Coordinating the Past

As part of the process of cleaning out my grandfather's house, I have commandeered all of the old photos and am in the process of digitising them so that they are larger than 1 square inch and can be owned by everyone on the immediate (an possibly extended) family and printed and reprinted according to inclination or requirement.

What this has also allowed me to do is better connect the few dots I have of my grandparents lives and the early years of my Mother and aunt's lives. Through the enlargement and examination of old photos I could identify my grandmother's wedding dress in both incarnations and connect it with the dress hanging in my own wardrobe. And now there are more connections to make:

In my grandfather's wardrobe, only a small collection remains of my grandmother's clothes and some of her daughters' party dresses.

Late 1955/Early 1956

 

The dress, as worn by my mother now hangs safely in my wardrobe. It joins an ever increasing pile of old pretty dresses often hand sewn and decorated with ruffles or rows of lace. In an age where babies are so often dressed in cheap and/or heavy duty fabrics the delicate confections of my mother and aunt are too unusual not to keep for some imagined future wearer.


1960

My Aunt at an equally adorable age. Obviously baby portraits were the rage. The knitted dress was found crumpled in a plastic bag in the back of the wardrobe. It probably needs a soak and the ribbon an iron, but it's sweet. Just a pity the original owner's granddaughter is already too big for it.


1957
Violet in a sexy/summer dressing gown with Jocelyn, before the master bedroom's dressing table. The dressing gown and dressing table survive.  The former is made of a rough chiffon edged with black lace and discovered by my cousins in the bottom of a wardrobe along with a red corduroy dressing gown and a faded oriental one.



It's a dressing gown that I am not surprised to see. The reason is that it compliments the satin nighties and French knickers that were recently rediscovered and were presumably part of Violet's trousseau. In fact the one she is wearing under the dressing gown in the photo


1961 Family Photo

My sister and I acquired my mother's Sunday best years ago and unfortunately it has experienced some mistreatment since 1961. Surprisingly, it was worn only recently to a hat party. I cannot tell what the little girls are wearing and whether it has survived, but unfortunately I do not recognise the dress my grandmother is wearing.
What I do wish to know, is how many starched petticoats my mother is wearing under that micro-mini.


To go one better, Violet's hat has also survived, a thin cream number with a wisp of a veil.
From the story Granddad tells, it was the height of fashion and not cheap and, not appreciating Violet's desire for it, he offered to make her something similar by painting a piece of cardboard white and adding a touch of frou-frou to it. Violet was not impressed.
(The gloves may be the white leather mousquetaires/opera gloves from her wedding, in which case, they too have survived.)









1960. Peter's 1st Communion

This hat had matching green suede gloves, silk scarf (which has survived), shoes and bag.
What has also survived is a beautiful thin cotton dress with splashes of this bright green, orange and blue through it. It was probably worn under the heavy winter coat in the photo, as Violet was stylish enough to co-ordinate an outfit in an era where that was de rigeur.

1962 1st Communion party dresses

The blue dress has survived, faded and almost in two pieces, but it can be easily restored should a granddaughter look as adorable in it as her grandmother did 50 years ago.

The pink dress is still in one piece - just. It's delightfully shiny with matt pink ribbon gathered and attached to all possible surfaces. Unfortunately while the fabric has survived, the thread has not, converting seams into gaping holes and revealing slits.
The headdress, a row of fake flowers, worn originally with the mini bridal gown associated with 1st Communions also exists and is safely stored with the veil, poof bag and white gown.

1963 Family Outing

Taken in the year before Violet died, this was a family outing to see the Canning Dam overflow. Though its difficult to tell in this image due to the deterioration of the image's colours (on the original slide the blue is definitely blue), Violet is wearing the blue polka dot shift modelled on the left.

None of the bows are known to have survived.

1970

Possibly a wedding, possibly just a nice dinner. It is a pity the pretty buttons were not visible at the minidress's original outing. 

I have worn this myself and can confirm that it is definitely a mini dress that could have doubled as a light coat. 

There are still plenty of photos to scan in, so here's hoping I can make more connections between them and the pieces we still own. 

Discovering a Past Hobby_Hand Embroidery

Cleaning out my Grandfather's linen closet, which contained far more than just linen, and far more linen than was necessary, we discovered a pile of lace work and embroidery, neatly folded and in dire need of a long soak in Napisan. Piling these (and every doily I could find around the house) into a big Ikea bag, we took them home for the required clean and iron. While some of them are in remarkably good condition, some remain a little stained and most require some form of darning. In addition, all with tassels need the tassels to be softened and combed flat.

To the best of Jocelyn's recollection, most of these pieces were created by her grandmother, Granddad's mum, in the days before TV, when she would spend the evening listening to the wireless, her fingers occupied with these pieces. Looking at some of the pieces more closely, she wondered how many had actually been made instead by her mother. 

An afternoon tea set comprising of a square table cloth of blush pink colour, matching tea cosy and 6 napkins. All are embroidered with bright flowers and trellising (bar the napkins). The tea cosy is edged with lace while the napkins and table cloth have a drawn thread hem.
Made by Violet Camilleri

Made by Violet Camilleri

A set of 6 coarse green linen placemats and napkins. It seems to be a form of drawn thread work with the pattern picked out in white thread.

