nearly winter at the market

Its pretty chilly and damp when one arrives early, about 7am, to set up at the Brickworks Farmers Market in Toronto.

The mist burnt off in an hour or so and it turned into a sunny, crisp autumn, getting to winter, day. I always look forward to my breakfast from Chez Vous, so fresh and hearty, it really warms me up.

Luckily, these days I can have my van to hand and use the back end to display.

This weekend Dia de los Muertos was celebrated in style, lots of creepy make up, its quite disconcerting to have a conversation with the dead!

When I came home I found a scary, fire spewing dragon making a mess of the house.

Play day

A free couple of hours to play with my Liberty scarf collection.

This was the one that got me started, left behind in my parents pub when I was about 14. I still love the subtle green.

An update on the different colorways on this small floral.

A few days ago I picked up a mystery scarf that I just know is an old Liberty The above gray scarf also has no mark, imprint or tag, bought at a church rummage sale in the late 1970s, it was not until the mid 80s that I found its replica with a cream ground, this time with the imprint.

Another sweet floral in two colorways, may have more somewhere. Love the wee bunches of redcurrants.

I am making headway with organizing them, and at least, have decided to sort them into styles. Floral, art nouveau, paisley, hunting etc.

Much to good to waste

I am such a cheapskate and cannot waste any nice old fabric...

Found at the thrift last week a 30s depression era dress, very torn and damaged but I am sure I can cut some decent sized pieces from this dynamic seersucker.

another 40s home made dress, but only half a dress! nice pink and blue paisley smooth cotton.

and finally my own 1970s Liberty tana lawn dress that I have altered twice, washed a million times and finally wore out under the arms.

Vintage Clothing at the Wychwood Barns

A very good day yesterday at the Vintage Clothing Show, held at the Wychwood Barns (just around the corner from my house!!!).

As usual I only took photographs of my own booth as I was too busy/lazy/distracted/ all the usual excuses, but there was plenty of eye candy there and everyone was in fine form.

My two wonderful helpers, Marja, whom I have known for 40 years, and Veronica, doing her first vintage show and she took to it like a duck to water. They were kept busy all day.

Glad to report that the 1930s wedding ring quilt (upper left) found a new home, as did the Edwardian star silk quilt top (middle left). The super 19th century Ocean waves quilt did not sell, I think I may have been unhappy had it done so, I love it!

Liberty I am sure...

I needed a fix.....so I went out thrifting one morning.

A Liberty scarf I am sure, no label, no imprint, but I am 99.9% sure. The colour, the design, the size, the finish tell me it is so, most likely from the 50s. This happened to me once before,it was about 8 years before another turned upwith the label , a different colorway, that confirmed my suspicion.

Yes, I'm sure.

Another Liberty scarf, this sort of soft colour scheme is my preference. A Jaeger long silk scarf for my sister, not fabulous quality and I can't believe how much they are selling for these days.

It has been quite a few months since I found a Hermes, what a shame it has had a run in with someones cosmetic case . But I do not have this one in my collection, it is quite handsome so I bought it anyway.

A couple of blankets. Faribo blankets turn up frequently, unfortunately, many made of acrylic these days. I am only interested in the pure wool.

The Scottish blanket and label is new for me.

Of course, many more textiles came home with me that, no doubt, you will be seeing at a later date.

all in all, a good morning out.

Saturday market

Chilly and windy Saturday at the Brickworks Farmers Market. I find the wind really knocks me out and I slept 10 hours that night! Fortunately I had a spot where I did not have to move my van, it was right by me and that helps considerably.

Forgot to take the usual photos earlier on, these are from just before I packed up. The scarves have been gone over and the quilt rack looks a little bare.

I still have not figured out how to display my sign so that it won't fly away, but, it is almost the end of the season now.

Heather from Pi'lo came by the house later in the weekend. She was after some vintage ticking and I was happy to oblige. She is one of my very favorite customers with a clear idea of what she wants, that means she is in and out in a flash, no mucking about!

liberty of london scarves

When I bought this Liberty scarf home a week or so ago I was sure I had it in another colorway, seems I have several....maybe even more.

Think my new one (second from left) is the colorway I like best.

This Liberty of London was printed for Smiths of Bermuda, with an appropriate tropical underwater theme. Not sure of the era and, alas I cannot find any information on the store. Closed now I am sure.

Pretty eau de nil center however it is not in pristine condition..

This will be my new favorite Liberty scarf for the autumn., taken from my stash.The inky blues and greys will make a nice change from all those copper tones, not summery either.

Gingerbread Men

Look what arrived yesterday, all beautifully packaged...

my adorable new Christmas tree ornaments from The Gingerbread Mama.....all the way from sunny Spain. (my pics are not as good as the ones in the shop, I took them right away on the hall table).

Are they not cute?

Sam has another etsy shop....Sam's Shenanigans....lots of bright, colorful handmade items there as well......may I add, ever so reasonable.

I was impressed by Sams professionalism.....lovely business cards, lavender in the package and beautiful handwriting.

Oh...and a blog too.....

thanks Sam.

Thanksgiving Sunday at St Lawrence market

I set up at The Sunday Market at St Lawrence yesterday, it is a long day as I arrive at about 6.30am and take down at 5pm.

The day went well, I sold quite a bit from this stack of vintage Indian and Asian textiles. I have learnt a lot from Rachel Biels knowledgeable blog, Rayela's Fiber Focus, always a source of information, and from the descriptions of her items for sale on etsy.

Jeanette was having a golden 1/2 price sale, hope she did well. ( get with the program Jeanette and get a web site so I can give you a link)

3 english scarves

A trio of interesting British scarves have come my way.

The 'changing of the guards' is very fine wool and not in the greatest shape. I have no idea how old it is. When was the printed photographic process on fabric first around? The colour goes right the way through and there is colour seepage. My guess is the 20's given the cloche hats, and I do not think the English would have used such a Germanic font after the war.

Now this pictoral crepe scarf most likely comes from about 1945 - 50. Could be a souvenir or just a patriotic statement. Poems and speeches about England abound.

One to add to my Liberty collection (actually I have had it a while) Love the soft celadon green and eau de nil.

Saturday at the Brickworks

Saturday morning at the Brickworks farmers market.

I had a nice big booth in the pavilion. It was an incredibly windy day, my quilt rack, weighed down with 10 quilts blew over twice.

and a heavy army blanket was tossed down to the organic hot dogs about 50 yards away. However, people were in good spirits on the first freezing cold day of autumn. A taste of things to come...Brrrr.....no wonder I did a brisk trade in vintage sweaters and blankets.

A satisfied customer with her 'new' vintage Cowichan jacket.

Look at these heirloom 'chutney' tomatoes, all interesting shapes and colors. They sure beat the supermarket type that look and taste like plastic.