We have a lovely ebooklet for you on the website now which features 8 very pretty flower doilies to make- you can make them in the original fine yarns for doilies and centre pieces- but why not use some thicker modern yarns and use the flowers and butterflies individually to make cute pins, buttons and brooches, or to decorate hats, bags and clothes......
You can find it on the website to purchase and download by clicking here- enjoy
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We have just sourced 2 more vintage christmas reindeer design jumper vintage knitting patterns. They are so popular for the festive season and as these are knitted in DK and aran then they don't take too much time to make!
You can choose your own colours- you can have green or red as a background and the reindeers as cream or fawn perhaps- or you could make them the other way around and have the background as cream or a pale colour with dark red, green or even classic black reindeer....
This one is made with DK and has a very handsome stag design
This one is made with a chunkier aran and has pretty snowflake designs too
There is still time to knit these for your loved ones or as gifts for the festive season- you can find the patterns to purchase as printouts here (DK) and here (aran) and we hope to have them on the VIntage Visage website soon as pdf downloads for those of you who don't like waiting for the postman! Enjoy!
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Here is another of our wonderful fair isle design vintage knitting patterns. This one is particularly handsome as it uses the most beautiful range of colours.....
It dates from the late 1940s , early 1950s and as written fits a 37-39 inch chest. We think you could use 4 ply for this as it uses old number 9 needles which are equivalent to 3.75mm modern needles- but please do check your tension by making a tension square before starting!
If you have never knitted a fair isle design before but would like to make one then don't panic- its actually very easy as there are only ever 2 colours in each row. There are 2 secrets to successful fair isle. The first is in the colours you choose- if you are a nervous colour picker then its probably wise to stick to the colours given in the picture as that is most likely to have attracted you to the design in the first place.
If you would like to choose your own colours then bear in mind that you will need a main colour (traditionally the main is a neutral gray, beige/cream or black) and a selection of other colours. Colours can be chosen by placing balls or skeins of yarns together and then choosing the colours that you think go well together, or you can find a colour scheme from a picture you like from a magazine or a photo (landscapes or sunsets are good) and look at the colours that make up the photo and choose similar coloured yarn.
The second secret is how you knit the two colours across the row- the secret to fair isle is to make sure that the yarn not used in the stitch is not carried too tightly across the back of the stitches being knitted- in fact it should be quite loose. If it is tight then the knitting will 'bunch' in places and the design will look odd and distorted. try a tiny square before starting to practise.
If you like fair isle patterns and designs do check our our fair isle section of the blog which you can see at the right hand side of this blog in the long list....the patterns and more can be found by clicking here to browse and purchase at our Vintage Visage website...enjoy!
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This is a downloadable vintage knitting pattern for a mans Christmas reindeer design zipper jacket. Its made with chunky yarn and so knits up fairly quickly and easily.
It was originally made in grey, cream and black, but we think it would be wonderful with a festive red or green background instead of the grey......you could also make the reindeer design in red or green too!
Its a lovely winter warmer jacket, and would make a great gift to open on christmas day. And why not knit a chunky easy pull on hat to match!
The pattern is available at our website by clicking here, along with many other festive patterns too! Take a browse around......
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As the nights are drawing in and the days are getting colder, we thought we would start thinking about the party season coming up soon...why not make yourself this cute little 1950s party dress
Its actual very easy to make- much easier than it looks. The lace stitch pattern is only 1 row of patterning and 3 rows stocking stitch and then repeat....you will need to do a tiny bit of crochet around the neck too.
Its made with a 2 ply yarn- thats quite a fine yarn and the original one had a softness and slight fluffiness to it. It flares and drapes beautifully- but please note that to get the skirt to stick out you will need to wear a stiff layered 1950s net petticoat underneath. You can of course wear it without the petticoat and then you will have a gently flared and draped skirt which could look rather gorgeous too....
The pattern is available on our Vintage Visage website to purchase by clicking here or in our craftsy shop if you wish to pay by dollars.
