VIRGINIA SNOW

Who was Virginia Snow?

The name of Virginia Snow Studios began to appear
on Collingbourne Mill's embroidery, crocheting, and
knitting instruction books around 1913. (Not sure as
to whether "Virginia Snow" was just a name or actual
person.) The name continued to be used until the
late 1930's. Some time later after many changes to
the company, it eventually became Lee Wards.
(For full details regarding this company which
commenced in 1902, please refer to the article -
Piecing Together the Past of Virginia Snow Studios....
Elgin, Illinois - by Susan Wildemuth)

Below are a selection of pages from the catalog ....

Below are three Lee Wards catalogs from Spring
and Summer 1959, Spring and Summer
1962, and Fall and Winter 1962.

PRISCILLA FANCYWORK BOOKS

PRISCILLA produced a wealth of

fancywork books pleasing even the most
fastidious of fancyworkers/needleworkers.
There many titles some of them you will
see below.

Continuing with the Priscilla Catalog from previous
post.........
Here are some more pages for you to peruse.

(Check out the "toast case" above!!)


The catalog continues with more baby clothing,
aprons, handkerchiefs, collars, ladieswear,
household linens, towels, etc.
You will find pages on simple crochet
edgings (see below), embroidery stitches,
and lists of embroidery sundries, cottons and threads,
yarns, beads, braids, ribbons, etc., etc.

...---ooo000ooo---...

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.