A vintage sewing basket

Hello to all, hope Spring has sprung & you too have a Spring in your step. Our clocks went forward this weekend which means I lost an hour of sleep but the promise of longer days makes it worthwhile.

I was once again down south cheering up an aging relative of 90 who needs a bit of a distraction & my babbling news seems to provide something else to talk about. The upside is that I get browse my favourite markets more often.

I shared my last trip & the stallsThe joys of hand sewing and the lovely items we found on the stalls. Take a look at the card on the bottom left  ....

 

I also mentioned on my blog that I regretted passing up a lovely vintage sewing basket. You all know that feeling ...

This visit, I thought it might still be on the stalls so I hurried down eagerly on Saturday morning & to where I had seen it .... and it was not there!!!!

'Serves you right', I chided myself, 'for being indecisive' & 'now it is gone, one of a kind, gone to someone else.'  'Oh well', I consoled myself - 'at least I took a photo' ...

Ms M, my dear sister in law by chance, close friend by choice gave me a beautifully wrapped birthday present with a stunning card she had bought & the gift felt .... like a basket - surely not; I was afraid to get my hopes up.

In the evening, over supper & a drink, I asked to open it early .....

Ms M reads my blog & she had returned to the Saturday stalls the week after my visit but the stall holder was not there, then the following week she made a special trip & couldn't  see it so she asked if it was sold. The stall holder unpacked several things in his van till he found it ....

How special is that to go to so much trouble for a special gift? The basket has little pockets inside, a drawstring & it still had some items left in it.

Ms M & I unpacked the vintage items in the basket. We both love history & vintage items so we speculated on the previous owner whose sewing items still grace it's interior. A sample fabric piece shows her practising her stitches with large running stitiches, some uneven blanket stitch & very neat darned patch ...

 

Her brightly coloured unfinished embroidery was still as vibrant as when it was done - neat stitches but incomplete with the back not tidied up yet. Had time got the better of her? We can all empathise with that ....

I have not seen another basket like this so am soooooo very pleased with my thoughtful gift as it will be perfect for my renewed interest in hand sewing. It looks like a 1970s version - what do you think?

I know that my next hand sewing Gentlework project will be to use some of the fabulous things that were found in my basket - to give a nod to their history ...

I am not sure what form it will take yet, but the cloths are being soaked & washed, ready to inspire me ....

I hope you have enjoyed this lovely gift with me & will look back in to see how the sewing basket Gentlework progresses ...
Dee ~♥~