Heartfelt Thanks Giveaway!

I want to offer my sincere thanks to each and every one of you who read my last blog post.  I try to mostly keep the blog a happy space, and not whiter on about the duller parts of life, but I had been neglecting this page, and my Facebook page, for far too long, and felt that an explanation was warranted, hence my last ramblings. 

I was worried that it was a little bit of a “woe is me”, whinge and whiney kind of post, but I have been overwhelmed by the number of supportive and kind comments and messages you have sent.  Every single message and comment has been gratefully received, thank you so much, you are all lovely!  It would appear that showing reality, showing that life isn’t all colourful crafting and vintage hunting, isn’t a bad thing after all! 

As a token of my genuine thanks, I am giving away one of my handmade felt corsages.  As I know everyone has different tastes, it will be up to the winner to pick a corsage from my Etsy shop, or I can custom make one in their chosen colours. 

Will it be a cheerful anemone, remembrance poppy, delightful daisy, colourful cluster or one of my other creations? 

 

The giveaway is exclusive to the blog and won’t be on my Facebook page or IG feed. 

What’s more, entry couldn’t be simpler.  All you have to do is be a follower of my blog, and to add a comment to this post.  That’s it.  No hoops to jump through, no sharing required, just a short, one word if you wish, comment – simples!!

The giveaway is open worldwide and entries can be made up until midnight GMT on July 10^th.  The winner will be drawn shortly afterwards.

Good luck.

x

1940's Fabulous Felt Flowers!

Warning!  This is yet another post dedicated almost entirely to those pretty little petals of felt that make me giddy just thinking about them! :o)

I have been desperate to write this post and have been willing my hands to snip and stitch faster and wishing that boring things like cleaning and ironing didn’t get in the way!!  You see, I have bought a rather wonderful new pattern booklet.  Just take a look!

Doesn’t look much, right? But trust me when I say that it really, really, really is!!  This pattern, this coveted and much sought after pattern, was featured in one of my Needlework Illustrated magazines.  I had been trying to track it down for a long time but had never found it; until now!!!

At the Rufford 1940’s event, I was talking to a fellow trader, (the reader of my blog that I mentioned in my last post) and we were discussing felt flower patterns.  It turned out that her husband had an Etsy shop and for sale in said shop, along with an amazing collection of patterns, was the very Dryad leaflet!!  Small world, don’t you think??

Anyway, I bought the PDF pattern and as soon as it arrived, I set to work!  It’s a slow process though as the corsages are very time consuming and, let’s be realistic, home life doesn’t just stop because I have a new pattern!

There are 12 patterns in the booklet but they aren’t all to my taste so I started on those that appealed the most.

First up, a neat little bunch of “gay golden marigolds”, all in autumnal shades which, given the change in the weather, is rather fitting.

Next we have a rather large pair of chrysanthemums.  The original pattern called for all white flowers and middles, but the white felt wasn’t holding its shape very well so I used some original 1940’s felt instead.  This one is destined to adorn my winter coat!

A favourite of mine is the rather spring like bunch of little daisies.  These were tricky little blighters to do as there are 10 in the bunch and it was hard to show each one off.  It was also hard to find 5 colours that went well together and I certainly wasn’t convinced by the original suggestion of scarlet, golden yellow, primrose, royal blue and white!

The poppies are, quite simply, divine.  They were a joy to make and have already proved popular.

Next, some more red flowers, this time in the form of some larger daisies.  I stuck to the pattern this time and used the colours they suggested.

The penultimate bunch is a rather neat little trio of rosebuds. 

And finally, my absolute favourite, if somewhat large, the amazing bunch of anemones! 

And if you haven’t had enough already, here is one last snap, all 7 pretty posies clustered together!

Aren’t they pretty?!  Unlike so many of the corsage patterns from the 1940’s, the instructions in the Dryad leaflet are actually clear, and the pattern pieces neatly worked out and easy, if rather time consuming, to assemble. 

If any of you crafting lovelies want to give these felt fancies a go, you will find the leaflet here, on LittleJohn2003's Etsy shop.  The service they provide is A1!!  The pattern has been digitally enhanced and is as clean and crisp as the day it was made.  Great time and effort has been put in by the seller to ensure that the pattern is in tip top condition and I received my pattern within an hour of placing the order (if you are overseas, please allow additional time due to time zone differences). 

