Embroider the Ship of Dreams

September 16, 2021August 18, 2021 VintageJenny

The Ship of Dreams in embroidery. A bird sits on the bow of a ship while water swirls below. Text: The Ship of Dreams.

Recreate this 1927 project and embroider the Ship of Dreams for yourself. This Dream Ship would go great in any vintage-style decor, especially if you have a room decorated in 1920-1940 style.

The Ship of Dreams was the original project designed to show off outline stitches and their potential. Even through the original black and white photo above, you can see the amazing texture that outline stitches provide. This is a project you can be proud of when it’s completed.

Sometimes you want embroidery to look smooth. A king’s cloak, the soft rose petal, the velvety down of a bird’s feathers. These things would look odd with a lot of texture. Color, yes. Texture, probably not.

But when it comes to the billows of an unbridled sea, texture adds interest. Intrigue. Wonder. I want to join that bird on the ship and go wherever that ship is headed. Texture keeps your eye on an object longer than it might be there otherwise. And using outline stitches in creative ways can build that texture.

Using all those outline stitches

In the last Embroidery Lesson installment, the first half of Lesson 3, I talked about variations of outline stitches. You can find that lesson here if you haven’t already read it. While the 1920s needleworker had access to far more threads than we have today, and more types of threads, that worker didn’t always have access to technique.

People were busy in the Twenties. Not everyone had hours to pour into the Perfect Satin Stitch as they did ten to fifteen years before. Radio, movies, automobile rides, picnics, parties, evenings with friends –– all these ate into the schedule of the needleworker, not to mention the daily toil of cooking, cleaning, sewing, and perhaps a full or part time job on top of all that. Enter more simple embroidery methods!

The original instructions suggest that you embroider this in wool. If the worker only has access to worsted weight yarn (commonly known as Germantown), the worker could separate the four worsted strands. Then they would use two of those strands for the embroidery.

While you can do that, if you have an abundance of multi-colored wool at hand, you also have other options. Embroider the piece with perle cottons. Or use 3-6 strands of 6-strand embroidery floss. Use one strand of sock (4-ply) yarn. Use whatever you have an abundance of. I happen to have a small bag of yarn used for punch-needle embroidery. It dates from the late 1970s – early 1980s. One or two strands of that would make a delightful pillow.

What you will need

To make this pillow, you will need:

Two pieces of tan medium weight fabric (heavy muslin, linen, etc.) that measure 15 x 15 inches.
An assortment of colored threads or yarns (see below).
A sharp embroidery needle that has an eye big enough for your threads or yarns.
The pattern, downloaded from below.
Your favorite method of transferring a pattern. See here for some options.
Your favorite embroidery hoop.

Colors you will need

You’ll need a handful of different colors to make this as it was designed. Here’s the original list:

Apricot for the boat sail
Light green to outline the diamond on the sail
Deep red-orange (called Chinese Red) for the diamond on the sail
Light sea-blue for the center of the diamond and the waves
Heliotrope (light lavender) for the waves and an outline around the green on the sail.
Cedar brown for the ship hull

How to make it

Here’s how to embroider and assemble the pillow.

The sail

Download and transfer the pattern below. It should measure 6 1/2 inches high by 7 1/2 inches wide when you print it out.
Center the design in your hoop. The embroidery starts with the sail and moves downward in the instructions.
Outline the sail with apricot in chain stitch. Fill in the sail with the slant snailtrail stitch. Keep the stitches close together, but loose enough that the fabric doesn’t pucker. Stop when you get to the oval.
Outline the oval with heliotrope (lavender). Fill in the four lozenges (flat ovals) that make up the oval with general outline (stem) stitch.
At the diamond outline or right outside it, do two rows of chain stitch in light green.
Inside the light green, fill the diamond with the red-orange. Use a chain stitch.
The very center of the diamond is outline stitch in sea blue. I marked it with an X because that’s how it looked to me. If it looks more like a circle or a small diamond shape to you, fill it as you like.
Work the pennants and the masts in snailtrail with the red/red-orange.

The boat

Use the red (red-orange) to fill the hull. Use three rows of chain stitch. Then backstitch over the top row of red-orange with the apricot thread or yarn. This is what gives the deep color contrast at the top of the hull.
The rest of the hull is also in chain stitch. Use the brown, and make the rows up and down instead on longways like the top of the hull you did in red. If you work one row with the chain stitches facing up and then back the other way when you reach the end, this will make the texture more obvious.
Now let’s do the bird. This little guy sits on the prow of the ship, but he also functions as a figurehead. Work the bird solidly in outline (stem) stitch. Use green for the head, with tiny dots of heliotrope for the eye. Use apricot for the rest of the bird. His beak is red.

The waves

Use the darning stitch to fill the waves solidly with sea-blue. Use the light green to whip the upper edges of the waves, like an overcast running stitch.
On the lower edges of the waves there is an extra row of darning stitch using heliotrope.
For the lines that represent the sea spray, use green and heliotrope side by side. First use outline stitch in green, and then a row of heliotrope in darning stitch.

The pattern

Here’s the pattern for the Dream Ship. Download it and print it. You may have to play with your settings a bit to get the design to measure 6.5 x 7.5 inches, or you may not. If you want a larger picture or cushion, download the design at a larger size. Remember to size up your fabric accordingly.

Outline drawing of a ship on the water. The ship has one mast, and it sits on billowing waves. A bird sits on the prow of the ship. — This is the embroidery pattern. Print it out and transfer it to your fabric.

If you enjoyed this project you might like projects that go with Embroidery Lesson 1 and Lesson 2.

Embroidery Lesson: Outline stitches to fill

September 14, 2021August 18, 2021 VintageJenny

What do you do if you have an outline of something and you want to fill it with color? You could use another fabric and appliqué the center. You could use a satin stitch and embroider the center. Or you could use variations of the versatile outline stitches from the last lesson to fill your design. This third embroidery lesson shows you how to use outline stitches to fill your embroidery design.

Embroidered ship on the water. An owl sits on the prow, and embroidered waves swirl below the ship. — This ship uses outline stitches to fill the design.

This ship became the center of a cushion. The entire project was embroidered with outline stitch variations. These stitches are incredibly useful, yet little used today. The outline stitches give this piece wonderful texture and interest. Best of all, the stitches are easy to do and you can use them for any size project.

