Scottie Dog Button is it Bakelite or Milk Glass?

Sometimes being wrist deep in someone else's old buttons yields some interesting results and fun buttons you were not searching for to begin with. Case in point, I found this button:

The Scottie dog button is appears it could be made of Milk Glass. At first I thought it might be Bakelite, but searches of the button sent me back to milk glass as you will see below. 

So what is Milk Glass?

According to Wikipedia. "Milk Glass is an opaque or translucent milky white or colored glass, brown or pressed into a wide variety of shapes." First made in Venice, its colors included brown, which is the color of my button.

How does that differ from Bakelite?

Again, from Wikipedia, Bakelite/Baekelite is an early plastic. "It is a thermosetting phenol or polyoxybenzlmethylenglycolanhydride formed from an elimination reaction of phenol with formaldehyde." It was first developed in the early 1900s. 

Sounds like something that killed people when they made it doesn't it? Or maybe just preserved them.

Both have similar weights. Bakelite has some interesting testing one can do. My favorite was rubbing to heat it and check for the smell of formaldehyde, yummy...

Could be Celluloid as a possibility, but there appears to be a weight factor. My button feels like the weight of glass. Done to both Milk Glass and Bakelite, there is some sort of smoothing that was done to the sides from the mold press. Knowing what to look for I see the same thing on the button below.

So, why am I thinking this is Milk Glass? Searching the internet, I found this exact button but painted on the web. Here is the photo of a sale that was completed in 2011. Sale price, highest bidder, $2.99.

From http://www.antiquesnavigator.com/d-760584/sweet-vintage-milkglass-scotty-dog-button.html

Here is mine and the one from antiquesnavigator.com side by side

Now mine is not painted, but would both Milk Glass and Bakelite have the exact same molds? The jury is out as to which it is, but it sure is a fun novelty button. So, who really cares? What ever it is, I need to think of a good use for it now. I could paint it.

In the same wrist deep search I found these as well:

You are looking at two buttons with one of them flipped so you can see the back. They appear to be plastic buttons, but I love the hole placements and the whole modern decade look theme. One can have fun with colorful thread attaching these to something.

The rest of my finds were shell and a few glass buttons. I found some good, didn't buy the bad and enjoyed getting my wrists dirty.

Double Scallop Trim A-Line Dress, a Gail Doane class

I recently had the privilege of taking a class in the United States from Gail Doane. One week of good food, great friends and fun sewing. Who could ask for more? This year I decided that I am going to finish all three projects so they came back in my suitcase to Berlin.

Here is completed project #1. The front: 

And here is the back:

It is Gail's Double Scallop Trim A-line Dress. This one is the green and pink variation. You can see it in another color in her blog Lulu & Annie. Truth be told, I don't particularly like smocking. I would rather be cutting up broken vintage things and playing with lace bits given the choice. 

But surrounded by a small group of great friends and encouragement, I was able to finish the smocking portion of the front panel in about 3-4 hours. I would have been faster but I am not a night person and that slowed me down. Showing my dirty laundry, you can see my rows are not quite even. 

The engineer in me is not pleased with that little part, but overall the dress is cute, cute, cute. It is easy to make and the scallops made by the ruler used was great fun. The double piping is really easy to do as well. Gail shows how it is done in her blog. I made a size 4 and shortly it will be off in the post to Grace, a girlfriend's grand daughter.

Next up to be completed: Side Panel Smocked Dress. I am working on the embroidery and once that is done the sleeves go on, buttons are added and it will be completed as well. It has a matching coat so it has to wait for the coat to join it. As it is a generous size 4 I bet it fits Grace next year.

So, What Does One Find in Germany VS France?

How to be creative in a new country? Good question, and one that I have been struggling with since moving here in January. It is interesting the differences in what is available vintage between the two countries, France and Germany.  Vintage lace bits can be found, but on the most part are priced 10 times more expensive than France. Remember I am located in Berlin so it is a mix of western and old east. French lace bits are more delicate whereas Germany has things with more structure. Think here, but not limited to crochet vs bobbin lace. It does not mean bobbin lace can't be found, quite the contrary, it can, just at a price. Crochet is much cheaper here. Almost a stereotype, but not quite. It is just different and has to do with fashion and household taste.

Case in point. I found this at a second hand church based shop:

The Battenburg lace is modern and the center portion is a cotton/linen interior. It could have been made in China, but the way the fabric center was attached says maybe different. First the color of the interior looks to be something that would match a German home. It is that love of Orange, second is the workmanship of how the fabric was attached. 

