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Classie design plus vintageteacup equals funky idea for theżlstcentury

A closerlookat...

Linen and 7hread(Murdoch Books) i s a pe rf ect exam p le of vi n tage ch ic need lec raft

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Photograph c. Frederic Lucano

L inen and Threadh availableinbook Stores and ontine

B\ HarrietBrunsdon

/ intage is one of the hottest / looks on the hfgh Street at the i j moment. Everywhere you go W youll see it. People are wearing it, t decorating their houses with it, yisiting fairs and exhibitions devoted to it...and, of course, stitching it. But where exactly has this gorgeous trend that’s storming the catwaiks and Home shows co me from? And just why do cross stitchers love it so much?

If were being strictly accurate,

‘vintage’ can mean anythingthats already happened once, sometime ago in the past. Even the funky kitschy pattems of the I970s could be said to be ‘vintage’ style, because they Ve been around before. But in the world of needlecraft and homestyle, when we chink ‘vintage’ we re usually rhinking of something softer, morę classic and delicately beautiful Like clusters of roses, elegant Victoriana, rustic gorgeousness and a Make Do And Mend kind of nostalgia.

Even the ‘shabby chic^ł trend with its French country boudoir kind offeei is part of the vintage look.

Some of best and most popular designs in CrossStitcher over the last few years have been in the vintage style, Remember our lovely table linen sets (like the robin one from issue 245, above), and our gorgeous series of antique floral charts (top, farright)?

We actually found those in an andąue shop, ready-charted and just waiting to be re-loved in the 2!st century Once upon a time they were the very latest in cutting-edge homestyle, Every Victorian lady won Id have wanted a beautiful ly cross stitched stool cushion or set of antimacassars (chairback covers) in her house, probably madę by her own fair hand. The mostskilled stitchers might have added freehand embroidery or other techniques too, very much as advanced cross stitchers do today, Today the stools and antimacassars have been left behind in history, but the blowsy blooms the Victorians loved so much are suddenly as fashionable now as they were then. Having lain forgotten in attics and boxrooms for decades, weVe now loving them just as much as our great-grandmothers did the first time round.

But what causes these fashions and styles to suddenly beconae popular again?

The recession has had a big impact on pockets and purses everywhere, and we ve been seeing a real ‘handmade’ revolution iii recent years. The idea of ‘Make Do And Mend’ from the wartime era has mass appeal again, and women all over the world have got out their needles, brushed up on their skills, and turned once morę to crafts like cross stitching. And at the sanie time they’ve also turned to the designs, styles and fashions of the odginał era. Got an old dress with a 1930s floral parteru on it? No problem -cut it up and tum it into a vintage style bag. Want to stitch something gorgeous

CnM&itcker

JANUARY 2012