whether it was made for a special occasion, or a local assembly dance, or who actually wore it?  Unfortunately, these questions will probably never be answered.

  

This is the back of the dress, showing the high waist and a very pretty ribbon sash.

 A close up of the gathers at the back and the ribbon sash.

A close up of the front of the bodice, showing the gathers.  This bodice piece hooks up at each side and goes over the two tied under bodice pieces.  Once on, the ribbon is pulled which tightens the front of the bodice.

The back of the sleeve, showing the beautiful hand stitching and the interesting way the sleeves have been set in.

 Inside the bodice, again you can see the careful hand stitching of the cotton lining.

This shows a part of the under bodice with the main front folded down.  you can just see a ribbon tie on the right of the photo.
I am really privileged to be able to look at the dress in such detail and I think Mum is going to give it to a museum as it needs conserving for the future.  Perhaps it will be able to provide textile experts with the opportunity to look at the construction of a dress from this time and hopefully, it will be preserved for future generations to enjoy.