Five Options For Needlework From The Times Of The USSR

2024 Author: Bailey Albertson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 12:53

5 types of needlework, which were engaged in resourceful craftswomen from the USSR

Several decades ago, store shelves did not delight customers with an abundance of goods, and the most familiar household items were a real shortage. There was only one way out - to do the necessary thing with your own hands. The needlewomen made such unique works that they should be reproduced even now for at to loved ones or interior decoration.

Weaving curtains from postcards

Rustling stripes of color, mounted in thin rows on a wooden panel, adorned the arched entrances to the kitchen or living room. These original curtains were guarded by the hostesses, serving as their pride and pleasing the eye.

The painstaking work of weaving such curtains took a lot of time, but the result was worth it.

Common manufacturing options:

1. From paper and paper clips (postcards and glossy magazine pages are cut into small strips along the length of the paper clips, twisted into thin tubes, paper clips are inserted inside, which are connected to each other. It turns out a long multi-colored chain - one of the parts of the curtains).
2. From pieces of corners (suitable thick paper is cut into rectangular pieces, the same corner pieces are folded, which are fastened one after another into a long strip that makes up the curtains).

Usually they tried to make an asymmetrical bright drawing, but the craftsmen managed to create real works of art - whole images and paintings.

Sewing boxes from postcards

Beautiful caskets made of wood or stone were an indispensable attribute of the decoration of the rooms of the tsarist time. In the Soviet period, however, these beautiful and sophisticated products were almost impossible to find. Caskets made of postcards - real masterpieces of home craftsmen - became salvation.

Manufacturing process:

1. The two postcards were folded one with the other, drawing outward.
2. Thick cardboard was inserted between them for strengthening.
3. The edges of the cards were sewn with a dense, bright thread along the contour. Such blanks required at least 6-8 pieces.
4. The finished "walls" were also fastened together with a thread in the shape of the future casket.

To receive such beauty as at was very flattering, since the ability to do such things efficiently and accurately was considered a great skill.

Construction of houses from matches

Such a house, built of miniature white logs with sulfur heads, is familiar to the representatives of the old generation since childhood. A hut, a cathedral, a tower or a large complex of buildings, and the most diligent craftsmen have an architectural copy of a famous building, a picture or a chess set. In the middle of the last century, almost everyone had such a nice house of matches.

A simple but beautiful model is easy to make, even without experience:

1. A square of eight parallel matches is laid out on a substrate (you can take a piece of cardboard).
2. Following on to it - the same, but perpendicular to the first. You get a lattice. It's better to glue it
3. Then matches are laid around the perimeter - the number of rows is determined by the height of the house.
4. A pyramid is built on top in several more layers, and vertical "supports" are installed along the perimeter for strengthening. The main box is ready.
5. The roof is made of matches, inclined to each other and glued together, so that the structure covers the whole “frame”.
6. Improvised beams are also fixed with glue to the base.
7. For realism, you can complement the house with a "pipe" of four matches.

Low cost and availability of "building" materials are attractive. Such crafts looked very nice and were appreciated asts.

Making decor from vinyl records

Vinyl records were in short supply - only those copies that became unusable due to cracks and scratches were used to make crafts. They were used for making flower pots, table vases, rosettes, plates, handicraft baskets, photo frames, mirrors, clocks and paintings.

Before production, the plate was heated over the fire of a stove, burner, or in an oven at a temperature not exceeding 90 ° C, and then the edges were bent with tongs and a fork or hands in heat-resistant protective gloves to form the walls. The form had to be thought out in advance - vinyl hardens pretty quickly.

To make a frame for a wall clock or a photograph, the desired contour was drawn on the plate itself, and then a hole was cut with a heated knife. With the same tool, the most experienced craftsmen cut out patterns previously marked on the workpiece.

These could be geometric shapes, stylized images of flowers, or even more complex creations. The quality of the work depended on the skill and artistic ability of the performer. Often the work was completed by young assistants, sticking colorful beads on the craft or tying bows from ribbons.

Making fish from droppers

Dropper cords were a scarce material available only to people in the medical profession. Magic fish with curly tails woven from plastic tubes became an even more valuable and expensive gift. Often such toys were made-pendants in the car or on the window.

For work you need: a set for a dropper, nail scissors and a glass of boiling water. The flexible tube can be pre-painted by dipping it into a solution of potassium permanganate, brilliant green or iodine overnight.

The process of weaving a craft is quite laborious - it requires perseverance and some skill:

1. A part of the system hose is cut along and unrolled - a tape is obtained.
2. Two pieces of hose 10 cm long are connected with a ribbon at about a third of their length - this is the basis of weaving.
3. With the same tape, each piece is wrapped alternately in layers so that the braid fits tightly, and each layer is several millimeters wider than the previous one, forming the body of the fish.
4. After half of the work is done, the free ends of the tubes are wrapped in a loop, threaded through each other, stacked on the sides of the workpiece and secured with another row of weaving.
5. The rest of the tape is cut off, and its edge at the cut point is temporarily fixed with a needle.
6. The inner part of the fish's head is formed from the remaining tape so that the ball fills all the empty space and is inserted with force, pressing the braid.
7. All remaining ends of the tubes (on the sides and on the tail) are cut into thin strips.
8. To curl the fringe, dip it in boiling water for a few seconds.

Such a fabulous openwork souvenir, presented for the New Year, can effectively decorate a festive Christmas tree.