cold lino... warmer than the stone floor underneath!

  

 

What a lovely sign welcomed me when I arrived to do my demo. at  Heidi's Sewing Room  this morning! Heidi's mother Beryl (who used to own the shop before Heidi took it over) said that the boards were bought when she first purchased the premises, over thirty years ago - back when there was a bakery in North Street.
Really enjoyed meeting customers and spending time in this busy little shop listening to people purchasing their ribbons and their wool, their knitting patterns and needle threaders, and bringing garments in for alterations. What a useful service and how lucky we are in Wellington to have our own haberdashery!

 

 

I like this write up that was in the Wellington Weekly News a few months ago:

Heidi comes out in buttons & bows

  

  

It was probably the last place in the Wellington area where you could still buy spare knicker elastic but Haberdashery Plus, in North St, closed a few months ago and has now re-emerged as Heidi’s Sewing Room.

And Heidi is none other than the daughter of Beryl Griffiths, founder and owner of H-Plus for over 30 years.  Now Heidi Jenkinson she began her involvement with sewing as a seven-year-old around her mum’s shop before moving on after school to industrial sewing at Relyon and  then wedding dresses with Sassi Holford.

The old shop was nothing if not well-stocked but Heidi has made it seem very light and contemporary with  her renovations and new ranges of wools, ribbons and cottons. “Mum’s very pleased that someone is carrying it on,” said Heidi.

 

 

'raggy rose' on braided clutch bag

 

 

While I sat at the lovely old oak gate-leg table, making floral brooches, customers shared their own memories of making rag rugs with their grandmothers and mothers. There are fascinating details contained within these memories from the 1930s and '40s and they spark vivid images. I'm collecting such memories, and, where I have people's permission, share them through my blog and in a memory book that I read with residents in Homes where I do rag rug sessions.

 

Today, a customer called Ulanda told me that she remembered using old potato sacking and old grain sacks that had been used for chicken feed, as a base to make the rugs upon and that every scrap of old worn clothing was used, including her grandmother's underwear which meant that the rug contained "nice shiny pink bits" !
 

"In those days", Ulanda said, "we used to jump from mat to mat so as not to stand on the cold lino, which was warmer than the stone floor underneath"!