Mysterious embroidered piece… what the heck?

I bought this piece at a recent auction because I liked the embroidery but I don’t actually know what it is or how it was used. Draw strings close the top and it measures approximately 20”x12” with this odd face at the bottom. The rest of the design looks like a basket to me; the fabric is just muslin or feed sack. My first thought was a satchel for clothes pins, but that would be really awkward; maybe a lingerie bag? The shape suggests it was for a specific purpose but darned if I know what it is. Any suggestions? Has anyone ever seen this type of bag before?

Recent thrifting acquisitions

A most amazing auction with oodles of stuff from a tiny house that must have been packed to the rafters. And even though the Cinderella bowls were buried in a box along with other kitchen stuff, the saavy auctioneers knew what they had, so offered them separately. No matter, they had my name all over them; coming home with me was a foregone conclusion. They are in fabulous condition and seriously, who doesn't love a pyrex bowl?

The green depression glass sherberts were another find at the same auction and since they go perfectly with my china pattern (Mikasa Hampshire), they had to come home with me as well. Now, what to fill them with?

Lately, I've been obsessed with vintage patterns and search them out wherever I go. Here are a few of my recent finds... This little number, a dress I actually made in the early 70s, was known as a culotte dress for its pants bottom and dress top. These were very popular in the late 60s, early 70s but now I'm thinking, what a pain when you have to go to the bathroom! I guess that didn't bother me back then because I remember making several of these dresses and culotte skirts too.

This apron pattern is not very old (1979) compared to others in my collection, but I love, love, love view 2. It has an "H"-back with back loops that the ties slip through. It will be amazingly comfortable and won't hang around the neck like many of the less well-designed, modern aprons do. It's a keeper.

Then there is this glamorous 1960s fishtail cocktail/evening dress designed by Pauline Trigere that I found at a thrift store. To die for... a dress that dreams are made of. And though I haven't stopped dreaming, this one is better left to Etsy shoppers; it's now for sale in my shop there.

Thanks for stopping by! Happy thrifting!

Remember gym suits?

Our's were white, one piece, with short sleeves, a collar, button front, a fixed belt with a metal loop-type buckle and bloomer bottoms. Just hideous. No wonder half the girls hated gym and pleaded to get out of it. We had to take our gym suits home every week for laundering too and then on Monday, coach would check to make sure our suits were clean including our sneakers! When I came across this pattern in my stash, it reminded me of those gym class days and the associated anxiety of wearing such an awful outfit. Who the heck designed those things anyway?

Aprons of the 20th Century

Earlier this week I was invited to give my vintage apron presentation to a fun group of local women celebrating their annual “Ladies’ Night Out” event. It was a great time with a wonderful turnout. After my talk, we have a little “show and tell” so attendees who brought aprons can share their stories and memories of their treasured piece of history. It’s the best part of the evening for me and so gratifying to meet others who value vintage aprons too. Here are some photos during my presentation.

Catching up...

Hmmm… has it really been over a year since I wrote in my blog? Guess so. It’s not because I’ve nothing to say, truly… friends can vouch for this, but simply because I’ve been really busy this past year, often with projects that would likely bore quite a few gentle readers… so no need to inflict those posts on anyone.
During this not-blogging time, I’ve found out a few things about myself, about writing and about my vintage obsessions. Fact is, I really like to hunt down the treasure, but I’m not so keen on actually parting with it, even if I bought it with the intention of selling it. Sound familiar to anyone? I do like to write about stuff though; that’s how I blog roll, it seems. Over the winter as this realization began to sink in, I stopped going to auctions and stopped buying whatever looked interesting or had possible sales value. Still my house is filled with the things I collect… books, vintage linens including aprons, table cloths, fancy work (pillowcases, dresser scarves, countless tea cloths with matching napkins), books, framed prints, vintage sewing notions and of course, vintage sewing patterns (my current love), and books, did I mention books? I’ve watched that show about hoarders (for about 45 seconds) and I don’t think I’m there yet.
No auctions, estate sales, or garage saling for many, many months, until yesterday when I took myself on an artist’s date (a creative practice from Julia Cameron’s book, The Artist’s Way) and went to an estate sale on a farm. It started at 7:00 a.m. and I got there a few minutes before. Loads of really great looking vintage items, all of which I managed to resist. Not because I didn’t want them, but because the woman running the sale was from Texas (I’m guessing here… the daughter of the homeowners) and had her own ideas concerning market value of vintage items. She priced everything by Texas standards which don’t actually translate very well here in SW Nebraska, if you get my drift. You don’t find B&B’s around every curve in a country road in these parts, nor any Texas hill-country style mansions whose owners decorate in vintage style. Case in point, the box of fancy work I considered buying (a small box, really) that she was convinced was worth $40.00. Well, maybe in Texas, but not around here. At a local auction that small box would go for around $3.00… and well, I felt compelled to tell her so. Leaving empty-handed, quite self-satisfied… and okay, a bit superior, I soon arrived at the next stop on my list. It was a lovely little home in SW Lincoln where the dear friends of an octogenarian were holding an estate sale for their friend. Now these ladies knew how to price things!! I walked away from this one with a smile on my face. My finds: 2 sewing boxes filled with vintage rick rack, lace, buttons still on the cards, a buttoneer (never used, still in the box), a couple of vintage patterns, some really old handmade braid from Germany still on the card, the big yellow Pyrex bowl (50 cents) and a two pristine, block-printed mid century tablecloths (50 cents each -- just the sort of thing I hoard). Ahhhhh, I’ve got my game back I think; a happy thrifter indeed. Here’s a photo:

