Makeover Monday

About a year and a half ago, a lovely woman came to me to have her grandmother's wedding slip made into a bowl. A piece of it was also used to make a pin for her daughter to wear on her wedding day. Well, that daughter sent me a message the other day! She loved her wedding pin, and wanted to know if I could make something special for her sister-in-law who will be getting married soon.

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She sent me her sister-in-law's grandmother's doily, and a wooden Scrabble tile.  Grandma was an avid Scrabble player.  She wanted me to use the thread from the doily to make a heart... beyond that, the design was pretty much up to me.

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After double checking to be sure it was really OK to take the doily apart, I set out to undo stitches that have been in place for decades.  It did NOT want to be taken apart.  The thread was fine to begin with, and brittle with age on top of that.  Every few inches or so, the thread would just break as I took it apart.  After the first couple of rows, though, I came into stronger material. 

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I took out just enough to work with, and was left with a curly little pile.  I took out my teeny tiny crochet hook and made a teeny tiny heart.  Too small.  I took apart my teeny tiny heart and doubled up the thread.  Still small, but the best I could do.  I decided to use the inner portion of the original doily as the base, so I unraveled until I got to a good stopping point and then finished off.

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I arranged and arranged until I got it just right...

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... and I'm really pleased with the result!

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It measures 2.5" in diameter, and is light as a feather.  The bride will be able to attach it to her garter or bouquet, and have a bit of her grandmother with her as she walks down the aisle.  Something old AND something new.

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Though there were a few tense moments when the thread wasn't cooperating, I thoroughly enjoyed this project.  If I could do this every day, I'd be one happy lady.  Oh, Martha?  Send me your throngs of customers looking for that little something special for their wedding day ;)

A Little Something

In addition to the bowls featured this past week, my wedding dress customer was also hoping I'd have enough of her fabric and lace to make a little something for a very special bride-to-be. She wanted to give her this as the "something old" for her trousseau, and we wracked our brains to come up with just the thing.

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I had just enough of the antique lace left to crochet this little heart. I sewed a pinback on the reverse, and pinned it to a length of the leftover material. The bride can either pin the heart by itself to her garter or bouquet, or leave it on the length of fabric and tie that around her bouquet.
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Though it's only about 2" by 2", this little lace heart is bursting with history and love. I am so lucky to have my small part in the big ideas my customers dream up!