Those are beautiful, KaC. They would go great in my M-i-l's house, shall I send you her address? ;-)
I'd love to hear more about your French Handsewing books... Are they indeed about doing the handsewing, or do they show how to do the sewing by machine? Piecework magazine had a photo of a journeyman piece of handsweing from the turn of the 20th centry (I believe) that would show any prospective clients the skill of a needlewoman who was looking for commissions.
One of my great grandmothers kept a roof over her children's head and food in their bellies by doing such handsewing. The family line is that Great Grandma Eva Maude made her living 'by sewing clothes for the rich people in Detroi-it." (It's important to pronounce it with 3 syllables. lol)
My grandmother, mother and my four aunts have all earned money at some time by selling their sewing skills.
I would love to read more about hand sewing and hone my skills. If you or anyone have books to recommend on the topic, I'd love to search them out.
Pinz
Yep, French Hand Sewing book does it by hand...most of the stuff that's not smocking isn't hard, technically to do and it's so pretty! Fine sewing does take time, though, which is why people turned to sewing machine.