All posts tagged: 1950s

No skill required

No experience maybe I could believe, but no skill is too much for any sewing aid  to claim! The colours and graphics are adorable though – worth collecting even if the actual buttons defeat all my experience and skill

Elizabeth Taylor Paper Dolls

The bulk of this post was actually written a few weeks ago, but I kept pushing it back to accommodate other posts.  Now, suddenly, it’s very topical, so enjoy with a bit of mixed emotions. A few weeks ago I wrote about Ayyam-i-ha.  One of the things I didn’t mention is that Ayyam-i-ha often includes the giving of gifts.  My Mum sent a package with the loveliest presents: a cloisonne thimble, and these Elisabeth Taylor paper dolls: The book was published in 1957, and includes two dolls, one on the front cover and one on the back, and seven pages of ensembles. And it is in pristine, uncut condition.  Go Mom! The present isn’t as random as it sounds.  I’ve collected paper dolls since I was a little girl, mostly modern ones by Tom Tierney, but vintage ones too when I can get my hands on them. The pages of ensembles in the book are just fabulous, even if I really doubt they have any relationship to what Taylor actually wore in real life! First, …

Exotic Mexico meets Kiwi Housewife

Carrying on from the Mexican theme of a few Thursdays ago, here is the final Mexican themed textile from my stash. It’s an embroidered apron, made by a Kiwi housewife, probably during the 1950s. I’d been collecting mid-20th century Mexican themed textiles since my interest in them was first sparked as a teenager by all the Mexican textiles in my Grandmothers stash. When I moved to NZ, I assumed that was the end of my collecting in that area, because I didn’t think that Mexico would have been a popular theme for fabric escapism so far across the world. You can imagine my delight when I found this apron in an op-shop a few months ago. I figured it was an anomaly, made by a talented embroiderer who had become tired of all the usual apron embroidery patterns. The apron was made by a skilled embroiderer.  It uses only a few stitches, but they are expertly executed, and the choice of stitches for the different textures in the design, such as the delicately scalloped senorita’s …