cathy of california

poodle print fabric, 1969

this is post is a plea to all of the fabric designers out there that read my blog. please knock this print off!

(from simplicity sewing book 1969)

good housekeeping illustrations, 1961

today instead of actually cleaning my own house i decided to sit down and thumb through good housekeeping's guide to successful homemaking, a recent thrift store find. if you follow my blog you know that i go just nuts over vintage cookbook illustration. well it's time to add vintage housekeeping book illustration to that list. no credit was given to the wonderful illustrator who was most likely on the staff of good housekeeping.

(from good housekeeping's guide to successful homemaking revised edition, compiled by the editors of good housekeeping magazine, 1961)

never were tablecloths sew-easy to make, 1959-62

the candle, snowmen, and bell motifs could be made with mc call's transfer patterns for appliques. anything look familiar? please see yesterday's post.

(ads for indian head brand all purpose cotton from mc call's needlework and crafts fall/winter issues 1959-60, 1960-61, 1961-62)

mc call's pattern #2458, 1961

a couple of weeks ago jenny had a few ladies over for a little craft night. we all brought along whatever current project we were working on. wendy whipped out a recent ebay score and i could hardly believe my eyes! yep, it was the pattern for the very same projects that i was about to blog about! how about that?

(pattern from wendy's collection and images from mc call's needlework and crafts fall/winter 1961-62)

vintage kitchen motif fabric

a couple of years ago i had to clean out my mom's house because i was moving her into assisted living. my mom sewed almost everything she wore and had quite a stock pile of fabric. i boxed most of it up, brought it back to my house and was just finally able (both emotionally and because i had the time) to really go through it. i have been using bits of it in craft projects here and there, but the majority of it i found i couldn't really use. i am saving some of it for sentimental reasons and decided that the rest should get into the hands of those who could really use it. the larger chunks i have given to some friends and to charity. there were alot of scraps of some interesting prints that i cut into fat quarters and some smaller sizes. i'm bundling them up and will be selling them at the next felt club on nov 18. the money i make from the sale of the bundles will be donated to alzheimer's research. here's a little flickr set i created with some shots of the fabrics.

softies ... and don't you just love that vintage singer sewing machine?

"softies" is chock full of super cute patterns and instructions by all sorts of cool folks like tamar mogendorff, chicka mori, heidi kenney and hillary lang. but even with all of the cuteness going on i somehow can't seem to keep my eyes off that vintage singer sewing machine.

(picture of "tramp heart bear" by lisa martin from "softies - simple instructions for 25 plush pals" by therese laskey)

vintage rick rack from san diego

my original idea for yesteday's post was to show you a beautiful image from the book of packages of vintage rick rack. but i thought hey wait a minute i have some that i saved from my mom's house. so here you go...

yves saint laurent vogue paris original pattern, 1965

my friend bill recently alerted me to the amazing paper pursuits website. of course the vintage patterns caught my eye.

(image via paper pursuits)

happy aprons will help make everyday chores a little more pleasant for you, 1972

using a wide zig zag stitch the designs were machine-appliqued on. it's suggested that you use the same technique to make matching hotpads, kitchen towels and appliance covers so you can fill your kitchen "full of surprises that offer year round usefullness and a touch of gaiety".

(from "better homes & gardens gifts to make yourself" 1972)