We are a friendly lot, we vintage textile obsessives.
I got to know Riva online when she asked me to do her the favour of snaffling something from a charity shop.
An embroidery that I had spotted and posted on my Facebook page. Of course, I obliged. How could I not?
This is it, entitled Sunburst…
Riva’s obsession with collecting these vintage embroideries is, as a fellow textiles obsessive, an urge I understand better than most.
The embroideries Riva covets were originally sold as kits in the 1970s, produced by a company called Penelope, which I think still exists selling kits today…
The fact that they were made from kits explains why the same designs occasionally turn up in duplicate in charity shops and on eBay. Not a case of great minds thinking strangely alike.
When Riva told me about her collection, I immediately wanted to find out more.
So I asked her to send me some photos.
From which I discovered that unlike many of today’s embroidery kits (which have a reputation for being a bit old fashioned and staid, not exactly on the cutting edge of design) Penelope’s 1970s kits were actually very contemporary, rather gorgeous and extremely covetable…
I certainly wouldn’t mind owning one of those designs pictured above!
And how about these beauties…
Riva’s collection includes two versions of another example that I sourced for her more recently, entitled Papillon…
And the design below, which I also spotted locally in a charity shop window recently (but Riva was already well supplied with so I didn’t send it to her) is entitled Harvest…
Here it is pictured in the catalogue, bottom left of the page…
Riva has duplicates of several designs.
As well as Papillon she has spares of Harvest, Sungold and this one, Conifer…
These pictures and all the work that has gone into them are truly stitches in time.
I had a conversation the other day on Twitter about other people’s stories and how inspiring they can be.
I wanted to know more about Riva’s story and how her amazing collection came about. It turns out her mum was involved, as mums so often are.
But that particular story is one for another day. ♥
All photographs supplied by Riva Mollison – many thanks to her for allowing me to share them.
Penelope does still make kits, but they’re much less interesting, innovative and creative than those vintage beauties. However, it’s still possible to get kits for the vintage ones on eBay, although the price does reflect the seller’s awareness of how gorgeous they are!
Yes, Riva has bought some kits to make up herself. But I have never been lucky enough to happen upon any of those beautiful Scandi rug designs in that catalogue, alas!
They’re beautiful pictures, made by skilled people who devoted all that time and energy into creating them. And they still look good 40+ years after they were made.
Yes! Some of the Nordiska designs are currently being reissued as kits by Tanya at Linladan should you be looking for something similar.
I found “harvest” the other day and I just had to research more about it! Such beautiful work and craftsmanship 💕
I have been collecting vintage contemporary embroidery kits for 10-12 years now. I remember the Nordiska kits from the 70’s because our next door neighbor was hooking a rug from one of the Notdiska kits. I accidentally came across Nordiska about 40 yrs later and I was hooked. I live in the states, California to be exact, so I had to be patient and just wait for Nordiska to show up on EBay or Etsy. I have amassed quite a few of the kits and have embroidered quite a few of them. When I discovered the Penelope designs I was equally addicted. There are quite a few photos on Pinterest fyi.
Kate, Studio Flax in the UK are reissuing classic Nordiska designs! See them here:
https://studioflax.co.uk/collections/nordiska-classic-collection
I just had to get a refund for a lot of kits from Studio Flax 🙁 one ordered in December, had still not shipped by September— you can get ones quickly from Purl SoHo!
That’s a shame. Studio Flax is a tiny business run by just one person, Tanja, and is based in the UK. We do have problems here with overseas shipping – items being delayed and going missing are the usual ones and this is why I don’t ship outside of the UK any more. If you are in the USA it is definitely likely to be a better bet to shop local and buy from US-based independents such as Purl Soho.
Hello from Marrakech. I’m visiting and live in the USA. I’m interested in help sourcing these Penelope kits and finished projects. Please help if you can. Love
Renee
Hi, I’m sorry but I don’t have any information on where to source vintage Penelope kits or finished products, other than searching online on eBay or Etsy.
For modern reproductions of kits by Nordiska (which are from the same era and similar in style) try Studio Flax in Bristol: https://studioflax.co.uk