americana

for independence day i made a quilt! it's my first, and i'm very happy with it (so far- almost done.)
time had come to clean out my stash of scrap fabric before it got out of hand. there's all sorts of vintage and new fabrics in this thing.. hawaiian prints, chenille, wool, flocked polyester, gold brocade, velour, silks, kimono, tafetta, old christmas tablecloth, knits, handkercheifs, vintage embroideries & appliques, tie-dye, jersey... yeah this is dry clean only. the backside is a satin sheet i had in the back of the closet.






what do you mean i shouldn't really be up here?


friday night i started cutting and sewing squares together. i actually finished the whole thing once last night but it had serious issues. off came the back and i started again. now i am almost done attaching the back again, and have to put on the edge binding. i hada 3 different kinds of satin blanket binding, so i cut and pieced them together for patchwork edging. i hope it looks as cool as it does in my head. wish me luck!

'new' patterns

i couldn't help myself at goodwill yesterday.. i got a bag of random old patterns because i could see this one was too good and my size. i want to make that exact black flowered dress.



the top will be cute too, and w the adjustable neck i can do it in a heavy wintery fabric for over turtlenecks too.

there are a few more good ones in there, but it kills me that this one is a men's size 44:



i just listed it in the vintage sewing section in my etsy shop, but i am now on a mission to find it in my size. i want to do it in a tea-stained cabbage rose print linen or light upholstery fabric. and one in blue gingham too.. and a dark necktie-print silk would be nice... man i NEED to find this in my size.

painty jeans

it's time to retire my oldest painty work jeans. these babies have seen and done a whole lot of stuff over the years. i thought maybe one of you might like them, so i am listing them on ebay for $5. They have a 28" waist, flared leg.. they used to be gap jeans but a lot has happened since then. the hems were let out and subsequently wore away years ago. the knee thing happened relatively recently, so they still have a few stories left in them i think.
i signed the tag inside for you.

more red shoes

70s red w topstitching.. i'll replace the busted laces w narrow cream satin ribbon.





i've been sewing myself a new summer wardrobe this past couple of months, but i can't sew myself new shoes so i've been on a bit of a shoe spree. just a tiny one. how could i say no to these? they have thick nubby gumsoles and a perfect sexy clown shoe silhouette. you know i have a thing about sexy clown looks.

in my travels today i also scored this ultra perfect 60s deadstock raffia purse.



i fell in love with it at first sight, then i saw the remains of the original store tag on the handle: 'Sunshine's.' aw yeah.

oxford shirt hack

i have always loved blue/white stripey oxford shirts. i usually have at least 2 on hand, always thrifted.. sometimes fitted for boys, sometimes oversized men's. i found this XXL one a few weeks ago and have been stewing over what to do with it. this morning over coffee i figured it out and here we are! you know i die for 50s style swimsuit tops with petal busts, fins, wings, etc. with the shirt collar half of the work (the hard part) is already done for you.

i used the top bit of an 80s pattern w the bust shape i wanted to draw my cutting line right onto the shirt w tailor's chalk. i pinned the sides to fit my dressform and just cut & hemmed straight across the back. i pinned the bust darts in place while i was trying it on to be sure it stayed up on it's own (gravity tends to get the better of me w strapless things.)
for the fins i cut the collar right in half and shaped and stitched it to fit onto the bust line i had established.
the whole thing took about an hour from conception to trying on all different stuff with it. btw it goes w everything... leather pants will be hot.. cut offs... baggy jeans.. high-waisted secretary skirts... preppy printed shorts.. vintage pleats. o and alone as a dress too :D

etsy update: purse edition

just added to my etsy shop:
[click bags for links]


1960s. great condition. in researching alligator bags i found this amazing website with the most gorgeous collection of vintage alligator, croc, snake and lizard skin handbags. some swoon-worthy edwardian bags, 40s bags w bakelite handles, 80s power clutches. all so delicious. every pricetag packs a wicked punch tho. you've been warned.