My summer...

Wow, what happened to summer? My tomatoes are just beginning to ripen, the garden is a jungle and I'm way behind on my blog. Been busy with summer life... holidays, get-togethers, church projects, and of course, auctions and thrifting. Here are some photos of a really fun collectibles event held on a farm near my home town. This place is called "The Shed." Treasures galore!!

A chopper what?

This is a chopper hopper.

What?

I honestly didn't know what this was either when I brought it home from a recent auction. It was in a box with some other stuff I wanted, so it came home with me. I thought it might just be a lidded jar to hold cotton balls or something on a vanity until I googled "chopper hopper."

OMG! yea, it's for holding dentures. That's why it's a grandma character holding a toothbrush and tube of toothpaste. People who wear dentures apparently don't sleep with them in their mouths... they put them in a container on the night stand.

Classic dental Americana maybe? We'll see, it's going on ebay very soon. Creeps me out actually, though it doesn't appear to have ever been used. Euw!

A clean house = bliss ineffable!

It's always a struggle for me in the Spring... should I work in the yard or should I start Spring house cleaning? Today it's overcast and will probably rain, so it's definitely a cleaning day.


When I was a child in the 50s, I watched my Mom perform Spring house cleaning chores every year. She'd wash windows, clean and re-install window screens, shake out rugs, launder curtains, wipe down walls and cabinets, flip mattresses and of course, scrub floors. Mom didn't have a very big house to take care of, but still, it was alot of work. She taught me well and I like to think I was partially listening.

I begin my ritual with window and screen cleaning, then decluttering... that takes several days. Then I loosely follow Mrs. Clean's advice in no particular order. Sometime around June, I'll decide I've done enough.

Throughout this process, I use a homemade, frugal, less-toxic all-purpose cleaner that I just love. Here's the recipe: to a big bucket of hot water, add 1/2 cup borax, a splash or two of ammonia, and a teaspoon or two of Dr. Bronner's liquid soap (I use peppermint). It has just the right mix of clean smell and fragrant smell... much better than store bought. And it gets me motivated! So for the next couple of weeks imagine me as the retro gal above... except I won't be wearing the dress.

What to do with all this...

bias tape!

There is alot of it... dozens and dozens of packages of single fold and double fold in every imaginable color... many still unopened. When I saw these at a recent auction, my hand went up like a rocket but now I'm not sure why... in the back of my mind I think I had a plan for them, but now can't remember what it was! I'm suffering from inventory overload. I can barely get into the room where I store all my auction finds and this box is one that's been staring back at me for weeks. Help! What should I do with it? Your ideas are very much appreciated!!

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!

Latest auction finds...

Had a banner day at auction last weekend bringing home these treasures...


A vintage 1960 Sunbeam Hand Mixer!! Never, ever pass one of these gems up... they are gold, literally. They were made here in the U.S.A. back when we used to make things in this country and made them very well. Though harvest gold is not my first color choice this baby makes up for it in mechanical perfection. Gotta whip up something with it very soon.


A mess of milk glass... all in one fell swoop, who could resist?


A sweet, sweet triangular nut dish... pink with charcoal gray bottom. So chic I can hardly stand it.


Nice oval bowl... sleek lines in matte black... gotta keep this one.


So cute baskets... remind me of summer and grilling parties.


Charming footed egg vase... perfect for Easter.

Sublime satisfaction.

Some favorite vintage photos

We have a pretty large collection of vintage photos... 'cause, well, we're old. There's Jack's mom and dad's family, my family and all the early photos of ourselves in the mix. Here are a few of my favorites, each priceless in their own way.

My Grandpa Harry... of German descent, a cheerful fun-loving guy who loved beer!


My Great Grandpa Lewellyn, German also, who loved cats and beer.


Jack's Aunts Bernice and Margarite in stylish 1920s bathing suits... heartbreakers in their day.


Me, 1966 junior prom with my date who had just gotten his driver's license that day. I made this dress... white dotted swiss with pale blue velvet ribbon around the empire waist and sleeves. Loved that dress, nice do too.


Jack's mother c. 1930... fabulous haircut.


