A Hankie for Mom

My Grandma and Grandpa, Gladys and Robert Paschall 

This project has two stories behind it.  I will begin with my Grandma who passed away a few weeks ago.  There she is pictured above with Grandpa back in the 50's, aren't they adorable?  I can't say enough about the character of my Grandma or how much we will miss her, so in matters like these I feel it best to keep things simple: she was a wonderful and positive person to be around, always happy to see everyone, ready to tell stories, and feed you.  She lived a fulfilled life and we will all miss her dearly.

Grandma Paschall was also very crafty and thrifty- as one would be by necessity if they had to raise eight children in rural Durham- but my family folklore is another post entirely.

On to the seemingly unrealted story:

Last December, while on an open studio tour in Chatham County with a friend, I ducked into an antique shop to get out of the snow that had just begun to fall.  Like all antique stores in downtown Pittsboro this one was adorable and amply stocked with vanities, Victorian prints of young ladies in fashionable dresses, water basins, etc etc.  In the back of the store there were the odds n ends; books, children’s toys, a trunk full of purses- and then there was a dresser of scarves.  I am particularly fond of scarves, who isn’t though, right?  They are so whimsical and colorful, light and floaty, and such a classy accent to most any outfit.  Amongst these scarves were some of the sweetest tissue-thin-cotten hankies; thus I bought one scarf and one hankie that day.  Well the moral of this story is impulse buys have their place.  I had all but forgotten about the hankie until the day my grandmother died.  While rummaging in my sock drawer, looking for black stockings, I came upon its bright flowers and spring pallatte and it made me smile.  I resolved to give it to my Mom with the hope it would make her smile too. Mom loves bright colors and vintage anything, and in keeping with the craft tradition that I know both Mom and Grandma would appreciate I decided to monogram it.

For my monogram ‘M’ (for Marie) I used an adaptation of an Alicia Paulson pattern from her book Embroidery Companion.  However, you can find many good templates online, like this one, or you can always use Word by finding a font you like, type, and print.

For transferring I used the sunlight method- that is I taped my pattern to a sunny window, and then taped my hankie to the window over the pattern.  On the good side of the fabric I lightly traced the pattern with a disappearing ink pen.  I found the tissue quality of the fabric made transferring especially difficult and whenever I ran into trouble instead of making lines with my pen I made dots instead.