also in my etsy handbag section for you i've got this badboy:


60s box purse

and these:


50s beaded satin


20s enameled mesh

plus, i just listed my favorite best-ever-most-beautiful-i'm-crying-they're-too-small-boots:



1960s, rarely worn condition. kills me that these don't fit. US size 5.5-6 narrow.

this week on ebay

anna sui for candies



US 7, $5

suit

finally it's a whole suit!



as pants they were weird.. so i shortened them to knee length and they were even weirder. but as shorts they are just right! i am hoping to find a little shortsleeved buttondown in sheer yellow or peach to go with.


the fabric repeat alternates between swirly shapes and ikat-like stripes. i went w the swirly parts for the shorts & the shoulder yokes, and the stripey parts for the body of the jacket. the suit would look completely different the other way around. i drew it out a lot before cutting, and decided that stripey pants might be too much.





worn w my new miss trish for target rope wedges.. the perfect 30s/40s/70s shape and wicked comfy for this sort of thing.

thrifted and not thrifted

i passed up these guys:


giant beggar-children lamps. i imagine them w large burlap covered barrel shades. i really cannot imagine the rest of the room these two belong in. i mean really.. they're so bad i am tempted to go back for them.


but i did grab up this little fellow:




he's not so little really, about 2 ft wide. he'll get a good spot in the livingroom.

stuffed french toast

potato bread was buy one get one free at the grocery today, so i immediately got a hankering for stuffed french toast.



based on my favorite breakfast dish ever at millie's in sarasota, FL. millie's is a breakfast only cafe' decked out in the most granny-chintzy-coziness ever. besides stuffed french toast and the most wonderful coffee cake they also do a frito & cheddar omlette that is divine.

the filling is cream cheese mixed with a bit of brown sugar and a smidge of vanilla.
smear it on piece of bread, and coat the other w apricot preserves (or whatever jam you like, cinnamon apples would be good too.) leave a good margin around your filling so it doesn't all melt out the sides.
then squish the 2 pieces together, soak in regular french bread batter (eggs, milk & a little sugar) and fry in butter.

jacket

this worked out far better than i'd hoped. i made the matching pants too but the wide flowiness wasn't suited to the heavy fabric. i looked like i was wearing a paperdoll outfit. i'd still like matching pants, but it'll have to be a much closer fit. but the jacket on its own is pretty great if i do say so. that giant button makes it..



it's another from my childhood stash. that one was a tabletop in my dollhouse for as long as i can remember. the lining is a damaged 50s silk scarf from the thrift.
putting in the lining was a huge pain, as was matching the fabric stripes, and figuring out how to orient everything before cutting. i suggest tracing the pic on the pattern envelope a few times and sketching out different configurations.

here you can see it all laid out yesterday. i was going to do the patch pockets, but with the giant button and the bold pattern and the heavy texture i decided enough was going on.



so yeah it looks way different from the pattern photo, due to the heavy upholstery fabric and a few other concessions i made. i like it way better than the one in the pic tho!

thrifted

so happy to have a full set of nice matching vintage dishes! i have the big set of gold rimmed good stuff, but that's all packed away. i only had a few mismatched and cracked regular daily-use dishes until yesterday at superthrift i found this set of 46 pieces for $8. i parsed out the chipped ones and set them aside for use in a friend's mosaic project. this is what i was left with! defly $8 worth. they also had a set of 76 pieces of the pink-lined version for $20. i was seriously thinking about getting all of it, but reigned myself in. this is plenty, really.
i also scored that clown painting! it's a pretty old oil painting with big flat-head nails along the sides of the canvas. i love him so much. i've been trying to identify him for a while now with no luck. big thanks to anyone who can help me with that. i'm giving up on the internet and about to hit my circus history books. yeah, i like the circus.
my kitchen has improved 100 fold in one day.