Tag: 1950s

The Creative Corner · Vintage Needlework · Vintage Sewing

Embroider a Baby Bib

VintageJenny
Illustration of two white baby bibs on a blue and yellow background. Each is decorated with flower embroidery. Image dates from 1940s-50s.
Baby bib designs for embroidery

Bibs keep babies tidy. They go in and out of fashion, but a stack of baby bibs was a must-have to any vintage household with a baby in it. Some were for utilitarian use, and they got thrown into the laundry hamper after one messy meal. Others were designed for decoration, and matched or complemented the baby’s wardrobe. You can embroider a baby bib that falls in between these extremes. Make one to match a special outfit. Or create a couple special warm weather bibs for that baby in your life.

Lots of vintage bib patterns exist, because the bib became a staple of the layette. While looking through a stack of old patterns, I came across these two that I just had to share. They’re from an undated layette pattern set, probably from the 1940s or at the latest, early 1950s. I thought they were darling and I wanted to pass them along in case anyone could use them.

To Embroider the Baby Bibs

These patterns measure about 8 1/8 to 8 1/4 inches from side to side, and 8 to 8 1/4 inches from back to belly. They should print well on US size letter paper.

To embroider the bibs:

  • Two 10 x 10 inch pieces of white or pastel fabric, light to medium weight like quilting cotton, batiste, or muslin. You can also use 1/4 yard of any of the fabrics.
  • 1 yard of bias tape to coordinate or match your base fabric. This will edge the neck and form the ties.
  • Embroidery floss in your choice of colors.
  • Embroidery hoop to hold your fabric taut.
  • Sharp embroidery needle – not a cross stitch tapestry needle. This one needs to have a sharp point to go through the fabric.

Use these stitches:

  • French knots or satin stitch for the dots.
  • Satin stitch or lazy daisy stitch for the flowers.
  • Outline or stem stitch for the lines.
  • Buttonhole stitch for the edges.
  • Rambler Rose stitch for the roses. (See below for illustration).
Illustrat8ion for completing a Rambler Rose stitch in embroidery.
This is a rose stitch.

Colors You Will Need

Really, you can use any colors you want. Traditionally these were embroidered in light, wispy, pastel colors. But as you can see from the first picture, the original artist colored them with bright reds, yellows, and blues. Is this because it matched their pattern envelope brand colors? We will never know.

The pattern itself does suggest some colors:

  • Work entirely in one color. This is great for a more formal bib, or one where you want it to match a particular outfit without question.
  • Flowers: pink or blue, or any pastel color on white. Or white on any pastel fabric color.
  • Centers: light yellow or white.
  • Leaves and stems: light green.
  • Ribbons and dots: pink, white, or blue, depending on colors used for flowers. You can match them or contrast.

If you need ideas for embroidery stitches, or instructions on how to do the stitches suggested, I created a whole set of blog posts with vintage embroidery lessons. It’s called Lessons In Embroidery.

Creating the Bibs

Here are the steps to putting one of these bibs together.

  1. Print out the design you want to use. The original bib measures about 8 x 8 inches or 8 1/4 by 8 1/4 inches. Either is fine. I printed the image at 45% to 46% to match the size.
  2. Transfer the design to your fabric. You can trace it, use fabric carbon paper, prick the lines with pins and rub powder over them, whatever you like.
  3. Embroider the main design.
  4. Use a buttonhole stitch to go around the scalloped outside edge of the bib. This finishes it off.
  5. Cut out the bib carefully. Be sure not to catch your buttonhole stitches. Cut along the cutting line at the neck. You’ll have about a 3/8 inch seam line.
  6. Fold your bias tape in half. Attach the middle point to the middle front of the bib neckline and pin it around. Sew the bias tape onto the bib, either by hand or machine. Fold it over and hem the tape to the back of the bib. Sew the long edges of the bias tape straps together so they don’t unfold. You can sew the ends of the tape, or not. It’s cut on the bias. It won’t unravel.

The Patterns

Here are the patterns you will need to create the bibs.

Photo of a bib pattern for download.
Baby bib number 1 with a sweet bow and bunches of flowers.

And here is the second design.

Photo of a bib pattern to download.
Baby bib number 2, with roses and scrolls.

