Place Mats and Doilies
in the Contemporary Manner
B-JA127 Coats & Clark’s – Place Mats and Doilies in the Contemporary Manner, Book No. 315
Twelve placemat and doilies crochet patterns, with colored illustrations. S-478 Orange Blossom round doily, S-750 Star Wheel Place Mat round, S-749 Ripple Rhythm round doily, S-751 Strawberry Cream rectangular placemat, S-752 Avocado Stripes rectangular placemat, S-753 Silver Sands oval placemat, S-754 Candy Cane round placemat, S-755 Sundial round doily, S-756 Modern Classic rectangular placemat, S-758 Comet’s Tail round doily, S-759 Brocade round doily, S-757 Rose Wreath round doily.
Stapled softcover with rounded corners, 7 by 10.5 inch. 16 pages including covers. Folded double, bad condition, last page damaged and small part missing.
Donated by Judith Adele, edited by Sytske Wijnsma.
Placemats (or Place Mats as they are called in this publication) are a more modern way of setting a table, when compared to the lace and damast tablecloths and embroidered napkins of previous times. There’s two types of placemats: one, the waterproof placemats (wood, plastic, stone) that can be cleaned by wiping them with a wet cloth, and two, the super absorbent ones that are tossed in the washing machine. The crocheted placemats of this book are clearly the second type, and the thicker structure of a densely crocheted underlay will keep hot plates off the table surface, and will soak up the occasional spillage, or frequent spillage if the food is served to small children. The yarn will have to be wash- and maybe even boil-proof, so cotton is the appropriate material. Linen is too thin, wool will felt, silk is totally unsuitable. There were Christmas placemats on sale with beautiful embroidery and alas, polyester woven textile and I bought six. I still have one unstained Christmas placemat, but they aren’t sold anymore. When a placemat has had alternate dye used such as wine or ketchup and the stains won’t come out, replacing a crocheted one is easier done than hunting down a more-or-less matching item in shops.
Doilies are of all times and there are a few lovely ones in here.