My London Treasures

Well here are my London treasures.  I had limited space and limited funds so I made every purchase count.  The fun was in the searching and each thing I chose will bring back memories when I use it.

This is some of the laces I bought at the Portobello Market.  There were several dealers there with lovely lace garments but all also had a box of scraps and pieces tucked away and these were what I wanted and they were inexpensive.  The one near the left with the roll at the top is exquisite and is 5 yards long.  I bought it from a young man in a street booth and it was about $4 US.  It is obvious it was cut from a garment.

Two of my favorite pieces are this sleeve and one glove.  My first thought was to use the lace on the cuff of the glove but I know I could NEVER cut into this.  I am thinking I will do a collage in a shadow box and use it. 

I will use the lace on the sleeve and the fine silk tulle....and it will have to be something special.  Most laces were 2-4 dollars a piece.

I did find my way to the Button Queen on Marlybone Lane.  Quite close together was a Marleybone Lane, a Marleybone Road, and a Marleybone Street.  I was looking for different buttons in autumn colors and found a few there. 

The buttons on the right are turn-of-the century shoe buttons and they are dyed bone...all autumn colors also.  I found them in a button shop in Portobello Market.

One day I ventured to the Liberty haberdashery shop of fabric fame.  Didn't buy any fabric but they had a marvelous selection of ribbons cleverly displayed.

I chose ones I thought would look spectacular folded.

In the basement of Gray's Antique Emporium was a linen and lace shop which also had wonderful vintage trims and I fell in love with this metallic lace trim.  I wanted her to just cut me a yard of it but she wouldn't cut it and I had to buy all six yards.  This picture does not do it justice because it is absolutely gorgeous.  I can hardly wait to use it.  It was an extravagance but I knew I would regret it if I didn't buy it.

There was a huge table in a stall in Covent Garden market with about 8-10 large flat boxes filled with piles and piles of assorted costume jewelry in various states of repair and people were just rummaging through it.  Anything you found you liked was only one pound (about $1.50).   The blue rhinestone heart will go on the cover of one of the corset books.  I wish I had bought more there but it was near the end of the day and I was tired.  In the markets all the coffee and tea shops were jammed and had lines...just no place to sit for a few minutes...which probably saved me money.  This market was only open on Mondays so I couldn't go back.

The one disappointment was the Royal School of Needlework shop at Hampton palace. ..not their fault.  I had just mistakenly envisioned a large shop that would be thread heaven and filled with examples of glorious needlework... but in fact it was about the size of a walk-in closet with very little for sale.

I did manage to find a couple books I could use.



I found these lovely scissors in the gift shop at the Victoria & Albert museum. They were made in Italy and are razor sharp...and a stitcher can never have too many scissors.... at least not this stitcher.

Last but not least... this is the chatelaine I took with me.  I used it in every airport and on every plane.  Also it was so nice to have with me when I stitched in the hotel and have all my tools at hand.

It is a chatelaine I made as a class sample and this was the first time I had used it.

The theme on this chatelaine is bees so to commemorate it's first trip abroad I bought it this delightful bejeweled bee at Covent Garden.

You can see it near the center on the right side.  My old tattered chatelaine had little treasures from all over the world.

The Expected......

Well I'm back from London and had an incredible time...   It will take a few posts to share it all.
But I definitely had two favorites.  One was totally expected and one totally unexpected..

The expected favorite was Portobello Road Market. When you got off the tube, you didn't need a sign for direction....you were literally carried along with the crowd.  Thousands of people (not hundreds) show up every Saturday year round - rain or shine.  AND it's two miles long.  It was pouring rain the first Saturday I went and I had so much fun I went back the next Saturday and it was 39 degrees and a bitter wind which didn't deter a soul.

It is exactly this way every Saturday as it is the only day for the outdoor vendors. 

But besides the outdoor vendors each building has small shops and some are even a maze of  small stalls.  It was in the back of one these I found two older ladies selling exquisite bits of vintage lace ( I will show later as I have time to unpack and sort and photograph my treasures.)

Surprisingly  this market is not that old and only dates back to the 1940s when "rag and bone men" gathered there with their carts and it gradually evolved to antiques, bric-a-brac, and farm goods etc.

The rag-and-bone men  scavenged unwanted rags, bones, metal and other waste, from the towns and cities where they lived.  They sold rags to the local paper makers. White rag could fetch 2–3 pence per pound, depending on condition. Coloured rag was worth about two pence per pound. Bones, worth about the same, could be used as knife handles, toys and ornaments. Metal was recycled for all manner of uses....

There was anything and everything you could imagine for sale...the old and valuable and the new and the tacky.  I especially enjoyed all the vintage jewelry... stalls and stalls of it..

and the antiques as well.  I didn't buy a lot but each purchase was special and will bring back wonderful memories of my days at one of the most famous markets in the world..

On a jet plane

We are leaving on Thursday for London for 8 days...  This trip had been planned for months for our anniversary and the first trip we've taken abroad  in 10 years.  As my recovery has been so slow we talked about cancelling it, but in the end decided to go and I'll just do what I can...  I started packing today and the first thing of course is what needlework to take.  I put the corset ads on the page linings and will take them along and embellish in airports etc.

I do want to get to Hampton Court Palace to see the Royal School of Needlework and the Victoria and Albert Museum for textiles, clothing and other decorative arts..  DH has a long list and will tear around at full speed to museums, churches, and galleries.  I will putter through antiques malls and markets hoping to find some interesting buttons and lace....  We will meet late afternoon and eat pub grub.

We live high on an open prairie and have always enjoyed both spectacular sunsets AND sunrises but the sunrise a couple days ago was breath taking. 

Sunsets are long and like kaleidoscopes as they constantly changed hues and shapes.  But sunrises are rapid and you best not sleep too long in the morning or you will miss it..