The thin line around the outside of the bib shows where to place the buttonhole edging.

Where to Go from Here

If you enjoyed this project, you might also like some of the projects in Lessons in Embroidery. Here’s Lesson 2, all about various straight line stitches. This is the information that hooked me on vintage embroidery stitches, many years ago. Check it out. Lessons in Embroidery: Outline Stitches

The Creative Corner · Vintage Needlework

Tatting with Rings and Chains

VintageJenny
Wooden table surface with three strips of handmade tatted lace.
You can tat all these with two threads.

If you’ve been following my series on introductory tatting, you’ve spent the last several installments working with only one thread. If you missed prior sections, you can find the last one here. Personally, I love shuttle-only designs for their airiness and their portability, but one cannot live by shuttle alone. So today I bring you a few options for tatting with rings and chains.

There are two ways to tat with two threads. You can keep the thread connected to the ball of thread after winding your shuttle. You then make your chains using the ball thread while you create rings with the shuttle thread alone. While this is a traditional way to tat, it offers drawbacks as well as advantages. It allows you to suspend the ball from your wrist in a holder if you like. This keeps it close yet lightens the weight on your hands. A negative, however, is that when you run out of shuttle thread you have to cut both threads, rewind the shuttle, and attach both threads as you continue. That, in a word, is a pain.

An alternate way to tat with two threads is to use two shuttles. I thought this was a relatively recent way to tat until I came across a 1925 pattern calling for two shuttles. The benefit here is that everything is very portable. Two shuttles fit into your pocket or bag as easily as one, and off you go. Plus, since your remaining thread waits for you on the ball, you can refill an empty shuttle at any time. I have found two drawbacks to this method, however. First, the extra weight from a loaded shuttle can be trying for my hands over time. And second, the two shuttles tend to wrap around themselves and tangle if my attention wanders or I try to go too fast.

However, the two-shuttle method remains very popular. Lots of tatters use it and love it. Experiment a bit, if you haven’t yet, and decide which method is better for you. You should also know: in some modern patterns two shuttles are required because they include techniques that simply cannot be completed with only one shuttle and ball thread. So if you regularly tat modern patterns, or you plan to, the habit of tatting with two shuttles may be a good one to acquire.

Instructions: tatting with rings and chains

These patterns are all straight edgings. Done two-sided they would make splendid bookmarks. As they are, they would look nice on handkerchiefs, towels, shirts, jackets, bedsheets, hats, handbags, or whatever you fancy. Usually I present these in time order, oldest to newest, but today I’ll give them in simplicity order. All these threads are tatted with size 10 thread so you can see the detail. You make them in whatever size thread you like.

Abbreviations you will need:

  • r: ring
  • cl r: close ring
  • ds: double stitches, the basic tatting stitch
  • p: picot
  • ch: chain
  • rw: reverse work. Turn the thing upside down so the ring facing north is now facing south
  • turn: flip the work over side to side, like looking at the front and back sides of a PopTart, or turning the page of a book

Edging 1

tatted lace in white on wood background. Clover, circle, clover, circle, joined with arcs at the top.

This first edging dates from 1959/1960. As you look at it compared with the others you can see that it’s very simple. This is the next step up from a beginner’s pattern of tatting with rings and chains. I really liked the little ring in between each clover leaf. In a fine thread (size 40 or 80) this would make a lovely edging for a handkerchief, special dinner napkin, or scarf – if you use scarves to dress up your 1950s wardrobe.

This would look lovely made in two colors. The chain thread could be a light version of a color, like lavender or pink or yellow. Then use a darker version of that same color, like purple or rose or deep yellow for the rings. Here’s how to make it:

