on my mind

Yipee!!! reached 900 sales in  my online  vintage scarf shop.

 A multiple sale from a repeat customer that put me over the magic number.

1000, here I come.

But whats with blogger these days? They are disconnecting 'google friends connect' and I no longer receive blog updates from bloggers around the world that I find interesting . I do not see how this can 'improve my blogging experience'

What shall I do?

mince tarts

Mini mince tarts

with  mincemeat, home made by  my niece, Katy King, a London copper.

Think it was spiked with Amaretto and it was delicious!

Oozy and boozy.

Merry Christmas to all

Banned from buying

Thought I would show you a couple of vintage scarves I picked up in England recently.

- I am having a self imposed ban on buying any more stock for my shop,  but these are for me. 

1950s deep navy and chartreuse large square.  Its my latest favorite and I may have to buy a navy pea jacket to go with it, most likely making it the most expensive charity shop buy I have ever made!

This architectural Liberty of London scarf must be a collectible. How could I go wrong for 99p,?

Neat, eh?

I know, if I list 25 more scarves for sale the ban will be lifted. Not that it will make a lot of difference to my scarf stash.

888...is that a magic number?

Yes!    888 is a magic number.

because it means it won't be too long before I reach 900 sales in foulardfantastique. my etsy shop devoted to vintage scarves.

Do you think I will reach that number befor I go to New Zealand mid January?

I am not that confident as etsy has taken a huge nosedive for my shops. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

Fabriquefantastique and Boutiquefantastique continue to limp jog along.

PS, does anyone know how I can have these piccies directly link to the items? After all, you may want to know how much they are.

travels with my knitting

An update on my knitting adventures.

Baby outfit from a 1940s-50s pattern made from yarn of unknown origin bought from a street market in Florence for 1 euro. Mother of pearl old buttons from New Zealand.

Baby blue vintage wool, possibly pre war, bought on the skein from a charity shop in Pocklington some years ago. Must have been many years ago as I was there for my nephews wedding and now they have three strapping boys!
 My favorite 1930s Beehive pattern.

  I also acquired this old swift in Yorkshire on the same trip,but it fell apart mid-wind. What did I expect for 2 pounds sterling? Seen winding the above pre-war wool. I finished this wee outfit in Paris last month.

This summer I succumbed and actually bought some brand new yarn. I could not resist this 100% untreated blueface leicester wool from The Georgian Bay Fibre Company. Bought at their market stall in Parry Sound. Kettle dyed, the colour is 'Watt Nannyberry'.not showing very well but it is just like crushed mulberries and was an absolute pleasure to have in the hands,
I will be back for another skein  next summer.

 Last month I picked up a huge bag of varied yarns from the Methodist Church bazaar

in Canterbury whilst on trip to Europe
There were 34 balls of various quality for 2 pounds 50 pence .....how could I go wrong!

 So I started on some wee hats from my new vintage pattern bought in Deal. There was so much yarn I have had to leave most of it at my sisters house in Kent.

Here's some of it, along with the 1950s 60s fine wool from Broadstairs. A charity shop buy,  just the sort of vintage wool I like.
I am putting the celadon green on the needles this evening.

back from Paris

Paris is as wonderful and magical as ever.

We left  just a few  days before the horrendous terror attacks .My granddaughter is fine but somewhat traumatized as she lives around the corner  from Blvd Voltaire.

I had forgotten my battery charger so no photos of 

my subsequent trip to South East Kent and the blustery, windy coastline.

Home safe and sound and back to textiles soon.

Louis Vuitton

Its a wonder what you can do with the proceeds from some overpriced handbags!

The new ( opened last year) Louis Vuitton Foundation of contemporary arts, in Paris, is amazing.

Designed by Frank Gehry, it is set in the Jardin d'Acclimatation, at the end of the Bois de Boulogne

I found the building, and its contents exhilarating - I had no expectations so itis always thrilling to be so pleasantly surprised.
The restaurant, 'Frank', was pretty good too.

Paris

A few days in Paris and the weather, by chance, is just what one would want it to be.

After all these years I have never been on the Bateaux Mouches before, it was the perfect excursion for my 12 year old granddaughter.

