Old magazines completely fascinate me. The adverts really are from a time gone by and many of the articles leave me wondering what life was really like when housewives would sit down with a cup of tea between chores read them.
Last year when I was at the Knitting and Stitching show up in Harrogate I found a lovely stall specialising in secondhand books and magazines – particularly ones with a crafty slant to them. One magazine that found its way home with me was a September 1957 copy of Pins and Needles. This is described as "Christine Veasey's Magazine" but despite a while spent on google I'm struggling to find out who Christine Veasey was. I know that the magazine started in 1949 and was descibed as a general "crafts" magazine. I also know that Christine Veasey published some books, but that's where the trail runs cold.
The magazine itself is full of fantastic articles, some of which I could easily see in a modern magazine, even something like Mollie Makes. The "edging in tatting" for a pretty hanky really reminds me of some of the pillowcases that Rattling On has recently been edging. Patterns for children's bibs also remind me of things I have seen on blogs within the last couple of years.
There are other things though which really haven't stood the tets of time quite so well. I can't imagine any 10 to 12 year old girl thanking you for making them a knitted vest and pants set! I also can't see Mr C appreciating a "man wise cardigan in two colours".
The magazine doesn't restrict itself to just fabric based crafts though. There are instructions for making a dining table for just £4 and plans for a "climber cottage" for children to have in the garden. This would make a massive change to the standard plastic playhouses that many kids seem to have, but I'm not sure that Little Miss C needs any encouragement to climb things at the moment, especially something handmade!
Aye vintage is all the rage – what goes around comes around. Just goes to show we should never throw ANYTHING out! lol!
Trust me I throw away very little, but there are some fashions that should not be revived!
Thanks for the mention, Penny. I have cases full of old magazines and patterns. I do make things from them from time to time. Mr C needs to get with it and go retro. That cardi with jeans and a pair of Toms…
Im thinking of making the bibs and a few other things too. Got a pile of old magazines, just not got the time to work through them all!
Not sure Mr C would dig the cardigan – but then I did just buy him a plain one for his birthday. Maybe by next year he would be ready? 😉
interesting post!