  1. First, wind a shuttle and leave attached to the ball, OR wind two shuttles splitting 6 – 8 yards of thread evenly between them, OR use a wound shuttle and a ball thread or second shuttle thread, knotting the ends together before you begin. Your choice.
  2. Make a ring of 3 ds, p, 3 ds, p, 3 ds, p, 3ds, cl r.
  3. R of 3 ds, join to last p of last ring, 3 ds, p, 2 ds, p, 2 ds, p, 3 ds, p, 3 ds, cl r.
  4. R of 3 ds, join to last p of last r, 3 ds, p, 3 ds, p, 3 ds, cl r. [You have now made one of the clover leaves.]
  5. Rw. Make a chain of 6 ds, p, 3 ds, p, 3 ds, p, 6 ds. Pull up tight and rw.
  6. Make a r of 3 ds, join to 2nd p of last r, 3 ds, p, 3 ds, p, 3 ds, cl r. Rw. [This is the small ring in between clovers.]
  7. Ch of 6 ds, p, 3 ds, p, 3 ds, p, 6 ds. Rw.
  8. R of 3 ds, p, 3 ds, join to last p of previous r, 3 ds, p, 3 ds, cl r.
  9. Repeat from step 3 for the length of the lace.

Edging 2

White tatted lace on wooden background. It looks like a row of little figures holding hands, their arms raised next to their heads. Below the arms the lace terminates in a circle with five picots.

This lace dates from 1925. You can see that it’s more elaborate than the one above it. This would be a great edging for all the uses described above, especially handkerchiefs. It would be nice by the yard to trim underthings or pajamas. This edging would probably look best in one color, unless you use a variegated thread. That might be really pretty. Here’s how to make it:

  1. First, wind a shuttle and leave attached to the ball, OR wind two shuttles splitting 6 – 8 yards of thread evenly between them, OR use a wound shuttle and a ball thread or second shuttle thread, knotting the ends together before you begin. Your choice.
  2. Make a r of 2 ds, p, 2 ds, p, 2 ds, p, 2 ds, cl r. Rw.
  3. Ch of 7 ds. Do not rw.
  4. R of 2 ds, p, 2 ds, p, 2 ds, p, 2 ds, p, 2 ds, p, 2 ds, cl r. [You are making a ring of 2 ds, (p, 2 ds) 5x, cl r.]
  5. Rw. Make this next ring as close as possible to the base of the last one. R of 7 ds, join to last p of first small r, 4 ds, p, 4 ds, p, 7 ds, cl r.
  6. Rw. Chain of 7 ds. Rw.
  7. Small r of 2 ds, join to last p of large r, 2 ds, p, 2 ds, p, 2 ds, cl r. Rw.
  8. Repeat from Step 3 for length of lace.

Edging 3

A sturdy scalloped lace. White tatting on a wooden board background.

This lace also dates from 1925. This is one sturdy lace. If you look closely you can see that almost every picot attaches everywhere else. It does not move. If you make a row of this, the only picot that hangs free is the one at the bottom point. This is a lace for bedsheets, towels, the ends of runners. I’m thinking about making a length of this for the edge of my fireplace mantel or a piano scarf.

It would be gorgeous in holiday colors, whatever colors say holiday to you. Taking pink and green for example (are there any pink and green holidays?), rings of pink with chains of green would look like flowers winding up and down, up and down. Very nice. Here’s how to make it:

  1. First, wind a shuttle and leave attached to the ball, OR wind two shuttles splitting 6 – 8 yards of thread evenly between them, OR use a wound shuttle and a ball thread or second shuttle thread, knotting the ends together before you begin. Your choice.
  2. R of 4 ds, p, 4 ds, p, 4 ds, cl r. Rw.
  3. Ch 6 ds. Rw.
  4. R of 4 ds, join to last p of last r, 4 ds, p, 4 ds, cl r. Rw.
  5. Another r of 4 ds, p, 4 ds, p, 4 ds, cl r. This should be close to the base of the last one so they sit bottom to bottom. Rw.
  6. Ch 6 ds. Rw.
  7. R 4 ds, join to last p of last r, 4 ds, p, 4 ds, cl r.
  8. Maka a r of 4 ds, join to last p of last r, 4 ds, p, 4 ds, p, 4 ds, cl r.
  9. R of 4 ds, join to last p of last r, 4 ds, p, 4 ds, cl r. [You have just completed the clover at the bottom. Now you will work your way back up.]
  10. Rw. Ch of 6 ds. Rw.
  11. R of 4 ds, join to last p of clover, 4 ds, p, 4 ds, cl r. Rw.
  12. Another R of 4 ds, join to 2nd ring made, 4 ds, p, 4 ds, cl r. Rs.
  13. Ch of 6 ds. Rw.
  14. R of 4 ds, join to last p of last r made, 4 ds, p, 4 ds, cl r. Rw.
  15. R of 4 ds, p, 4 ds, p, 4 ds, cl r. [You are back where you started, completing the first ring at the top of the lace.]
  16. Repeat from Step 3 for the length of the lace, being sure to join the third ring of the second scallop to the seventh ring of the first scallop as you go.

