Donauschwaben Villages Helping Hands, Inc., a Nonprofit Corporation

     

Needlepoint & Embroidery

Embroidered pictures typically hung in kitchens

The below picture belonged to my grandmother, Katerina Letang Nothof, b. 1889 in Ruskodorf, immigrated to the U.S. at age 16. She lived and raised her family in Chicago. She died very young, at age 48. I was five, so I have just a foggy memory of her except that I loved her. My grandfather Anton Nothof was also from the same area.  I have tried to find info regarding Katerina's father, Mr. Letang; as I have no info on him.  Katerina's mother was Susanna Haas (later she married Michael Walter), and no father was noted on my grandmother's birth record. [Joan Cameron Denton, Omaha, NE  USA]

Below images taken by Jody McKim

 

 

 
 

Close up . . .

This cloth was made for me at my birth (I guess for a "hope chest").  It was used to hang over dish towels (so the unsightly towels wouldn't be seen).  The cloth was woven by my great grandmother and either my mother or grandmother did the embroidery.  It was counted cross stitch--nothing printed on the material, rather they followed a pattern and counted the threads in the piece they were embroidering.  The ends are crocheted.

Contributed by
Rose Mary Keller Hughes

 
   

Crochet

 
Made by Mari Pitzer-Cojocaru from Uihei-Neusiedel
 

 

 

Contributed by Diana Lambing

Click images to enlarge
close up's...
 

 

 
   
Three beautiful pieces made by Teresa Leeb
Contributed by Alex Leeb (son)

 

Decorated Eggs

Crepe Paper Flowers

by Anne Dreer

There was no one in our village who made silk flowers. The ones used at weddings were bought. The flowers for funerals in the summer  were real, in the winter  and for "Allerseelen" on November 2nd  they were made of crepe paper (different colours) and dipped in melted wax. The stems were wires with green crepe paper twisted around them.  My mother made really beautiful crepe flowers.

The crepe paper was bought in the local store (like a village general store) which the Schwoba called Gwelb, probably a derivetive of the high German "Gewölbe" = vault.

The crepe paper was cut into strips, off the top of the roll about 3 inches wide with the crease lines running the width of the strip, not the length. With slightly dampened fingers one entire edge of the strip was rolled, like you would roll a thread with your finger tips. Then the centre of the strip was stretched to make it bulge a little. The other strip edge  was then wound around a green crepe paper covered wire. When finished it looked like a rose.

Silk Flowers

by Rose Mary Keller Hughes

The brides in Semlak wore a crown/wreath of flowers on their heads--since weddings were often in the colder months, live flowers were not available.  There were women in the village whose specialty was the creating of beautiful silk flowers for the lovely head pieces.  The women also created floral pieces and wreaths for funerals. Was this a practice in your ancestral village?

 



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Last Updated: 01 Feb 2012
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