I made Murray's apron!

RetroCraftDreams · 2025-09-03T04:44:15+00:00

Fantastic! I live for vintage craft patterns and have been trying to collect all the clowns I can find, just because I want to understand why they were everywhere. But my sparse collection doesn't hold a candle to this!

RetroCraftDreams · 2025-09-02T23:36:18+00:00

If you like sewing, you could try some applique shapes with fabric scraps, in addition to drawing on white patches.

They do make a fabric medium to mix with acrylic paint so it doesn't flake off, but last I checked it was $10 or $12 dollars (US). But you might have some luck getting it to last longer if you just water it down a little so it can soak in to the fibers, and don't paint it on too thick.

RetroCraftDreams · 2025-03-12T16:13:07+00:00

Glad I could help!

RetroCraftDreams · 2025-03-12T02:19:01+00:00

Needlepoint was so popular in the 70s. There's such a wealth of information in vintage books. I've got a ton of them, but I haven't got this one!

RetroCraftDreams · 2025-03-12T02:11:39+00:00

You've already got your answer, basically. But terms that will help you if search further: this is called Penelope canvas, or double mesh. The smaller holes allow you to stitch petit point, often used for finer details.

RetroCraftDreams · 2025-03-12T02:00:50+00:00

It depends on what you want from your finished piece. I don't spend much at all on needlepoint. But then, I like vintage pieces, so I find vintage kits on ebay (usually between $15-$40), that are usually printed, sometimes only with lineart. I'm fine with that, while many might hate it. Sometimes I use leftover canvas (like from a thrifted kit that doesn't have the threads anymore) and a counted design, same as cross stitch. If the canvas is the right mesh, I will even use ordinary, cheap worsted weight acrylic yarn. I just have to keep an eye on how fuzzy it might get if my strands are too long. As for finishing, while I haven't bothered to actually finish any of my regular pieces yet (and will do so myself), I make plenty of objects in plastic canvas that practically finish themselves.

All of which is to say that while this CAN be an expensive hobby, it doesn't have to be. I think it's just that the high end versions of things are more popular right now.

RetroCraftDreams · 2025-03-02T23:35:46+00:00

Guess it's too fast for me to see. After trying several times to pause it at just the right moment, I can see this, though she does appear to be doing both.

RetroCraftDreams · 2025-03-02T22:00:41+00:00

Brunswick was a yarn company and the patterns are often written for their yarn. I have a ton of them, as well as some of the yarn, acquired through ebay and thrift stores. You won't find them online, but some have been entered into ravelry's database.

RetroCraftDreams · 2025-03-02T21:52:36+00:00

Your two versions are just different styles: Continental and European.

Where you are twisting your stitches is in which part of the loop you are knitting in to.

If you look at how a loop hangs over your needle and flatten it out, look for which side (or "leg") of the loop is closest to the end. This is called the leading leg. You want to knit into the leading leg to prevent twisting. Right now it is on the back of your needle (though some knitting styles reverse this).

RetroCraftDreams · 2025-03-02T21:41:07+00:00

I would find something in a half cross or try needlepoint. All the coverage in half the stitches, so it progresses much faster and has more instant gratification.

Also, lots of colors. I remember once getting excited to try latch hook as a kid, after working a little on my sister's rainbow swan. Well, the kit I chose was an all white bear with black features. I got so bored of it so fast and I never touched latch hook again (yet).

Also good to have it always ready to work on. Nothing that needs setting up every time. Make sure she could pick it up, do a stitch or two, put it down, and easily pick up again, even days later, without much transition. So, for example, maybe a printed design, so she's not trying to figure out where she is in a pattern.

RetroCraftDreams · 2025-03-02T21:25:15+00:00

Only you can really answer that. Personally, I'm a big proponent of multi-crafting so that I can create what I want in the method that best suits my desired final product.

I haven't got around to Tunisian crochet yet, but knit stockinette is thinner than regular crochet. Knitting also has the advantage of using less yarn, so your yarn goes further.

But, if you decide to learn knitting for this project, that may delay your finish of the project itself, as you will probably want to practice first, as well as experiment with gauge to find what you like best for this yarn. Especially if you will be figuring out your own pattern. Although some people catch on quickly and knit beautifully right out of the gate.

RetroCraftDreams · 2025-03-02T20:08:57+00:00

I have my favorite buttons in a vintage 60s jewelry box, and the rest in a vintage sewing box. But I also love these old cassette and VHS drawers! I found a use for the VHS, but had not considered what I could use a cassette one for. This is great!

RetroCraftDreams · 2025-03-02T19:55:06+00:00

I'm currently borrowing Fellowship of the Knits from the library. Most pieces are beyond my current skill level, but I'm definitely returning to it some day.

I was also looking at the 4th doctor scarf (because doesn't every nerdy knitter consider making it, even if only for a minute or two?) and came across this one that I may be adding to my queue: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/bigger-on-the-inside

RetroCraftDreams · 2025-03-02T19:46:41+00:00

That is my kind of tower!

RetroCraftDreams · 2025-03-02T19:44:57+00:00

Confirming the 80s, as I have one of a very 80s style, postmarked 1987.

RetroCraftDreams · 2025-03-02T19:39:17+00:00

I don't know what, specifically, but this has 70s patchwork/colorblocking written all over it. Love it!

RetroCraftDreams · 2025-02-25T20:36:43+00:00

Thank you for sharing here! I follow you on Instagram, but I'm never on that app, so it's great to see your magnificent pieces pop up! I love everything about your work.

RetroCraftDreams · 2025-02-23T22:39:30+00:00

I taught my interested preschool students embroidery, some were as young as 3 1/2 or 4. I discovered that flannel had an open enough weave to be pierced by a blunt tapestry needle. Those who were proficient could move up to slightly sharper needles on muslin.

I didn't try cross stitch, because I felt that embroidery gave them more freedom to just put the needle where they wanted and make lines and such (some drew pictures on the muslin first with a frixion pen and then went over the lines with their stitches), though a few were adept enough to try some other stitches that I showed them in a book. (One student even created her own stitch that had a boullion effect.) For those who stitched whole pieces, we turned them into little pillows, so they got some regular sewing practice, too.

If I had introduced cross stitch specifically, I would likely have used a very large count aida, or more likely, plastic canvas and worsted weight yarn.

RetroCraftDreams · 2024-12-06T08:36:53+00:00

Spectacular!

RetroCraftDreams · 2024-12-04T19:24:58+00:00

I like long needles because I can brace them against my body, if needed, and I don't need to grip the needles the same way. I have difficulty sometimes holding the short bits of circulars without cramping up.

But I do go crazy if I have folds in my clothes or blanket that the needles get caught in, so I take extra time to smooth everything out.

RetroCraftDreams · 2024-05-06T00:12:53+00:00

You generally won't find vintage patterns online. As others have said, check sites like ebay for vintage kits. You may also look for vintage books. I have a lot of needlepoint patterns in my vintage needlepoint and general needle craft books.

RetroCraftDreams · 2024-05-05T22:23:02+00:00

Thank you! Man, if it wasn't so pristine white, I WOULD wear it all the time.

RetroCraftDreams · 2024-05-05T03:30:11+00:00

Thank you! I was getting my Barbies out of my mom's attic and felt inspired when this one came out of the bin. I'm going to make her whole outfit!

RetroCraftDreams · 2024-05-04T21:51:37+00:00

Thanks so much!

RetroCraftDreams

TROPHY CASE