EDIT...I take that back, I was on the Bateaux Mouche about 15  years ago , it was December, there was a transport strike, the tour boats were providing the only transportation in town ( apart from taxis). I have never been so cold in my life, waiting on the damp cobblestone banks of the river for about 2 plus hours.....and this from a Canadian!

.

Old and young were out picnicking by the banks of the Seine

Our Paris apartment!

Back to vintage textiles next time....maybe.

Hudson's Bay blanket

There is a lot of confusion and fast growing myths about Hudson' s Bay blankets  these days 

Here are some recent conversations at market

C = customer

M=me 

C- "Oh look, everyone is  knocking off Hudson Bay these days"  pointing to very nice Ottawa Valley blanket c. 1940 ( above)
M- ( keeps mouth shut)

C- I'm looking for a Hudson Bay blanket.
M- Here you go, from the 50s or so.
C- Not that, I want a real Hudson Bay , with the stripes ( 1950s blanket, above)

M- A very interesting Hudson's  Bay blanket from the 1920s or 30s
C- But this one says its made in England
M- yes, that right.
C- That's   nonsense, we all know they are made in Canada.

C- showing an overseas guest around, " only Canadians are allowed to use these colored stripes"
M- "Actually this is a 1940s Mariposa blanket from Ohio"
C- "whatever"


 I must say, whoever owns The Hudson's Bay Company there days is doing a fabulous marketing job....I believe they even print those stripes on toilet paper,

Liberty scarves and more

Here are the latest thrift store finds to add to my collection of Liberty scarves

Pre war red paisley.....I am wearing it as  we speak and it is my favorite  sort of scarf. Warm, rich  colors, old and traditional. I think I have a couple more of this pattern, possibly a different size and colorway,

 1970s blue floral Liberty silk scarf!

Not a Liberty but I love it. Old Macclesfield classic print. Again pre-WW11,

I also could not resist these two Indian wool shawls with hand embroidery. A pleasure to wear and always useful.

Hermes alert, alert, alert

In about 25 years of collecting ( cheap) Hermes scarves at thrift stores and bazaars this is the first tine I have had a three Hermes day!!!.

 First up, a pastel peonies  design, 'Les Pivoines' by Christiane Vauzelles , rather the worse for wear with several quite noticeable ink stains. But hey - it was 99 cents and its an Hermes.

 In much better condition, like new, in fact, is 'LeTemps des Marionettes'. I believe this was designed in 1996 by Annie Faivre. This will be coming with me to Europe in October.

Finally, my favorite ' Costumes des Departmens de la Seine Inferieure du Calvados de la Manch et de L'orne'  designed by Zoe Pauwels in 1989. But this is not the exact design that is featured  in the Hermes scarf catalogue.......do you think it might be much earlier????
 Not pristine, but good enough for me.

 Not bad for a days work, eh? I hasten to add this is the first for my collection  in about a year/

some nice publicity

Kelly Brown, an exuberant, sunny,  fashion stylist and blogger from LA, borrowed some of my vintage dresses this summer for some shoots.

 A couple were featured in Jute magazine. I must say the dresses  look a damn site better than my amateur  pics here and here !!!!  sigh........I hardly recognized them.
 Wonderful photos by Michelle Aristocrat.

Kelly was so much fun to work with, full of enthusiasm and joie de vivre, she and her team did a terrific job.
I hope she comes back to Toronto next year.

Liberty scarf du jour

The current favorite from my vast collection of vintage Liberty scarves is this one. 

Probably from the 1950s, a beautiful warm, flattering coral, I chose it by just dipping my arm into an over stuffed Tupperware
 box.

Just right for these chilly mornings.

Farmers Market

Some mighty fine summer squash were to be seen at the Brickworks Farmers Market yesterday.

It has not been the very best year for me,  but I always enjoy meeting the customers and the farmers.

My pitch is down by the quarry. Above,  some vintage textiles I took with me. 1950s barkcloth, 30s damask and a Casa Pupo type rug from the 1960s .

   Vintage Aran sweaters, always a good seller,

 and I  hung some old quilts about the industrial machinery.

 This 1940s- 50s blanket, in perfect condition is from Lanark, Ontario and the river Clyde runs through it. A customer told me all about the area, I always learn something new.