MODERN PRISCILLA

Collecting vintage sewing items and
books is a great pastime and I have been
very lucky to have found a lot of
interesting things.
I always enjoy looking through the
vintage needlework books, magazines
and catalogs. The ideas and patterns
you find are very clever and practical,
but some ideas really makes you wonder
if the novelty items were made at all.
As I also have a small collection of dolls,
the novelty patterns containing a doll always
catches my eye.
The two novelty ideas below were found in a
"Modern Priscilla" magazine.

The Modern Priscilla began in 1887 at Lynn,
Massachusetts, and in 1894 it moved to Boston.
It was devoted to fancy work,
dress patterns, china painting, and needlework in
general and later expanded to cover many other
aspects of women's home-life.
The last issue was July 1930.

Above and below - just two of the
magazines' beautiful covers,
June 1925 and May 1912.

Aside from the magazine, we find Priscilla
catalogs. One such below is the Fall & Winter
1916 - 17 issue. Inside are gifts and needlework
accessories and clothing to buy - these were
ready for you to do your own fancy work.
I will be showing here the first pages
of the catalog.

Above - What a treat to be able to find
these fabulous sterling silver needlework
accessories !
(click for larger image)


There will be more pages from
this catalog in the next post.

TWO SEWING KITS

Here are two sweet vintage plastic
sewing kits -
an African doll and a Japanese doll.
They measure about 3 inches or
7 1/2 cms. There are no maker's
names or country of origin.
If anyone has one in its original
packaging, I would be most interested
to know the details.

They both screw apart in the centre.

Inside the African doll we find - pink needlecase (missing
its cap) containing needle and pins, scissors,
tweezers, thread holders, pen knife,
and stiletto.

Inside the Japanese doll we find - pink needlecase,
scissors, tweezers, ear spoon, thread holder, stiletto and
safety pin.

I would have to guess and say that these are
most likely made in Japan.

Pocket Sewing Kits Book

Further to my previous post on Pocket Sewing
Kits and for those wanting to know more
about them, Sandy Woodyard has an excellent
book - Pocket Sewing Kits - Published in 2006
by Ohio Thimble Seekers.
It covers all sewing kits including those made
from - Brass, Wood, Enamel, Plastic, and
so much more. There are over 60 pages and
full of lots of great photos all in colour.
It is a great reference book - really worth
seeking out.

A look at sewing kits

Novel Pocket Sewing Kits

As the name implies, the little pocket
sewing kit is a very handy item to have in
your bag. With needle, thread and thimble
contained in a tiny but amusing holder, your
sewing jobs and little emergencies are taken
care of, making it a very useful little item
to take on your travels.
Pocket sewing kits are a great addition
to the vintage sewing collection.
The number of novel designs are a
joy to find and would make an interesting
sewing collection on their own.
The picture above shows just a small
sample of what is available.

Girl's Own Annual Vol XLIV

Vintage Girl's Own Annual
edited by Flora Klickmann.

At the beginning of the year I showed you a
large vintage volume of a Girl's Own Annual.
I have been fortunate to find another this time
Volume XLIV. These Annuals are not dated but
they are from the early 20th Century.

I have chosen these two pages showing what

to do with scraps of ribbon and silk, projects
that I thought might interest you.
(click for larger image)

These delightful illustrations below are just some that
can be found in the Annuals.

Day and night-time wear for young girls.

SCISSORS ADS

....From

The Delineator
A Journal of Fashion
Culture and Fine Arts
published by
The
Butterick Publishing Co. (Ltd.)
London & New York
September 1896

Click for larger image

For those of you who love embroidered doilies,
(don't we all?) you must visit Gina at Patra's Place -
she has a fabulous collection of vintage linen,
embroidered doilies, aprons, handkerchief sachets, etc.
Gina is a fellow Aussie and dedicated collector of
all things linen related as well as embroidering
her own vintage doilies.

Children's Embroidery Sets

This time we are taking a little look at Children's

Embroidery Sets.

The Kiddies Embroidery Sets below are Made
in England, and contain - 1 piece of Material,
6 Embroidery Balls, 1 Needle and 1 Transfer.
Each box has one design to embroider - these are
Butterfly design or Birds design.
I would estimate the date as circa 1920's.

Below - inside one of the boxes - well, we are missing two
of the balls of thread but that is fine. For a very vintage set
as this, you would expect there to be some items missing.

Next is the Princess Real Embroidery Set dated 1939
by Standard Toykraft Products Inc. New York U.S.A.
It is numbered 205.

Below - showing Contents ~ Materials to
Embroider.
Also, a sewing needle, the sweetest tiny thimble,
scissors, and threads.

Next - Embroidery Outfit by Transogram Gold Medal
N.Y. Dated 1950 .
Complete Cloth and Napkin Set with "Ballet Girl"
motif.

According to the box top, it contains - cloth centerpiece, napkins,
embroidery hoop, colorful embroidery thread and accessories.
This has obviously had a lot of work/play and I would
guess that there has been some items added to it.

