Pattern for Smartness: Simplicity 1948

Here is a delightful vintage sewing video for you to enjoy. ;)

Command Performance Radio

Command Performance Radio Archives

One of my favorite eras of history is WWII. I love movies and music from that time, as well as clothing and hairstyles.
 I was tickled pink when I found the Command Performance Radio Archives online. The weekly broadcasts were especially for the troops, who could write in and request appearances by whichever celebrities  they wanted.
Bob Hope, Judy Garland, Betty Grable, Francis Langford, Cary Grant, Clark Gable, Rita Hayworth,
Abbot and Costello, Carmen Miranda, Tommy Dorsey & his  Band, Shirley Temple, Olivia de Haviland, Bing Cosby, Martha Raye, Carole Landis, Alice Faye, Ginger Rogers, and Frank Sinatra are just a few of the many actors and entertainers that appeared on Command Performance.
  I had heard of Command Performance Radio before, but had never listened to a broadcast. Then I watched Four Jills in a Jeep and fell in love. One of my favorite movies, Four Jills in a Jeep is a fictional account of four real actresses--Kay Francis, Martha Raye, Carol Landis, and Mitzi Mayfair--as they perform for the troops on the radio and on USO tours.

 Here is one of many broadcasts featuring Betty Grable as the Mistress of Ceremonies, along with appearances by Judy Canova and Bergen & McCarthy.
 Have fun enjoying this little piece of history, and enjoy the other broadcasts available here.

Vintage Pineapple Doily Pattern Set Download

Here is another delightful vintage doily pattern set for your enjoyment. This one is also from my old crochet patterns book from 1946.  I have made several doilies by this pattern and greatly  enjoy using them around my home. I think I can safely say this is my favorite pattern yet. Click the button at the bottom to download the pattern.

My latest doily, almost finished

Here is the introduction to the Pineapples chapter:


There's certainly no need to take a poll to determine America's most popular fruit—at least when it comes to crochet. Never a day goes by but requests come pouring in from crochet fanciers.
It so happens there are excellent reasons for the popularity of the pineapple. Decoratively it blends with any period; beautiful with Colonial furniture, it's very much at home with 18th century English, has exactly the right flair for modern, graces with equal charm formal and informal settings. Then, too, from the point of view of design it lends itself to endlessly lovely variations.
As you see, we've picked as choice a crop of pineapple beauties as ever set a crochet needle whirring through the thread—a dinner cloth, handsome enough to grace the most important occasions, a matching runner to set off a gleaming copper bowl or your best candlesticks, a luncheon set your friends will admire, a chair set in an unusually beautiful pineapple design, and a trio of lacy doilies for the daintiest of undercover work.

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Vintage 8 Point Star Motif Pattern and Wisdom

Years ago my mom found an awesome old crochet patterns book for me at a resale shop. It was from 1946 and some of the things in it are just awesome. It has everything from sweaters, gloves, hats, baby things, bedspreads, edgings and of course many, many doily patterns. I love it because all of the patterns are authentically vintage.
  Another reason I love this book is for the chapter introductions. It was written for homemakers and it is full of wisdom and inspiration for making a house a home. It was written in a time where women took much pride in filling and making their homes lovely and homey with things that they had made.
 Here is the introduction to the Dress-for-Dinner Tablecloths chapter, where the following pattern is taken from:

  "The dinner hour is one of the most pleasant interludes of the day. Work done, problems temporarily forgotten, the family gathered in a circle...it's an hour for sociability and relaxation, for hearing the day's news and telling it...for sharing fun and making plans...and hour which plays an important part in strengthening the ties of affection and friendship that weld a family into a close-knit corporation.

  It deserves the most attractive setting you can give it. There's no excuse for a nondescript looking table--inexpensive dishes come in so many pretty colorful patterns. Make a habit of arranging the table as attractively as possible, bright silver at each setting, a pretty cloth, a gay centerpiece--a bowl of fruit, and amusing pair of pottery figures...bright decorations lend a festive note to the dinner table.

  Naturally when you have guests for dinner you want your table to look its best...your best crystal, sparkling silver, flowers...and one of your loveliest, laciest, dressed-for-dinner cloths...take you choice of the eight beauties in this chapter, making a handsome background for a table that looks "just like a picture". "

 The pattern I have shared today is one of my favorites. I haven't made a tablecloth from it yet, but who knows, maybe one day I will. I love the motifs and use them for mini-doilies and coasters. They work up very quickly and not much skill or experience in crochet is needed to make them. Enjoy and please let me know if you download the pattern.

Click Here to Download Pattern

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