Goodies

I have been in a bit of a crating funk lately. I've been wanting to work on sewing up a few wool skirts for the colder months but just haven't the drive to do it. All I've wanted to do is bake and watch the leaves change color.  I do love the fact that I can watch the leaves change color.  I can't get over how beautiful and vibrant some of the colors are.Especially when the sun catches them from the south. Gorgeous.

A few weeks ago, I had a doctors appointment so I had to go thrifting ,of course. I went to all of my usual stops except for the F.I.S.H thrift store in Carson. I probably won't be going back there since the last trip I took there I saw cockroaches. Yup, pretty gross. I have NEVER seen cockroaches at a thrift store and I have been going to them since I was  5 years old. I don't want to risk bring something home and getting an infestations. Needless to say, I didn't buy anything.

In my last post I mentioned that I have had great luck finding vintage sweaters for the winter. I found these two beauties at a little thrift store for $2.50 a piece

I LOVE this sweater. I've always envied the vintage bloggers with their awesome winter sweater and have lusted after their beautiful design. I found this hidden under a rack of men's sweaters. At this point I've come to accept the fact that very few vintage women's sweaters will fit me. If I do find one that fits, it's too short and I don't like showing my belly.  I was so excited about this sweater I didn't notice the black stains on that sleeve and back. It wasn't until I got home that I noticed. I soaked in it in the sink over night and that helped. However, I bought OxyClean and holy crap that stuff is awesome. It removed like 95% of the stains. There are a few very light stains that you need to be looking for  to find.

How cute is this label? A Viking holding a mace. Totally awesome.  I figure that this sweater is from the 1960s from the looks of the label. I tried looking the label up but didn't find an exact one.

 

This is my second Centura brand cardigan. I have a burnt orange once I bought back in 2000 and I love it to death. This is an Orlon cardigan and I realized that it would be the perfect match for me to sew on my letter from high school.

 

As excited as I was about these two awesome sweaters, this Johnny Cash LP made my day. I've been wanting a Johhny Cash LP to add to my collection and I finally found one. Actually my brother's girlfriend found it and I swooped it up. It's not in the best condition but it doesn't skip.

I found this awesome vintage planter at another one of the hidden thrift stores around town. It truly amazes me how much awesome vintage stuff I have found since moving out here. This planter is a vintage Rubens ceramic planter from the 1950s or 1960s. It's in great condition except for some discoloration on the nose and mouth. Right now it's sitting on my kitchen window sill growing some succulents.

I also found this vintage pullover. It fits me but it's too short so it will be sold. I love the texture of this pullover and it's acrylic too so just wash and wear.

Helping Hands is my closest thrift store even though it's still a good four miles away from us. I've found many a treasure there. Mostly clothes, fabric, and knitting magazines.

I've been slowly building my collection of wool sweaters/pullovers. I may need to make or buy a camisole since I get a little itchy with wool directly on my skin. This pullover had a few holes (maybe moths) on the front but the pattern lends itself to hiding the stitching.

I love the vintage color of this pullover. It was right next the the pullover above. It's a little long in the arms but I can always roll up the sleeves.

I bought this wool coat for $5. Yup, brand new without tags and clean. It's a bit big on me but it's nothing a belt won't fix. Luckily, I have some premium felt that matches the coat perfectly.

Here it is with my vintage fox collar that I bought for $2. I can't wait to wear it out. It hits me mid-thigh which is great since my behind always gets cold during winter.

These gorgeous girls I bought for $2 I love me some glitter Lucite especially at a great price. These threw my for a loop once I realized that they aren't earrings. It turned out that they are scarf clips. Not sure how to used these but I may used them as shoe clips too.

I love this set. Although it did take my a couple of years I bought the bracelet first and really loved it. I got curious if there was a matching necklace and low and behold there was. Although the big elephant is BIG.  It's about 2'' long. I think I paid about $12 for the set.

These earrings are really cool. They are caved scarabs in a trio of colors. I wish I could find a matching bracelet or necklace that didn't cost a fortune. Lately, I've been wanting to add more tiki themed or colors to my collection.

This beauty I bought from decoderm007 off of Etsy. It's an artisan piece using Bakelite chips shaped like suns and moons on a  black chain. It's very reminiscent of novelty necklace of  the 1940s. I can't wait to wear it out.

I won this awesome 1940s celluloid chain necklace from eBay. I thought the wood hearts would be very heavy but they are unbelievably light. It has "Bora" written on the biggest hear which leads me to believe it was a souvenir necklace.

I love elastic bracelets. They can be a bit pricey. Especially vintage Lucite ones. I bought this one along with a couple of bubblegum pink bangles that alas were too small.

