Flutterby Patch

Damask baubles, shiny brass and a clean chimney

Isn't it strange how one person's trash can be another person's treasure. Many years ago I was horrified to find a friend discarding a bundle of gorgeous damask fabric samples. They dated from the 1960s and she couldn't find a use for them. Needless to say I volunteered to take them off her hands.

Brights as well as soft muted tones

Over the years I've found many uses for the fabrics

   
The smaller patterns were ideal for the dresses and waistcoats I made for my 18th century dolls house family and I have other pieces put by for the four poster beds. The samples aren't large so I always cut into the fabric with caution and save small left-over scraps just in case I find a use for them at a later date. That 'later date' arrived during the week when I used some of the scraps to cover 9cm polystyrene balls to make Christmas baubles.

Recently several talented bloggers have posted pics of their bauble handiwork and I've been itching to give it a go. The small off-cuts of damask were just right for the job and I was pleased with the results. I have a selection of gold metallic braid left over from other projects and this came in handy for covering the joins between the different fabrics.

I'd planned to use beads and buttons as finishing touches but they didn't look right so I attached tiny brass bells (with pins) around the centre of the plainest bauble. I'd like to say the bells tinkle beautifully when jiggled but I'm afraid the sound they make is more of a dull rattle.

Whilst I happily created festive baubles my husband was hard at work doing a more important job, sweeping the chimney. Our sitting room chimney is a law unto itself and has twice caught fire only a few weeks after it has been swept, so hubby likes to keep it spotless. The second time a fire caught hold the chimney pot exploded and the sharp fragments landed on the car roof (we still have the dents to prove it!)

With so much 'useful' activity going on in other parts of the house I decided I should also be seen to be doing something more essential. Now this is a job I always put off doing because I don't enjoy it...cleaning brass. Throughout the year I convince myself that tarnished brass doesn't look out of place with our 'older style' furniture but I do like clean shiny brass at Christmastime, so this week out came the cleaner and the rubber gloves.

No sooner had I laid newspaper on the kitchen table than my husband arrived and plonked our dining room chandelier onto it. He must have thought this would be a good opportunity to disconnect it from the electricity supply and bring it to me for a clean but its arrival on the table quickly made my apathy for brass cleaning a whole lot worse.

I persevered and confess it didn't take long to get it shining again and within an hour it was reconnected and fully working. I think you'll agree it was worth the effort!

Then out came the candlesticks. I just love mellow candlelight at Christmas. A few years ago I spotted a picture in a magazine of an old oak dresser decorated with Christmas greenery and a large collection of mismatching candles. It looked wonderful. I knew I had to recreate that 'look' so I trawled through Ebay and before long I found the perfect lot. One dozen vintage brass candlesticks, all different shapes and sizes (no pairs). A pair of candlesticks can fetch a decent price but mismatched ones aren't always popular and as a result I got a bargain buy. Cleaning them was a lot easier than tackling the chandelier and I'm really looking forward to basking in the glow of warm candlelight over Christmas.

Holly, ivy and mistletoe have been brought indoors during December since Pagan times as a way of brightening homes during the dark days of winter. According to Robert Herrick (an Elizabethan poet who lived 400 years ago) the tradition was to keep the Christmas evergreens in the house until Candlemas (2nd February) when they should be replaced by Box which should stay indoors until Easter. I love these old traditions!

Ceremonies for Candlemasse Eve (with original spelling)
by Robert Herrick (1591 - 1674)

Down with the Rosemary and Bayes,
            Down with Mistletoe;
Instead of Holly, now up-raise
            The greener Box (for show.)

The Holly hitherto did sway;
            Let Box now domineere;
Untill the dancing Easter-day,
            Or Easters Eve appeare.

 
It is the start of Advent on Sunday (30th Nov) and I will be bringing more evergreens into the house. I wonder if they will survive until Candlemas. In Elizabethan England there was no central heating so my guess is they will have dried and withered by New Year. I will let you know.

