Just a Few Pretty, Interesting Things!

Hello there! Just a few quick words and pic's before the weekend!

You all must have twigged by now that I just love collecting the old and the interesting - no mouldy old coat or piece of fabric passes me by without me having a good look and a poke about!

Although living in a very tiny cottage I do like to have little areas to display my finds, and change them around as and when I find new things - helps me feed my creative mind - keeps it lively!! Goodness knows - I don't want to turn onto an old fuddy duddy, just moaning about my arthritic knees!!

This is just a little corner in my bedroom.

On to new finds - Well! Just the most Darling' thing!

A turn of the Century Wedding Dress!! ( I think!)

Unfortunately the photos are not too good - it is raining 'cats and dogs' here today - as they say. I just nipped outside with it, when the rain stopped for a short while, better light you see - than in the house.

Anyway - the Wedding Dress! I saw it at the carboot sale, one of the regular dealers had it, its not the kind of thing he usually has - it was just hung up on the side of a shelving unit - in a kind of haphazard way. I admired it for a couple of weeks, it was a lot of money for me to spend - just on a whim!
Then Dearest Hubby P! - probably sick of keep going back to look at the dress, he bought it for me. 'Well' he said 'Its not like you had a posh frock when we got married' - which was true, it was a very quiet affair at a Register Office.
It is a lovely thing - I think its turn of the century - but I'm no expert - anyone know about this sort of thing?



As you can see it has the prettiest headdress and veil.

It is a tiny size - women were so very slim then.

The sleeves are just exquisite, it has been put together wonderfully, a most accomplished needlewoman.

This veil is so pretty, so delicate, gives such a romantic feel to the whole ensemble.
I have bought one of those half body mannequins to display the dress on the wall of my bedroom - such a beautiful piece of textile art, it deserves to be show and admired rather than be stuck in a box in someones attic!

A few weeks ago I came across this! No, I didn't know what it was at first - just looked like long strips of a kind of felt like fabric - with a 'Church-y' feel to it. Anyway - it being interesting, and only £1 a strip, you know me, I bought it. There was also a long red velvet, thin cushion - I recognised this as being the sort of cushions (if you are lucky) you get on church pews.
I bought the whole lot for £7! - not that I knew what I was going to do with it! but it was just so unusual!

I folded the cushion in half and put it on the window sill - its very deep, more like a window seat, but made of slate so very cold!

As you can see Charlie cat has made it his own!

As for the felt strips we decided they were the edging, a sort of carpet, that is put around the edges of the pews and other church furniture. The pieces were joined to go around the corners of the rows of pews and whatnot - interesting!?

So what did i do with it - I put it up around my wall, butting up against the ceiling, just to show it off really - again, a piece of textile art ( my new word!).

I quite like the way it looks - it gives a kind of warmth to the room.

I like to think that maybe - just maybe, all those years living in a church absorbing the peace and sanctity of the place - the maybe some of that 'spirit' is brought into our home. Who knows!!

The felt trim looks so rich and red with the Autumn sun shining in through the window!

If only it could talk!

Take care now, and have a good weekend - don't forget to leave a comment on the last post if you fancy a chance of winning the Christmas Paper!

xx bye for now xx