hostess with the mostest

I sometimes wonder whether my website is becoming too large. I do know that I need to redesign a bit to make it easier to find things because some of the items I'm selling get lost in the shuffle. Like my vintage knitting and crochet pattern books. See, I bet some of you are saying "I didn't know she sold those!"

I've always had a smallish section for these booklets but I've been finding more of them lately so the section is slowly expanding. Most are from the 1940s and 50s and there's a wide assortment of patterns, everything from baby clothing to socks and mittens. Lots of doilies and edgings, too.

I added about a dozen new patterns this morning and I love the one shown here. The 16-page booklet, published in 1956, includes about ten designs for embellishing hostess sets with crochet. Hostess sets are table linens (in this case placemats) with matching aprons. Several of the sets are shown in color photos and I love how kitschy they look. A perfectly-coifed housewife in a pretty apron arranges the dinner table just so.



There seems to a heavy use of vegetable-shaped serving pieces throughout. You don't see that much these days, although the dishes can be fun if used as accent pieces. I often see them for sale in antique malls and, while I don't collect them myself, I do have a relish dish shaped like a bunch of celery around here somewhere.

There's something very Stepford-wives about this photo. Her posture is so stiff and that vacant expression. I wonder what she's thinking?



Anyway, now you know about the patterns. And, if you thought I just sold pillows, sachets and tissue cozies you may want to visit the Vintage Finds section of my website. I found some gorgeous vintage eyelet trims over the weekend and getting them ironed, photographed, and listed is my project for today.