What do you think?

If you enjoy tatting with rings and chains and would like to see more patterns like these, drop me a comment and I’ll hunt them up for a future post. I really enjoyed making these and found a new favorite pattern or two along the way. If you’d like to check into this series from the beginning, you can take a look at Easy Vintage Tatting Patterns. If you need basic tatting instructions, Making Lace with Shuttle and Thread links to some beginning tatting videos that I found very clear.

Vintage Entertainment

View-Masters Provide a Look into the Past

VintageJenny
Partial view of long View-Master reel storage contain, with Monticello reel package on top of lid and black View-Master viewer in the background.
View-Master reels, viewer, and vintage Bakelite storage box

It’s cold outside. It’s raining. Perhaps you don’t feel well. How do you amuse yourself on cold days, rainy days, and quiet days? Not too long ago, adults and children alike reached for the View-Master. View-Masters provide a look into the past, as well as laid-back entertainment.

Though morphed into a children’s toy, the original 1939 View-Master specialized in 3-D nature scenes for adults. In a day before the Internet and home television, View-Master reels allowed people to engage in armchair travel. At the same time they could marvel at the colors created by Kodachrome film. The beautiful beaches of Hawaii, the mountains of Germany, and the wonder of Hoover Dam all found a home on these reels. The viewer was small enough to easily pass from hand to hand so everyone could enjoy the scenes.

Vintage photo of the islands of Hawaii, showing palm trees, beaches, and water.
The beaches of Hawaii on a vintage View-Master reel.
Vintage View-Master reel scene of a California beach. White waves appear next to a cliff with trees bordering the water in the foreground.
The deep blues and greens of California come to life via Kodachrome in this View-Master reel.

Special orders, yes sir!

The first viewers were circular and just a little larger than the reel itself. You can see the shape of the original viewer in this copy of the U.S. Patent from 1939. In the 1940s the U.S. Army used those little round viewers to teach troops how to identify aircraft. Families at home got spotter card decks; servicemen got View-Master reels. Training consisted of several reels. The Study Reel provided photos of one plane from several angles, while the Test Reel asked the student to identify seven different planes.

Specialty View-Master reels have been available since WWII. This one advertised a 2000 video game, and was sent to reviewers in the press.

Bringing the past to life

Many reels brought new life to old stereoscope cards and presented them to a new audience. Whether you loved old trains, national monuments (from many nations), or black and white battle photography, you could find it all in the new View-Master reel. Even when new, View-Masters provided a look into the past. Some of the actual photography on the reels dated to 1900 or before.

Photo of three locomotive engines in a train shed.
Antique trains from a vintage View-Master reel.

Lots of adults treasured fond memories of pouring over a stereoscope at a grandparent’s home. One card showed a double picture that when inserted into the frame became 3-D. It was like magic! When View-Master reproduced some of those old cards on their reels they proved a hit. The View-Master was invented by Wilhelm Gruber, a man fascinated with the stereoscope of his youth in Germany. Not only was his invention more portable, but it held seven stereoscope cards on one reel. Seven!

One of the most compelling reasons for View-Masters among adults proved to be the culture and travel scenes. When we inherited a collection of 1950s reels from a grandmother, most of them included scenes like the ones you see below covering places like Colonial Williamsburg, Pennsylvania Dutch and Amish Country, and Holland. I loved pouring over them, seeing how View-Masters provide a look into the past.

Five Viewmaster reels arranged on a tablecloth. The top three overlap each other and read: Colonial Willimasburg, Pennsylvania Dutch and Amish Country, and Holland.
Travel View-Master reels like these entertained adults.

Of course, by 1951 View-Master began to release folktales and Disney art on the reels, which cemented their popularity with children. Now we know of them as a children’s toy but that’s not how they began.

Types of viewers

After the first viewers mentioned earlier, the Sawyer company (who actually manufactured the reels) came up with a boxy, metal-and-Bakelite viewer that you see below. Almost all the following View-Master viewers were based on this style.