Bakelite Hoops!! I bought these for $15 for all three including shipping. Anyone who has ever looked into buying some Bakelite hoops now that they can rune anywhere from $12 -$45 a pair depending on color and texture. So I was tickled pink when I won these babies.

I made this blouse from vintage fabric and used vintage buttons for the Fall for Cotton sewalong. Unfortunately, I felt like crap that final week and didn't get my entry in. I love the way it turned out and I figured out a better shape to the sleeve.

Lastly, I made this brooch out of a necklace that I hadn't worn in a long time. I glued a brooch pin to the back and let it dry. I haven't worn it out yet but I will.

My sister game me this cute eyeglasses case. It's from the Philippines and made from raffia and straw. I love it.

I've had  great luck lately at the thrift stores. There's a flea market coming up this week and you can be sure I'll be there. Can't wait to see what goodies I find.

If you haven't entered my giveaway be sure to enter before midnight Friday 10/11. It is open internationally too so everyone has a chance to win.

It's Giveaway Time!

I hope everyone is having a great start of Fall (for those of us in the US) or a great start to Spring on the Southern hemisphere . One of the things I truly love about living in Northern Nevada is that we can feel the change of seasons. The nights become colder and windier. The trees begin to change colors and Ridley begins to sleep/cuddle more with me. I have a need to drink tea all the time. And the baking. All I want to do now is bake.

Over the last few weeks, we've had a lot of visitors. My in-laws came up for Labor Day weekend. We went to Echo Lake near Tahoe and had an early birthday dinner for Jesse. My brother and his girlfriend came up a week or so ago. We had a good time. They got to see it snow on the Sierras. Hannah and I went thrifting and found some great sweaters. I'll have to make a post about all of my thrift finds at a later date. It was nice having my brother up here. He and Jesse got to spend some quality time playing video games.

A few months ago, I decided to host a giveaway to celebrate reaching 50 followers. Now I'm up to 70 followers and figured it was time to get my but in gear. I want to thank everyone who reads and comments on my posts. I truly enjoy reading every comment and try to reply as quickly as possible.

 Now, I've got things together and will be hosting my first giveaway!

                                                                    Rules:

*You must be a follower of my blog.
* Leave a comment to enter
*It is open internationally so everyone is welcomed to enter.
*You can increase your chances of winning by posting about my giveaway on your blog. Be sure to leave a separate comment to be counted in.
*This giveaway will open until Oct 11th. I will draw on Saturday  Oct. 12th

                                                                 Onto the Prizes

A double orange Ranunculus flower clip. Made by me





A pair of silk Orchids.




An embroidered kitchen towel. Honestly, I love the way this turned out. One of my best projects to date.
Side A


Side B



Handmade quilted sunglasses case.


Inside


A hand knit keyhole scarf. This was made using acrylic yarn so it is machine washable and dry-able.






A cherry brooch made from vintage 1950's millinery. A pair of glitter Lucite clip-ons and a pair of screw back cameo earrings from the 1960s.









I wish everyone good luck and a great weekend.

Life As Of Lately

It has been an interesting last few weeks. Getting up at 4 am is a very hard thing to do. Especially since your husband is a night owl. He used to stay up until 1 or 2 in the morning when we first started to date. Now we're in bed by 10 at night and up at 4 am. It's gotten easier. I've learned that if I get up around 7 am it makes my day a lot easier. I tend to get things done earlier and I'm not as tired. Of course I always have Ridley willing to wake me up 15 minutes before my wake up time to "remind" me that he wants his wet food. Darn cat. I love him to pieces  but he does drive me crazy sometimes.


A few weeks ago I went to my local thrift store and found some vintage skeins of yarn. One was a Gold Sayelle Orlon yarn. I love vintage gold colors. It's so pretty and different. The other was Dawn Wintuk in black. It's also an Orlon yarn. The Orlon yarn is a lot more springier and is very easy to knit.A lot of my vintage cardigans are made from Orlon yarn.

 I decided to make a knitted beret because one can never have too many cute hats, shoes or purses. I used this pattern fro Ravelry. It was a really easy pattern and it knit up fairly quickly. I did make it a lot shorter than the pattern called for. I like my hats to be close to my head so I can wear my hair curled or in braids.






This beret I made a few months ago. I made it using super wash wool. Super wash means that the wool fibers won;t felt when you wash and dry them. The pattern for this was out of my giant knitting book A Stitch in Time Vol.2. The pattern also includes a matching pair of mittens. I haven't decided whether I want to make them or not. I also made my sister a couple of "hipster" hats.





I haven't sewed a lot lately. I did fix up all of my petticoats this past weekend so now I can wear them without worrying about them looking bad. Not that anyone is going to see them but I will know the weren't looking too good. I'm neurotic like that. I know people won't know since it's hidden but I'll know and it'll drive me crazy.

