A slipcover project with some vintage fabric

I should have taken a before photo, right? It was originally a tweedy brown velour. Brown isn't my color so I decided to try to make a slipcover for it.
I bought the above 1950-60s fabric on ebay a few years ago, it was 12 yards for about $40. I had cut 4 panels from the piece to make curtains for the cottage which hung out there for about 2 years and I had a 3-4 yard piece left over.
The 3 panels were the exact width of the sides and back of the chair, so I stitched 3 of the panels together, folded them over the chair on the back and sides, and tucked them down inside. The 4th panel I stitched about 12 inches up the 2 front-sides and then just tucked the rest of the piece under the cushion. I didn't make a cut on the 4 panels so I could always take them apart to use for something else.

The yardage that I had left over originally was cut to cover the 2 big cushions. It still needs some tight tucking and some straightening of the patterns, but I'm so please with the way that it turned out.

Next I have these 2 rolls of vintage fabrics that I bought with a load of clothing recently. There's about 8 yards on each roll and I only paid $15 for the two rolls! They are both an ivory taffeta, one has stitched puckers and the other has raised stitched lines.
I'm thinking that I'll make some sort of window treatments for the livingroom with them. They'd be great boudoir pillows - but with my dogs the pillows would get wrecked.

One more shot of the chair, because I love it.

My sewing project - 1930s dress

I used to sew alot. 15 some years ago, before I became a vintage seller, I worked in a fabric store which helped to fulfill my fabric lust. Before that I had even tried to start my own clothing making business and I made alot of my own clothing.
But when you run your own business you suddenly have less free time. And when you handle clothing all day for that business, sewing more clothing isn't a pastime that enters your mind much.
But my purchase last month of the big lot of vintage patterns has inspired me to get back into sewing. Here is my first project. A super cute 1930s dress that will be made with a piece of vintage fabric - navy rayon with white and green design.
So far I have the pattern pieces and the fabric ironed. Let's see how long it takes me to touch the project again!

ebay finds, Altering Vintage and nerdity

I'm just hanging out at the part time job this afternoon. It's a beautiful day outside, but here I am, inside, wasting time on a computer -

I found these 3 items on ebay - I love 1920-30s loungewear - and wouldn't you love a cabinet like this to put your patterns and other assorted junkies in? I love old cabinets like these with tons of drawers, I love the old wood. Click the pictures to check out the auctions.




This weekend I got around to reading that Threads magazine where my website was mentioned. The stories were good. My favorite was the one where they took 3 1940s gowns and put them on a dress form inside out and described how the draping and sewing details were done. Fascinating. I love the construction of dresses and could probably look at a whole book full of pictures of inside-out dresses.

My only complaint was in a story about whether or not to alter vintage clothing. Their advice started out good, saying that you shouldn't alter rare labeled items and that you shouldn't do alterations unless they can easily be removed without affecting the garment. Good advice.

But then the gal said that altering the style of some vintage clothing can increase the value. No. That's just not true. Sure, you can take a maxi dress and cut it off into a mini dress and sell it on ebay for a great price with the right kind of marketing and a cool looking model. But that selling price is not the true value of that garment, it's only a reflection of the current trend. Once the trend for maxis-cut-down-to-minis ends, the value of that garment is gone and all you are left with is a vintage dress that you paid too much for, that no longer fits a current trend and also no longer fits in with it's original style. I can understand some sellers cutting down dresses to cash-in on a trend, as long as they are honest and have disclosed that the dress has been cut in their listing.
But people shouldn't get the false idea that what trendy items are selling for on ebay is some sort of value guide. It just isn't a true reflection of the vintage market, it's a reflection of good marketing by the sellers of those items. I still believe that their target buying audience isn't really about actual vintage clothing. Those shoppers are buying a 'look' and whether the dress is 1960s or bought at WalMart last year - it doesn't matter to them about the age of the actual garment. It's about the Look and how it is marketed. And I am not knocking those sellers. They know their stuff and I know my stuff. I'm a vintage clothing lover, in business for 9 years, selling to gals who love old school vintage.



