Thursday, February 25, 2010

Embroider Ye Pillowcases While Ye May

It doesn't seem that long ago that every Woolworths's had stacks of pillowcases printed with simple patterns, ready to be embroidered and edged, but nowadays such ready-to embroider items are only found in pricey sets from mail order companies like Herrschners'.

This pillowcase was in perfect shape when I took it out of the box. My grandma would have embroidered it, then crocheted on the pink edging, and washed it, ironed it, and put it away. Unfortunately, its mate lay directly on the bottom of the box, and was badly stained by acid in the cardboard. I was able to bleach away most of the stain without harming the embroidery thread, but I don't expect it will last long.

I'm going to use these, and remember to enjoy pretty things while I can.

3 comments:

Lydia said...
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Terry said...

I embroidered pillow cases and dish towels for years - I gave them as wedding and shower presents. My grandmother got me started on it when I was a grade schooler, and I loved it. Sadly, when the Ben Franklin closed I lost my easy source of patterns.

Now things move so fast I'm not sure I'd have the patience for it.

Rebecca Clayton said...

Terry, I find doing some sort of fancy work very soothing. I don't really need any more socks just now, but there's a pair under construction just to help me settle down.

I'll bet you'd enjoy it if you got started again. Of course, you'd have to transfer patterns yourself now, but there are loads of cute free ones on the internet.