Jack with a buddy in 1958 at Trader Vic's, San Francisco... quite a night for two boys from Nebraska... aka, the good old days.

Vintage at heart

In nearly every box I bring home from an auction, lies a hidden treasure. It's not the thing I bid on, it just happens to be in the same box... just waiting for its moment to shine. For this pretty heart label, that moment came yesterday.

I have four stacks that I sort auction things into. One is for stuff I will list on ebay, another for etsy, a third for Etcetera (our local thrift store) and the fourth one is for keeping. The hidden treasure almost landed on the Etcetera stack until I realized what I had... a 1964 copy of the Farm Journal's Freezing & Canning Cookbook -- Prized Recipes from the Farms of America. A treasure in itself... filled with canning recipes for every kind of pickle and preserve you can imagine. The owner used this book quite often judging from the number of recipes she handwrote and slipped between its pages, recipes clipped from newspapers and magazines and some even pasted onto the color photo pages in the book. Recipes for chokecherry jelly, no cook pickles, dilly beans, cranberry wine, and frozen sweet corn.

And then there was the heart... folded in half and tucked into this book long ago... the label from the heart-shaped baking pan that includes the recipe for Sweetheart Cake. That it emerged three days before Valentine's Day tells me this recipe deserves revisiting... so on Sunday I'll make a Sweetheart Cake for my sweetheart and celebrate V-day in a decidedly vintage way. (Both the label and the book are now on the keeper stack.)

Vintage Bling!

My treasure trove of vintage jewelry was a Christmas gift from my son-in-law who refurbishes foreclosed and abandoned properties in Denver, CO. This stuffed jewelry box along with some beautiful vintage linens and aprons were in a box he had tossed in the dumpster during his cleanup. Out of nowhere, a vintage angel (or deva) tapped him on the shoulder and reminded him of his MIL's love of all things vintage. {thank you deva} He retrieved the box and gave it to me... one of the best presents ever! In my box of vintage treasures: a copper bracelet and earring set, signed Renoir; a jet bead and rhinestone necklace and earring set, signed Vendome; a great hippy coin necklace; a silver filigree bracelet; a pair of poodle scatter pins; a 14K gold Abon glove clip; a silver cuff bracelet (I wear this all the time now); and the best for last, a one-inch wide rhinestone bracelet, signed Weiss.



Sympathetic collectors can surely understand why I haven't posted anything lately... I've been researching all this jewelry and trying to figure out what I've got here. It's been so fun, but time consuming! Alas, some of these pieces are destined for ebay and etsy soon (sometime soon) and a few I'll keep and wear... often thinking about the woman who bought or was gifted this jewelry. Did she buy that rhinestone bracelet for a special occasion or was it a gift from her husband or lover? And what about that hippy necklace and the hand-painted souvenir bracelet from somewhere? Vintage jewelry has so many stories to tell....

A stack of pretty plates

My Find of the Month! "My limoges! my limoges!" From Out of Africa, my favorite movie... when Denys Finch Hatton loads his ivory (technically Barkley's ivory) onto the train carrying Karen, soon to be Baroness von Blixen, she shrieks as his men begin loading the ivory onto the train atop the very wooden crates that carry her precious limoges china. That's what went through my mind when I came across these darling plates at my favorite thrift store. Stacked atop one another and secured with blue duck tape, I recognized them right away. They are, each one perfectly charming in their delicate pink flower pattern with blue curlicues trailing from sprays of flowers, Haviland limoges, the Princess pattern, made in France in the early 20th century. I am giddy with the thrill of this find... in total, there are six luncheon plates, seven dinner plates, and one bread plate... all for $3.00. Yes, you read it, three bucks total! Oh, how I love thrift stores!

A mystery in pastel glass

I bought these two pretty salt and pepper shakers at an auction recently because I loved their colors and the sweet litte bow design around their middles. The green one's cap is corroded to a handsome verdigris nearly the same shade as the glass. Unfortunately, I can't tell you much more about them, not for lack of trying though. I've searched everywhere I know but they don't show up in any of my books as classic jadeite or hazel atlas platonite or other common milk-glass makers. One friend suggested they are probably pressed glass and not mold blown because they have no pontils on the bottom and the insides are very flat. Also there are no markings on the glass or caps. So the mystery continues. Meanwhile they sit on the shelf above my monitor. Pleasing to the eye while carefully concealing their true identities... to be revealed at a later date, hopefully.

Oh cool! First post! Today I went to an auction and found two treasures... a mahogany coffee table with lyre-shaped insets for 25 cents and a box of seven vintage garden gnomes! $10.25 later I'm home cleaning up the gnomes and getting to know their endearing little faces. Also hoping DH won't flip out over yet another furniture upgrade I've added to his list of to-dos. The legs are wobbly on the table and it needs refinishing, but otherwise an elegant useful, all-wood table. Not bad for a two-hour outing and minimal expense.