A Thimbleful of Thoughts

Feb 22

Coats & Clark: Happy 200th!

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Posted by Amy in Miscellaneous

Coats & Clark is looking good for their age… This year the leader in thread and notions celebrates their 200th anniversary! Way to go!

Besides being a long-time fan of Coats & Clark, I’m excited to celebrate this major milestone because of my muse, Mary Brooks Picken. Mary worked with Coats & Clark on a number of projects during her career, beginning in the 1930‘s. She wrote booklets, helped in product development, and assisted in promotional campaigns. You could say she was something of a brand ambassador for Coats & Clark. I have quite a few pieces of her work from Coats & Clark in my Mary Brooks Picken collection, and they always serve as a great source of inspiration to me!

Mary’s connection with Coats & Clark is also the inspiration behind the Vintage-Inspired Modern Style Design Challenge — of which Coats & Clark and SINGER are sponsors. You can celebrate this history of creative collaboration by designing your own look for the chance to win threads and notions from Coats & Clark as well as a SINGER sewing machine and Indygo Junction patterns and books.

You can explore the inspiring history of Coats & Clark for yourself through their new online history museum. Did you know that in 1812— when the Clark brother opened for business— that sewing thread used to be sold in skeins, like yarn, and that the modern spool was not introduced until much later? Do you know what the “O.N.T” on vintage Clark spools stands for? Check out the history gallery to learn more, or download the history timeline PDF!

Part of my collected Coats & Clark history includes some wonderful illustrated vintage ads. Keeping the charm of the period art, I turned these images into labels or tags and now offer them on my website TheVintageWorkshop.com. This collection, plus tons of other vintage labels and ads are on the cd collection, “Sew Crafty”. You can also purchase them individually. The Vintage Workshop blog offers daily free images too! Here are two examples of the Coats & Clark cards:

Happy 200th, Coats & Clark!

Feb 17

Favorite Vintage Advice: For Charm’s Sake, Get in the Car with Grace!

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Posted by Amy in Miscellaneous

Happy Friday! Let’s share another laugh and a look back at one of my favorite findings from my vast library of vintage resources. Each week, I’ll post amusing advertisements, articles or advice, spanning the topics of domestic arts, fashion, beauty and more. If it’s weird, witty or wacky, you’ll see it here.

This is another piece of advice from Dressmaking Made Easy by Mary Brooks Picken. Mary devoted an entire page in her book to backseat etiquette. She suggests practicing getting in and out of a car a half dozen times. Between work, travel, running errands, and getting the kids to school I think that I get in more than my fair share of daily practice!

“Do you get out of your car backwards, or get in with a jack-knife bend at the waist that makes you stick straight out behind? For charm’s sake, let’s hope not. One can appear very old just in the way one gets into and out of a car.”

Check back for more quirky quotes and images each week (and find more of these timeworn tips in my book Vintage Notions)!

Feb 15

Happy Birthday, Woman’s Institute!

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Posted by Amy in Miscellaneous

February is the anniversary month of Mary Brooks Picken’s Woman’s Institute — my favorite source of vintage inspiration. The Woman’s Institute educated thousands of women through correspondence courses between the years of 1916 and 1937. It was a unique educational model, and the number of women that Mary influenced over the course of her lifetime was countless.

I happen to be one of those women inspired by Mary’s work! I want to pay tribute to the Woman’s Institute’s anniversary by sharing with you some of Mary’s words from her editorial “The Spirit of Service”, published in the Institute’s Inspiration newsletter, February 1924. See if you can share my appreciation for how relevant her thoughts still are today.

As she learned to s ew, Mary said that when she, “[tried] out every interesting thing that I found advertised or that I heart about, I realized more and more how difficult it was to get authentic information.” Nowadays, in our tech-driven world, there’s so much information to be had that it can be overwhelming to sift through everything! How do you choose?

“From the first, the Institute has been blessed with two fountains of greatness, which have poured out, in bountiful measure, enthusiasm, interest, loyalty, and substantial help, and these two sources are the wonderful student body and the Institute staff itself. Few individuals by themselves are great, but working together they attain a strength that truly works miracles.”