You will need

Like all the embroidery projects, for today’s embroidery lesson on outline stitches to fill, you will need

an embroidery needle with an eye large enough for your thread
six-strand embroidery floss for practice
an embroidery hoop to hold your fabric taught

Take a running stitch… and whip it

Embroidered running stitch that has another thread wound through it. Use this outline stitch to fill a large area. Text: Overcast running stitch.

Here you see a whipped or overcast running stitch. First you follow the line with the running stitch. Then you stitch a second line, starting at the beginning. Instead of going through the fabric you overcast, or whip, the running stitches. Always place the overcast stitches in the same direction so that the design stays consistent. You can make this in one color, or use two contrasting colors for increased interest.

Slanted snailtrail stitch

Snailtrail embroidery stitch made with the needle entering the fabric at a sharp angle. Use this outline stitch to fill a large area of embroidery. Text: Slanted snailtrail.

In the last lesson you learned how to make a snailtrail stitch by passing the needle perpendicular to the design line. This time the needle passes through the fabric at a deep slant or angle, like you see in the illustration. When the needle follows the direction of the line instead of working at a right angle to it (as you did in Lesson 2), you see a very different effect from the stitch.

Backstitched chain stitch

Embroidery illustration of a line of chain stitch. Over the top of the chains a needle passes a second time making back stitches at each loop join. Use this outline stitch to fill a large area. Text: Chain stitch with backstitch.

In this version of the chain stitch, you take a small back stitch over the chain. Using a different color is most effective. You might try this with either a different weight of thread for the backstitch, or the same thread in the same color, and see how you like it. To make this, complete the row of chain stitch as normal, and then go over the embroidery a second time with small backstitches.

Darning stitch

This stitch is easy and quick. You take long stitches that cover the embroidered area and combine them with short underneath stitches. As you go, alternate so that the new row’s stitches always span the last row’s space between stitches. If your stitches were further apart it would look like a brick wall. Worked closely, the stitches have a satin-like effect. Keep your stitches even as you work for the best overall effect.

Try it yourself

Grab some fabric and thread and give these stitches a try. Most of us don’t even think about using anything but a satin stitch, or maybe a long and short stitch, to fill areas like embroidered flowers, leaves, and figures. Using outline stitches to fill embroidered spaces opens up a whole new world of texture, color, and possibility. Best of all, these are easy and relatively quick stitches.

Next time I’ll give you the pattern for the Ship of Dreams above, and you can make it yourself with the stitches you learned. Drop me a note and let me know how you liked these stitches! I look forward to hearing from you.

The Vintage Kitchen

Mocha Cake from 1917

September 9, 2021October 23, 2021 VintageJenny

Tan slice of mocha cake with frosting on white plate. Cake server sits behind it, also on the plate. — Enjoying a slice of mocha cake. Over 100 years later, the recipe still shines..

Some of the old recipes are the best. And others are just weird, like the jellied frankfurter-Spaghettios combination from the 1960s that pops up every now and again. Thankfully, this Mocha cake from 1917 fits into the first category. It’s a recipe I make over and over again.

In my last post I talked about the joys of reading A Thousand Ways to Please a Husband… with Bettina’s Best Recipes. If you don’t know about this cookbook, you can read about it here. This recipe for Mocha cake is one of my favorites from that book. However, it’s not my only favorite. Many of the recipes in A Thousand Ways are worth the time they take to make, especially if you cook for a small household of 1-3 people.

This particular cake serves 12. It’s designed for either entertaining (which is where it falls in Bettina’s story), or for storage. I generally pop half the cake into the fridge after using it for dessert. The other half gets sliced and put into the freezer for another day. This, of course, is assuming that you have a family the size of Bettina’s, and not four hungry teenagers who live at your house. If you live with teens, even if one of you is the cook, prepare to say goodbye to this cake in one sitting.

Ways to make it your own

A two-layer cake with tan icing sits on a white platter. The platter sits on a black and white marbled surface. — Mocha cake baked, iced, and ready for dessert time.

When I make this recipe, I usually cook the layers in my vintage RevereWare 9-inch cake pans. Although the recipe itself doesn’t tell you what size pan to use, I find that partitioning a cake into 12 pieces Is much easier with a 9-inch cake than it is an 8-inch one, even if the layers come out a bit more flat. With the addition of icing, a small piece adds just the right sweet note to end a dinner along with hot tea. You can enjoy it with coffee or milk, too, if you like.

In 1917 the term mocha didn’t mean chocolate-flavored coffee. It meant coffee, period. So this is a coffee-flavored cake. No chocolate. No cocoa. Just coffee. It’s an inexpensive cake to make because it uses the leftover coffee from the morning’s brew, if you make it a pot at a time. The recipe calls for 1 1/4 cups coffee total.

When the original bakers made this Mocha cake from 1917, they had access to plain coffee. If you like flavored coffees, I encourage you to try one in this recipe. This time I made it with Michigan cherry flavored coffee and it was delicious. Even the household’s non-coffee drinker loved it.

Because this Mocha cake from 1917 yields a light coffee taste in both the cake and the icing, you might want to try it with hot tea or another beverage. Trying it alongside a cup of the same type of coffee you put into the batter gives you a cake that tastes sweet, but not particularly coffee-like.

Photo showing one complete and one partial pan of cake batter. This is mocha cake from 1917. A partial teapot sits behind the pans. — Ready to go into the oven. Soon we will have cake!

Make it yourself

This is a great recipe for drop-in guests or teatime with friends. A slice also makes a good midmorning snack or a decadent breakfast treat. It’s relatively quick to make, as cakes go, and it’s pretty sturdy. This means it travels great in a lunch box to the office or schoolroom. It would pack well for a picnic. I love it with a cup of hot tea while I sit at the table pouring over the current month’s vintage magazines.

Print Recipe

Mocha Cake from 1917

This cake delivers a mild coffee flavor. It contains no cocoa and no chocolate.