Geek Alert, yes, I'm going to talk about Harry Potter here. Today I read some alleged spoilers online. I don't mind spoilers, because they don't really 'spoil' it for me. I like to know what's going to happen ahead of time, but I still enjoy reading, or watching as it really happens. The spoilers that I read today had to be crap though, just rumors. They better be rumors, or I'll be mad if the ending I read was true. I just thought it was kind of sappy. I guess I want a dark ending. Plus some of the spoilers contradicted themselves. No more reading fake spoilers, they're pissing me off!

Cute vintage fabrics

I'm killing some time at my part time job, looking at cute vintage fabrics. I'm trying to find some pretty floral cottons to make myself some dresses. I haven't had much luck yet, but here are few really cute vintage novelty print fabrics that I found - Click on the images for larger views, or the links to go to the auctions

1940s Uncle Wiggley fabric

Indians in Love

Clocks & Watches

Very cute playful Kitties

1970s Panda fabric

Cute little crafty trees

Yes, I succumbed to the cuteness and simplicity of these little trees too! I spotted them on a few blogs and you can get a very simple pattern to make them yourself at littlebirds.typepad.com/. There is also a flickr photo group for these little trees too.
I made mine out of some very pretty cut velvet tapestry that came from the estate of Olga Schwenker a few years back. The background of the fabric is a matte gold satin with designs in rich colors of green and burgundy. I stitched some little faux pearls on it and a button on the top. It didn't take long and I did it by hand while I was watching Gilmore Girls (I don't know why I'm still watching it. The Christopher and Luke fight started out good with Luke getting in a great punch, but it ended up pretty pathetic, especially considering they were fighting over flakey Lorelei. And why is Rory crying because those two girls don't want to be her friend anymore? Hey Rory, remember your best friend Lane, the one who is pregnant with twins? Logan shows yet again what a spoiled brat DB he is, but I bet Rory will go back to him next week, saying it was all her fault, like she always does. I use to love this show, what happened?)

Next, I started an altered book of my own. The Vintage Clothing themed round robin that I was involved with is just about finished. We were suppose to run until March, but I should be getting my own book back next week. We had 1 gal drop out because of family illness and 2 girls were given the boot from the group, one because of lateness and one for loosing a members book.
The book that I'm doing on my own doesn't have a theme, just pretty stuff that I like. The first layout was made from copies of some vintage paperdolls that I found online, and a bit of some love-sick poetry that came in a load of vintage that I had bought.

The next two page layout was inspired by a photo from Victoria magazine of a very plush, vintage decorated livingroom. I added some old laces and buttons and trim.


Also, I am a knucklehead. I sent out my Christmas swap and forgot to include my name so that my gal knows who the present came from!

DIY Sewing & Refashioning article in Time magazine

Here's a good story from Time magazine about the trend of people returning to sewing their own clothing, or refashioning used clothing. It's great to know that alot of people are interested in setting their own trends by making their own clothing, rather than following what the Mall and magazines tell them is a hot trend. The article mentions the Wardrobe Refashion group that I joined during the Summer (their site is where I found the Time story link)
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1562966,00.html

A new sewing machine is actually on my Christmas list (a cheap one) I'm tired of sewing on my itty-bitty machine that I bought at Target for $19.99. It was good for small projects, but I need a nice solid machine so that I can use that sewing area that I finally have in my new room.

A little shopping and a rag rug project

On Thursday I took a day off from vintage and went out to do some shopping. The goal was to get some Christmas presents, which I did, but I also bought some things that I needed too. First, I needed a new comforter. Mine was pretty old and the patchwork cover that I had made for it several years ago was now shreaded. I've been using it inside of a pretty plisse duvet cover. I didn't buy a new comforter, but I did get the perfect bedspread!
It is a quilted soft sage green with flowers in pink. Very vintage looking. It wasn't until I got it home that I realized how well it was going to go with the rest of the bedding.
My current bed is old and an odd 3/4 size. So I have a pink and white vintage Bates spread (love them!) thrown over the bed and it hangs to the floor on each side. Now my new green floral quilt lays over the pink spread about midway down. My plisse-duvet (oui-oui) is folded at the end of the bed. The 3 of them look very pretty together.
I'm a cheater when it comes to bed-making. I'll be sleeping on top of the green and pink spreads with the fluffy duvet and a micro chenille blanket on me. In the morning, I only have to fold the duvet and put it at the bottom of the bed, the rest is already made!