If you don’t craft, but would still like to own such a pretty piece, then please head over to my Etsy shop, here, where you can place an order :o)

Christmas Giveaway

Hope you're all staying warm.  We've had another sprinkling of the white stuff overnight so a day snuggled in the warm is in order.

As a thank you to followers, old and new, for sticking around for my wafflings, and because it's Christmas, my favourite time of year, I'm doing a little giveaway.

Up for grabs is a shiny new copy of the incredibly popular, and once ridiculously expensive, Daniela Turudich book "1940's Hairstyles".  I adore this book.  It's jam packed with helpful and clear instructions to help you on your way to the perfect 1940's barnet!  A must for anyone who wants to achieve an authentic '40s look :o).  You'll also get one of my felt anemone corsages and, because Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without Cadbury's, a little box of Roses:o)

To make sure the book reaches it's lucky recipient in time for the impending festivities, I'm sorry to say that this is a UK only giveaway.  Fear not though lovely overseas followers, I'm planning another giveaway when my Facebook followers reach 1,000!

To be in with a chance of winning, you must be a follower of my blog via GFC or Bloglovin' or a follower of my Facebook page. 

To enter, you can;

1. Leave a comment below telling me what your favourite Christmas song/carol is.  Please make sure you leave me a means of contacting you in case you're the lucky winner!! 

2. For a second entry, simply share this giveaway on your own blog and then place a separate comment below to let me know you have  :o)
3. For a third entry, pop over to my Facebook page and tell me your favourite carol/song on the giveaway photograph.

Entry will close at 10pm on Sunday December 16th (Mr Y's birthday!) and the winner will be picked at random and announced on Monday December 17th (M's birthday!).

Good luck :o)

400 followers giveaway!!

Well, we've reached 400 followers on our Facebook page.  Can't really believe it :o)

As a thank you to all you lovely people, we're hosting a little giveaway.  Up for grabs are the following items.

-  A turban handknitted by yours truly using an original 1940's Lavenda knitting pattern
-  A handmade felt marigold corsage from an original 1941 pattern, again made by yours truly
-  A little carved edelweis brooch

It's giveaway is open worldwide and you must be a follower of this blog to enter.  You can have up to 3 entries, here's how;

1. Post a comment on this blog
2. Nip over to my Facebook page and pop a comment on the giveaway photo
3. Share this post :o)

The giveaway closes on Friday August 10th at 12pm GMT and the winner will be announced shortly afterwards.

I'm linking this post in with Lakota's brilliant Ta-Dah Tuesday post - now I've worked out how to do it!! :o)

Good luck! :o)

Fabulous Forties Fabrics

Well, the Easter break is over and Mr Y went back to work yesterday.  We’ve had a lovely couple of weeks but I haven’t done half of what I was meant to do, and I've eaten far too much chocolate!!!  Before the holiday began, I had made plans to re-decorate the living room, catalogue my ever increasing pattern collection and actually read something other than Enid Blyton!  In reality, I didn’t manage any of those things – there’s always June I suppose :o)

One thing I did manage to achieve over the break was to have a sort through some of the books and patterns that have been mounting up over the last few months.

I love 1940’s fashion source books and a couple of years ago, was given a copy of “Everyday Fashions of the Forties As Pictured in Sears Catalogs”.  It's an American publication and contains amazing images taken from Sears Catalogs of the 1940s.  I remember how enticing I’d found the cover and the inside images are amazing!  However, I was disappointed that there were no colour images inside the book.  I love looking at the designs of the time, but without the colour, it’s not as appealing.  That is why I was ecstatic when presented with this amazing book by Mr Y.

Released in 1998, I’m not sure how I hadn’t happened upon it before!!  It is simply brilliant.  It has the most amazing photographs of actual fabric samples from leading textile manufacturers in the 1940s.  The book features floral, geometric and, my favourite, novelty prints of the era.

The book has over 100 pages full of multiple images of stunning 1940s fabric - it’s positively bursting with colour!  It isn’t possible to pick one favourite so I’ve photographed a few random shots of what can be found inside.                                      

If you’re into the 1940s and get the chance to take a look at this book, I highly recommend it.  There are others in the series including a couple about 1950s fabric, one on handbags and another on hats.  I believe there is also one about Art Deco fabric but can’t seem to track it down on Amazon at the moment. 

In other news, I’ve been doing some serious corsage making, here's a sneaky peak!! 

The pattern comes from an original 1940's magazine, there will be more to come soon :o)