Prep Time30

Cook Time25

Total Time55

Course: Dessert, Tea time

Cuisine: American

Keyword: cake, coffee, mocha

Servings: 12 servings

Equipment

2 cake pans, 8 or 9-inch diameter or whatever you have
wax paper for bottom of pans
Mixer

Ingredients

⅓ cup butter softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup strong coffee brewed
½ teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour, all purpose I used Bob's gluten free 1 to 1 with good result
3 teaspoons baking powder

Mocha Icing:

4 tbsp strong hot coffee
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups powdered sugar May use 2 to 3 cups

Instructions

Prepare your cake pans by lining them with wax paper. Or, if you prefer, grease and flour your pans. Preheat your oven to 350° F.
Separate the eggs. Set the yolks aside and beat the whites until they are stiff. Pour the whites into a bowl for later.
Cream the butter. Add the sugar, and cream again.
Add the egg yolks and mix well.
Add the coffee, vanilla, flour, and baking powder. Mix until combined and then beat for 2 minutes.
Stir in the stiffly beaten egg whites. Be gentle, you don't want to undo all your hard work.
Pour the mixture into the prepared cake pans. Bake for 25-30 minutes in a 350° oven. Test for doneness by pressing the top center of the cake. If a finger indentation pops back up and disappears, the cake is done. If the indentation stays, it probably needs another ten minutes or so.
Let the cake cool before icing.

Mocha Icing Instructions

Mix the 1 tsp vanilla with the 4 Tbsp coffee.
Add the powdered sugar slowly until the mixture is thick and spreadable. You may need as much as three cups (even though the original 1917 recipe only called for 1 ½ cups).
Spread over one layer and place the other layer on top. Spread the icing on the top. Depending on the size of the cake, you may also have enough for the sides.

If you enjoyed this and would like to try another vintage cake recipe, this Many Layered Jam Cake from the Twenties is addictive and oh-so-sweet.

Recipe Collections · The Vintage Bookshelf

A Cookbook Worth Reading

September 7, 2021August 21, 2021 VintageJenny

A 1920s illustration of a woman sitting at a table. She has in front of her a plate, an open can of pineapple rings, and a bowl. Shelves of cookware and dishes sit beyond her. From a cookbook by Louise Bennett Weaver.

Every now and then I like to curl up with a nice cup of hot tea and a good cookbook. A cookbook worth reading is a wonderful addition to any kitchen library. A Thousand Ways to Please a Husband (with Bettina’s Best Recipes) qualifies as one of those books, and I’m reading it this month. To be truthful, I’m reading it again.

During the 19-teens, instructional novels became quite popular. These were books that taught you how to do something, but did it within the framework of a story. Thus, while the story entertained you and you found yourself caught in its grip you also learned something. The books tried to walk the fine line between instruction and entertainment. Some succeeded more than others at this task. This cookbook is from that genre.

A Thousand Ways to Please a Husband…

A Thousand Ways to Please a Husband, by Louise Bennett Weaver and Helen Cowles LeCron, first appeared in 1917. The story opens as Bettina and her new husband Bob step into their little cottage when they arrive home from their honeymoon. Each short chapter tells something about their first year of marriage. They also conclude with a set of recipes that serve two (or three or more, when Bettina and Bob have guests or she needs planned left-overs.)

Each month begins with a short and somewhat corny little verse. You can smile over them, laugh over them, or groan over them. Your choice.

Weary are we of our winter-time fare;
Hasten, O Springtime, elusive and arch!
Bring us your dainties; our cupboard are bare!
Pity us, starved by tyrannical March!
A thousand Ways to Please a husband with Bettina’s best recipes

While the First World War rages somewhere, and deeply affects the lives of readers, the book remains blissfully unaware of such events. Bettina exists in the pre-war world, where she shops carefully for meat and fills her days with decorating the cottage and cooking for small parties. In the course of this first year Bettina throws an informal luncheon party, a Sunday evening tea, a motor picnic, a porch party in the late afternoon, a porch breakfast, and a Sunday dinner for guests. She also hosts a shower for her friend Alice and a good-bye luncheon for another friend. Bettina and Bob host a Halloween party. They host friends for dessert regularly.

So what’s with all this entertaining? Did the authors have nothing to talk about but parties? Actually, not really. Within these 152 chapters the authors lay out, in story form, practically any occasion that a young bride might find herself hosting. Have a friend who’s getting married? Here are two shower menus, dinner menus for both the bridal party and bridesmaids, and an outline for how to gather the bridesmaids for a luncheon after the wedding. This information, and the stories that surround it, makes this a cookbook worth reading.

Recipes for every vintage occasion

Need to serve a somewhat formal dinner? Bettina did that when she made Sunday dinner and she helpfully provides the menu and the recipes for her trip to Aunt Lucy’s for Thanksgiving. She also gives a menu and recipes for Alice and Harry’s bridal dinner, probably the most formal menu in the book.

An interesting point of the book is that all dishes are alcohol-free. The book makes no mention of wine, beer, whiskey, or any other alcohol either as ingredient or beverage. The strongest liquid Bettina serves is coffee, and it seems like none of her friends imbibe either. I expect alcohol-free cookbooks during the 1920s, but A Thousand Ways saw publication a full two years before Prohibition. (Bettina and her friends do drink a lot of coffee! In fact, the only two beverage recipes listed in the index under Drinks are for coffee and hot chocolate.)

Thankfully this book contains a decent index, because if you find yourself immersed in the story you will have no idea where to find the hot chocolate recipe once you’re finished, other than “I think it was somewhere near the beginning.” That is one issue with a cookbook worth reading. Without a good index it becomes hard to find things later.

Similar books by the same author

This was the first Bettina book. Several more followed: A Thousand Ways to Please a Family, When Sue Began to Cook, and Bettina’s Best Desserts, for example. Please a Husband focuses on events like gatherings, informal parties, and unusual occasions –– like fixing dinner from the emergency shelf after you’ve been out all day. Please a Family, on the other hand, concentrates on holidays. This second book covers ice-skating parties, Valentine’s Day, Easter, May Day, summer cooking, Christmas, and New Year’s.

A Thousand Ways to Please A Husband proves more popular today than Please a Family, its sequel. For one thing, the tone of the two books comes across very different. In the first book Bettina can appear a bit bossy. In the second she’s downright insufferable. Which is a shame, because the story holding the second book together is just as cute in its own way as the tale of Bettina and Bob’s first year together.

In my copy of How to Please a Husband, several half-sheets of paper live inside the back cover. These are the names and page numbers of many recipes from the book that I want to try. Some of the recipes from this book are so good that they found their way into our regular family rotation.

