Vintage Monogram Forms

Our parents were in the antique business. One time they bought the basement contents of an old mercantile store in a nearby town. That means my sister and I have a lovely stash of vintage laces, trims, and other "ladies" things. I have many, many paper initials, which women embroidered over to monogram their hankies, lingerie, etc.

Several years ago I repurposed a couple old hankies to make this sweet little purse. What would you put in it? Perhaps....a hanky! Too fragile to hold much else. I used a very fine machine embroidery thread to hand stitch over the two, small paper initials. (I first tacked them down at the points.) The tatted edging was removed from another hanky and attach to the purse as the front and back were hand sewn together. I used a heavier fabric for the back.

I have paper initials for most of the alphabet (no B, G, M, S, or X's).  But I have many, many D's, I's, J's, N's and T's. And if you're name is Yolanda, you are in luck!! 

In the post below I ask for help in identifying some "mystery" initials!

Mystery Monogram Forms!

Most of the paper initials I have are pretty straight forward, but a few of them are complete alphabet mysteries to me! Perhaps someone can help identify them.

The first picture, below, shows three letters inside their packaging. I know the letter on the left is "C" and the letter on the right is an "E." But I'm not sure about the one in the middle. Is it a "D?"

In the next photo, the paper container identifies the contents as "I," which I guess it could be. The narrow vertical bar on the left would not be embroidered over, but would be removed after the embroidery was complete.  Is it a "J"?

In the next photo, the paper containers are marked "J" and "N." That is an odd looking "J." Is there a calligrapher out there that can help me identify these paper initials? 

"I" or "J" or "T?"
Maybe this will help:

 

Links to Free Knitting Patterns

Knitting Pattern Central is a wonderful site that links to hundreds of free knitting patterns. They are nicely categorized so you can look for something specific. Below is a link to the gloves, mittens and wristlet page: http://knittingpatterncentral.com/directory/mittens_gloves.php

Here is a cute pattern for cable wrist warmers that I found through Knitting Pattern Central: http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/60157AD.html

Vickie Howell has an interesting pattern for wrist warmers that looks like it might be easy: http://vickiehowell.blogspot.com/2007/04/hand-like-hole-free-pattern-of-month.html

And one more pattern I found that I think is very pretty: http://susaninstitches.blogspot.com/2008/03/free-pattern.html

There are many, many more at the Knitting Pattern Central website! Enjoy!

Knitted Wristlets

Here is a pair of knitted wristlets I made for a friend. The cuff can be turned up and buttoned above the thumb for more warmth. Don't need these much in Tucson!

Blue Felt Vessel

Here is another felted vessel. This one was felted over a "gertie ball", which is blown up, covered with silk "caps", wool, yarn embellishment, then all is covered with 3 pantyhose tops (pulled over the ball in three directions), and then felted. Very fun! I'll be teaching this at the Telarana Weavers and Spinners Guild in Mesa, Arizona next January. The same technique can be used to make felted hats or bags.

Felted Vessels

I've been having fun making felted vessels. This one was made over a pool noodle to create the long, narrow shape. I used merino-silk, mohair locks and pencil roving for embellishment.
To obtain the flat bottom, I shaped it over a can of Progresso soup! Whatever is handy!

Eloise's Nuno Felted Shawl

Eloise sent photos of her dry shawl. They look much better dry! I love the detail photo, it shows the way the felted wool manipulates the texture of the silk scarf. The colors are really pretty.
























Is anyone interested in getting together to do some bead embellishment on our nuno felted shawls and shrugs?

Nuno Felted Wet Shawls!

Once the wool roving starts to felt and push through the silk scarf (after rolling about 600 times), it can be taken off the roll and gently tossed onto the table. Here Mary and Jackie toss the shawls. When the shawl really starts to felt, you can start throwing it more forcefully on the table. A short warm up in the microwave, in a plastic bag, also helps the felting process.

Elizabeth tries on her very wet shawl!

Looks good!

Purples and blues were popular color choices. Here, Eloise tries on her wet shawl.

Mary chose a 'spring palette' for her nuno felted shawl:

Dana models her 'western' themed shawl:

These are my kind of colors! Mary modeling her hot pinks and orange wet shawl:

Eva's finished, but still wet, nuno felted shawl:

Victoria's variegated reds came out beautifully!:

A special thank you to Cathy, who helped to find a location for Carolyn's nuno felting class and who took ALL the photos in class. This photo was taken a week later at Cathy's ranch, and so far it's the only dry shawl we have seen!

They look a lot different when they are dry. The ruching and puckering are more obvious. We can't wait to see all of them dry and embellished with beads, sequins, buttons, etc. Thanks to everyone who came to the workshop, you were really fun to work with!