My sister’s late mother in law was such an Upper West Sider that she was almost a parody of an Upper west Sider. She was an academic of some renown. She was a serious foodie who cooked but also knew with certainty who had the best take out of any variety of gourmet food. She also was a serious flea market and thrift shopper.
A couple of years before she died, she gave me a load of clothing that she had picked up at various flea markets, thrift shops and sample sales. Among the treasures she gave me was a batch of cashmere sweaters.
One of the sweaters was a baby pink cashmere cardigan with bracelet sleeves, probably from the late 1950’s. I am so NOT a baby pink sort of a girl, but I adore wearing the sweater partially for the sheer perversity of my wearing such an uncharacteristically sweet color. I wear this sweater often.
Recently, I had noticed a few little holes in the sweater. Like this one.
As I thought about the hole, I suddenly realized why generations of women before me used to embroider or add beads or sequins to their cashmere sweaters. They were hiding holes.
After thinking about adding yarn roses also in baby pink, I decided to add a sprinkling of silver sequins.
This particular effort took about an hour or so. I see it as a continuing effort.
Clearly, the next phase is to embellish the other side of the sweater.
The current batch of holes are hidden. My sewing buddies would call this a design opportunity.
I also want to call your attention to a new feature of this blog. I have been collecting old sewing books for the past many years. Part of the joy of collecting sewing books is finding new/old ways of doing things. I have reached the point that I am ready to part with some of my collection and am selling them on Amazon. I realize that i just don't have the space to keep all of my books.
You can click on the tab on the top of the page to see what I'm currently selling. There might be something of interest to you there. Feel free to email me if you have any questions about any of the books in particular. I will be posting more books over time. Thanks for looking.
A couple of years before she died, she gave me a load of clothing that she had picked up at various flea markets, thrift shops and sample sales. Among the treasures she gave me was a batch of cashmere sweaters.
One of the sweaters was a baby pink cashmere cardigan with bracelet sleeves, probably from the late 1950’s. I am so NOT a baby pink sort of a girl, but I adore wearing the sweater partially for the sheer perversity of my wearing such an uncharacteristically sweet color. I wear this sweater often.
Recently, I had noticed a few little holes in the sweater. Like this one.
As I thought about the hole, I suddenly realized why generations of women before me used to embroider or add beads or sequins to their cashmere sweaters. They were hiding holes.
After thinking about adding yarn roses also in baby pink, I decided to add a sprinkling of silver sequins.
This particular effort took about an hour or so. I see it as a continuing effort.
Clearly, the next phase is to embellish the other side of the sweater.
The current batch of holes are hidden. My sewing buddies would call this a design opportunity.
I also want to call your attention to a new feature of this blog. I have been collecting old sewing books for the past many years. Part of the joy of collecting sewing books is finding new/old ways of doing things. I have reached the point that I am ready to part with some of my collection and am selling them on Amazon. I realize that i just don't have the space to keep all of my books.
You can click on the tab on the top of the page to see what I'm currently selling. There might be something of interest to you there. Feel free to email me if you have any questions about any of the books in particular. I will be posting more books over time. Thanks for looking.
Silver sequins - a good choice! Looking good!
ReplyDeleteSandy
What a cool idea with the sequins. It's the old 'when life hands you lemons make lemonade' or in this case use sequins.
ReplyDelete