If you’ve never experienced a cookbook worth reading, I encourage you to give How to Please a Husband with Bettina’s Best Recipes a try. I re-read it every few years, cover to cover. Sometimes it’s when I need a little encouragement to try new recipes. Usually, though, I find myself reading about Bettina’s adventures when I want to dip into the world of 1917 when cut flowers decorated every nice dining table, automobiles were new, and homemade candy sent through the mail provided an indescribable treat.

Read it for yourself

You can find A Thousand Ways to Please a Husband online at the Internet Archive and Project Gutenberg. If you’d like to try A Thousand Ways to Please a Family as well, you can download it from Google Books. Dover Publications has reprinted it as well, if you’d like a paper copy.

Poems from the Pages · The Magazine Rack

Poem: Queen Anne’s Lace

September 2, 2021July 23, 2021 VintageJenny

A closeup photo of a meadow with white Queen Anne's Lace flowers. In the background to the left you see some yellow summer flowers.

I always loved Queen Anne’s Lace. When I was young I memorized the poem Queen Anne’s Lace by Mary Leslie Newton that brought the flower to life for me. You may know it. It went like this:

Queen Anne, Queen Anne has washed her lace
(She chose a Summer’s day)
And hung it in a grassy place,
To whiten, if it may.

Queen Anne, Queen Anne, has left it there,
And slept the dewy night:
Then waked, to find the sunshine fair,
And all the meadows white.

Queen Anne, Queen Anne, is dead and gone
(She died a Summer’s day)
But left her lace to whiten on
Each weed-entangled way!

I expected to see the poem above when I turned the pages of a September issue of Needlecraft magazine and saw the title of the monthly poem. Seeing a poem for adults in the space surprised me, I was so ready for the children’s chant above.

I poked around a bit to unearth some history for both poets. While I can find a good deal of information about Mary Leslie Newton, whose life was well documented and who wrote several books, I found almost nothing on Alicia C. Stewart.

Apparently Alicia’s poetry found occasional publication, even if she is forgotten today. I located one poem called Thanksgiving, published in a Vermont newspaper in 1934. But as far as I can tell, she published no compilations, she appeared in few magazines, and she left her papers to no university. If anyone knows anything about Alicia C. Stewart, the poet, please drop a line in the comments. I’d like to find out more about her.

Queen Anne’s Lace

Queen Anne's Lace
by Alicia C. Stewart

As I looked from my window this morning
  O'er the meadows, drenched deeply with dew
That the sunbeams were turning to diamonds
  A marvelous miracle grew.
There, dainty and white as a snowflake,
  And pure as a baby's sweet face,
All over the green carpet scattered
  Glistened patches of Queen Anne's Lace.

Were they dropped from the hands of the fairies ––
  Wee 'kerchiefs so filmy and fine?
I wondered what magic had brought them,
  Like stars in the meadow to shine;
And whether a needle or shuttle,
  Each serving so well in its place,
Was plied by Queen Anne's skillful fingers
  As she fashioned her beautiful lace.

Arily, gracefully swaying,
  Facing the sun and the sky ––
No loom for that magical weaving,
  No shuttle nor needle to ply.
Straight from the hand of the Father,
  Pasture and meadow to grace
Teaching the lesson of trusting,
  came this wonderful Queen Anne's Lace.

One of the things that appealed to me about this poem, Queen Anne’s Lace, was its mention of needle and shuttle made lace. What a delightful nod to the lacemakers among us. I wondered which kind of lacemaking needle the poet had in mind, if any, when she wrote these words?

If you enjoyed this poem about nature and its flowers, you may enjoy A Song of June as well.

The Creative Corner · Vintage Needlework

Project for Outline Stitches

August 31, 2021July 21, 2021 VintageJenny

Last time we dove into embroidery we worked on various outline stitches. This time I bring you a project for those outline stitches.

1920s quilt, an embroidery project using outline stitches. The center features 15 blocks. Every other block shows the outline of an insect or animal: bird in hat, butterfly, bird with net, ladybug, frog, squirrel, fish, and flying insect. — Make this small quilt embroidered with outline stitches.

While this was designed as a small quilt, you can use these whimsical Twenties patterns for anything. Put them on an apron. Assemble a collection, mount them in embroidery hoops, and hang them on your wall. Embroider in a long strip and fashion into a wall hanging.

The original illustration shows this quilt made from white and pink sateen. Sateen is a cotton fabric with a satin-like weave. You can still buy it from places like Fabric.com. One of the benefits of a fabric like sateen: it usually has a tight weave so it makes a nice background for embroidery. However, any medium to heavy weight cotton like a nice quilting cotton, or even a linen, would work for this project. (Keep in mind that if you actually plan to make a crib quilt, linen needs to be ironed after washing. Cotton would work better.)

Use whatever colors you like. You’ll need a light color like white, beige, yellow, light green, etc. for the embroidered blocks and a dark color of your choosing for the others.

You will need

The finished quilt measures 36.5 inches wide by 49.5 inches high. Sew all the pieces together with 1/4 inch seams.

For the entire quilt, you will need:

Light embroidered squares: 2.5 yard of 42″ wide fabric, or 2.5 yard of 36″ wide fabric. The blocks actually fit on 1 yard if you are very careful and you use pre-washed fabric, but it only leaves 1 inch of clearance. A few extra inches is safer. This includes making the entire back from one piece of 33 x 46 inches of light fabric.
Dark fabric: 1.5 yards of 42″ wide fabric, or 1.75 yards of 36″ wide fabric.
Flannel for inner lining: This project uses pre-washed flannel as an option for warmth instead of quilt batting. Optional: The original coverlet had no batting or inner lining.
The original was made from white and pink sateen. Sateen is a cotton fabric with a satin-like weave. You can still buy it from places like Fabric.com. One of the benefits of a fabric like sateen is that it is tightly woven so it makes a nice background for embroidery. However, any medium to heavy weight cotton like a nice quilting cotton, or even a linen, would work for this project. (Keep in mind that if you actually plan to make a crib quilt, linen needs to be ironed after washing.)
Sewing thread to match your fabric
Embroidery floss
A method of transferring the pattern
Embroidery hoop
Embroidery needle
Sewing needle or sewing machine

Draw your blocks

Once you have your fabric, measure out the the blocks before you cut anything.

From the light fabric:

8 small blocks measure 7 x 7 inches.
2 medium blocks measure 7 x 20 inches.
2 large blocks measure 7 x 33 inches.
Back piece measures 33 x 46 inches. You will cut this after everything else is together, but make sure you have enough fabric left in one piece once you trace everything else out.