Rough cotton doilies embroidered with multi-coloured sunflowers. One of these (family owned) is on display at Azelia Ley House.
These were all embroidered by Violet Camilleri

 

A rectangular cotton table cloth and 11 napkins embroidered in a beige thread. Very ornate and detailed with different patterns and techniques providing texture and 3D bits.

Part one: Lace

Discovering a Past Hobby_Lace

Cleaning out my Grandfather's linen closet, which contained far more than just linen, and far more linen than was necessary, we discovered a pile of lace work and embroidery, neatly folded and in dire need of a long soak in Napisan. Piling these (and every doily I could find around the house) into a big Ikea bag, we took them home for the required clean and iron. While some of them are in remarkably good condition, some remain a little stained and most require some form of darning. In addition, all with tassels need the tassels to be softened and combed flat. 

To the best of Jocelyn's recollection, most of these pieces were created by her grandmother, Granddad's mum, in the days before TV, when she would spend the evening listening to the wireless, her fingers occupied with these pieces. Looking at some of the pieces more closely, she wondered how many had actually been made instead by her mother. 

Soaking, Washing, Ironing and Photographing them, I was able to take them to my Grandfather and he was able to provide the provenance of many of the pieces, enabling them to be appropriately identified and catalogued in preparation for the time when they would eventually be given new homes where they would provoke memories of these talented, long deceased women. 

Below is, as my sister said, an auction-house style list of the pieces we did find, and the information I could collect on each one. 

A square cotton tablecloth with triangular lace inserts, and cutouts in each corner. The cutouts are shaped to look like a bunch of roses and stems of leaves in a fluted vase. The whole piece is then edged with a zigzag border of lace and hung with tassels. The tassels are badly tangled and there may be a few that have come off. It just requires a little time and patience to improve. 

Possibly made by Assunta Morello, with the assistance of her cousin. Assunta's cousin used to make lace for weddings and Assunta would assist. Pieces for Assunta would sometimes be made from the left overs. 

A Rectangular cotton tablecloth with what appears to be a stylised chrysanthemum in the centre (upside down in the below photo) and in each corner. Chrysanthemum's are one of Granddad's favourite flowers. A few of the joining stitches have come apart but these will be easy to tack together again. Possibly a few small tears in the cotton, but nothing too serious.

A square mesh-style lace tablecloth in cream and white with alternating patterns. The edges are scalloped and leaf-like embroidery has been added to the top to provide patterns to the solid white triangles.

A square cotton cord lace table cloth with scalloped edging. A little mending is required just to reconnect some of the parts of the pattern and fix the edging, but nothing major. 

One of three cotton pillowcases, very plain with just a simple drawn thread border. 

Made by Assunta Morello

A square lace table cloth with a tasselled edge and 3D roses throughout. This table cloth used to sit on the round table in the corner of Granddad's sun room under his air con unit. It is rather beautiful but as the photos indicate, this one requires a considerable amount of darning. My guess is that this is due to the heaviness of the lace and the fragility of the old thread. If this is the case, it may become more damaged in the future. It is a beige colour.
Made by Assunta Morello

Two small tasselled doilies. These match the larger two below.
There is a collection of loose tassels that have been washed, but I don't know whether there are enough to match the number missing. These four pieces are all rather sturdy and barring the missing tassels appear to be in a very good condition despite being in constant use. They are beige in colour.
The tassels of all these pieces were made by Joseph Armarego. The pieces were all made by Assunta Morello

Four small coasters made from a form of tape lace (I think). Very sturdy and in good condition. They are beige in colour.
Made by Assunta Morello

My guess is this is a form of tape lace. It is a long table runner that originally sat on the glass topped table in Granddad's sun room. It has three large tassels at each end. This is beige in colour.
Made by Assunta Morello.

This piece is evident lying on the top of the table in this photo of Assunta with her eldest grandchildren.

Two oval doilies made in the same manner as the table runner above. They may have been used as a set. 

Made by Assunta Morello

A rather synthetic looking and feeling piece with synthetic 'silky' tassels.

Made from thin cotton with a delicate lace edge. In relatively good condition with possibly only a few light bits of darning required. It may be intended to go with the two circular lace doilies in the photo below as there is some similarities re. the detail in the border of the larger piece.

The green doilies are rather beautiful in their delicacy as they appear to be made from thread as opposed to tape and cord.
The green ones were made by Assunta Morello

A synthetic doily.

This one came to us still attached to a backing of pale pink tissue paper.

Made by Assunta Morello. The palm-like fronds of the 6 points and the way these are connected in to the centre is very typical of Assunta's style.

Made by Assunta Morello

A cord lace doily of a beige colour with the netting detail in white. 

Made by Assunta Morello

Two delicate cotton lace doilies of a mesh-like appearance with flowers.

Large round cotton doily.
Bought by Granddad in Malta.

Large beige square lace table cloth. Very detailed.
This may have been bought in Brussels/Bruge. (will update when I know).

Part 2: Hand Embroidered pieces.