I have been looking for elastic cinch belt for a while. Whenever I do find them they elastic is dead and they want more than a couple of bucks for them. I lucked out a couple of weekend ago and found these beauties.I'm not sure if they are vintage go not but I love them. I may need to replace the elastic since they are a bit too tight on me right now.  I had a huge collection of cinch belts when I was in high school. Of course I got rid of them once I went to college.





Last Friday and Saturday was the annual rummage sale at St. Gall. It is a HUGE rummage sale and I've heard that people from out of state come to shop here. Last year I got there around 9 am and it seemed like a lot of the good stuff was gone. I still got some goodies but all of the jewelry was gone and I only had a budget of $10. This year I got there around 6:30 am. I had to drop Jess off at work at 4 am and let me tell you it has been a long time,if ever, that I have driven that early in the morning. It was nice; not many cars on the road. I got to St. Galls and there were already to long lines. There were two lines : one for going to the auditorium (housewares,crafts,jewelry,clothing etc) and once for everything else (furniture, lawn care things, parts). They opened promptly at 7 and the people piled in. I picked up to paper bags to carry my goodies and proceeded direclty to the jewelry section.

I was in there for about an hour and came away with lots of goodies. It was hectic and let me tell you old ladies can be very pushy and rude. Here's what I came away with.


Of course Ridley had to give it his sniff of approval.
 

Whenever I got to thrift stores, garage sales, or ,in this case, rummage sales I always look for vintage purses and jewelry. Those are the first two things I always look for. Then I look at patterns and fabrics.

I had great luck finding these beautiful evening handbags. They all have chain handle that is tucked in so they don't get snagged on each other. They were hiding under a bunch of bad '80s purses.



I saw this purse from across the room. I saw the colors and boxy shape. I figured it was probably an '80s does '50s but low and behold it's a vintage 1960s Verdi. It's a good size purse too. This baby is mine.







I constantly have to remind myself to look under things. Under tables, under piles of clothes, just under things. Luckily this time I did. I found this vintage 1950s wicker purse. It's gone from who9te to cream in some spots and one of the handles is a little loose but I'm sure I'll be able to fix these issues once I get to buy some tools I need. I love the pattern on the purse, the print of the lining which is in amazing condition; no tears or stains. The neatest thing was the eagle emblem on the latch. I haven't been able to find anything out about it.









Here are all of the patterns I found they are mostly from the 1950s and 1960s. I was lucky enough to find a few men's patterns. It seems that those tend to be very hard to come by. I have come acros A LOT of 1970s men's patterns but these are the first from the 50s and 60s.






I found these patterns in the same box that I found the mens pattern. I get to so excited and happy whenever I find vintage patterns. I literally don't see anything but what's in front of me. Which is one of the reasons I always wear a shoulder purse. I wear it across the front of my body so no one can get at it.


These are all preteen or miss patterns. I love the cute  dresses but the nighties and undies are the best.


The first pattern on the upper left is a reversible wrap dress. How cool is that? I don't wear form-fitting dresses otherwise I would keep it. The housecoat pattern next to it is still in it's original state. Factory fold and all. I've never found a vintage pattern that wasn't cut. I'm also contemplating keeping the little boys clothes pattern. I'm not expecting but I would love to make my future children their clothes.



All of the patterns from here on-out are for dolls clothes. There are patterns for Revlon, Cissy and Betsy Wetsy dolls. At first I thought they were babies clothes but I'm sure that it would be easy to grade these patterns up to baby size.





Aren't these earrings gorgeous? They're all clip on and in great conditions. I am very tempted to keep the black cluster bead earrings. I probably won't though.

The black beads sparkle really prettily. They have copper fleck in them that I couldn't capture very well.



I only found a few necklaces this time around.







I love the elephant trim would be super cute for a little girls dress or jumper.



These lovely embroidered doilies are actually tissue holder covers. They have and elastic case hidden under the Christmas theme.





Lovely vintage tea themed table cloth.It's on the small side for a coffee table or small round table.


The dresser doilies are so pretty and feminine.


Gorgeous vintage hankies. I love the edging on these but I don't have the patience for such small, intricate details.



I wish this gorgeous sweater had been in my size. The beading detail is perfect for the 1950s and the detail on the collar is amazing. I need to wash it and then it'll go up for sale.


 


Finally, my tiki guy from Hawaii. Not sure if it's vintage but for a buck who could pass him up. He was also hiding under a table riddled with a ton of candles and candle holders. There are a few things I forgot to photograph but that will be for another post. I think this one is long enough already.


I hope everyone has a great week and weekend. I'm going to make a blouse or two. ANd play some Ocurina of Time this weekend.