From the dark fabric:

2 long binding strips measure 5.25 x 52 inches.
2 short binding strips measure 5.25 x 42 inches.
11 blocks measure 7 x 7 inches.

Measure the largest pieces first, and then fit the small 7 x 7 squares around them. Draw the rectangles right onto your fabric with pencil (or a white fabric pencil, if you use really dark fabric).

Embroider all your 7 x 7 squares before cutting them out. This will make your life a lot easier. If you would like to cut the squares and strips before embroidering, you will need a small 5-inch embroidery hoop.

If you need some ideas on how to transfer the designs, you can find it in this article I wrote about how to Transfer Vintage Embroidery Patterns.

The designs

These nature-inspired designs are true Twenties illustrations. Embroider all of them with three strands of embroidery floss in a color that matches the dark color of your quilt.

The original instructions call for the animals to be done in basic outline/stem stitch. However, they would also look nice in snailtrail stitch with portions done in backstitch.

When you print these, try printing them at 70%. Your goal is a square that measures about 6 inches. That will transfer nicely into a 6.5 inch finished square.

1920s outline design of a crow-like bird wearing a fedora. — This sassy bird begs to be embroidered.

Twenties illustration of butterfly for outline embroidery. — This butterfly shows off its delicate lines.

Twenties outline illustration of a bird holding a net. He's looking for a worm. — This bird is determined to catch the worm!

Twenties illustration of squirrel with nut for outline embroidery. — This little squirrel found a nut worth burying.

Twenties illustration of a catfish for outline embroidery. — A Twenties-style catfish. If the whiskers bother you, leave them off.

Twenties illustration of an insect for outline embroidery. — Everyone needs a nicely embroidered winged insect, right?

Twenties illustration of a frog for outline embroidery. — The artist caught this frog mid-jump.

Twenties illustration of a ladybug running on two feet, for outline embroidery. — A sweet ladybug to decorate someone’s room.

The borders

The quilt uses two different borders. These are also embroidered in one color, the same you used for the animal blocks. The instructions call for them to be embroidered in a close (small stitches) running stitch.

Two scroll work outline illustrations for a crib quilt. The top one is about 1/3 longer than the lower one, although they look very similar. — Border designs for the crib quilt.

Each of these borders should measure about 4 inches wide once they are printed. A tiny bit more or less won’t matter.

The long border will measure about 23.5 inches when completely drawn out. I’ve given you half the drawing so that you can print it out landscape and then reverse it.

The short border will measure about 16.75 inches when completely drawn out. Since 16 inches is longer than the standard US 11.5 inch page, I halved this pattern as well.

This borders the top and bottom of the quilt.

Putting it together

Your blocks are measured, and you embroidered the light ones. Everything is ready for assembly.

If you haven’t already, cut the blocks apart on your penciled lines. The original instructions suggested that you might want to assemble the quilt with all the fabric lengthwise threads running the same direction. This is a good practice, but not necessary if this is a practice piece. Why do this at all? It’s so that if the piece shrinks, it will all shrink together in the same direction.

Should you want to do this, an easy way to keep track is to take some extra sewing thread and make a few basting stitches lengthwise along each block. This makes it easy to attach them in the same direction.

The center

Sew the center squares together in strips to match the completed illustration. Use a 1/4 inch seam allowance. Then press each seam allowance open.

Being careful to match the corners, sew the strips together to make a section composed of 3 blocks by 5 blocks. Open and press the seams as before.

Now sew on the two long side panels.

Attach the end panels and corners. It may be easiest to do this by assembling a top strip of dark/panel/dark and a bottom strip to match, and then attaching the strips to the top and bottom of the almost completed quilt top. Press all seams open.

The lining and edging

Cut the lining piece the same size as the patchwork. Place the two pieces together, back to back. Lay them out on a table or another flat surface and pin them together very carefully so they are perfectly smooth. Baste into place.

Sew one edge of the shorter bands along each end. Keep the seam on the wrong side of the band (it will be on the inside when you are finished.) Sew together the band, the patchwork, and the lining.

Sew one edge of the long side bands into place. Beginning in the middle of one of the long sides, fold a 1/4 inch hem and then fold the long strip along the middle. The seam that contains all the raw edges and that holds the quilt edging in place should be on the inside.

Pin the fold in place so it doesn’t move, and whip stitch it down. Miter the corners neatly.

To give the blanket a quilted appearance, use sewing thread and make a fine (small) running stitch close to each seam. They should be parallel with the seams. Only go through the top layer of the fabric, catching the seam allowances underneath. Repeat on the other side of each seam. This will keep the seams laying flat.

If you want to make the quilt warm, you can use a layer of pre-washed flannel in between the top and lining. Then when you place the running stitches parallel with the seams, go through all the layers of the fabric. You will quilt it at the same time that you catch the seam allowances.

Enjoy your beautiful embroidered quilt!

The Creative Corner · Vintage Needlework

Transfer Vintage Embroidery Patterns

August 26, 2021July 21, 2021 VintageJenny

Portion of a linen doily showing an embroidery transfer of simple flowers and leaves. Dates from 1920-1950. — Item purchased with transfer already applied, ca. 1920-1950.

You found this great pattern you want to make. Perhaps you’re following my vintage embroidery lessons and you want to recreate one or two of the patterns I talk about. How do you transfer the vintage embroidery pattern to your fabric? It’s not as hard as it might seem.

In the past, if you found a design you liked, you could get it in two ways. The magazine or catalog often offered an article on a heavy linen or linen/cotton or linen/rayon fabric that you simply decorated with needle and thread. This was more profitable for the magazine and less work for you. However, it could be expensive. You might find yourself paying $1.25 for a pre-stamped piece of fabric when you only paid $1.00 for a yearly subscription to the magazine!

A more economical option was purchasing a transfer and placing the design onto your own fabric. This worked great for small items, because a worker often had fabric pieces left from larger projects. That pillow may be leftover fabric from the curtains or Mom’s best silk. Send away 15 to 60 cents and the transfer is yours.

Today when we think transfer we immediately think hot iron. While most of us who sew or work with fabric do own a clothing iron, other transfer options existed.

