LOOK what my Mum unearthed in a local charity shop today! This amazing collection of threads of every kind of texture, shade and thickness imaginable.
Each colour selection jam-packed into large plastic sweet jars, so old and discoloured that you couldn't make out the contents properly through the smokey plastic, until they were tipped out at home and their true colours revealed...
Embroidery silks, crochet cottons, some famous names and foreign labels, DMC, Appletons fine wools, mohair, chenille, slubby hand-dyed textures, variegated threads old & new…
Apparently they belonged to the grandmother of the lady working in the shop. She obviously led a very creative life and appreciated the value of her threads, saving every scrap left after finishing projects (just like Mum & I)
Coincidently, 10 minutes earlier we had been looking at new threads for sale and in particular skeins of Cotton Perle at £1.30 each!
Green must have been a favourite colour as this was the most tightly packed jar, with such an interesting mass of skeins and tiny twists all neatly tied up.
I just love colour and texture so apart from any practical use they just look amazing!
As someone just starting out on the embroidery road I don't yet have a stash of threads and certainly couldn't afford to buy this range and quantity, so this sets me up very well. Also, acquiring threads in this way just appeals to my frugal nature!
As I've been sorting through them I can't help thinking of their previous owner. What did she make with all these threads? And how she treasured all the left-over scraps thinking that one day they would come in handy! Now they've found their way to me and what I personally don't use in my sewing and felting I will take along for everyone to use in my workshops.
Our local charity shops are absolute treasures troves and it's been my lucky week...
I found this large Melin Tregwynt cushion a couple of days ago,
I'm not going to say what I paid for it, but needless to say it was another bargain!