Tag Archives: thrifting

Soreness.

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The ergonomics of my sewing room suck.  I’m ashamed to admit that my sewing table and my cutting table are the same table.  Ugh, I know.  There should be at least an 6″ height difference between them so it’s too high to sew on and too low to cut on.

But I make do.  It mostly means I need to break it all up, sew a little, cut a little, iron some, lay on the floor, ya know.  So a day full of cutting was hard on my back.  I took a stack of 12 or 14 plaid button up shirts and cut them into flat pieces, ready to be cut again into triangles and sewn into kaleidoscope blocks.  I am debating changing the layout from this mock up I made to this pattern.  Opinions?

A bit of thrifting #6

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I went to the Rescue Mission this week for the first time in a while.

I got three vintage sheets (did I mention I might make the yoyo quilt with vintage sheets?  I’m especially trying to collect stripes), a 1500 piece puzzle (of wet fruit and flowers? Of course.), and some plaid shirts that will soon become part of a quilt commission that I’m really excited about (in addition to 15 or so other plaid print shirts).

A bit of thrifting, #5.

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My friend Taylor and I went thrifting a couple days ago. We had thought we might go to three or four different places but just one ended up being enough. Mega Thrift is a huge thrift store just south of here that is packed full of color-coded things. I was hoping for a vintage sheet jackpot but no such luck – I got two pillowcases.
I did get a couple pieces of yardage.
Nothing has any info on the selvedges but the floral on top is about 3 yards, the stripe is 4 yards of 36″wide, and the heavier woven stripe is 2 yards. The cottons might become quilt backings and the blue might become a bag. I didn’t think I was crazy about any of them but the longer I look at the stripe (in the middle), the more I like it.
I also bought this crazy leather jacket/dress thing because it was only 10 dollars for real leather that I can easily turn into a few clutches.

I bought a pair of lamps that don’t seem to entirely work, which bums me out. The light inside the globe works but the bulb on top doesn’t, nor are there shades. I might fiddle a little bit and see if I can’t get them working.

I also bought a box of Singer machine attachments, hoping they just might fit my featherweight but alas, the parts require a higher shank. They are for a 503 series Singer Slant-o-Matic and the drawing of that machine in the manual looks pretty awesome! Maybe I’ll keep the parts around and hope to find the machine they belong to :)
Two different friends let me know about sewing machines at thrift stores yesterday and I went to check one of them out today. I don’t remember the manufacturer but it was turquoise and looked to be in good condition and only $25 but I couldn’t quite convince myself to get it. I already have four sewing machines (my Pfaff, my Singer featherweight, an antique Singer in a cabinet that doesn’t work, and the serger), I need another like I need a hole in my head.

A bit of thrifting #4

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Saturday is never my thrift store day but I hadn’t been this week so I stopped by, and I’m so glad I did. The bedding pile has become huge recently but I like digging through it. The vintage sheets were slim pickin’s today but I came out with an antique quilt!

It is mostly churn dash blocks with one row of something different, a block I can’t find the name of (it’s like a diamond in the middle of an unequal nine patch, up top). Some of the pieces have worn through and the batting I sticking out but I can only guess how old it is and I’d say that’s allowed.
There are cohesive blocks,
and scrappy blocks.

I love the places where you can tell they used what they had. The bottom of one of those peach squares wasn’t big enough so they added a little pink to lengthen it. I wish I had the guts to make a scrappy quilt like this.
Now I am left deciding where to put it. It seems too fragile to use regularly but I am so in love with it, I want to see it. It makes me wish we had a guest bedroom where it could be kept on a seldom used bed. There is no quilting history in my family that I know of, so this is the first old, handmade quilt I’ve owned and it makes me very happy. I wish it was autumn and I could curl up under it with a book and a cup of tea (can you tell the summer heat is getting to me already?).
I also got a new puzzle, some little Corning ware tea cups (I love the curvy handles), and a couple vintage pillow cases.

A bit of thrifting.

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I had some good luck with the vintage sheets at the Mission today. A few of them smelled like they came from the same house, even after I washed them. So, they might need a couple more washes. But I really love some of these!
I don’t usually like using a flash but I liked how it blackened out the back a bit.

I also got a mirror that I’m going to spray paint a shiny black (that’s why the mirror part is taped off). It was a little pricey at 10$ but I think it’ll be pretty awesome. All those sheets, a dress, and the mirror for 21$ is still a deal.

Gifts and a bit of thrifting.

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The lovely ladies at Stitch ‘n’ Bitch gave me ice cream and a couple presents last week that I have yet to share. Laura got me some awesome vintage fabric,a little purple apron with some beautiful embroidery on the waistband,
along with a very sweet note.
Lucy got me a few things that had to do with sewing, a quilty looking box filled with classic tomato pincushions (she was sure I’d have some already but I did not)
a puzzle that has not only a quilt on it but tea and a cat, three of my most favorite things,and some adorable buttons with roses (that remind me of Cath Kidtson), which are fitting since that’s my middle name.
I also did some thrifting a couple weeks ago that I never posted about. I got a couple baskets that I had spray painted for the craft faire,an awesome vintage sheet that I’m pretty in love with,and some ties and pants for the quilt commission I’ve been working on.

Altered and improved.

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My friend Molly asked me to alter a dress she found at a thrift store recently. She loves the ruffles but the sleeves were a bit too much (which were very much like these).
I was inspired by the lovely New Dress A Day and although the dress didn’t need much work, I took the large amounts of fabric that made up the sleeves and made a gathered clutch.
I love the pattern and have wanted to make one for a long time but something about how this turned out just isn’t right. The angles aren’t square and the zipper tabs got caught and messed up the top and it’s not as sturdy as I was expecting. I’m debating whether to give it to her or not…

I realized today that I never showed you a boxy pouch I made the night before I left for my trip to hold all my toiletries. I love it!

I used this tutorial with an Amy Butler print on the outside and a Joel Dewberry lining. It’s the perfect size for some travel bottles and make up. I’d like to maybe sell some at the craft faire, I just wish I could find a cheap place to get zippers.

A bit of thrifting.

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I did my weekly trip to the Rescue Mission today. The large mirror that was there for a month that I finally decided I’d buy was gone. Of course. That’s (almost) always how it goes. But I did get some great glass jars for 10¢ each that I quickly put to use in our bathroom/linen closet..
a couple milk glass vases that make me want to have fresh flowers around..
a nice little round silver mirror..a lovely small (1¾ cup) Corningware dish..and a three tier fruit basket like I’ve always wanted.I realize it doesn’t look level; I’ve been having trouble with that. One of the chains was broken so I tried to even everything out and it hasn’t worked yet. But now that I have this, I will make these curtainsand theseand I’ll have a great little kitchen corner.