Remembering Lacemakers

On 25th November we remember St Catherine of Alexandria who was martyred for her Christian beliefs in 310 AD. She is the Patron Saint of spinners, weavers and lacemakers.

Since Tudor times English lacemakers have laid aside their bobbins for a while and celebrated St Catherine's Day with Cattern cakes. It is a simple recipe and I recently made a batch to share with you. I enjoyed one with a cup of coffee and have written the recipe at the end of this post.

No one is sure when people started making lace in England. It is thought that Henry VIII's first wife Queen Catherine of Aragon (above), while awaiting her divorce from the king in 1533, taught lacemaking to some of the ladies living in Ampthill in Bedfordshire. At the time she was living in Ampthill Castle and a lace pattern named after her is still being used in that area today. The story goes that she felt such sympathy for the impoverished lacemakers that she burnt all her own fine lace so that more could be ordered from the local women thus providing them with a much needed income.

My great grandmother and her sisters were lacemakers in Buckinghamshire in Victorian times. The lace they produced was very intricate and it would have taken hours to complete a short length.

My granny kept a box in her dresser drawer which contained her mother's lace bobbins and when I was little I was sometimes allowed to look at them. I'm sorry to say this box was lost over the years and the bobbins in the picture sadly aren't my granny's. I bought these at a sale in Bedfordshire five years ago and promised myself that I would learn the craft but I'm afraid I haven't yet got round to it. These bobbins once belonged to an elderly lady and are all attached to her unfinished work. I don't like to remove them.

Children in the main lacemaking counties of Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Northamptonshire were taught lacemaking at a very young age. Lace schools were set up specifically to teach them the craft and from this photograph you can see how young some of them were. Finding employment in these agricultural counties wasn't easy and lacemaking provided a small amount of much needed income. Every female in the family would be expected make lace. They would work from dawn until dusk weaving the fine threads often by the light of a single candle. In the late 1700s William Cowper became a great friend to the lacemakers in his town of Olney in Buckinghamshire and he fought for their welfare. I visited his home (now a small museum) a few years ago and found it fascinating. You will find a link to it in my sidebar.

There are many lace pattern books available. The one on the left by Pamela Nottingham is very popular and gives you lots of patterns and tips for making a variety of lace styles. It wasn't until I bought my bobbins that I discovered what fascinating little works of art they are and how much can be learnt from them. The book on the right by Christine and David Springett is a must for all antique bobbin collectors as it not only illustrates hundreds of different bobbins but also gives information about the men who made them.

Antique bobbins are made from either bone (not ivory) or wood. The bone ones were often beautifully decorated and would have cost more than the wooden ones which were plainer. No two bobbins are ever identical. Here are some Victorian from my own collection.
1). The one at the top is well used and the name on it is quite rubbed. It reads John Bunyan. He lived in the heart of lacemaking country (Bedford) whilst writing 'Pilgrim's Progress' and many lacemakers owned a Bunyan bobbin. 
2). The second bobbin has a more ornate shape and is wrapped with fine brass wire.
3). I love this third example. It has been engraved with the wishes of its owner and reads 'Elizabeth Pickering would love to live happy with Robert Pain'. Many lacemakers had the names of their sweethearts and family members engraved on their bobbins. I wonder Elizabeth and Robert ever married.
4). The plainer wooden bobbin at the bottom has three pewter 'jingles' on it.

The book on the left by T L Huetson contains a history of lacemaking as well as lots of interesting facts about bobbins. The small paperback on the right by C and D Springett includes fascinating information about the vintage glass beads (called spangles) that are found on old bobbins. 

This is a fabulous book about British festivals and celebrations with accompanying recipes and old customs. It was written by Julia Jones and Barbara Deer in 1987 but is still readily available from second-hand booksellers on line.

On page 8 is the entry for St Catherine's Day. Each page is illustrated in a scrap book style.