Pricking and pouncing

Sometimes embroidery designs appeared with holes punched along the design line. This was known as a perforated transfer pattern. To transfer the design you placed the perforated design over your fabric, and then you brushed some transfer powder onto the design. The dark (or light) powder falls through the holes and you end up with a beautifully transferred design. The process is known as prick, the holes in your pattern, and pounce. Pounce is the powder you use.

You can do this with any design. Here are the basics:

Find a needle. The holes it makes need to be big enough that you can see the pattern when you’re finished. A regular embroidery needle would work well. This doesn’t have to be huge. A pricking needle used for bobbin lace (a needle set into a handle) is ideal.
Poke holes along the design lines at even spaces. Make them very close together.
Find a transfer powder. You can use cornstarch, talcum powder, or even ground up chalk while you are practicing.
With a stiff brush, a small piece of felt, or anything else that will let you lift the powder from a container and release it sparingly onto your pattern, dot the transfer medium along the design lines.
You should end up with a perfect design, perfectly applied. This takes a bit of practice before it becomes smooth and flawless. Best of all, you can use it over and over again with no extra work, unlike many other transfer methods.

If this technique interests you, do look at these two articles by professional embroiderer Mary Corbet. She talks about using charcoal and talc –– what grades to use and where to find them inexpensively. Excellent information.

You can find pounce powder at quilting shops like Missouri Quilt Company if you don’t want to go the assemble-your-own-from-chemical-supply-stores route.

Carbon paper transfer

Photo of vintage carbon paper package resting on a piece of linen fabric and a simple flower and leaf pattern. Text: Traum Carbon tracing paper for dressmaker's use. New Formula. Marks clearer. Will not smear. Easier to.... [photo cuts of remaining words] — Special carbon paper makes tracing a design a breeze.

The idea behind carbon paper transfers is simple. You choose a color that is close to your fabric but not invisible. Since my fabric is ivory I would probably choose yellow or blue from the package above. Make sure your fabric is ironed with no creases.

Lay your fabric on a hard surface.
Place the carbon paper on the fabric where the design should be. Make sure the color part of the carbon paper is down, towards the fabric.
Place your design on top of the carbon paper.
Trace the design with a pencil.

Your design is transferred and ready to embroider. This gets a bit tricky when you have a large design to reproduce, but not impossible. However, let’s say you want to take one motif, like the flower and leaf above, and repeat it several times. You might be placing this along the hem or down the sides of curtains, for example. In that case you might want to look into the prick and pounce method above. Once you prepare the pattern for prick and pounce you can use it over and over easily without tracing it each time.

Tracing with graphite

You may remember this method from grade school. It’s the scribble-on-the-back-of-the-paper method.

Believe it or not, this was a popular way to transfer patterns during the first half of the last century. It was inexpensive, always at hand, and something anyone could do.

Here’s how to do it:

Find a design you like, and make sure it’s on a sturdy paper.
Turn the design over and cover the back of the design with graphite from a pencil. This will take a lot of scribbling.
Once the back is solidly covered, turn the sheet back over.
Place the design over your fabric and trace the design lines onto your fabric. The graphite from the pencil should transfer from the pressure of your pencil.

And there you are! One transferred design and perhaps one very dirty palm. (I could never do this without resting my wrist on the paper somewhere. I’m a mess by the time the design transfers.)

Using a transfer pencil

Photo of simple flower with leaf drawing. A red Aunt Martha's transfer pencil lays across the page. — With a transfer pencil you trace and iron.

With a transfer pencil you trace whatever you want to embroider, turn it over, and iron the page. The pencil markings then reproduce on your fabric. Generally the instructions suggest that you use some type of tracing paper to reproduce your design with the pencil.

While I show an Aunt Martha’s transfer pencil in the photo, I do it because that’s what I have. Many other companies produce these, and you can find them online or at your local fabric store. Clover, Dritz, Ibotta, General Pencil, and Sulky all make hot iron transfer pencils as well.

This is a nice option when you are copying words from another transfer. For instance, the old Days of the Week transfers all have words on them: Monday, Tuesday, etc. If I simply trace it with carbon paper the words will still turn out backwards. Tracing it with a sheet of tracing paper and a hot iron transfer pencil, the letters face the correct way when I turn the page over and iron the design. Magic!

Use your new knowledge

Pick your favorite method and play around with transfers. Any one of these works if you want to transfer vintage embroidery patterns. For practice, you may want to check out my Embroidery Lessons series on Outline stitches.

Happy creating!

Magazine articles · The Magazine Rack · Vintage Needlework

Owning a Twenties Needlecraft Business

August 24, 2021July 22, 2021 VintageJenny

A 1920s sketch of a woman sitting on her front porch in a large wicker chair. A low table sits next to her. She is sewing by hand. Next to her a friend sits on the porch railing. They are visiting. — Many women found that time with their needle could turn a profit.

Many of the magazines of the Twenties and Thirties offered ideas for women to make extra money from home. For many families, the Twenties life wasn’t attending party after party in dance shoes and short dresses. It was about making ends meet and finding the best prices at the grocer. And sometimes it was about making a bit of money on the side. Owning a Twenties needlecraft business was highly encouraged by some of the needlework magazines of the time..

Here is one story, direct from the pages of Needlecraft Magazine. These little stories appeared on the editorial page, and I’m sure subscribers read them with interest, just as I did when I found it 100 years later.

A Twenties mail-order needlecraft business

Attributed to a Bess V. from Tennessee, this tells a tale of ingenuity and business savvy. Bess didn’t just open a store front and wait for people to appear. Instead, she looked at her situation realistically and networked with people in her community to get the word out. Here is her story:

“My own Needlecraft Shop is on a mail-order basis. I live in a small town where it would scarcely pay to open such a shop in the regular way. Yet I trust the hints I am glad to offer, and which are drawn from personal experience will help others in adding to their income as I have done.

Then those who bought the camisoles showed them to friends. In a short time I was in receipt of mail orders from the city.

“My first orders were for a tatted camisole yoke, made up on white wash-silk. This I took with me on a shopping trip to a nearby city. I used it in soliciting orders from the clerks of the department store. The work spoke for itself, and I made my price as reasonable as possible. Because of this, I brought home enough orders to keep me busy for several weeks.

“Then those who bought the camisole yokes showed them to friends. In a short time I was in receipt of mail orders from the city. These were not only for yokes, but also for lace to trim underwear, pillowcases, and other articles. One woman sent an order for fourteen yards!

