Hello Sailor! We’re already dreaming of spring; according to Lord Tennyson, a young sailor’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love…or something like that. If you have nautical inclinations, now is the time to show them. These charming embroidery transfer patterns were given away with soap by B.J. Johnson Soap Co., copyright 1914 http://tiny.cc/dcfkqw. I think the anchor would be perfect upon a collar!
“In the Spring a livelier iris changes on the burnish’d dove;
In the Spring a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love.”

We adore this sweetly playful embroidered collar! Charlotte from Tuppence Ha’penny: my little vintage world got a bug in her ear, and came up with this.  She says, “I’m using pure silk thread. This time I’m using only a single thickness though, which makes the work more time consuming and requires more accuracy, but because of the amount of detail to the design I thought it was best.” Although she didn’t provide the transfer pattern, we found a plethora of free vintage patterns on the Vintage Embroidery Patterns group on Flickr…from giraffes, to fully opened roses, to wise owls. We’re partial to this set with its dancing pigs, gossiping mice and tip-toeing elf!

Is this Pauline gossiping with a curious dog? Who is this inquisitive pup? And where is our beloved ginger kitten, Francy? This charming vintage cross-stitch embroidery design is provided by Dominique Augagneur of Swappons. This pattern, along with a plethora of other free needlework instructions, is also available at The Antique Pattern Library. For a PDF of the antique brochure that this was taken from, click here.