story 77. petit gift for the butcher, the baker.

today I have posted a little guest note over at the Poppytalk Handmade Artist blog. its about baker's twine. how its pretty and practical.

and has a few tales to tell.

please stop by and take a look. if you can help me with my query, or want to add something, please leave a comment here.

all those that do will go in the draw for a little [oldyarns. reclaimed linens.] giveaway which will include:

 - a petit purse made from a reclaimed monogrammed antique french linen sheet. for more pictures see here.

and the first of something new.

- a petit mobile from the 'let's run away' series.

this petit mobile dreams of running away with your beloved to Vendome, a town in the Loir Valley, France.

this carte postale is addressed to 'Dear Miss' on December 10th 1920 in lovely cursive handwriting. adorned with vintage crochet flowers and lace, strung with a tiny paper boat on pretty ribbon.

these are places your heart would rather be.

for tucking with a love note to someone special. or a promise to yourself for next year. somewhere magical to dream of. we all need that.

more will be added to the shop soon. but if you would like this one, and the purse, please let me know by leaving your comments about baker's twine here.

{giveaway open until end of Poppytalk Handmade Market on 14 August 2009}

Comments

[Zoë]

Oh my, I don't know how I've managed to go so long without seeing your blog. Such a lovely use of my favourite things - old French linens, and monograms! And based in my own beautiful home town, which I miss so much! So glad to discover you and your beautiful blog!

[sfer]

My comment is actually a question... Do you know of places where you can buy baker's twine online? That would be really useful for some people!!

Does that qualify to be entered in the giveaway? :-D

[chenoa]

Hi! this is a soft array of dreams & wanderings! it looks very special!!!

i think butchers twine was so called because it was taste & heat resistant, & possibly the colours were chosen because of certain places they were tied, or they were easy to see in certain places? i found one company who has been making it for years & they make it in red & white, green & white & blue & white, so the butchers can tell at a glance of the string which type of meat it is (meatbind.co.uk)

have a most lovely day!

[Carina]

This is quite intriguing - I am having to seriously restrain myself from looking into the history of baker's twine! But I can tell you that in my native Denmark it is known as 'dokumentsnor' - document string... Funny, huh? :-)

[Jennifer Thompson]

Now you've made me curious too! Your blog is lovely...

[KV Creative Designs]

I saw your Blog on Poppytalk Handmade and so glad I did! I love it! I will be exploring more!
Artful Blessings,
Kathryn

[melissa kaye]

I also saw your blog on Poppytalk and it is just lovely! Your etsy shop is just precious--all of your items are so enchanting. =) I would love to be entered in your giveaway.

[amelia]

hi! another someone visiting via poppytalk. i love the look of this twine. Martha Stewart sells a line of string that is similar-looking, but not as sturdy and most likely it's more expensive. your store looks lovely!

[Tory]

I'm afraid I can't help with any of the questions, other than that red and white screams "peppermint!" and peppermint screams "smash me and bake me into cookies!" and some baker back in the day must have been in the habit of listening to inanimate objects? in any case, that little mobile is darling and i think i might need to get myself some baking twine to brighten up my crafty endeavors!

[Natalie Jost]

Oh wow, I'm blown over by your style. I love your shop, and blog!

[beth h]

I wish I could help with these questions... all I can say is that despite it's humble beginnings, I love the unique mood it sets, if that makes any sense.

Lovely.

[Loopy]

It's a bit macabre, but I wonder if the twine colors are related to the red & white striped Barber poles! The barber pole history says Barbers used to perform bloodletting, so the red stripe signifies blood and the white stripe is the bandages! So maybe the Butcher's Twine has something to do with blood from meat?

Regardless, I think it's awfully dainty and gorgeous in your art! loveit!

[jennifer w.]

Although us craft bloggers are familiar with baker's twine, my friends and family are not, and I receive a lot of compliments and "where did you find that?s" when I use it to wrap a gift.

[Ali]

In England, the twine belongs to butchers and not bakers. The red and white is for beef, the blue and white for pork and the green and white for lamb. The twine was used (and still is) for trussing joints.

[mama kim]

Oh I have a small length of the red/white twine that came on a package from europe! It is nestled in one of my tins of bits and pieces. :D what a beautiful artist you are!

[Sarah]

I often use baker's twine to wrap gifts. My typical method is to use brown paper decorated with rubber stamps, with the baker's twine wrapped around as if it were a cake box.

Sorry to say I have no idea about the history behind it (and surprisingly couldn't find anything on wikipedia, though I bet you looked there first), but for those wondering where to buy it, I purchased mine on etsy. Simply Googling "baker's twine" also brings up a variety of online sources.

[Stephanie Shieh]

i love tying baker's twine around a gift/baked good wrapped in plain brown paper. the simplicity of it is charming!

[Pebbledash]

As others have said, it's used in the uk by butchers, not bakers, though it's not as common as it used to be. Beef = red and white, pork = blue and white and lamb = green and white. I've also seen brown and white, but not sure what that's for!
Seems that red and white is most popular in blogland and Etsy!
Best wishes to you.

[Michelle Young]

Beautiful blog! I did a quick search and couldn't find anything about baker's twine specifically. I'm curious now - I'll have to look into it further.

[hanna]

so pretty!

[Lori Lynn]

I love baker's twine! I use it every year when wrapping christmas gifts. Plus I sell cookies at my local famers market and tie each bag up with twine. It's so cute that it's all you need!

[KatieK]

Oh dear, I came across this blog from poppytalk and now i am in love! I have nothing much to add about baker's twine that has not been already said. Except that Amazon truly does have everything! http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001D1FIYS

[Hayley]

How interesting- I have wondered about the red&white colours for a while and now the meat identification theory makes sense. But why did the red become popular with bakers? Cheers!

[renee anne]

oh I have just found your fantastic etsy store and blog!
and didn't I smile big when I saw that you are Aussie too!

yipee!

renee x

[Jeanne @ Inspiring Ideas]

Hmmmm ... a mystery! How fun! I would bet on French origins, tho! Your creations are darling!