I have seen so many China made items but this one screamed made at home, at least the center was attached in Germany. Too bad I already removed the centers from the small ones. The workmanship was horrible. The Chinese ones I have seen have been, sorry to say, better. The lace tape is different from the Chinese ones I have seen as well, but my vote is that the Battenburg was done in China and possibly the orange was done here by someone who does not sew well. I love these since the smaller ones have so many uses. The set consisted of the large one and 5 little rounds. Once the lovely orange center is removed, here is of the small ones: 

Think of the uses! I love broaches and above is one of them I have found. I think it is beautiful.

Other finds are vintage buttons: 

Mother of Pearl based buttons are not inexpensive, but the variety is a nice find in both vintage and modern. 

I love old broaches and jewelry and buy them when I find them. Orphaned earrings are the best as you can get usable pearls and such out of them for pennies. I mean who buys just one earring? Other finds are charms and metal buttons. Metal buttons due to Trachen (think Munich and Oktoberfest) German wear. Horn buttons are also available.

The big surprise was to find Dorset buttons. Why here and why are they everywhere? I feel research coming on.The bigger question is now that I bought them, what am I going to do with them?

Next up, fabric finds. Stay tuned. But before you go, here is one of the things I am working on right now.

I bit off quite a bit on this one. The hand sewing required is amazing but I am loving the look so far. Oh and here was the original picture of the lace finds in Brittany France:

Zwirnerei Sachdenring thread from Glauchau Germany

I am fascinated by vintage things. No surprise here I know. While at the flea market in Dresden one of the sellers had a package of thread in assorted shades of brown and one gray color. 

Looking at the company name, I had never heard of it so in typical "me" form, I bought the pack of thread. What is it and can I use it in my future work? No matter, the price was right and if it isn't usable, well that's ok, they are pretty.

Looking further at the package to top had this information:

On investigation, a couple words were not in my German vocabulary it is a pack of 6 balls of thread each being 5 meters long in length and 8 ply. It looks like it is multiple threads twisted in a pair or 4 threads each, hence the twist name.

On the bottom is this:

 Wonderful! I have the town name and could look it up to see what happened to the company

I went to the internet. What I found is sort of what I knew and is sad. After the wall fell, many East German companies could not compete with the West and jobs were lost as plants closed down. I remember reading about it in the newspapers. In my search I found out, according to the Sachsen.de Archivwesen website that the company SEV Zwirnerei Sachdenring in Glauchau Germany was in operation between the years 1895 and 1991. The plant manufactured thread for the repair of clothing. I really never realized that one bought thread to repair clothing. I knew you could buy yarn to repair sweaters but it never occurred to me that one could buy thread for the expressed purpose of repair. Isn't that what regular thread is for?

It is sad to think that a company that survived WWI and WWII would go out of business a about two years after the wall fell. I found myself feeling for those who lost jobs. It seemed everything East was not wanted and instead everything West was what everyone from the East wanted to buy. I suppose too that the colors of the thread, 5 shades of brown and one shade of a darker grey, were not exactly useful with the influx of fashion from the West. Besides, who wants to repair clothes anyway?

Most exciting, even though sad, is that a "face" can be put on this factory. In my search to find out about this factory I found a website by Andre Joosse. His website is worth spending some time looking at. He travels into abandoned places, Urban Exploration as it is called and photographs them.

 Now I have a face to the name on my thread. You can see pictures of what is left of the Zwirnerei Sachdenring factory in Glauchau Germany built in 1895 here. The factory was abandoned in 1993, two years after the Sachsen.de Archivwesen shows it went out of business.

New finds and The GYB winner

It took a couple years after moving to France to figure out where the second hand stores were and about the flea markets in the area. Just a small little thing called language barrier but, once I learned where things were or how to find them shopping for vintage lace bits, old linens and such became almost second nature. Cross the border to Germany and its like going back in time. Where does one look?

Berlin is very much into the second hand store mentality.  It is not an understatement to say that they are everywhere. Unfortunately, what they are not are places I can find vintage lace. Flea markets however one can find vintage lace. The problem is we are in the dead cold of winter and Flea markets are small and mostly filled with professionals who do this type of thing for a living. Honestly, one stall I saw, the man sold nothing but old cameras. So the hunt is on. Still I have not been totally skunked. Some of the things I have found would not necessary be things I would search out in France, if I could even buy them there.