Next, I needed a few pairs of non-jean-pants to wear to my part time job. Check out these cute pants that I found at TJ Maxx. They are navy, some kind of soft fabric, with decorative buttons down the front-sides, which remind me of sailor pants. They have a nice wide leg too, which doesn't show well in this photo. They are made by Dalia and were only $19.99.
I did get a few presents for the grandmoms and my mom & Dad, so it wasn't a totally selfish shopping trip.




My current crafty project is a braided rag rug. It was inspired by a crochet rag rug that I saw in someone else's blog. But darn, I can't remember which blog* it was, otherwise I would give her a plug here. I thought it would be a great project to use up some of my fabrics and to make a pretty rug for the kitchen in the cottage. Here is my progress so far. I haven't sewn the braid together yet, it's just layed out in place. I am at a stand still right now because I ran out of matching fabrics! I'd like to still add about another 3 inches to each side, so I'm going to have to wait until I find some more fabrics to match. I'm working with my all time favorite color green of course, with some light yellows and pinks. It's kind of funny because many years ago my Mom made braided wool rugs. Here's a close up of the pretty colors and prints from my rug -

Bye for now, Carol

*I found the blog that was my original inspiration for trying to make a rag rug - Vintage Chica - There are instructions for cutting fabric, which I used to get the most strips of fabric without sewing or knotting the pieces together. Her instructions are for crochet and I can't crochet, so I just started braiding 3 fabric strips together instead . Thank you Vintage Chica!

Mermaid doll

Hi! I've been busy this week. I worked a few extra days at my part time job, spent some time drying out my car, and I've been busy getting the next update for the vintage goodies ready (dressy dresses, black dresses and old photos)
I'm also finally getting around to posting a photo of my mermaid gal that I made during my crazed Summer of sewing. I used some fabric that I had bought a few years ago - a pretty blue and silver ocean waves for the tail, old muslin for her body and a seaweed type print for her top. The hair is made from a fabric that just reminded me of hair. I cut it in strips and stitched it to her head. I made the pattern for her body myself, which turned out pretty good. Just a little oddly shaped head that was hidden by all of the hair. I love mermaids and I had been wanting to make a mermaid doll for awhile. I embroidered the face too.




The Gilmore Girls is back with a new season too. Another show that I yell at the tv through most of the episode. The actual Gilmore Girls bug the hell out of me anymore. I've had just about enough of the two of them, but I love everyone else on the show. They are both too self centered and pouty. Lorelei is so stupid for blowing things with Luke. Yeah, he should have told her sooner about April, but the guy was in shock. Does she really think things are going to suddenly work out with Christopher after 20 some years? And Rory with Logan. He's such a bore. I can't find anything to like about him. So less of the Gilmore Girls and MORE of Luke, Sooki, Lane & Zak and their band, Paris, Mr. & Mrs. Gilmore and the rest of the town!

OK, gotta wash my face, put on my pajamas and get ready for Doctor Who! (yeah, it's another exciting Friday night) Tomorrow I'll be making an apple cake for my Dad, who'll be 64 on Sunday.

Little dresses inspired by Vintage

I made this cute little dress as one of my weekend projects. It's about 7 inches, and I made the little wire hanger too, so that I can hang it on the wall. I had so much fun making the dress, that I made several more of them out of some fabrics and trim scraps that I have. They are up for sale on the New Crafty Page , along with some of my handpainted hat boxes. The little dresses that I've made so far are 1950s to early 60s style dresses, mostly full skirts. This weekend, I have plans to try making some Edwardian and 1920s style dresses too.



My thoughts on image theft. People seem to think that because an image is on a public website, that it is free for the taking. This is not true, especially for copyrighted images and artwork. You need either written permission or you need to pay a fee for the rights to use an image. To take an image from a website to use on your own website is wrong. Then to lie when confronted about it is even more wrong, especially when it is so obvious. Someone took an image from my site and used it on their own site. This person was foolish to think that I wouldn't see the site myself or that one of my customers wouldn't spot it and tell me about it. The person was also foolish because we could have been friends. I would have gladly made a similar image for her to use if she had asked. We could also have exchanged website links. But instead she chose to take something that wasn't hers, which doesn't use much creativity or integrity.

