Just Ducky

 I shared a bit of this at the end of January of this year. Now it's time to show you the completed book. Or as complete as it's going to be for now; there could be further embellishments in the future, you never know!

 This began with another child's handkerchief, folded in half to create the outer cover. I put a piece of quilt batting between the two layers of the hanky to stabilize it and give it a bit of substance. It's amazing how thin many of the vintage hankies are.  

I quilted around the Sailor Duck and eventually around the border print as well. The dragonfly was created commercially from felt.

The body of the duck hanky was plain so I added the corner from a lady's hanky and the seashell to fill up the blank space inside the front cover. Next to is is the lacy border from some yardage.

Flipping over the lace you find a duck print I've had for years in my quilting stash. To dress it up a bit I added the laces and rick rack.

This is what you see when you turn over the duck print page. The base of the page is fabric from an old handmade apron. I added the bit with the bird from another quilter's cotton and a piece of a woven ribbon to decorate that page. The lace on the facing page is blanket stitched to a piece of wool felt. I do like a variegated thread. 😁

 Turning over the lace...

You have the felt (for needles and pins if you like) and opposite, a side-opening pocket made from vintage cloth with more lace and a ribbon across the top. The vintage laundry tag serves as a tag on the pocket's edge. The little yellow bird is printed on the flannel that makes the base for this page. I added the little bit of feather stitching. 

Turning over that pocket-page you come to the center spread of the book. Somewhere I had acquired this strip of lace that had already been hemmed on one edge. By stitching up the sides and across the bottom I was able to turn it into pockets large enough to store packets of needles. Again, I added the strip of lace across the top (which creates just enough of a flap to help hold the needle tubes in place). I also stitched through the lace to divide the width into four narrower pockets. The fabric underneath the lace pockets is vintage feed sack.

On the other side of the center spread we have the flannel printed with another cutie pie duckling. I added some simple straight stitches to enhance the image. Just for kicks I sewed a scrap strip of the vintage cloth to the top of the page so it hangs loose. It echoes the green of the wool felt opposite (more storage for needles or pins). 

Lace over felt again (the other half of what you encountered at the beginning of the book), and the page I shared in process at the end of January. Purely for fun and decoration. 😊

Turning that over...

 The other half of the ducky print overlaid with another piece from the quilter's cotton embellished with embroidery stitches and a plastic rhinestone dragonfly. And the other half of the wide lace.

 Here you see the inside of the back cover. Another corner from a lady's hanky. I added the feather stitched foliage between the rosebuds and the metal charm and pink butterfly button. I've had that button forever! I was pleased to find a place for it finally.

To fill in the blank space on the back cover I simply stitched on a bit of fussy-cut lace. I like that some of the laces and edges peek out of the top and bottom of the book. This feels really lovely in the hand. Soft and squishy (except for the tubes of needles in the middle!). It measures about four inches tall and 4.5" wide. The handmade apron I used for a page base had ties made from a narrow green bias binding. I'm using a strip of that to tie the book closed although I haven't attached it to the book in any way. 

So there you have it. This was a fun project. I especially like finding ways to utilize the vintage linens that would otherwise sit in a pile or a drawer and rarely be seen. The engineering involved in the construction of pages and pockets and such is still new to me. I'm definitely learning as I go. I've already begun the next fabric book (and had to undo half of what I'd done too soon in the process). There's no telling when you'll see how it turns out. Hopefully, we'll all live long enough to see that day!

 

Huswif Book of Treasures

 Historically a huswif - or hussif or housewife - would take the form of a long narrow rectangle that could be rolled up and secured with a tie or button closure. It was essentially a portable sewing kit. There would be one or more pockets, a place for needles and pins and scissors to be stored, and possibly a pin cushion. During WWI soldiers were required to have one in their pack to keep their uniforms in good repair. 

A more familiar item might be a needle book. I've recently been inspired by a fairly new YouTube creator, Bec at sewbecurated. She has expanded the concept of a needle book to include vintage textiles as a place to store or preserve them. I have combined the utility of a huswif with Bec's approach to needle books in my version of a huswif. 

This is the cover of my book. I've stitched on a few of my favorite mother of pearl buttons, strips of vintage lace, and a square of needlepoint I stitched in the 1970's. I've used a hand dyed seam binding to tie the book closed.

I think the crochet trim I've used at the bottom of my huswif probably came off a pillowcase.

This is the back of my book. More laces, vintage buttons and a corner from a handkerchief. I've seed stitched the covers with tiny cross stitches in a variegated perle cotton (size 12).

The inside front cover has a pocket and a stamped image. I was very purposeful about using things I've been collecting for the last year or more. The stamped image and the rose fabric both came from Tilly at Tilly Rose Vintage in the UK.

Next is a sheer little doily.

Under that is a page made from fabric I pulled out of my mother's rag bag as a newly married woman.

The little square of white with the rosebud and butterfly is a feed sack scrap. 

Next is another purchase from Tilly. I've trimmed the linen panel with more strips of vintage trims I've collected. The panel is a reproduction of a French label. It felt too fragile to make into a pocket so it's stitched down on all four sides.

Under the wide lace is this denim page embellished with a couple of vintage appliques and another bit of crochet. The heart was cut from a quilt by Lauretta at Sparrowhawker Designs.

Turning the page you come to the utility spread of my huswif. 

On the left side are two pieces of felted wool for needles. Below that is more wool, lightly stuffed to be a pin cushion. On the right I put a doily from my grandmother's household over the pink felt that backs the denim. On top of the doily I have the triangular pocket for my embroidery scissors. They have to be tied in place or they will fall out if I transport the book anywhere. 

Next is a stamped image from Pamela the Hippie Gypsy and a collar piece I bought from one of Dawn Stephan's sales.

Flipping over the lace reveals the bottom of a vintage appliqued tea towel. Just so pretty!

This is the inside of the back cover. At the bottom is another small pocket. It started out as a corner from an embroidered linen Rachel Roxburgh included in a packet I purchased from her. I've added the eyelet down one side and more vintage lace across the top. At the top of the page I stitched on a piece of crocheted doily. 

Opposite the inside back cover we have Jack Skellington.

He's been hanging on my bulletin board for I don't know how many years. I was thrilled to discover that he would fit perfectly in my huswif. I added a braid down the left edge - this screen print was done on something that ravels fairly easily. The best part is that I was able to make him into a pocket that opens on that side with the braid.

While this was a slow growing project it has been a lot of fun. I'm already thinking about making something similar. This one has turned out to be a bit too large for me to use daily. Most of my tools are on my work table right at hand anyway. The idea of showcasing treasured textiles in book form really appeals to me. Maybe this will be a way for me to pass bits of family history treasures down to our children and grandchildren. 😊