Take for example this: I found a bag with a broken pearl necklace in it. All sizes of pearls and they were the nicer costume ones that to buy new would be rather pricey. Of course I could not open the bag but from what I saw through the plastic, it looked like a good gamble. 

I have removed all of the pearls from what was left of the multiple strand necklace from the threads that held them. They are nice quality for crafting so I know I will use them. 

Also in the bag, I thought it was just more of the same necklace, was a slightly darker and heavier necklace. It was knotted and had a 835 marked clasp. Look at the photo above and you will see a slightly more pink necklace and a clasp upper right in the picture. 385 is a silver marking used in Germany.

That pinkish necklace was filthy. Here is what each pearl looked like:

NASTY!

I got on Google and tried to figure out how to clean them. No idea if they are pearls (fresh water if they are) but I did not want to destroy them as I tried to clean them. Google websites say warm sudsy water and a soft cloth and do not soak. The clasp after cleaning has taken back a silver sheen. The silk thread that is knotted is a lost cause to clean as it can not be cleaned without damaging the pearls, if that is what they are. No matter if they are or not, the necklace is very pretty now that it is cleaned. I think I am going to learn how to restring them. I would be nice to have clean silk thread and have the opportunity to really clean the clasp.

What else have I found? Well this one got me really excited.

BUTTONS!!!!!

Oh, am I going to have fun with these! There are horn buttons in heart, deer, mushroom and house shapes. There are 3 larger round carved wooded buttons and tons of metal buttons. I LOVE German buttons most look to be the type used for Trachen (think oompah music in Munich)

I ran into a flea market in Dresden last weekend and found something I found out after research on line is called Mangel Stoff. Also I found this reference  for this fabric as Mangeltücher, Mangeltuch Leinen Rolltuch Tuchstoff  or Alter Mangel Stoff.
It appears to be old linen yardage that can be made into kitchen towels or as one of my German friends suggested was for wrapping the good linen in so that it would not get dirty in storage.

How about a table cloth? Whatever the use, This piece is mine now. It has been washed twice the first time removed the smell and most stains. I then put it in BIZ for about an hour. The BIZ water turned a very dark brown which told me that the BIZ was taking away the natural dye of the fabric so I pulled it and washed it again in the washer. Stains are gone, the color of the linen is beautiful. Now what to do with it. It is a 3 meter piece (3 1/3 yards). Where is the valuable linen this once wrapped you ask? No idea. I have not found those yet except in overpriced antique stores. 

One other piece of information is that it appears to be East German in origin. Not surprising as it was found in Dresden. I have searched and other or simular pieces I have found on-line are from East Germany. Dating this fabric is hard but again a German friend has told me that this type of fabric was used after WWII. It does not mean it was not there before that time, it has something to do with being in the East. I am still looking into it. The interrogation of former East Germans is about to begin...

Lastly, I have found a few old lace pieces:

 These are things I can play with later.

Ok now for the drawing. There were 53 entries and the random number generator says... Quinn

QuinnFebruary 4, 2015 at 5:08 AM

Such lovely creations! I also tend to accumulate bits of lace and trim and fabric, but have a terrible time actually putting scissors to it. So...it stays in a drawer until the next time I go looking for something. Then I take it out, look at it, think about making it into something wonderful! But...can't bring myself to cut it. Back into the drawer. Not very creative or useful! I like your way MUCH better :)
My fingers will be crossed for your fantastic giveaway, and I shall begin searching for a pencil right away, to be prepared just in case I am the very lucky one.
Thank you for taking the time to visit me at http://comptonia.blogspot.com where I can always be reached through a comment. It has become much more reliable than my email!

Quinn you need to search for a pencil.

The Christmas Ornament that Wasn't

A while back at a second hand store I was looking at post cards and old pictures. Sometimes something fun is lurking in the pile. I found one, well actually several of these really beautiful fairy picture postcards. Before leaving France I scanned them and put them in a file for me to play with later. I was unfamiliar with the artist and just lately decided to look the artist up and figure out when they were drawn and who the artist was. 

It turns out that they are English and were done by an artist named Cicely Mary Barker. Wikipedia has a nice write up about her (Wikipedia - CicelyMary Barker)

What I had bought, among others, was the Christmas Tree Fairy.

The Tree Flower Fairies set is circa 1950. If you do a search on Pinterest her work is everywhere! You will be astounded at the number of fairy drawings she did in her life time.

Alright, now for the Christmas Tree Ornament that wasn't...