Carol
(ps, the images on my own site are ones that I either made myself, own, or are royalty-free)

Wardrobe Refashion sewing projects - Vintage to new

Here are some photos of my recent sewing projects. I'm sticking with my Wardrobe Refashion pledge to not buy any new clothing for 4 months and to only make my own clothing. So far, so good and I haven't even bought any new fabrics either, I'm just using what I already have. Click on the images for some more details on each of the items. The dress was made from semi-newish fabric from my stash and the other items were all made from vintage - a dress cut down to a skirt, a man's pajama top and women's pajama bottoms both became tops and so did a vintage tablecloth.




Here is the pattern for the dress - http://www.marthastewart.com/page.jhtml?type=content&id=channel3730331&site=blueprint

I made a smock and participated in a swap

I made this smock top using some cute pond print fabric that I had bought for a project a few years ago, but never did anything with. My friend Alison sent me the link to the pattern - www.flickr.com/photos/suzdeth/tags/tutorial/. I changed it slightly by using vintage lace from a doily for the neck and straps instead of fabric. The project was for the Wardrobe Refashion pledge that I took. Below is a close up of the fabric which has lilies and lily pads, yellow and pink flowers and butterflies.



I also just joined the group - Use What You Have which promotes using the supplies that you already have stashed away for crafts and sewing, rather than going out and buying new supplies. I just participated in my first ever swap through that group, which was really fun. The color theme was pink, which was really easy because I had alot of pink stuff. You're given a swap-mate and you check out their interest and find things that you have, that they might like. The idea is to pass on things that you aren't using to someone else who might be able to use them. Now I'm waiting for my swap to arrive!

First projects for Wardrobe Refashion & Victorian Clothing display

So, you may have read here earlier that I pledged 4 months for the Wardrobe Refashion project (no buying new clothing, only make or recycle from what you already have) So I started off with 2 small projects, some t-shirts that no longer fit me (they shrunk, I got bigger) First is a red tee with a cherub. I cut off the neck and sleeves on the red tee and I used part of a white tee (that had stains) to lengthen the bottom and then I added white pieces on the sides to make it wider.
On the mermaid tee, I took the front and then made sleeves and a back for the mermaid from a pair of striped pajama bottoms that no longer fit me. They'll be nice and casual for the Summer.



In my parent's old house, they had a finished basement that displayed all of their collections. But since we moved into a smaller house with no basement, we lost all that area. So the plan was to build the new garage for my Dad's cars, and use the garage attached to the house as a display area for all of the things that use to be displayed in the basement of the old house. Now the new garage is done and we are finally able to unpack the things that have been boxed up for a year since we moved (it has been exactly a year, we started moving the day after memorial day last year) So here are a few photos of some pieces from my Mom's collection of Victorian clothing and children's clothing. These are just some quick photos, I'll have to do some detailed photos later. The wardrobe came from a houseclenaout and is great for displaying with two areas for hanging items and several drawers. This will be set up like this all the time to show off the items. Click those tiny images for larger views!
Below is another shot of the wardrobe and a few Victorian bodices. Next are some snaps of a favorite piece that my Mom bought 20 years ago at a car show. I shoed pictures of this gown once before, several years ago. It's a 1900s mesh gown with fabulous lace, beading and strips of velvet. Not in the greatest condition, the silk lining has shreaded and fallen out of it and the velvet is yellowed and a little tattered in areas. I have a 1940s slip under it, which shows along the neckline in the close-up, so ignore that. I stuffed my little mannequin's boobs and behind to give her more of the proper lady shape for the style of dress.

The Wardrobe Refashion Pledge

The Wardrobe Refashion Pledge

I Carol,
Pledge that I shall abstain from the purchase of "new" manufactured items of clothing, for the period of 4 months.

I Pledge that I shall refashion, renovate, recycle pre-loved items for myself for the term of my contract.

I Pledge that I shall create and craft items of clothing for myself with my own hands in fabric, yarn or other medium for the term of my contract.

I Pledge that I will share the love and post a photo of my refashioned, renovoated, recylcled, crafted or created item of clothing on the Wardrobe Refashion blog so that others may share the joy that thy thriftyness brings!