posted by Lily on embroidery, family, sewing

11 comments

Now my little girl vows and declares that never will she be a quilter.  Or an embroiderer.  Or a stitcher of any kind really.  :-)  No, her talent and love lies with drawing and art.  She does tell me, however, that whilst she earns her keep as an artist, she will ensure I keep her in pillowcases and quilts, curtains and cushions.  That future fills my heart with goodness.

We were at the patchwork store today, choosing two border fabrics for a quilt that’s made its way back to my sewing machine, and after trawling the red aisle and blue aisle back and forth, Abby declared that choosing a colour for a drawing was much easier – you just picked up the coloured pencil you wanted.  Such flippancy, however, did not apply to the choosing of fabric for a new flippy skirt or pillowcase!

Yet, today this mother and her sweet-pie daughter found another delight they shared.  Vintage.  We were planning a trip to a toy store to check out the Sylvanian Family goodies (Abby has quite the collection) and on the way,  we stopped at the Annerley Antique Centre – long a much-loved destination of mine.  Once Abby found the antique doll corner, she was smitten.

And how could I resist such prettiness …  They were made in Germany in the 1930s – we are now the proud protectors of Jenny from Sweden …

and Marie-Rose from Belgium.

And guess what – there are several more sisters back at the antique centre.  This set – I would guess they are handmade from a pattern collection of European dolls – have firmly stuffed upper bodies and arms and I think their heads are papier-mache.  Their clothes are exquisitely hand made.  Wonderful fabrics and embroidery and laces – little Miss Marie-Rose wears a cross over shawl that is edged in delicate crochet and threaded with the finest rickrack, a wee crepe-paper rose at her waist.  And you’ll never guess what their lower bodies are constructed from!  A tin filled with plaster.  Boy are they heavy!  Yet, what a wonderful way to make them stand up nice and sturdy.  Their maker was clearly a very talented stitcher and crafter.  We are utterly delighted to have Marie-Rose and Jenny move in with us – both Abby and I feel as if we have become characters in Rumer Godden’s novel The Dolls House.  Such a lovely book – Rumer surely is a great lover of dolls and their care.

Now I’m digressing utterly, but I must say, no book could possibly top “Miss Happiness and Miss Flower“.  Oh my.  This book fills me with the kind of delight that makes my heart race a little, my cheeks ache from smiling, and my hands inadvertently clap!  Have you read it?  You must find a copy and read it (I see that it is newly back in print).  Let me share a little story – when we first arrived in Melbourne, when Abby was a wee toddler, I was very lonely and frankly, at a bit of a loss.  I have no family in Melbourne, knew no one, and had never been there.  Trying hard not to infect Abby with my homesick anxiety, we spent many a day traipsing around the local suburbs, walking up and down the many little shopping precincts and visiting every second hand bookstore we came too.  The best by far was in Balwyn – I think it was called something like The Fair Merchant – my memory is failing me.  They had a registry to which you could add your name, and the book you were looking for.  Now, I had read Miss Happiness and Miss Flower when in primary school in Malaysia – and had not seen it for 20 years.  So I added my name and the title with little hope of it being found.

Two years passed, and the week before we left Melbourne to return to Brisbane, a dear Kinder friend offered to look after Abby for the day whilst I cleaned and packed the kitchen.  I was to pick Abby up at 4pm but when the big hand struck four, I was up to my elbows in cleaning the oven.  I called Kate, and asked if I could come later.  No problem, she said, in fact, come for dinner when you’re ready.  I plunged back into the oven, and a few minutes later, the telephone rang.  I almost didn’t answer it, ’cause I was so grotty and focussed.  It was The Fair Merchant – they had a hard back copy of Little Miss Happiness and Little Miss Flower – it was a first edition, original dust cover, a little marked, had been a library copy, but the binding was good, the pages were crisp and clean and they hoped I wouldn’t mind paying $25 for it.  Well, I cannot describe my excitement.  It was definitely an evening of aching cheeks from smiling!  I scrubbed up so fast, flew up to Balwyn, ran to the store (scared they would sell it before I arrived?) and when that beloved book was in my hands, felt that two years of loneliness was worth the company of Little Miss Happiness and Little Miss Flower.  It was meant to be … :-)

Truly, as twee as it may sound, this little episode in my life has led me to trust that there can be something positive found in everything that hapens, and that we will receive what we dream of, as long as we are prepared to patiently wait.

Ahhh … back to vintage goodness.  Abby and I then spent a lovely twenty minutes poring over boxes of vintage photos – there are Halloween plans for these.  It was such fun – she took a box, I took a box, and we carefully flipped through each one – held up the possibilities for witchiness, created a pile of much-liked, then culled it down to must have.

Then, on the way back to the front counter and our waiting dollies, I found an incredible bag filled with an embroidery frame, almost-completed embroidery still attached, a box of English embroidery wools, and the pattern book – Norweave Embroidery, 1968, 60 cents. Norweave is apparently a technique based on the Norwegian embroidery known as Akle.  The designs are built up of blocks of stitches and usually employ simple primary colours.

[ the box used to house the wool, is an old Triumph bra box! - isn't it so pretty - and, information you never usually have about the previous owner - Rhonda was a 34B)

Be still my beating heart.  The colours are so vibrant, the patterns have that wonderful mix of Scandinavian design, mosaics and 1960s lushness.  The pattern on the frame, is the bell pull (designed by Gunnar Pedersen) and it is almost finished – only one more row of flowers, and their background and it’s done.

I wonder how long these glorious flowers have been sitting quietly, waiting for the last stitches to be placed.  I wonder who so precisely stitched her canvas to the frame, then worked her way methodically up the pattern – I’m never that patient – I always jump round and around a pattern – rewarding myself with the features, and then scolding myself with background or fill.  I wonder what happened – why didn’t she finish – where is she now – why did the embroidery and its supplies turn up in an antique store now?

I have the embroidery here at my feet, and I cannot wait to pick up a needle (there’s actually several in the canvas, with each of the colours in use, threaded and waiting) and bring this work – and the patience, skill and love of the original stitcher – back to life.

Needless to say, the embroidery was not Abby’s cup of tea – but nevertheless, she thought it was a marvellous find.  Ahhh … a mother and her darling girl lost in delight for hours in an antique store – what could make for a better day during the spring holidays.  :-)

p.s. we hope to go back next fortnight and buy two more of the dollies, keep your fingers crossed for us that they will still be there.