Tweed, tartan and tapestry

A few Saturdays ago I went on a little outing to a neighbouring town with a friend who gets as much joy from all the crafty things as I do. We get a bit squeaky with excitement. We were most excited to be going along to the Beyond Measure Open Day. If you haven't come across Beyond Measure yet and you like beautiful things to help you in your making and doing then you really are in for a treat. Grace, the owner, was opening her studio for the day and the opportunity to handle some of the lovely goodies, plus the chance to spend our leftover spending money from Edinburgh Yarn Festival, could not be missed!

Beyond Measure is housed in a fabulous old mill type building with lots of industrial architectural details and interiors to look at.

Lovely old staircase

I love a bit of peeling paint

Light switch

We had a really good look at everything in the studio, a really good look and a little fondle and a stroke here and there. There was a lovely atmosphere and it was good to chat with fellow craft fans and make new friends. There was a cafe set up in one corner and we took full advantage of that (who said we had two of the oh so delicious cakes?!), whilst pondering what our purchases were to be.

Pretty Tulip needles

Fantastic storage jars

Trimmings and bindings

Pretty tins of haberdashery

Love these little chaps by Eleanor Bostrom. My friend may have taken one home!

All the colours in the embroidery threads.

Gorgeous tweed just waiting to be made into lovely things.

More tweedy goodness.

One of these fab knitting bags came home with me.

You can probably see that it was time for tough decisions. I got a very cute thimble necklace and a wooden sewing needle holder to keep my yarn needles safe in my knitting bag. I just realised I don't have a photo of them as yet.

If you are wondering where the tapestry and tartan of the title are - they formed the main part of my outfit.

One of my Welsh tapestry handbags. This one has lots of mustard and teal in it which meant I really couldn't resist it.

My tartan skirt is from good old M&S and is a) orange, b) wool, c) lined and d)warm. It has had a lot of wear since I bought it in the sale in January. My local charity shops have had a dearth of old lady tartan skirts so this filled a gap in my wardrobe.

My preciousss

My fabulous sewing machine brooch was a gift from my in laws and it and others like it are stocked by Beyond Measure. I should say here that this is not a sponsored post, I just love lovely stuff.

Thanks for taking my outfit pictures Karen.

Vintage haberdashery adverts.

As well as the glorious patterns for all manner of crafts in my old magazines I also really enjoy looking at the adverts. I could talk about all manner of adverts, those for reducing (in size), tampons (as they developed), custard, shoes or bleach. Perhaps one day I will as they are a fascinating insight into the way people lived, product development and the gradual evolution of ideas and ideals. Because my latest magazine haul was Needlewoman and Needlecraft I want to focus on haberdashery adverts as, obviously, that is the most fitting product to advertise in that type of magazine. Plus, I love haberdashery. It is pretty, its is functional, it is interesting and most of all it is full of potential; just waiting for you to come along, make a choice and produce something gorgeous with it.

It is worth taking a look at the Woolworth's Museum site (random I know), for its 1950s haberdashery displays http://www.woolworthsmuseum.co.uk/1950s-i-woolhaby.htm . Woolworths stores all had a large haberdashery department selling buttons, wool, knitting and sewing patterns. The site has pictures of these plus pictures of store windows showing a display for wool week or for making do and mending.

I think this is brilliant. The bonkers curtains, the lovely
colours, the shapes, her beautiful dress and hair.

I like Anchor adverts. Great colours again and a fancy
cross stitch tablecloth is always good.

I'm not convinced that she would do her own mending
but she does lend an air of glamour to the proceedings.

Same with her, I think the wonderful hair and make-up
would not leave enough time to personalise her dainties
with embroidery. I think a maid is lurking in the background.

What a fabulous display of threads. Spoilt for choice!

Janet, Alison and Enid. All three of them give great jumper.
And hair.
Enid is 'striking the happy medium between primness and
frivolity'.
Alison is 'all for cosiness so this long sleeved style is more
suitable for me'.
Janet says ' how do you like the bright little idea I'm wearing
now?'

