..........a blog about food, travel, gardening, and living the good life in Arizona.

Monday, March 22, 2010

Vintage sewing patterns and awesome vanity

Okay I went a little overboard at Saturday's auction, but hey, it was my birthday so I bought myself a little something... six boxes of somethings actually...


I hit the motherlode of vintage sewing patterns to be exact. From the 1920s clear through to the 1980s, this dear woman must have been sewing every day of her life. I counted them up today... 417 in all. Just a few from the 1920s, a nice collection from the 30s, 40s, and 50s, and the bulk from the 60s and 70s, my favorite decades because that's when I did most of my own sewing. I even found a few patterns that I know I sewed when I was in high school... the prom dress I made in 1966 (shown in this post)
and this shirtdress...


that I made in 1965 for the first day of my high school sophmore year. I made it in a blue/green cotton fabric that had a small, all-over flower pattern. I made view #1 without the collar and accessorized it with a skinny black patent leather belt. And I wore my hair in a medium-length flip. The whole look was classic 60s. I seriously remember all this because that was the day I met the "first" love-of-my-life and subsequently the architect of my first broken heart. I was sixteen years old. sniff, sniff.

Here's the other treasure I snagged at auction...


A 1941 waterfall vanity... I've been looking for one of these for a very long time. They are not too difficult to come by but because their surface decoration is primarily veneer, they are often found in poor condition. This one is in remarkable shape and has all its original hardware... a steal at $20.00. I love it... the mirror is enormous!

5 comments:

  1. Wow! Such great finds and on such a perfect day to find them!

    I absolutely love the vanity.

    My mom had a love of antiques when I was a child and used to drag me along to auctions every weekend. It certainly wasn't fun then, but I think it would be a lot of fun now. Maybe one of these days the kids will be old enough to sit through one or I'll leave them with Greg and I'll go by myself. I'm always looking for new treasures.

    Congrats to you!

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  2. Lovely piece of furniture!
    Leah @ Moxie photo recommended me to drop by...
    lovely vintage selection!
    xo

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  3. Oh my goodness--what a haul on the patterns!! and that dresser is just wonderful. Wonderful, indeed.

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  4. You are having way too much fun on this blog!
    You need to show me how to put the YouTube clips in my blog. Love you! JC

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  5. green with envy! that dresser to the definition of beauty. yeah you on the mutha' load of patterns. so fun. i need/want/have to learn to sew one of these days.

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