Showing posts with label patterns. Show all posts
Showing posts with label patterns. Show all posts

Thursday, 25 April 2013

This Week's Haul: Tables, Fabric, Patterns, Appliances, And A New 'Hazel'!

I know.  I'm still slacking, but I swear it's because this stupid computer is so slow and buggy that it honestly DOES take hours to do just one post.  It has more brain farts than Albert Einstein at a Mexican restaurant!  So annoying and I'll likely throw it out the window shortly.

I haven't done a 'Haul' post in a few weeks, so I'm going to throw all my recent finds into this one...I hope you'll forgive me!

I finally snagged a new 'Hazel'.  That's the name of my dress form I had while I was in London (and 'Hazel II' was my final collections dress form at uni).  I sold Hazel when I graduated and hadn't found a replacement for her until now.  Yayyy!




She's actually about a size larger than sample size at her smallest, but she'll do for the moment until I can find a smaller, better form.  And for $24, it was a great deal.  I love her!  And the fact that she's aqua just makes her and even more fabulous mid-century diva!

She's 'Pip Approved'.

I've also gotten a few new patterns at Habitat.  I used to buy TONS of them because they were only 25 cents each, but for some reason they've raised them to 50 cents and mentally I can't wrap my tightwad head around it, therefore I usually buy less---both volume and $$ wise.  Marketing stupidity there, Habitat.






Anyway.  I also got a nice HUGE curtain panel there, I'm estimating from the late '50s.  They didn't have it marked and I was told they'd price it at the register...again, not a very good marketing plan as it made me instantly on edge expecting to be taken advantage of.  Luckily, it was only $2.50!

There's a good four or five yards!  It'll make something fab!

I found this great tray at my favourite thrift store and knew I had to have it! 



Of course, I looooooove the graphics.  They're too cute and oh so 1970's/'80s Japanese cartoon luciousness...which is my childhood in a visual nutshell! 




I keep a lot of my loose hair pins, clips, and ties in a box in the top drawer of my bathroom vanity and it's hell digging through in search of something...especially while holding the hair the elusive accessory will hold in one hand...you know what I mean, ladies, we've all done it!  I'm happy to report that, after arranging them in my new tray,  yesterday I was able to find what I was looking for in record time!  Not bad for a dollar!

I got these tables at the same time....



I'd seen them on a previous visit, but didn't buy them.  This time, I only saw the two end tables and thought maybe I'd imagined the coffee table.  I asked and the owner assured me that the coffee table was around somewhere, but we'd have to look for it because she couldn't remember where she'd put it!  We found it underneath another taller table in a corner.  I remembered they weren't very expensive from the last time I was there, but couldn't remember the exact price.  I was thrilled when she said, "I've got them marked at $15".  I was even more thrilled when she went on to say, "...but they've got that yellow dot on them, so they're part of the 20% off sale."  What?  $12????  Yup.  $12.
They're not very heavy and aren't in pristine condition, but they're a killer style and I've been looking for a set of tiered end tables to either use in my living room as additional table-idge or in my bedroom since my current bedroom suit is sans nightstands.  I haven't decided where they'll go, but they'll for sure be painted first.  The coffee table will go somewhere as well, but for the moment, they're all three in the 'moving in room', aka, junk room!

This great starburst footed platter was bought off a local facebook selling site for $8.  Love it! 

  



I've since found out that it was originally a chaffing dish, but is missing it's 'chafe'.  It's still fab and will come in handy I'm sure!

The next couple of 'finds' weren't bought, but simply brought to my house from my parents' house. 
These two pictures were in my house (my grandparents' house) to begin with and were taken out by my mom and I while renovating so they wouldn't be ruined or lost.  They've made their return and appear quite happy to be 'home'.

This is a pic of my grandparents themselves, Grover and Bertha, freshly married around 1942.  Don't you just love the soft tinting on old photographs?



This photo of my mom, around 1963, hung in my bedroom in this house when I was little.  I love the pattern on this dress!