So true. Whether it’s Vintage Notions, Indygo Junction, or The Vintage Workshop, every new endeavor is a collaborative process from start to finish. I love working with my team of designers to take a dream into reality. They are like my “Institute staff”. And just like Mary’s “student body” was so crucial in establishing that “growth and permanence and security” mentioned earlier, so are my readers and friends that I connect with online. (To the left is a picture of Mary’s first Institute student, Dorothy Harmeling)

“Students and teachers have worked together in achieving a happy goal; so it is the Spirit of Service that celebrates its birthday rather than the Institute itself.”

That’s an attitude that I, too, want to celebrate. But regardless — happy birthday to the Woman’s Institute, and thanks to my team who consistently celebrate the Spirit of Service!

Feb 13

Valentine Truffle Box Project

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Posted by Amy in Miscellaneous

Valentine’s is just a day away, but here’s a great project that you can do in no time! It’s perfect for sharing some sweets with your sweetie!

This Valentine Truffle Box project was also recently featured on the blog by my good friend, Cindy Hopper, on her blog, Skip to My Lou. Cindy invited me to participate in her Printable Valentine series, which featured free project instructions from a variety of creative bloggers. It’s a great selection of DIY goodies!

Just click on the image below to download a PDF with instructions, pattern pieces, and a vintage image from The Vintage Workshop. To see our extensive collection of downloadable art, visit www.thevintageworkshop.com or like The Vintage Workshop on Facebook to get updates on our Daily Free Image Giveaway! You can see more Valentine’s Day project inspiration on our Pinterest page.

Click image to download instructions for the Valentine Truffle Box

Other fun Valentine’s Day project ideas using Vintage Workshop art:

Click here for more fun Valentine’s Day images from The Vintage Workshop!

Feb 10

Favorite Vintage Advice: Make Your Feet Behave

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Posted by Amy in Miscellaneous

Happy Friday! Let’s share another laugh and a look back at one of my favorite findings from my vast library of vintage resources. Each week, I’ll post amusing advertisements, articles or advice, spanning the topics of domestic arts, fashion, beauty and more. If it’s weird, witty or wacky, you’ll see it here.

This image comes from the book Dressmaking Made Easy by Mary Brooks Picken. According to Mary, a lady’s feet have a “decorative function” and should never fidget— “it is very unpleasant to sit beside someone who fidgets.” Mary is pretty strict about “ugly” feet, but I can think of worse ways to fall short of ladylike perfection!

“Remember — feet together is the smart way. So that your feet will never get the habit of doing any of the ugly things shown here, sit down on a chair in front of a low mirror and do them all now. This will show you quickly how ugly they are.”

Check back for more quirky quotes and images each week (and find more of these timeworn tips in my book Vintage Notions)!
Feb 03

Bill Cunningham’s New York

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Posted by Amy in Miscellaneous

Bill Cunningham has been documenting the New York City fashion world for over 50 years. I recently came across the trailer for this documentary about his life and work, which looks fascinating on many levels:

Then it dawned on me that Mr. Cunningham must have known our friend, Mary Brooks Picken!

As one of the founders of New York Fashion Week in 1947, Mary was engaged in the New York fashion scene for most of her adult life. She moved to the city in 1925 to be the editor of the popular magazine, Pictorial Review, but also set up her own studio where she held workshops and classes. Involved in the leadership of such organizations as the Fashion Institute of Technology, Columbia University, and the Costume Institute (now part of the Met Museum), Mary was deeply connected to the institutions of NYC fashion. She was a regular attender to Fashion Week well into her 80s!

So, if anyone out there has Bill’s contact info, let him know that I’d love to chat…. Here’s one of his recent pieces in the New York Times which reviews some of the newest trends in dresses. It caught my eye especially because of the mention of zippers—Hey Bill, you forgot to include The Day to Night Dress from Indygo Junction!

“The one-piece dress is back. Zipped on in 30 seconds, it eliminates the time-consuming thought that goes into dressing in multiple separates. Fall’s novelty is a carwash-flap design from Alexander Wang (just don’t ride a bicycle in it).  Also seen is Dior’s successful revival of 1950s luncheon dresses with draped necklines. It’s too bad they were kept hidden in the showroom while exaggerated designs were sent down the runway to entertain the media; luckily, store buyers concentrate on the offstage collection of wearable clothes. A more contemporary look is the bell-shape dress. The new hemlines have nothing to do with the ups and downs of the stock market.”