Two black View-Master viewers stacked on top of one another. The top is a 1940s Sawyer viewer made of Bakelite, and the bottom is a Fisher Price viewer made of plastic.
Two viewers. The top is a Sawyer Bakelite viewer from the 1940s that has a light, and the bottom is a Fisher Price Star Wars viewer from the 1990s.

The top viewer in the photo above has a light attachment bolted to it. It looks like a box with a big red button on the top. This little add-on allowed enthusiasts to view the reels in low light. You could look at them anywhere, as long as you had an electric outlet for the plug that came out the bottom of the attachment. This was a great boon for night-time viewing in houses that didn’t always have adequate light available.

Now that you know all this, how can you explore vintage View-Masters on your own? If you want to see how View-Masters provide a look into the past, you can easily assemble a set via eBay. Other options include local flea markets and vintage stores, Etsy.com, and places that specialize in old toys.

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The Creative Corner · Vintage Needlework

Brighten Your Kitchen with This Quick 1950s Knit Potholder

VintageJenny
Green knit potholder and white baking dish. Link leads to potholder pattern.
Give your kitchen a Fifties flair with this easy to knit vintage potholder pattern.

Depending when and where you live, you may call this a pan holder like they did in the Fifties. You might call it a potholder, a trivet, a hot dish mat, or something else. No matter what you call it, it’s adorable and it’s pretty easy to make. 

Creating from old patterns is a lot of fun. With a little time and effort you can have something just like Grandma or Great-grandma had. However, it does take some tweaking. Sometimes needle sizes are different. Often fabrics are no longer made. And usually, yarns must be substituted because the yarns a particular pattern calls for is long out of production. 

Take rug yarn, for instance. Rug yarn used to be made from wool or cotton. No fillers, nothing but wool or cotton. Now the closest thing we can find to old fashioned rug yarn is chunky weight knitting yarn, and it doesn’t have the same texture, weight, or strength that rug yarn of the 1930s – 1950s had. Plus, it’s very rarely made from anything but acrylic.

WARNING: You CANNOT use acrylic, nylon, or any type of polyester yarn when making potholders. Acrylic yarn is plastic. Nylon yarn is plastic. When plastic melts, it can cause nasty burns. ONLY 100% cotton or 100% wool can be used for kitchen pads that need to protect from heat. 

You can make a table hot dish mat from acrylic yarn as long as you never, ever grab it when you need to pull a hot pan from the oven, or to tame a hot pot handle on the stove. I have ONE table pad that I made from acrylic yarn and a 1970s pattern. It’s dorky, in seafoam green and white, and I love it. But it’s never used as a potholder to hold anything hot. It goes on the table and then I reach for the potholders that I’ve knitted from 100% cotton. Someday, when I have the time, I’ll replace that dorky 1970s acrylic table mat with a nice set of 100% cotton table mats using a 1930s or 1940s pattern. Then I’ll tell you all about it so you can make them, too.

The Quick Knit 1950s Potholder

This potholder knits a little strangely because you are using one “strand” of yarn (I’ll get to that in a minute) to produce a thick, cushioned protector for your hand. 

Photo of half knitted potholder, a partial ball of yarn, and a cone of yarn, all bright green.
This is what the potholder looks like in process. I had a full pound of this bright green Sugar ‘n Cream cotton yarn available, so green potholder it is!

Note: You may want to make two of these. Often cooks reached for two pan holders at a time, and used them double to protect against one handle in the oven, especially if they were thin and made from fabric. I tested this finished potholder in a 420 degree oven and it protected my hand well. You may feel comfortable using one, or more at ease when using two together. 

The  pattern called for 1950s rug yarn, of course. Rug yarn like this is unfortunately no longer made. I substituted the yarn and increased the size of the knitting needles a bit, and it worked really well. 

Instead of rug yarn I used two strands of Lily Sugar ‘n Cream cotton worsted yarn, held together as if they were one strand. This is a bit stiffer than rug yarn. It is less pliable. But it does construct a nice thick hotpad. 

You will Need

One skein Sugar ‘n Cream 100% cotton worsted weight yarn.