Tatted lace and embroidered hankies

“In another town near my home a woman I know set up a dressmaking establishment. She gave me permission to put some of my work on display in her windows. It sold rapidly, especially tatted collars and lace for trimming dresses. My friend said it really helped her business. Passers-by would stop to admire the work, and many of them came in and placed an order for a dress with one of the collars or some of the lace to match.

“Among my best sellers are handmade handkerchiefs. Material for half a dozen costs comparatively little. For some of them I use an edge of tiny tatted rings, or a simple dainty pattern in crochet. Others with plain edges show a design embroidered in colors.

“An assortment of these handkerchiefs, neatly arranged, was placed in a ready-to-wear waist [blouse] shop. Others were displayed in a millinery store where they sold readily.

“I have found that bits of thread left from embroidering larger pieces are often sufficient for working several handkerchief corners. The proprietors of shops such as I have named rarely object to having work placed on sale as long as it does not enter into competition with their own goods. On the contrary, they seem glad to have it.

“So here’s to the success of other workers! Where there’s a will the way is not hard to find. It requires only the determination to carry on, and the ability to see and grasp every opportunity presented. Perhaps we need to create them when we do not at once discern an opportunity. Let me say that Needlecraft has been and is a veritable goldmine to me. I have no difficulty whatever in selling the neatly finished designs with which it is always teeming.”

Things change yet they stay the same

It’s interesting that Bess needed to augment her income in the 1920s much like many of us do today. As I read through her story, I wondered… how did she get all this done while running a household in 1920-1928? She lists a massive amount of needlework production. Even though she outlines no time period for her side business, she still produces an amazing number of finished goods.

She makes:

Tatted lace collars
Lace yardage in tatting –– including a 14-yard order!
Tatted lace chemise yokes.
Embroidered handkerchiefs
Handkerchiefs with crochet edgings
Handkerchiefs with tatted edgings

Bess not only decorates the handkerchiefs, she makes them from fabric yardage. It was almost easier to hem a handkerchief while attaching the finished lace than it was to attach the lace to a finished purchased handkerchief.

Even considering the time span may equal three years or more, this is still quite a bit of handwork for someone to produce for sale. Not only that, but if someone asked me to tat 14 yards of edging I may just pass out! Bess must have really enjoyed working with her tatting shuttle.

In addition, owning a needlecraft business in the Twenties required bookkeeping, packaging, mailing, and keeping address and contact records. Basically, everything we do now to run a business, Bess needed to keep on paper.

I hope you enjoyed this look into the life of a needlecraft entrepreneur and this look at owning a Twenties needlecraft business. If you were going to open a mail-order shop like this today (a relatively easy project given the Internet), what would you want to sell? What projects do you love enough to create them over and over again?

The Creative Corner · Vintage Needlework

Embroidery Lesson: Outline Stitches

August 19, 2021August 18, 2021 VintageJenny

Welcome to the second lesson in our series. This time we concentrate on an embroidery lesson for outline stitches. In this first installment I’ll introduce the outline stitches. A second post will give you some simple patterns you can use for practice. If you missed the first lesson you can find Part 1 here.

This was the article that changed my attitude towards outlining in embroidery. For years I’d used the simple stem stitch. It worked for stems, curves, straight lines, basically anything I needed to outline. However, it does get boring after awhile. You look at this thing you want to outline, and think… Again? Four colors, all lines. It goes fast, but it’s kind of boring. No? It was just me? Maybe I need to get out more.

During the Twenties through the Forties, many designs were embroidered by covering the outline only. In fact, unless you followed a pattern with cross stitches, the term embroidery often meant outline stitch. This meant that lots of beautiful line patterns were produced during this time period that still look very effective today.

Perhaps because of this, Needlecraft Magazine produced an embroidery lesson specifically for outline stitches. This introduces the general outline stitch but takes you beyond that so you can be as creative as you like.

The Outline Stitch

When we think of following a line in embroidery, we usually think of the stem stitch, also called the outline stitch. An illustration of the outline stitch appears below.

You always work this stitch from left to right, and you keep the needle pointed to the left. Start the embroidery without making a knot in your thread. Hold the end of the thread behind the fabric and take three or four short running stitches along the design line. Make the stitches in the direction of your beginning embroidery point. These stitches will be covered by the embroidery, and you can clip any hanging end later.

Looking at the illustration, place your needle along the dotted line a short way and take a stitch. Usually an outline stitch measures between 1/4 and 1/2 inch long. Bring your needle up close to the end of the first stitch, staying on the line. Now the outline stitch really begins.

The needle goes down on the dotted line, your design line. It comes back up, still on the line, at the end of the last stitch. Keep your thread always to the left of your work so that it will make a nice, even outline. If your thread falls to the right for a stitch you will instantly know; something looks off as you look at your finished work.

Changing the effect and turning corners

If you want the effect of your thread always on the right side rather than the left, you can do that. It will look a bit more twisted if you embroider that way, and it’s a perfectly acceptable effect. Whichever way you use, stay consistent within one piece or it will “look” wrong.

When you turn a corner or a sharp curve, you shorten your stitches accordingly. Sometimes they will need to be very short in order to follow a line. Otherwise, the outline stitch uses the same length of stitch all the way through a project.

The length of your stitches ultimately depends on your working materials. Embroidery with wool on burlap requires much larger stitches than using one strand of embroidery floss on fine linen. If you make the stitches too small, the delightful detail of the embroidery gets lost.

The Snailtrail

This outline stitch can be called the snailtrail, the beading stitch, or the knotted outline. It looks a bit like a couching stitch and is very effective in a thread like perle cotton. It gives you little beads along the thread. Very nice.

While the outline stitch is worked from left to right, this stitch is the opposite. Always work the snailtrail stitch from right to left.

Hold the thread on the line with your left thumb and take a short slanted stitch underneath it. The illustration above shows how. Make the slanted stitch from top to bottom. This makes the thread coil around in a loop –– perfect. Gently pull the thread up and you should get a knot around your working thread. Leave it somewhat loose. That’s part of its beauty.

You notice that the needle goes in further above the thread (which we assume is held along the embroidery design line) than it comes out below it. This helps to get the nice round beads but at the same time you don’t stray too far from the outline’s path.

A few practice stitches will show you where to place the needle. Draw a line on some spare fabric and make a few snailtrail beads. You’ll quickly see the best way for you to make the stitch.

