thrifting and trinkets

Out at the thrift today for just a little while, found a beautiful silk scarf from the National Trust and the obligatory Liberty scarves, I think these are from the 60s 70s. I really must take inventory of how many I have (well over 600), but not now...in the fall

from catnapcottage

from Undoneclothing

from ponder and stitch

3 little trinkets that caught my fancy... I think you can see the direction I'm going in. I defiantly need one, don't you think?

my parents silver at Mishka's wedding

Some lovely flowers using vintage teapots and beer tankards from my parents pub on the south east coast of England. I am a publican`s daughter and lived above the `shop`for my first 22 years. I started washing glasses behind the bar when I was 14, the legal age, at that time to be on licensed premises.It was a thrill for me to see them being used at a neighbors wedding yesterday...I have never seen them so clean since I bought them to Canada. Don`t you think the girls, brides sister and friend did a beautiful job.

More on the wedding and others I will go to this summer later.

Again I am delighted to be featured in this exotic treasury which is titled Bollywood and features a glowing sari that I have up on etsy. This treasury was curated by beadsnbones who is based in Austria, don't you love these international links, makes the world a more intimate, friendlier place.

30s fabric

Here are some pretty 1930s cottons that I have collected over the years, mostly from thrift or charity shops....with the odd church rummage sale thrown in.

another charming hat, check out Gypsy lady on etsy, I'm full of admiration for these talented people.

treasury and hermes

Last week I was featured in a charming treasury, and what do you know - the quilt sold! The curator, BabyShowerSuppplies, then selected another depression-era quilt, and unbeknownst to her, it was also one of mine. What luck!

And here is that quilt:

It's Thursday, so it must be Hermes day. This is Art des Steppes. Lovely, vibrant colours. I must remember to wear it!

sweaters from a vintage pattern

As you know, I love found, vintage yarn and small projects. I was cleaning out a rather deep storage and found these little darlings...all the same knit from the top down 30s Beehive ( now I believe, owned by Patons) pattern. All vintage buttons. From top clockwise...

straw colored 70s cotton/linen mix from Germany.

taupe linen yarn bought from a charity shop in the Cotswolds, this was the second sweater and I had to add black cotton stripes.

same taupe linen, the lilac ric rac was my mothers, it was all I had in my knitting bag at the time, I was staying with a good friend in Monteverde, Costa Rica.

Lilac and blue pre war (30s 40s) 3 ply fine wool...I believe I bought the wool in Kent.

White wool...this was on the cone from a mill in Yorkshire and did not knit up very evenly, so I had to embroider over the uneven parts. The little toggle buttons were from a church rummage sale here, I bought a pint jar full.

With a balaclava from the same 30s Beehive pattern book. Vintage grey pure wool with velvet buttons.

I wish that I had photographed the other garments that I have made from this pattern. They all had a story to tell.

Thrifting today

I prefer to go thrifting at the beginning of the week as

a...I often work at a market on Saturdays and/or Sundays and miss the yard /rummage/jumble/bazaars/boot sales/fairs

b...because of that I like to treat Wed/Thursday as my weekend, we often go up to our little cabin mid week

c...it gives me the week to deal with the treasures..wash/mend/air/iron/ put in the 'to be dealt with' pile.

Today I bought a fabulous woven wool blanket, soft muted colors, reversible. Alas no label but I know it is fine quality, very heavy and in perfect shape.

I also picked up an elegant kaftan...sand and white fine striped silk with lovely embroidery, I will most likely keep it for myself.

More too, the usual scarf selection and some bashed up quilts...not bad, eh?

Take a look at these fantastic headpieces from Janine Basil, so much fun

Front Page of etsy

Oh...I was on the front page of etsy yesterday... I have just managed to up load the page from craftcult...... this is the pretty quilt that was featured.

I was also featured in another treasury.. all depression era items....and here is that quilt.

another Brickworks market

A very nice day at the Evergreen Brickworks Farmers market. I set up beside St Johns Bakery, the yeasty smell made me hungry all day...mmm. My breakfast was delivered right to my booth by my favorite organic catering company, Chez Vous...I order the scrambled egg and pesto sandwich almost every week...their stand was almost opposite mine. This farmers market almost always has some kind of entertainment...today it was a lovely classical trio, they were busking. It was also National Aboriginal Day, so there were some terrific dancers and drummers...really fine.

In all a good day, the for-casted rain held off and I sold a few quilts and blankets. I quite like the scaffolding and 'work in progress' look of the site....very, very dusty, but, Hey! it is the old Brickworks.

Treasuries and Clothes

Here are two very pretty treasuries (of course they would be with my items in them)!

In Sweet Sunny Summertime

and

In Every Green Home...

I'm amazed how many young, original dressmakers there are today. I thought sewing was a dying art. Here are some I admire:

Left to right (from top): ozzana, malam, JoDemontis, couvert, amoelbarroco, 13threads

Shawls and Hermes

last night I went to a lecture on 'how to wear shawls' at the Textile Museum of Canada, it was most disappointing, I feel I could have learnt the same thing at my local department store. So, I thought today I would look at some of my small collection of wool shawls from India. I don't know too much about them, I think most are from the 50s 60s . The pale grey/green with the pink and red embroidery is square and almost certainly pashmina...so soft, its my favorite and I wear it all the time

Its Thursday, so it must be Hermes day. This is one of my earliest 'Chateaux Histoiriques de la France...well worn, but soft and nostalgic.

New finds today

Last night I went out to the thrift shops. Not a lot to be had, some pieces of needlepoint (don't know what I'm going to do with them), and, for myself, two lovely liberty scarves from the 50's and 60's. I have the fox hunting one already in a few other colours. I need these like a hole in the head, as I have over 600 liberty scarves already. But hey, either you're a collector or your not.

This is such a fun etsy shop, the shop is RubyPearl, the owner Sunny Harelson makes whimsical up-cycled fun garments, as well as telling fairy stories.

60s knitting patterns

Today I usually go thrifting, but I uncovered 2 big boxes of my old knitting patterns (mostly cut from Woman's Own magazines) from the 60s when I used to knit my own 'dolly bird' dresses...of course, I weighed 98lbs in those days. So I have spent most of the morning reading ....I read patterns like novels. Some of the designs are wonderful. There are a lot of old baby patterns, stitchcraft mags and I used to send away for patterns featured in newspapers. I can't bear to throw them out. Perhaps if I tidied them up and put them in lots they would sell on etsy, Womans Own , started in 1932 is certainly not the magazine it used to be! Ah well, we shall see.

mother of pearl

this week I have been inspired by a lovely etsy blog about mother of pearl buttons in the USA written by Linzee Kull McCray, who blogs under Pearl the Squirrel....a blog worth reading! I have always collected these shimmery buttons and here are some of them on a couple of my suits. (you do not want to see a pic of me in them, of a certain age, 5ft and somewhat overweight)Both suits have 2 sets of non-matching buttons, but that doesn't bother me.
Do you know about the Pearlie Kings and Queens of England with their wonderful costumes?


They have lively photos and lots of internet information The last time I saw a pearlie was in February in Richmond, New Zealand .....a small town on the north end of the south island.
I'm working on how to upload some pictures from flickr, but for now here are the suits.