Wednesday, January 5, 2011

White Crochet Doily No More
What would Grandma Say?



I'm not a fan of white crocheted doilies but I do think they look a lot better once they have been aged a little bit. With a little bit of tea in a skillet and just a touch of peppermint to make the house smell good these once white doilies are now a nice aged tea stain. I had two grandmother's that crocheted not sure what they would think of me dipping doilies into tea!

If your wondering about the sweet little needle book my dear friend Betty stitched up this one and isn't it just lovely. What tiny stitches!



I had several doilies that I had purchased in antique shops and thrift stores so I just stained up some more while I was at it. The lovely cross stitched pillow was done by Kelley. Just love this lil' pillow!

There were several questions about the oxford punch and I put the post about how I go about doing it on the left side of the screen. Just click on the picture and it should take you there or you can just click HERE. I do use wool yarn and wool strips and for the most part a #10 regular oxford punch needle. Hope this helps.

Well I'm off to find that needle it's time to be whipping a mat while someone is sleeping!

Happy Trails....Ginger

10 comments:

primitivebettys said...

Prim perfect to tea dye 'em! :)

from me to thee......... said...

I love the doilies tea stained....like you, I am sure what mom or grandma would say, lol. Linda

Farm Girl said...

Thank you so much for that little tutorial for the Oxford punchneedle. Since I have done that and I just did it from the book I am so happy to see you do it. That is so amazing, maybe because I did it right. :) I have so many dollies, I have a old trunk to the top with my grandmothers, great grandmothers, and my Mom's I like how you aged yours it looks nice. I keep trying to think of something to do with them. I never learned how though.
I was never really very wild about it.
So thank you so much for that lovely little tutorial. I do like the Oxford Punch Needle, have you ever used the lower gauge one for smaller work?

WoolenSails said...

I had some old doilies that I made and did the same thing to them, makes them look so much better;) Love your punched piece, I need to do some with my punch.

Debbie

Primitives By The Light of The Moon said...

I do have the smaller oxford punch needle a #14 with a shorter needle depth. I've used it a little but prefer the #10.

Cora from Hidden Riches said...

The older looking, the better for me!!!!! I'm not fond of white either. LOVE the little needle keeper!!!!! Can we see the inside of it?

Kim said...

Thanks for the tutorial Ginger. I think I may take the plunge and order one.
Kim

Angie Berry ~ Berry Homespun Primitives said...

I have a stack of them waiting for the tea bath. That's so funny that you say "What would grandma say?" because I've been holding off on tea dyeing some heirloom doilies because they just seem so "sacred". I'm not concerned with the store bought ones. I've just recently came to the conclusion that it is okay. I won't love them any less, actually I will love them more and that's all that matters, right?

bjrjames said...

Your grandmothers would be aghast; they wanted those doilies to be white, white, white. But, personally I agree with you. The aged look is much better!

Angie Berry ~ Berry Homespun Primitives said...

Thank you Ginger for visiting my blog! I have another blog that you might be more interested in. This blog is about my boring everyday life and family things, more as a journal type thing for the kids to look back on. My prim blog is: http://berryhomespunprimitives.blogspot.com/. I would love for you to visit me over there. Things are slow going because you see how busy I am with my three kids on this blog, haha! But I do hope to have an anniversary giveaway this month on my prim blog.

Thank you! Have a delightful weekend!