The Running Stitch

This stitch is used in plain hand sewing, in crafting with felt, and in quilting. The running stitch is a good general stitch to master. This might be the easiest stitch in this embroidery lesson for outline stitches.

This stitch looks very nice as a companion to heavier stitches. It also provides an ethereal look to clouds and a nice broken look to grass. It’s nice to use when you want a light effect.

The running stitch is worked from right to left, and its beauty depends on the evenness of the stitches. They should all be the same size with the same distance between. The stitches are a little longer than the space between them. If you want to be creative, placing the stitches in a long – short – long – short pattern could be beautiful. Keep the same distance between all the stitches, though, to accent your creativity.

As you can see in the illustration, you can make several running stitches at a time. In fact, this helps to keep the stitches and spaces even.

The Back Stitch

The back stitch appears similar to the running stitch, but with no fabric showing between the stitches.

This uses more thread than the running stitch because it covers each stitch length twice. This is important if you have limited access to threads. Working with vintage threads that you can’t replace once you run out, or an out-of-production thread that you love, may dictate embroidering with a stitch that uses less thread.

The back stitch produces a nice straight outline, whether you’re following a curve or a line. It’s also a sturdy stitch. Unlike stem stitch or the chain stitch mentioned later, this stitch does not move once you place it unless your stitches are very long.

To make this stitch, bring your needle up on the dotted line (the design line on your fabric). Return the needle to the fabric 1/8 – 1/4 inch to the right, as shown above. Bring the needle back out 1/8 – 1/4 inch to the left of where your thread comes out. Then place your needle back into the fabric to the right, almost touching the first stitch. (In counted cross stitch, your back stitches do touch one another when done on a fabric like Aida. In Twenties-style fabric embroidery, the stitches almost touch, with a strand or two of the fabric between stitches.)

Follow the design line from right to left. A full 2/3 of your thread will lie under the fabric surface. A back stitch is often used in place of an outline/stem stitch. It gives nice variety to your embroidery.

The Chain Stitch

When you want the effect of a heavy line, the chain stitch can work very well.

The endless loops of the chain stitch make an interesting outline. As you can see in the illustration, the needle always points towards you. The chain appears link by link, drawing closer to you as it covers the design line.

To make the chain stitch, bring your needle up on the dotted line. Hold the thread down with your thumb, and insert the needle again where it came out of the fabric. Pass the needle under the fabric for a short space and bring the needle point back up. At this point your needle should pass over the thread your thumb holds down. You can see what that looks like in the illustration.

Draw the thread through the hole. Be careful to leave it a bit loose so that it forms a nice chain link. You are now in the position to hold the thread down again while you put the needle back into the fabric where it came out. Continue creating your chain.

I hope you found this embroidery lesson on outline stitches useful. Next time I’ll give you the project that came with this article: adorable animals and a border for outline stitches.

Vintage Entertainment

Stereoscopes and Stereograph Cards

August 17, 2021July 19, 2021 VintageJenny

Stereoscope with stereograph card. The double image card depicts a soldier during World War I. A partially visible card lies under the stereoscope. — Taking a break from life with some well-loved stereograph cards. This one is from a series on WWI.

So what do you do when the weather is questionable, the day is quiet and lonely, or you have guests over with nothing planned? Simple! You bring out the stereoscope and your stereograph cards. Guaranteed to bring a smile, this is good entertainment alone or with a small group.

Sounds almost like an advertisement, doesn’t it? Stereoscopes were inexpensive enough that almost every family had one –– I’ve seen advertised prices for the viewers as low as 24 cents. At that price, a family could afford to splurge on a set or two of cards once in a while.

Closeup image of a stereoscope, looking through the eye pieces at a blurry card beyond. — A closeup look through the stereoscope.

Far away places right into your living room

The stereoscope brought far away places into your sitting room or parlor. You could see photos of India, Japan, or Ireland. You also could look at mountains, rivers, or famous architecture. In fact, regardless where you lived, the stereograph card could introduce you to new places and new technologies.

Downtown market day in St. Petersburg, Russia. Circa 1898-1910. — St. Petersburg, Russia.

Perhaps you didn’t attend the latest World’s Exposition in St. Louis, Missouri. Maybe you weren’t even born yet. (It did, after all, occur in 1904.) However, your parents or grandparents might have, and their stack of stereograph cards commemorating the occasion helps you feel like you were almost there yourself.

Stereoscope card image of four women in Japanese kimono standing next to beds filled with chrysanthemums. Probably dates 1904-1910. — Women at a chrysanthemum show in Japan.

In case you missed the experience, here are 161 cards from the Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904 that you can view thanks to the Library of Congress. See Theodore Roosevelt’s log cabin. View the Manufacturers Building lit at night with electric lights. Gaze at a gaggle of gondolas as they paddle across the Grand Basin.

Stereoscope card image of a deer standing in the middle of tall grasses. A mountain towers in the background. — Animals figured prominently in the cards as well.

The most popular viewer

While many different versions of the stereoscope viewer exist, one stands out above the rest. You can see a version of it in the photos above. Several inventors tried their hands at the stereoscope viewer, but the one that endures was invented by Oliver Wendell Holmes. You may have heard of him. He was a physician, novelist, poet, essayist, and improver of the stereoscope viewer. He called his version the American Stereoscope, and refused to patent it so that it could be copied freely. And copied freely it was!

If your family attic fails to hold one of these visual wonders, they are plentiful in local antique stores and on eBay. A stereoscope and stereograph cards really are fun as you while away an hour or two looking at the past.

Operating it is simple. You drop the 2-image card into the wire card holder and then look through the viewer. If the image is fuzzy, move the bar towards or away from you a little at a time until it clears. Voilá! A mountainscape. Or a city street. Or maybe even two children feeding their horse.

Two children stand outside a barn and feed a horse through a window opening. A small boy holds a basket filled with hay up to the horse so he can eat. A larger girl stands next to a bale of hay and watches as she holds strands of dried grasses for the next course. Both children are dressed circa 1900. — Some cards were endearing, while others hoped to bring a smile.

Another option is to unearth your childhood possession of the updated stereoscope. They called it the Viewmaster, and you can read my article about it here.

But what about capturing today’s views in the same way? You can definitely make your own stereograph cards with modern photography. If you would like to try your hand at making your own stereoscope or stereograph photos, try this tutorial from Instructables.