A Christmas catch up.

I hope you had a merry little Christmas!

I myself had a rather pretty little Christmas, with fairy lights strung about the place, the smell of mulled cider drifting through the air and 'White Christmas' playing its way through the house.

As for presents, a factor of Christmas that has always been the cause of a fair amount of excitement, I asked for some new dressmaking scissors (lovely and sharp, that actually cut through the fabric!). I also got a book on historical corset patterns, by Jill Salen.

My great great grandmother received a singer sewing machine for her 18th birthday in around 1900, it was then well used by every generation until it reached me. I remember my mum using it to make pillows for my barbies, and things like that. Once we got an electric sewing machine, it got put under the stairs and has been there ever since. Recently, I've been meaning to get it out and have a look, but just haven't got round to it.
It's that typical combination of remembering to do something when you have the time to do it!
Anyway, Boxing day (I think it was), I finally pulled it out of it's hiding place, lifted off the lovely cover...

And found the well loved sewing machine, along with its original instructions, and a box of various tools.

It all works, but it does need a bit of a clean up.

Being a sucker for old packaging, the box that holds the various tools and bits and bobs, I found almost as exciting as the original instructions, or the machine itself! Almost. 

It looks to be an old shoe polish box, and on the inside of the lid are instructions on how one would go about using 'Black Nugget Polish'.

It reads, "Kindly use SMALLEST quantity of the Polish with corner of a clean Brush - really, only a smear is required - brush it well into the Leather with the whole of the Brush, and after getting a polish, finish off the a Pad." 

How polite.

Well, it's nice to be back on the blogging scene after having accidentally taken the summer and the autumn off, ahem. 

I wish you a Happy New Year!