Vintage patterns and making

How to make Point Lace- vintage victorian instructions, patterns and pictures.

We have just digitised 2 booklets on how to make pretty and stunning point lace in the victorian style. Point lace is made by taking different types of fine braids and then infilling with stitches. Both booklets are by Weldons and are titled Practical Point Lace

You can see in the second cover how the lace is formed by the braid and infill stitches

Why is it called Point lace?well according to a victorian source, 'point' is the french word for a stitch of any description as used in needlework- so the name point lace signifies lace made in stitches- Point de Bruxelle, Point de Venise and so on. Modern (eg Victorian!) lace work is also known as renaissance work, which means a lace having the from of the design in braid, with the intervening spaces filled in with stitches. How those stitches are worked determines the beauty of the lace work.

You can see here some of the different stitches used- this example is also worked on a net base.

This is a lovely example of a victorian collar worked in Point lace- you can clearly see here the different filling stitches.

This pretty cake doily too shows the beauty of the different infill stitches.

Another pretty collar.

All of these designs are in the booklets along with many others. You can find the digitalised ebooklets  on our Vintage Visage website by clicking here 

Vintage Victorian Hardanger Embroidery Instructions booklet pdf

We have 2 booklets of instructions for Hardanger Embroidery on the Vintage Visage website. The booklets date from the early 1900s Victorian era and have instructions and illustrations of how to work and make the embroidery.

Hardanger embroidery is said to have originated from Denmark where there is a city named Hardanger, and was also worked in Norway and Sweden. However- the origin of this type of embroidery can be seen as far back as ancient persia and Asia where it was worked in silk and a fine gauze netting.

As you can see from the illustrations, its a sort of mixutre of embroidery, cut work and drawn thread. It was used to make 

"pillow slips, tea-cloths, sideboard cloths, tray cloths, mats, sheet decoration, centre pieces, collars and cuffs, aprons, blouse trimmings, belts and button ornamentation. Indeed, each and every article designed for  household or personal use can be ornamented with this work, which is not difficult to learn and not expensive to do...."

And as you can see from the illustrations above, the ebooklets give you comprehensive instructions and very good illustrations to show you exactly how to work the stitches

Its an interesting skill to learn, and inside each of the 2 booklets there are lots of ideas and designs for anyone wishing to research more about Hardanger, or as it says on the second booklet, Hardangen, embroidery

If you wish to purchase the ebooklets along with other Victorian Embroidery instructions-- they are available by clicking here which will take you directly to the Vintage Visage website- enjoy!

Vintage Carrickmacross Lace patterns and instructions ebook

Carrickmacross is a very pretty lace which is not dissimilar to Limerick lace. Here at Vintage Visage we have several antique lace making publications that we have digitalised, and this wonderful ebooklet dating from over 100 years ago shows you exactly how to make Carrickmacross lace,and has photos of how to sew each filling stitch too.

We have carefully digitalised each page so that it is a wonderful instructional item for you to use. it has instructions for working Carrickmacross applique too- see how clearly it shows you how to do it

It takes you step by step through Carrickmacross lace, Carrickmarcoss applique and Carrickmacross guipure. If you are interested in making antique laces or also updating the techniques of antique laces to today fashion or home decor wear then its worth having a look at our digitalised ebooks on the Vintage Visage website- we have a range of ebooklets that can be ordered and then will be emailed to you within 24 hours of your payment so that you can get started making gorgeous items asp! Click here to go there

Vintage limerick lace patterns and instructions

Limerick lace is so pretty and delicate and beautiful

Like Carrickmacross lace, Limerick lace is worked on a background of net stretched over a frame. The design is first outlined with a fine cotton or flax thread, and then the various insides of the design are then filled with fancy darning and net stitches.

You can see from these photos just how pretty it can be. We think that there is a place for this to be modernised for an enterprising designer too- maybe made with a thicker net and yarns for an experiment perhaps?

Vintage Visage have a digitalised  publication which dates from over 100 years ago to instruct in the making of Limerick lace- this can be ordered from the website- the link is below the next photo-  and it will be emailed to you within 24 hours of your purchase as a pdf file. Its a lovely publication and is very informative, with very pretty illustrations.

Click here for your chance to order this lovely lace making ebook- 

We have many other antique lace making and embroidery ebooks on the site too, so please enjoy browsing..,,

 

Vintage Christmas angels to embroider or trace pdf

This set of wonderful retrolicious Christmas angels motifs can be used for embroidery as they were originally intended, as they can be traced from the pdf file that is downloaded.

This is a tracing pattern for a set of very sweet retro christmas angels- you can use them as motifs for embroidery by tracing onto fabric and then embroidering as they were originally intended, or you could just as easily trace the motifs onto cards and make very pretty christmas cards and/or tags. There are 2 sizes of angels - one a group of 5 together, and 5 individual ones. As it is a pdf file, then you can print them out to which ever size you wish to trace them.

They could also be embroidered onto card, and then hung onto the tree , or embroidered onto stiffened/fused fabric which is then cut to make angel shaped decorations for the Christmas tree.

They can really be used for whatever your imagination would like- they are very iconic motifs and could be useful for all tyes of items for the festive season,find them in our etsy shop as a pdf download here 

Vintage hat box sewing patterns

Hat boxes are very popular at the moment- not only do people want to use them to store their hats and delicate fascinators but increasingly they are using them as general storage around the house, especially if they are covered in pretty papers or vintage fabrics or even embroidery. They can be stacked in decreasing sizes and can look fun and funky.

Both of our patterns/instructions very easy to make- once you understand the process they can easily be made in all sorts of sizes, and you could also adapt the shapes if you are confident. We offer a full email back up service to all of our pattern so you can buy with confidence knowing that you have a helping hand available if necessary. These 2 hat box patterns are covered in fabric - one even gives a paisley cross stitch pattern to embroider on too- and can look so pretty- you can match the fabric to your existing home decor, use neutrals, whites and creams for wedding items, or imagine them n pretty vintage floral fabrics.....yet another one of our items that you can make as gifts, or even to sell......have fun

Vintage Hat Box Patterns here