Day 27

Question: When you see a hanky used in a project, do you ever think of Rhett Buttler’s comment to Scarlet: “Never, at any crisis of your life, have I known you to have a handkerchief.” Well, I would rather put the hankies in my cache in a project, and go look for the Kleenex box! Here are a few examples of how I use hankies, that can be seen in my new book, Creative Embroidery, Mixing the Old with the New, by C&T Publishing.

Hankies and Rosettes by Christen Brown

This quaint little hanging started with 2 different hankies. I cut them into quarters and layered them on top of each other. The embroidery is worked in perle cotton, cotton floss, silk embroidery ribbon, and ribbon trims.

This is a close up of the Tea Cozy, which is one of the Stash Projects in the book. The hankies are collaged over a base, with the raw edge covered with ribbon or fabric. The embroidery stitches are worked in perle cotton, cotton floss, silk embroidery ribbon, and ribbon trims. A few precious buttons are thrown in here and there.

American Kitsch by Christen Brown

The hankies that I used for this wall hanging came from my mother’s collection, which she gathered on her tour in Europe where she met my dad. Several other hankies and table linens found there way into the project, along with some vintage rickrack trim. I used quite a few vintage and new buttons, two celluloid acorn charms, and glass and acrylic flower charms.

Happy Stitching, ~Christen