Bootmaking is a complex process requiring a variety of tools. The leather is cut to shape, glazed & burnished (polished) with heated irons. The pieces are stretched onto, and nailed to, a wooden last to form the boot. Once attached to the insole, the boot is finished on a metal last. Uppers are stitched with waxed thread through holes made with an awl. Heels comprise pieces nailed together and neatened with a heel shave. Metal plates, short nails or hob nails driven into the sole & heel, often in a pattern, improved durability.A pair of handmade, adult brown leather work boots, with brown leather laces, decorative stitching, metal eyelets and are stitched with waxed thread. The soles are covered with hob nails in a decorative pattern. They have metal caps on the heels. bootlaces, boots, footwear, clothing

A sample of beaded workA strip of lace made of beads made of dotted stripe along each edge with design resembling bee hives and plants with palm shapped leaves. - Bronze seed beads - Some silver/bronze beads - Some pearl beads - On beige nylon netting beaded lace border, bronze neads, elsie doris whitten, patrice jennigs

Negligee set or Wedding trousseau for the marriage of Charlotte Edith (Tottie) Ryder (aunt of donor) to Alfred George Tooke (b 1898 England d 1998) held at Church of England, Thornbury on 13 March 19481948 negligee set comprises two pairs of knickers, camisole, bed jacket, petticoat, nightgown. All items are cream coloured satin with appliqued coffee coloured lace. One pair of knickers has appliqued coffee lace encircling each leg with a hand-worked buttonhole and is missing a button. Second pair of knickers has appliqued lace floral design on each leg with an elasticised waist band and a plain band on the legs. Camisole has coffee coloured lace along the top edge and rouleau style shoestring straps. Bedjacket is short with long sleeves and a front fastening with four self-covered buttons and rouleau fastenings. Coffee coloured hand appliqued lace is around the neck and along the bottom. The shoulders are padded. The petticoat has coffee coloured lace around the hem and yoke. It has rouleau style shoestring straps. The nightgown is long with a coffee coloured lace Vee front. Two satin ties attach to slightly gathered waist. See also Knickers NA4921, Wedding Dress NA4923, Horseshoes NA4924 and Wedding Veil NA4925trousseau, tooke, wyatt m, wedding

Framed portrait of Tilly Aston who began the Association for the Advancement of the Blind, a forerunner to the Association for the Blind. It is part of a series of paintings commissioned by the AFB Board to commemorate the work of past presidents of the organisation. Tilly sits with one hand resting against a table, and the other in her lap. She is wearing a black collared dress with a white lace neck ruff held with an opal pin. Two medals (the Jubilee medal and Coronation medal) are pinned to the chest, each consisting of a red and white bowtie with a brass medallion. Tilly Aston was born in Carisbrook, Victoria, in 1873. When she was very young her parents noticed she was having problems with her vision. They took her to a doctor who diagnosed her with no sight in her right eye and the prognosis of loss of vision in the left eye. As a result of this she was totally blind by the age of 7. Despite this her parents endeavoured to give Tilly as many of life’s advantages that their limited means could supply. From an early age she was taught singing, music, poetry, arithmetic, encouraged to read and observe the natural world around her and be independent. At the age of 8 she was sent to the Asylum and School for the Blind (later called the Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind). She excelled in a wide range of subjects and matriculated in 1889. With the help of a public fund was able to attend Melbourne University, being the first blind Australian to do so. Unfortunately the lack of Braille text books made it impossible for Tilly to continue her studies and she left in second year. Tilly was determined that other blind people would not have the same negative experience she had had. In 1894 she organised a meeting to form the Victorian Association of Braille Writers with the aim of producing and supplying Braille to blind Victorians. Braille was produced by trained volunteers with ? recruited in the first six month. Other rights and services for blind people remained very limited. In 1895 Tilly organised a meeting, which formed the Association for the Advancement of the Blind (now Vision Australia). The Association was instrumental in obtaining many benefits for blind people including a blind pension, voting rights and transport concessions. It also established the first nursing homes for blind people, at a time when many blind people were homeless and destitute. Tilly went on to be Australia’s first blind teacher. She was also a very talented musician, author of seven books and was very gifted at arts and crafts. She knew Esperanto and corresponded with people all around the world including Helen Keller. Tilly passed away on November 1st 1947. Her legacy continues through the work Vision Australia which provides services for thousands of blind Australians. A memorial bell dedicated to her is also situated in the King Domain Gardens. 1 art original in gold frameThe plaque at the base of the painting reads 'Miss Matilda (Tilly) A. Aston / President 1904, 1910, 1943 to 1947/ Association for Advancement of the Blind'. association for the advancement of the blind, association for the blind, tilly aston

Believed to have been made by Tilly Aston, this tray cloth is an example of the type of skills the Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind school taught its female students. Handicrafts was a possible method of income, and the emphasis was on producing usable pieces rather than highly decorative ones. It is a rectangular shaped tray cloth made from cotton and silk thread. The centre piece is cream coloured and consists of 2 layers of pulled thread work The cloth is edged with a beige coloured lace border. Linen cloth with crocheted edgingtilly aston, royal victorian institute for the blind

Australian Home Journal including knitting, netting, crochet, tatting, drawn thread, crinkled paper works etcFancy work series Australian Home Journalaustralian home journal, knitting, crochet, drawn thread work, paper roses, knitted lace, tatting

A small group of lace bookmarks handmade for sale through the craft shop at Numurkah in Victoria and purchased in April 2025 for the collection at Hymettus, at the time, the largest collection of bookmarks in Australia. Example of the quality of craft work being made in Victoria, 2025. Made by tatting, by Shona Thomas of Numurkah.a sleeve containing four handmade cotton bookmarks.N/Acraft, numurkah, tatting, cotton, dyes, hymettus, bookmarks, lace