Here as promised is the recipe for lacemakers' Cattern cakes.

9 oz/275 g self-raising flour
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 oz/25 g currants
2 oz/50 g ground almonds
2 teaspoons caraway seeds
7 oz/200 g caster sugar
4 oz/100 g melted butter
1 medium egg, beaten
A little extra cinnamon and sugar for sprinkling

Oven temperature 
200 degrees C.
400 degrees F.
Gas 6

Sift flour and cinnamon into a bowl. Stir in currants, almonds, caraway seeds and sugar. Add the melted butter and beaten egg. Mix to a soft dough. On a floured board roll out to a rectangle 12 ins x 10 ins (30 cm x 25 cm). Brush the dough with water and sprinkle with a little extra sugar and cinnamon. Roll up like a Swiss roll and cut into 2 cm (3/4 ins) slices. Place (spaced well apart) on a greased tray and bake for 10 minutes. Cool on wire rack then enjoy! (Makes approx 12).

Plain sailing on a fine day, outdoors and in.

There's nothing better than a day of sunshine to lift spirits and put a spring in your step. You will be pleased to hear that it put me in just the right mood to place my bits and pieces of freshly washed china and glass back into the cupboards that have remained empty for so long whilst we made alterations to the study.

First to go back was the glass ship that I showed you last week. With its sparkling clean dome I positioned it centre stage and alongside placed its companion, a little Victorian boy wearing a sailor suit and sitting on a large cockle shell.

On another shelf a hand painted Victorian cup and saucer, my granny's cut glass biscuit barrel and a 1920's child's mug that I found discarded on a bonfire. What sort of silly person disposes of china on a bonfire I wonder?

This little boy in his pony cart was one of my mother's favourites. It came to me when she passed away in 2006 and I will always treasure it.

Also a favourite, his little sister who has her own pony cart and sits alongside her brother. Both children will live safely in the cupboard until Christmas when they will come out and trot along the mantle, their little carts loaded with greenery for the festive season. My mother did this for many years and I like to carry on the tradition.

When I'd at last finished refilling my shelves with china I had time to make a swift visit to Holehird, a nearby Lakeland garden that I have taken you to before. What fun it would have been to travel there in a little horse drawn carriage on such a fine November day. Imagine pulling up in style outside this big country house that forms part of the estate.

The house enjoys magnificent views over the gardens and surrounding countryside.  

Sadly I didn't have time to explore the wonderful walled garden

and I stopped only briefly to admire the way the autumn sunshine filtered through the ornamental grasses

and then I reached the area I had come to visit....the holly garden. I love holly and would like to plant more in our garden but there are so many varieties to choose from these days that I decided the best idea would be to make a note of the types the experts had planted at Holehird (I will use any excuse to visit this garden!) With their variegated leaves in all shades of green and gold and berries of red, black and vibrant yellow I made hasty notes of the hollies I liked best and (returning to my make-believe pony cart) made the journey home.

On the return journey I noticed a few people were on the lake in their sailing craft enjoying the fine weather but concluded a pony and cart would remain my choice of transport!

In this area I'm surrounded by wonderfully large expanses of water but I'm afraid I wouldn't make a good sailor. The nearest I have come to steering my own craft was as a child when playing a similar game to this pair on the stairs in Robert Louis Stevenson's poem 'A Good Play'.

 
We built a ship upon the stairs
All made of the back-bedroom chairs,
And filled it full of soft pillows
To go a-sailing on the billows.

We took a saw and several nails,
And water in the nursery pails;
And Tom said, "Let us also take
An apple and a slice of cake;"--
Which was enough for Tom and me
To go a-sailing on, till tea.

We sailed along for days and days,
And had the very best of plays;
But Tom fell out and hurt his knee,
So there was no one left but me.

.....I had great fun playing 'make believe' games with chairs and pillows when I was young.... Happy days!....Do today's children still play these sorts of games I wonder?

Have a good weekend.