When I got home from work the other day, I found this in Pip's 'Staying at Gran's House' bag...



Mom had apparently decided I needed it for my laundry room!  This is a '70s original and made many moves with my parents and me.  It's been in my parents' current laundry room since I was 12, but when mom called the next day and asked if I'd found it, she said it was just screaming to be in my owl and mushroom laundry!  I can't wait to install it!

I've realized this morning that I never posted any pics of a 'haul' from before Christmas!  My late '40s General Electric kitchen appliances!




They're in my basement at the moment in the canning kitchen from which I snatched my current mid '60s upstairs oven and fridge.  I plan on using the unfinished basement as a tiki bar/billiard room and will of course need an extra kitchen for that...well, maybe not NEED, but it'll be nice!
I haven't done much cleaning on them yet...except for the inside of the fridge...but now that we're having some warm weather, the basement is more tolerable and I'll be getting them ship shape soon.  Then I can put them in proper position in the room.  At the moment, they're just sort of sat in the middle of the floor!  I may eventually paint the refrigerator because it has a little spot of rustiness showing ever so slightly through a corner at the bottom.  I'd LOVE to take it to someone to professionally paint it and if I do, it'll end up either pink or aqua and that's all there is to it!

Check out the inside!  It's pretty much all there.  


I think, upon doing a little spot of research, that the only thing missing is the glass topper of the 'Meat' drawer.  Everything else is intact and in great condition...the 94 year old original owner (a friend of my mom who is preparing to move from the house she's lived in since the early '50s into an assisted living flat) even found the original manual as well as the release lever for the ice aluminum ice tray for me!  She and her husband brought these appliances with them when they moved into the house!  They moved them into the basement in the early '60s when they redid the kitchen....you should see the GE oven they replaced this one with!  It's one of the cute ones with the push buttons!  And don't even get me started on the kitschy wall paper behind it!  I should get a photo next time i visit!  I've told her to make sure that whoever buys the house has my number and knows that I will buy that oven from them if they take it out...as well as the Youngstown sink in the basement that matches the cabinets I bought from her!

The Airliner oven is officially non-working right now and not in as good condition as the fridge.  I say OFFICIALLY because mom's friend said that it had a short in it and she'd unplugged it because of that.  TECHNICALLY though, I think it's probably perfectly fine.  When I went to pick it up, her son and I were looking at it and he said he never knew until I'd asked to buy it that it wasn't working.  He turned and asked his mom what was wrong and she again stated that it had a short in it.  When pressed further, she said that she'd been using the oven a few years ago and it had 'shocked' her when she touched it.  He and I looked at each other and at the same time said, "Not grounded?"  Probably.  Because when we pulled it out, there was no grounding wire.  And since the basement was never a proper kitchen, the outlet itself was unlikely to be grounded either.  Since she just got a little shock...and lived!...it's unlikely to have caused anything to short out, so it's probably just fine!  Of course, I'm going to have a professional come look at it before I plug it in, just in case.
It has its original soup warmer and it even has all of the inserts for steaming several things at once!

If it turns out that she is in working condition, the only real issue she has is the broken face on the clock/timer...


Well, that's it for now!  Any of you scored some good stuff lately?

Tuesday, 30 August 2011

Still MORE Vintage Patterns! Where'll I Find the Time???

Hi hi, my dears! I know it's been almost 2 weeks since I posted! I've been sewing my little fingers off....seriously, I have a giant knot on the joint of my index finger (which I dislocated a couple of times as a kid) where my scissors rub AND, the tips of my index and middle fingers look like they did during final collections last year, aka, the skin is slowly peeling! Ewwww!!
But I've been productive! Well, sort of. I've finished two dresses. One is a cute little 'Twiggy' dress in a vintage yellow, blue, and mango striped jersey with a white Peter Pan collar:



The other is an early sixties inspired dress with a boat neck, sleeveless, fitted bodice, and a semi-full gathered skirt made in a blue and pink heavy chintz:



I'm also working on the short sleeved version of my "Tara" dress. Only a sleeve and zipper to go!:



I also have a bell sleeved high neck mini dress. It's done all but attaching the sleeves and the neck and the hem. I'd put a pic up, but quite frankly it doesn't look like much without the sleeves and the neck!

