Vintage Thingies Thursday – Holiday Aprons

Having been side tracked by a very bad head and chest cold for the past week and a half, I have not been able to do any holiday posts (quite in contrast to holiday 2007 and 2008). Then, just as I was writing this today, the power went off for three hours.

For VTT today I’m sharing a couple holiday aprons – one fairly new, the other vintage from Ebay. Since my kitchen has a Christmas tree theme with dishes, candles, salt and peppers and figurines,

I bought the matching linens from Spode, including a bib apron:


The second is a green gingham half apron with cross stitch embroidery forming trees on the pockets.

Note the row of pockets across the apron:
Darker green and red thread makes a pretty pattern.

See more Vintage holiday Thingies Thursday posts listed by Suzanne at Coloradolady.
Happy Holidays!

Vintage Thingies Thursday – Crinoline Lady Apron

This post is part of Vintage Thingies Thursday, sponsored by Lisa, the Apron Queen.


My vintage item combines three vintage categories embroidery, aprons and the Crinoline Lady motif.

The Crinoline Lady has a dramatic hoop skirt in green fabric, embroidered in pink. Her outfit is also embellished with a collar and large bow at the waist. They are in white fabric dotted with blue French knots. Her bonnet is a shapely green and pink design with a white band.


The apron is of white bordered with light blue seam binding that also serves as apron strings. The embroidered three arcs of grasslike tufts and two floral sprays give a garden effect to the space under the Lady.

The lovely, always elegant Crinoline Lady motif was used in china dishware, figurines, and embroidery or crochet patterns for all sorts of linen and accessories -- doilies, aprons, pillow cases, tablecloths, table runners, napkins, handkerchiefs, etc.
This apron, although quite lovely, has a utilitarian design. The pockets are joined in all one large space, so it is a clothes pin apron. The homemaker would fill it with wooden clothes pins for handy access while hanging clothes on the line.



Thank you for stopping by. I hope you will stop by again soon. To see more vintage things, please visit Lisa at the Apron Queen for a list of participating posts.

Vintage Thingies Thursday - Free Apron - Thanks Lisa!

This post is part of Vintage Thingies Thursday, hosted by Lisa, the Apron Queen.

This is my third post today as I play catch-up on my blogging activities. My item is a lovely vintage apron.

It is green gingham embellished with white rick rack, and white cross stitch embroidery.

What makes this recent acquisition really special is that it is a giveaway from Lisa at
Confessions of an Apron Queen. I got it for participating in a special offer she posted here.


Many thanks for the apron, Lisa. Green is one of my favorite colors and this works great in my kitchen. My mother really admires it also.

Vintage Thingies Thursday - Crocheted Apron

I found out from Confessions of an Apron Queen about the Vintage Thingies Thursdays posts.
On her blog The Apron Queen gives a comprehensive list of the sorts of vintage items which qualify: Briefly, they include vintage linens and textiles, vintage kitchen items, and vintage sewing items.

I have been getting various vintage items in the past two months from a consignment shop, two thrift stores, eBay auctions and from my mother. For my post I will share a crochet apron, pictured here on a crocheted clothes hanger.

One of the things that attracted me to the apron was the blue and white. The apron is about 18" long and 28" across at the scalloped hem. The waistband is about 1" high by about 17" wide and the ties are 1" wide by 25.5" long.

I like the patterns of the panels that make up the apron.



Do visit Confessions of an Apron Queen to see more Vintage Thingies posts.

Stitches-for-Tea

La Tea Dah at Gracious Hospitality is hosting a Tea Blog-a-Thon from March 16 until May 31. She has a different theme for each week and you may participate as much or as little as you like. The theme for the fourth week, April 6 - April 12 is Stitches-for-Tea: "Share ideas and pictures that involve stitching for the tea table. Any kind of stitches count: sewing, embroidery, knitting, crochet, tatting, quilting, etc. The work can be yours or of someone else, but should be homemade rather than done by factory machines. Ideas are napkins, tea cozies, table linens, and other creations made with tea themes."

Checking my tea linens I found this handmade item which I’d like to feature for this week’s Tea Blog-a-Thon: It is an apron made of white linen with embroidered design at the top of the bib and a teacup on the pocket.

It measures 41" long with an adjustable 34" waist. White buttons fasten the ties of the bib and of the waist ties.

The embroidered designs are in blue, yellow and cream with bows, and dots on the bib.



The pocket features a teacup in blue with white and yellow daises.

I hope you enjoyed my contribution this week to Stitches-for-Tea. Please visit La Tea Dah at Gracious Hospitality for links to other participants.

Treasure Finds at Two Thrift Shops

How has your thrift finding been lately? In this post I’ll tell about my last three shopping trips.
On Tuesday Oct. 23 at the Hospital Guild Thrift Store I spent a total $8.37 (incl. 5% tax) for the following items: a silverplate dish $3, a small covered glass jar/canister, a vintage package of 12 blue and white paper napkins (original printed price 30 cents) 50 cents, and a cotton tablecloth and four napkins for $4.00. The tablecloth is 79"L x 60"W.