One pair size 7 (4.5 mm) knitting needles, preferably aluminum or steel. Plastic or wood needles can break when you knit with two strands of cotton worsted weight yarn, but you’re welcome to try if that’s what you have and what you enjoy using.

One size G (4 – 4.25 mm) crochet hook for the loop (optional). 

Making the Item 

In order to use today’s worsted cotton yarn instead of rug yarn, you need to knit with two strands. The easiest way to do this is to 1) either buy two balls of yarn if you plan to make several small things, or 2) find the center of the ball of yarn and pull from both the center and the outside of the ball at the same time, using two strands. One strand comes from the center of the ball, and the other strand comes from the end wrapped around the outside of the ball. 

This pattern uses a familiar stitch in an unfamiliar way. You will be working yarn-overs, but instead of passing the yarn over the needle as you usually do, this pattern requires you to bring the yarn all the way around the needle: between the stitches, up, and over. If you knit Continental style (also called picking the yarn), it looks like this: 

Hands holding knitting, showing how to do a modified yarn over stitch.
How to do a special yarn over for this pattern if you knit Continental style. The yarn goes to the back and around the needle toward the front.
Hands holding knitting, showing how to knit two stitches together.
This is what a knit 2 together looks like after the modified yarn over stitch, if you knit Continental style.

And if you knit English style (also known as throwing the yarn) it looks like this: 

Two hands showing how to make a long yarn over stitch in knitting.
How to do the special yarn over for this pattern, if you knit English style.
Hands holding knitting and showing how to knit two together, English style.
And this is what a knit two together looks like after that modified yarn over, if you knit English style.

The Pattern

The completed potholder measures about six inches (15 mm) square. The knitting is pretty tight with doubled yarn and the small knitting needle size. If you knit more loosely, your potholder will be larger – and it may not offer as much protection as a tightly knitted one.

Abbreviations: 
K: Knit
P: Purl
sl: Slip 1 stitch while holding the yarn in the front as if you are going to purl. 
YO: Yarn over. In this pattern only, the yarn will be in front of the needles since your last stitch was either a purl stitch or a slipped stitch with the yarn in front of your work. You pass the yarn from the front to the back and then up and around, as you see in the photos above. This makes the potholder extra thick. If you don’t wrap the yarn this way, the potholder will NOT be thick enough to protect your hand. The thickest part of this piece should be nearly 3/8-inch, or 1 centimeter. 
(  ): When you see something in parentheses, you do that thing over and over as many times as the instructions say. It may say twice, or three times, or 6 times. 
[  ]: Extra instructions or reminders you might find helpful.

Cast on 26 stitches. (change to 26 sts)
Row 1: P 1, sl 1, and repeat across the row. [Remember to slip the stitches with the yarn in front, as if you are purling.]
Row 2: P each stitch across.
Row 3: Sl 1, P 1, and repeat across the row.
Row 4: P each stitch across.
Row 5: (P 1, sl 1) twice, K 18, (P 1, sl 1) twice.
Row 6: P 4, (YO, sl 1, P 1) 9 times, then P 4. [Remember to make the YO as the instructions and photos above.]
Row 7: (Sl 1, P1) twice, (sl 1, YO, P2 together) 9 times, (sl 1, P 1) twice. [The two stitches that you purl together will be a normal stitch and one of the yarn overs.]
Row 8: P 5, (sl the YO, P 2) 8 times, sl 1, P 5.
Row 9: (P1, sl 1) twice, (P2 together, sl 1, YO) 9 times, (P1, sl 1) twice.
Row 10: P4, (sl the YO, P2) 8 times, sl 1, P 6.

Repeat rows 7 through 10 seven times.

Row 39: (Sl 1, P 1) twice, (K 1, K 2 together) 6 times, (sl 1, P 1) twice.
Row 40: P each stitch.
Row 41: P 1, sl 1, repeat across row.
Row 42: P each stitch.
Row 43: Sl 1, P 1, repeat across row.
Bind off in purl stitch.

If you want a ring to hang it from:
After binding off the final stitch, using the crochet hook, chain 10 stitches.
Join the stitches together to form a ring at the corner of the potholder.
Finish off and hide the ends. 

Now you have your very own 1950s potholder! Use it to decorate your kitchen or to protect your hands from hot pans.