Every year on one of my new groups I participate in an ornament exchange. The butterfly won out as the ornament only because I was not sure what to do with this and I did not want the ornament to be one sided. I needed time to think about how to make this fairy two sided. I thought about making both sides the front of the fairy, but it just was not working in my mind. 

Well I did it and I am pleased with the result. Working a little on the computer, I got the look I wanted. It is not perfect by any stretch, but it works. Here is what I ended up with:

Notice that her wand is gone? She looks to me  like she is sewing or holding something.?  A needle? A Quilt? She is definitely holding something...

Now, remember this picture?

Three days! Three days is what it took me to cut that center piece up. Grain is everything. But now that it is a work in process, there are leftovers:

At a craft store I found a package of wooden buttons

Construction is pretty straight forward now for me.This is what I ended up with. 

The center, base if you will, that the fairy is mounted to are two slightly overlapped yogurt metallic covers. 

The fairy design was printed out on a color printer using vintage cotton fabric (old pillow case) ironed to freezer paper the size of paper the printer normally takes.

The  fairy fabric was then Mod Podged (Mod Podge for fabric) to the yogurt covers, Embellishment added and here is the final result:

 I am very pleased with the result. I love the way her wings move. So what do you think? This years ornament?

(BTW, that van has not moved since we moved here over a month ago. I wonder who owns it)

This week I am joining Shabbilicious Friday Link Party 

The last Hurrah

Looking for Grow Your Blog 2015, click here

Leaving France was not be complete without one last trip to Brittany. We have friends who rent a house every year in a small town on the coast. This year we were asked to join them. Nothing like laying in bed and hearing waves crashing on the shore nearby. If you have not been, Brittany is beautiful! Even in the winter. Yes, there is nasty rain at times, but when the sun comes out a walk on the beach is a wonderful experience.

The house came with a Christmas tree, provided by the friends staying there, which was a treat for me as Christmas trees and I only had fleeting moments together this year with the move going on. At the rental house the tree was real and smelled so good! Our friends had bought some ornaments specifically for me. When I saw them my mind started dissecting them. I have been playing with felt lately.

They are cute, but I could have fun with that design and I bet I could make them cuter. In the mean time while they wait to be dissected, here they are on the windowsill of the new apartment. So far they look too good there to take either of them apart.

While walking on the beach, I was introduced to something called "Sea Glass". "Sea Glass" is new to me. It is, essentially, glass garbage that has been polished by the ocean and deposited on the beach for pick up. Searching for the glass turned out to be a good reason for a walk on the beach rain or shine.

There were also many shells to  be picked up and small thin shale rocks. They look like little chalkboards to me.

Of course there was a trip to a brocante that had hit or miss hours. Wow, talk about junk! Just amazing the stuff in there. I am sure no inventory of contents in the building to speak of. Some of the stuff I am sure has been there for years. 

Proof in point, I found vintage lace. Those of you following the last blog have seen this picture.

As usual, it smelled musty...Musty, now that was an understatement! No visible mold, but the smell was enough to clog sinuses for days. They were escorted in well sealed plastic bags to the new home and there they were shown to the washer. As I was getting them ready for the washer I found an old price tag on lightest, almost white piece.  (The lower left rolled piece in the picture) 

The price tag said 460F/ 5 meters. A little research shows that the French Franc(FRF) is obsolete and was replaced by the Euro (EUR) on 1 January 1999. At that time, one EUR was equivalent to 6.55957 FRF. So in 1999 they wanted 70.13 EUR for that piece. In USD with a 1.2 exchange rate(the official beginning exchange rate in 1999), that comes out to roughly $84. 

70.13 EUR/$84, that is a bit expensive and not at all what I paid for it. Discounts comes with sitting in a brocante for at least 16 years with no takers.

So far, a small bit of the lace on the lower right has been used. In my purse I carry a notebook to write notes such as which train gets me to where I want to go or the address of a potential fabric shop.  the notebook has a cardboard cover and won't last long the way it is, so I covered it. I had a second small notebook so I cut out enough for two. Here is the picture of the second one, the one that will be given away on February 15th.  Pen/Pencil not included.

If you have not entered, comment here. 

Alright, what about the rest of that lace? Well, these two are in the process of being cut up. I found a  dress from the early 1900s I fell in love with the top portion on Pinterest.

Stand by, it will be a couple weeks but it is coming.

These have been paired up. Again, Inspiration on Pinterest. This one will take a bit. I am searching for buttons and I am toying with stamping fabric.

 

It might become something and then again, maybe not.