Pretty Knits

One of my favourite birthday gifts for Milo was a gorgeous handmade knit cardigan from Emma Embery (whose boutique I featured recently). I love the perfectly embroidered mini cars, balloons, the striped grosgrain ribbon and colourful buttons - can't wait for him to grow into this one! 

Recycling vintage embroideries

My eagle-eyed colleague Sarah came back from a trip to the Paris flea markets last week with another bundle of beautiful vintage embroideries - this time some pretty cotton table mats which are partly finished, leaving the faint outline of flowers still to embroider.

So the question is, what to do with them? I could try and finish them, but time is ticking and I quite like them as they are! I could make them into cushion covers for the chairs (see pics below), as my mum and I have started doing with Sarah’s last Parisian haul of embroideries (and the other lacey bits we have collected). Or we could use them as place mats for the top table? Or how about Sarah’s idea to ask for guests’ input in the creative process?

Here are some of the (69p Ikea) cushions that we have started re-covering:

Paris or Battersea?

My vintage fabric and crockery hunt seems to have captured friends’ and readers’ imaginations... I was touched to receive a second gift from Paris yesterday, in the form of some beautiful embroidered floral napkins that my colleague Sarah kindly brought back from her favourite Parisian flea market, Vanves (weekend mornings on Avenues Georges Lafenestre and Marc Sangnier).

She also found these wonderfully old-fashioned wedding gift cards at her local Battersea car boot sale (Sundays, 1.30-4.30 on Battersea Park Road) – I love the faded colours, curly-wurly script and the stories that they conjure... I wonder what became of the recpients! You can see more of Sarah’s flea market finds (along with her gorgeous handmade patchworks) on her blog PostcardsFromBattersea… which is on my list of must-reads for inspiration.