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You probably already know that we love instructions to make all sorts of flowers here at Vintage Visage- and these beautiful crocheted flowers are no exception. These are not your usual little 2 or 3 row crochet flowers, these are a lot more fancy and out of the ordinary. yes, they may take a little longer to make but they will be worth the effort as they will look spectacular as pins, brooches, corsage or even bouquets if you are clever enough to put lots and lots together .....
This one has so many petals and looks wonderful in red- and you could also make it in lots of different shades of reds and pinks for the petals- you could use up lots if left over yarns that way.....this daisy too is fabulous in white- wonderful for brides and wedding,- imagine these on a wedding veil or headress or in a crocheted bouquet..... and they could also be made in pastel colours, or bright colours like gerbera flowers too....
These pretty apple blossom flowers are so sweet and would look wonderful mixed in with the daisies.....I think I would be tempted to add some fragrance too - don't you just sense the lovely smell that apple blossom has.....little lavender or rose petal bags in with the flowers would be so lovely......
Why not use these to embellish hats and bags too? A cluster of apple blossom would look fantastic on a hat
and these carnations are so deceptively easy to make- you could tape them to wire stems, pop them is vases and have them as centre pieces for the wedding or dining table.....or on a napkin ring......
These carnations are rather fab too- personally I 'm not so keen on the yellow colour, but again they are so simple to make and you could have reds, russets, golds and oranges all together....or go pastel with softer colours altogether- lilacs,primrose, bluebell, shades could look lovely.....
As always , all of our patterns can be found on the Vintage Visage website- just click here to go there instantly.....
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This is one of our favourite vintage publications and we are pleased to let you know that we have now digitalised it and it is available on the website as an ebook.
Butterflies are such a pretty shape in design and colour, and there is so much that you can do with these beautiful little butterfly designs. The original book gives you designs for hats, gloves, light pulls, bedspreads, table decorations etc. All of which are lovely, especially if you after a vintage feel and look. However- we do think that these little beautys would look fantastic today as pins, brooches, hair decorations, in corsages ( in amongst a lot of crocheted flowers...), necklaces- bib necklaces would be fab- , and also to decorate accessories such as hats and bags, and clothes.....
Take a look at some of the pretty butterflies available to make below
This hat and gloves are so pretty and elegant- if the hat was made in whites and creams then it could look fantastic for a bride
We love this idea- lots of tiny wee butterflies made from lots of odds and ends of left over yarns and appliqued to a blouse. These could easily be made into pins or brooches- you could leave them nice and soft, and make lots of different colours and sizes from different thicknesses of yarns. You could also stiffen them with old fashioned starch or modern fabric stiffener- try also backing them with a stiff fabric with fusible interlining/bondaweb. You could use plain fabrics or lovely printed fabrics for a wonderful contrast.....very sellable!
Here is a selection of the butterflies in the ebooklet which have been appliqued onto a bedspread, net/organza curtains and a lampshade....if you ar elooking to make home decor items you could make lots of plain granny squares in plain colours and pop a pretty multicoloured crocheted butterfly on the top of each one.....
These little chaps (or chapesses ) have been popped onto a doily for the table- but again could just as easily be popped onto bags or hats to give pretty embellishments
These are so pretty- they were originally meant to decorate the ends of light pulls but we think that they are so pretty that they should be found more places than that! How can you se these being used?....let us know your ideas.
As you can see, this is such a useful little ebook and its available on our website which you can get to by just clicking here (it will open in a new window) Enjoy and have fun making these wee beasties- but be careful- making them can be addictive!
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We find quite a few interesting and fun patterns when we are sourcing our old patterns- we found this fabulous knitted polo neck ribbed dog coat for poodle pooches which comes with a matching polo neck for its owner! great fun - you could knit them in matching colours, or contrasting colours too-. The pattern has instructions for both garments which date from the 1950s
he looks so cute- and here is the owner version
This can be made as shown, or, as it says, as a jerkin pullover without sleeves. As you can see from the rusty staple marks-,we rescued this from a publication about to fall apart- we like to preserve these rare old patterns for you to inspire your creativity- find the patterns on our Vintage Visage website here
We have other dog coat patterns too- including a rather gentlemanly tweed dachshund dog coat to sew.....
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