Wool snake. Wool snake charmer. Magic carpet.
Great colours. Can't beat it!

Showing you the 'smartest ways of using the best bias
binding of all'.

I would like to think that she is called Melody as well
as the wool. I love the cardi, I'm not sure I will ever
have the patience to make it.

'These little folk are happy all day long, at the seaside,
in bathing suits of Crocus wool. They are warm and
comfortable and do not shrink or loose their shape'.

Featuring a' backless suit for sunbathers, a fancy
pattern for two bright colours and knickers and
a brassiere to make a novel two piece bathing suit'.

Colour. Beautiful.

Good to have a reliable zip for all situations.

Excellent. Women can crochet and be intelligent. Quite
progressive.

Little boxes of colourful delights.

Anchor had to feature an anchor at some point really.

I agree that the women have glamour.
The thread though?

Lovely embroidered tea cosy.

Nice to see how the transfer and stitching work.

I realised that I have had my own small connection to haberdashery for many years as I went to school in London at Haberdashers' Aske's Hatcham Girl's School. It was the longest name of a school in the country at the time but it has changed name now. Whilst it sounds ever so posh it wasn't at all, the name is due to the founder of the school, a Robert Aske, who was a Haberdasher. In 1689 he died and left £20,000 to the Worshipful Company of Haberdashers (of which he was a member), to buy land and build a school. The Haberdashers were founded in medieval times by a group of traders who all lived in the same place in London and all worshipped at St. Paul's Cathedral. They sold ribbons, pins, gloves, purses and beads and were joined by the Hatmakers in 1502. They were like the trading standards of the day in charge of checking quality, training apprentices and setting wages amongst other things. They controlled the haberdashery trade in London until 1650 when the population of London grew too large for it to be practical. They now exist as a City of London Livery Company and concentrate on education and charity work.

The Amazing Hebden Bridge Women's Institute Rag Market

Have you ever been to a rag market? If not, and you are a fellow crafter, I suggest you get yourself to one as soon as you can. A rag market is a crafter's dream, full of wool, thread, ribbon, material, buttons, felt, feathers, beads, books and patterns. It has everything you need to get making stuff, whatever kind of stuff it is that you like to make. It is a thing of beauty and is full of fellow addicts ready to top up their stash. Many stallholders are clearing out their hoard and end up buying other items at the market to replace it with.

It is like being part of a secret club, one that understands why you walk around stroking fabric, or let out a squeak of excitement when something gorgeous catches your eye, or why you plunge your hand into a bowl of buttons and let them run through your fingers, or run across the room to a stall that is a sea of colour or hold balls of wool up to your face so that you can feel them, or talk to the people on the patterns as you choose which ones to have. There is a bubbling up of creativity, a faraway look in people's eyes as they are planning what to make, a little guilty smile as you decide to ignore the 'but where will you put it?' comment and buy it anyway because you love it. Or want it. Or need it. Everyone there understands that need, you do not have to explain yourself, you can just get on with looking at things that you love.

Here are some gorgeous things to look at.

Refreshments were served in beautiful vintage tea cups.

Bunting - great decoration and good for using up oddments of fabric.

Tapestry thread in fantastic colours.

Doilles - can be made into brooches and used to embellish
bags, cusions and cardigans.

Wonderful mix of vintage haberdashery.

I love wooden hangers, the older the better.

More intersesting vintage haberdashery.

Patchwork - perfect for those special pieces of fabric that you
love but don't quite know what to do with.

Close-up of a vintage sewing box.

Look at the labels on old reels of thread.

Wonderful mixture of patterns and colours.

Kenyan beads. I love how the blue ones add a colour pop.

Who doesn't love a bit of Liberty print?

Modern and vintage fabrics.

A tin of bright and beautiful embroidery thread.