Since I didn’t have enough cash the day before, I returned to Hospital Guild Thrift Store on Wed Oct 24 and spent a total $4.20 incl. 5% tax. These are the items I got:
A new red and white cotton apron - $1.00, a Pfaltzgraff blue and white creamer - $1.00, a metal filigree photo frame painted white - 25 cents, a small mason jar with grip lock - $1.00, a small covered glass jar - 25 cents, and a woven Asian style doll chair - 50 cents. The pretty apron, with its rick rack pocket, is what brought me back. But I was glas for the creamer since it is now holding small implements handy next to my stove.

………………………

I had gotten very good buys at a particular thrift shop, but it had been moved farther up the main shopping street. Having left the Hospital Thrift store, a slowly ambling down the street. An idle glance to the side revealed the words "Hidden Treasures." There it was! I had to go quite a ways to find parking, but then I eagerly walked back and entered the open door to the store. Inside I spent all of $10.76 including tax, for a nice stash:

The green ceramic lamp cost $3.00. Once I get a shade for it, this small graceful design will prove a better fit in my guest room than the brass lamp there now.

The wood recipe box with a cauliflower as a knob on lid was very well made and cost $2.00. A wood 5-peg rack was $1.00. It is a very finely made piece. On the back it is stamped ‘David Emerson/ Canterbury NH’ and the price sticker says ‘Shaker Village.’ For 25 cents I got a brayer roller tool, which should come in handy for some craft project.
The small hand-painted Delft dish 25 cents is a nice little addition to my blue and white Delft wares from Holland. The square white picture frame with the floral picture and the white grapevine wreath can be restyled for my use.

The pink ceramic jar for 50 cents is organizing things on a bookshelf, as is the clear plastic container with three sections - 25 cents. The camera flash looks like there is some damage, but the two fabric swatches are in perfect condition. The blue fabric is 45"W x 96"L (2.6 yds) and the yellow fabric 50 cents is 44"W x 85"L (2 yds +). Total for the two was $1.00. I haven’t decided what to do with the fabric, but they were too beautiful to leave behind. My seamstress sister may have an idea.


Ten Books, One Dollar

Having looked over the books on two bookcases, I went to the desk and asked, "How much are the books?" I was handed a plastic grocery bag and told to fill it up for $1.00. I got 9 hardcover and 1 soft cover books plus a ruled calendar book. I really only want about three of the books. The rest I’ll put on my Amazon.com Marketplace listings.

1. American Silver by Millicent Stow
2. The Good Book: Reading the Bible With Mind and Heart by Peter J. Gomes, Preacher to Harvard University
3. Prevention’s The Healthy Cook: The Ultimate Illustrated Kitchen Guide to Great Low-Fat Food
4. Pond and River – a Dorling Kindersley Book
5. Guide to the Recommended Country Inns of New England
6. Make The Connection: Ten Steps to A better Body and a Better Life by Bob Greene and Oprah Winfrey
7. Why Be Good? Seeking Our Best Selves in a Challenging World by Byron L. Sherwin
8. The O’Reilly Factor by Bill O’Reilly
9. My Golden Lessons by Jack Nicklaus
10. To My Daughter, With Love: A Mother’s Memory Book by Donna Green

Total for the three thrifty shopping sprees was $23.33. Just the tablecloth and napkins could have easily cost me that amount. So I think I’ll visit these shops again when I feel a hankering for a bargain or two.

I hope you have good finds in your thrifting too.

Aprons of Friendship

An apron is a domestic garment, which evokes a sense of warmth. This is so because it is emblematic of the kitchen, which is the heart and hearth of the home. It is often an item that can be given as a well-received gift to Mom, another relative or to a friend.
In this post I’d like to share three aprons which were given to me by two friends. The first came from a college friend who sent it for me from Sweden. This apron has two bands of orange geometric pattern on a brown background.

The second came some time later from the same friend when she went to live in Norway. This cotton fabric has an abstracted floral pattern in green and orange on a white ground. It has a heart-shaped pocket outlined in the orange piping, which borders the entire apron.

A co-worker gave the third to me in the early 1980’s. This design has a bib to protect your top. The white quilted ground has a circle with three sprightly daisies, and a red barn in the background. Another daisy decorates the bottom of the apron below the verse. Brown piping frames the entire apron and serves as ties as well.

The verse on the apron expresses the beauty of friendship:

I would like to dedicate this verse to all the bloggers who care for the well being of others, and who do all they can to offer support in times of difficulty.

The garden of friendship’s
a beautiful place
Where it’s sunny and bright every day
And good friends who care
Can always meet there
For it’s only a memory away.

My wish is that you each will have a wonderful day.