Below is a Hasbro Take-Along Embroidery Set.
1965 Hassenfeld Bros., Inc., Pawtucket, R.I., U.S.A.
Numbered 1515.

Again, this set has been well played with and other
items have been added.

Next is "Stamp and Stitch" Embroidery Set No. 723
Made in Italy ~ Multi Print ~ Milano.

This set has a slightly different approach to
embroidery. The stamps can be used to
make more pictures to be worked, plus
there are also some transfers.

Lastly, here is a free vintage pattern for you.

SEWING CARDS - PART TWO

We are having another look at
sewing cards - this time boxed sets.
These sets are all used and
are as found.

The box set below has been dated
as circa 1910 (according to Darlene J.
Gengelbach, the author of Encyclopedia of
Children's Sewing Collectibles - identification
and values). It is made by Parker Brothers (Inc)
Salem Mass. U.S.A. There should be 10
cards in the set and the set below has its
original 10 cards.

The pictures are pinpricked and quite detailed.
I would suggest that to sew these cards, the young
child would have been quite skilled. The set
shown in the book "Children's Sewing Collectibles"
are of animals whereas this set is - Objects - as
stated on the front of the box.

First Steps in Sewing - Germany
There are no further clues as to maker and date but
I would say circa 1910's.

There are only five cards in the box and I would say
that there would be some missing. Again, the cards
are pinpricked, small and detailed.

Below -
This set is dated 1950 - it reads "Copyright MCML by The
Saalfield Pub Co. Akron Ohio - Made in U.S.A."

There are eight cards in the box and are all
original and complete. (The cards are all pictured
on the box and around the sides).

Next is a set made by Ed-u-Cards Inc. U.S.A.

This set has a different approach in that you sew "card" clothes on
to a cardboard doll.
The set is also shown in the book "Children's Sewing Collectibles".
All dolls and clothing are still with my set but two
of the laces are missing. It has also been added to
with another two sets of sewing cards from other
sets of which I have yet to identify.

Below - Sampler Sewing Cards - box reads "Copyright
MCMLIV (1954) by The Saalfield Pub. co. Akron O.
Made in U.S.A.
There are 12 Sampler Designs, 4 Balls of Yarn,
Tapestry Needle, and Illustrated Instructions.

There are lots of designs to cross-stitch.
In this set, there are 10 cards, however, it has been added
to and there again, I have yet to identify all of the
other cards.

Next time, I will have a little look at embroidery
sets.

SEWING CARDS

SEWING CARDS - SEMCO

Sewing cards are a great way to start
a young child on the road to learning to
sew.


Semco in Australia, produced simple,
perforated cards with fun colourful designs - such
as animals and nursery rhymes and more.
See above and below - adorable
dogs, Wire Haired Terrier, Scottie, and
Westie.

Semco - from Stanley E. Mullen Co. was commenced
in Melbourne, Australia in the early 1900's and
produced paper transfers as well as
threads, embroidery patterns, etc.
The business was transferred to a new
premises in 1923 at Semco Park,
in Black Rock, Victoria, Australia. Much later,
the Company moved to Sandringham in 1978.
In 1983 it sold to Coats Patons acquiring
the assets and the name.

Below is one example of the doilies
that were available from Semco ready
to embroider - a delightful Crinoline
Lady Novelty Set.


There will be more sewing sets to follow soon.

Plain sewing sets.

This time I am taking a look at

plain sewing sets.
But just because the outside is plain,
doesn't mean that the inside would be -
although the floral pattern of this
set is really quite sweet.

Inside, we find a quite complete embroidery/mending
set. With no brand name on the outside of the box,
we only have the details found on the thread cards
telling us that it is Made in England. The silk thread
has the Duldarn brand on it.

This set has had little use.
It has a drawer in the front to hold the work in
progress - currently empty.
The brand name on the thread card reads Sewswell - Menda.
There is a sweet little button card of four green buttons, a
Blue Star Brand Finest Quality Needles packet, scissors, ribbon,
threads, thimble, fabric, and safety pins. This set
is also Made in England.

This set has two drawers in the front which holds
two children's handkerchiefs, - a rabbit design and
a crinoline lady design -
ready to be embroidered.
Inside, we find that this has had a lot more use than
the other sets. There are knitting needles, crochet hook,
thimble, many "Glister" thread spools, rayon
embroidery threads reading Swinden (Fancy Goods)
Ltd. Redditch, England,
and a blue "doiley" ready to embroider.
There is a gold foil oval pasted inside the lid
which reads "Sewinden" (yes, with an e)
Product - Made in England

I would say that this set has been added to.
Although it is almost complete with all of
its thread spools, thimble, pincushion, safety
pins, paper tape measure, "Floral" needle
packet - English Made, Best Quality Sewing
Thread cards - Made in England, and perhaps
missing the scissors. There are other
embroidery thread cards on the inside
of the lid, a Silcarn Mending thread card,
and Vicars Salome Tapestrie rayon thread,
plus The Albion AMG sewing and mending thread.

This again, has two drawers in the front
of the box holding cloth to
embroider and a paper pattern and
stitching instructions.

Next post, I will be taking a little look
at sewing cards.