I'm trying to get as many things made as I can before I head back to London in a little less than a month, as I know I wont' be able to afford a sewing machine once I get there for a while! Speaking of machines, just a little hint to all: When using a domestic machine with a zig zag stitch in lieu of an overlocker, give it a break between edges. Otherwise they overheat. Apparently this is common. Who knew!? My Singer actually started smoking! Don't worry though, she's fine!

I've picked up some more great vintage patterns that I'll begin trying out later this week as soon as I finish the backlog I already have!...







This one's even got a hat pattern! I can't wait!!:













And there were even two early '60s maternity patterns. I figured, I'll no doubt need them at some point, right?




I've realised that I almost never do outfit posts, so I promise to do more in the future! Here's today's, kind of untypical for me, Betty Page inspired look:






Black silk knit top-$20 on sale-Express, years and years ago

Black and white gingham high waisted trousers-£10 on sale-H&M Divided, Camden, a couple of years ago

Belt-$7 on sale-Maurice's

1940's gold bangle-FREE-My grandmother's

1930's onyx and gold bangle-FREE-My grandmother's mother's

Mary Janes-£15-Dorothy Perkins last year...and they're on their last legs, but I can't find any that I like to replace them with!!

Yeah, I know, almost all the outfit posts I've ever done are looks other than '60s. Trust me though, the Betty bang is really just a once in a while kind of thing for me! You'll see when I start doing more of these!
Toodles, chickens!

Thursday, 7 July 2011

More Vintage '50s and '60s Patterns=More Work For Dolly.....

Today, my little sweet peas, I went on a short outing...to get some hair colour...and took a little side trip to a local antique shop on a hunch I might find something interesting. SCORE! I found a box of vintage patterns, all for $1 each. Here's what I got:











I think my favourite is the little boat neck wiggle dress shown in red or stripes. And i really love the jumpsuit too! The great '50s patterns will be great to mix and match pattern pieces and I'm for sure adding a waistband to the skirt of the fourth dress to make that hard-to-find '50s circle skirt pattern.

There were some great finds, but as I had limited myself to $10, I left a few behind. If they still nag my dreams through the weekend, I'll probably go back for them!

I also swung quickly by a little 'Jesus Thrifty' that I used to go to all the time. I've bought so much cheap late '60s and early '70s there, but I hadn't been in for three or four months. BIG disappointment. You thrifty retro sweeties know what I'm talking about: When a thrift store decides to start marking the vintage pieces in between all the cast off Old Navy and Wal Mart junk WAY up? Probably my fault too for buying armloads of it at a time, but really???
They had some cute early '70s wrap pants which, while they were a quick fad that are now rare as all get out, aren't worth me forking out $8. I'll just be happy with the super psychedelic pair I was given (for FREEBIES)from a lady I buy the occasional bolt of vintage fabric from.
They also were still sitting on a sweet little round box purse from the '70s with the requisite mushrooms decoupaged all over. I've wanted it for ages, but they always had it at $30...$30 for ANYTHING but a fur coat in a thrift store is just insane and this purse would only be about a $15 item even on Etsy or Ebay.
Well they had marked it down to $20, but even that is still above full blown retail for those little babies. Needless to say, they can keep it....along with a cute pair of '40s lamps, $50 my behind!
They had some patterns too, but nothing great...mostly '80s sailor dresses and jumper dresses...and at DOUBLE the price I'd just payed for proper vintage at the actual antique store minutes earlier.
Sigh.
Guess I know where I won't be going back to. Oh well. There's a new one really close to my house that I've yet to pop into. Maybe tomorrow?