Feb 03

Friends and Photos from CHA

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Posted by Amy in Miscellaneous

I recently returned from CHA, the International Craft and Hobby trade show in Anaheim, and —as always— I’m filled to the brim with new ideas and energy!

I have exhibited at the show in the past with my companies Indygo Junction/The Vintage Workshop and now attend this show regularly for networking, and to see all the latest products on the market. This year, the show was especially inspirational, as I connected with so many wonderfully talented women whom I hadn’t met before. I also got a chance to catch up with old friends and learn about  their recent creative endeavors. One highlight was receiving books from my friends, Marie LeBaron, Jenny Doh, and Jeannine Stein. Take a look at each of these titles and be inspired….Creative Pilgrimage, Makes and Takes for Kids, and Adventures in Bookbinding

As for a fashion fix, the Lion Brand Yarn show is always special event! This year’s show featured looks from some of the top art and design schools from around the world, including, “California College of Art, Parsons School of Design, FIT and Rhode Island School of Design in the U.S; Shenkar College of Engineering and Design in Israel; Aalto University in Finland; Parsons Paris in France; Buckinghamshire New University and Royal College of Art in the United Kingdom; and Kyoto University of Art and Design and Bunk Fashion College in Japan.”(from PRweb) I  put up some of my shots from the cat walk in my Inspiration Gallery…The Granny Square style was my favorite!!!

To see who I got to hang out with at CHA, check out the blogs of these super-creative ladies:
Jan 27

Favorite Vintage Advice: The Medusa

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Posted by Amy in Miscellaneous

Happy Friday! Let’s share another laugh and a look back at one of my favorite findings from my vast library of vintage resources. Each week, I’ll post amusing advertisements, articles or advice, spanning the topics of domestic arts, fashion, beauty and more. If it’s weird, witty or wacky, you’ll see it here.

This image comes from the cover of Home Arts Magazine, 1937. I don’t know if I could look quite as pleased as the lady below, with dozens of tentacles coming out of my head! At least she’s getting some knitting done at the same time…Speaking of creative multi-tasking, I am getting ready to travel next week, so I had my own grooming marathon. While getting my hair cut and colored (no perm for me!), I sat there working on notes for upcoming Indygo Junction patterns and videos. Then, I helped my daughter with her homework while having a simultaneous manicure/pedicure. Luckily the spelling list did not fall in the pedicure water! Oh, the things we do for beauty…

Check back for more quirky quotes and images each week (and find more of these timeworn tips in my book Vintage Notions)!
Jan 23

National Pie Day: The Secrets of a Perfect Pie

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Posted by Amy in Miscellaneous

Did you know that it’s National Pie Day? (Where do they come up with this stuff??) Maybe we don’t get the day off from work, but I’m all for celebrating this lesser holiday! Here’s an excerpt from my book, Vintage Notions, on how to make the perfect pie crust. The recipe comes from educational material distributed by The Woman’s Institute of Domestic Arts & Sciences, which taught over 300,000 women across the country between 1916 and 1937. Where did you think grandma’s secret recipes came from?

You can click on the image to open it larger in a new window:

Find out more about Vintage Notions and how to use it by watching this video. Happy National Pie Day!


Jan 21

Favorite Vintage Advice: Don’t Be a Twiddler

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Posted by Amy in Miscellaneous

Happy Friday! Let’s share another laugh and a look back at one of my favorite findings from my vast library of vintage resources. Each week, I’ll post amusing advertisements, articles or advice, spanning the topics of domestic arts, fashion, beauty and more. If it’s weird, witty or wacky, you’ll see it here.

This little gem is from the book,  Dressmaking Made Easy by Mary Brooks Picken. According to Mary, a lady should never engage in habits that show nervousness or a lack of self control. I love her comparison of our faces to fresh flowers — I usually don’t think of mine that way!

“Don’t be a twiddler, fingering everything in sight. Don’t pull your ears. Don’t put beads in your mouth. Beads have been spoiled that way. Don’t yawn openly, and yet don’t distort your face with your hands — you wouldn’t finger flower petals and expect them to keep fresh.”

Check back for more quirky quotes and images each week (and find more of these timeworn tips in my book Vintage Notions)!
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