Thrift Thursday: Oh I'd Like To Know Where You Got The Notion

And what to my wondering eyes should appear????

Oh Lordy... Did I ever Rock the New Vintage Thrift Boat, Baby!

50 vintage patterns! 25 cents each.

some in my size

a Tunic! 3 dresses with princess seam! Jackets, capes, handbags, Oh My!

and some little ones.

These I will want to swap. My nieces are getting too big!

(even Toys: Raggedy Ann and Winnie the Pooh circa 67...!!!)


And Oceans of beautiful Notions!

I love love love thrifting for Notions. It is so great to get a zipper for 5 or 10 cents instead of a buck or two.

and the packaging is really fun to admire

my what big eyes you have... and big hooks too!

And the joy of vintage buttons is almost beyond compare.


Extra super thrill for the ones still on cute cards!

There are a few items that are risky. Elastic and bias tapes that have been improperly stored are sometime brittle. But usually they are so cheap they are worth the risk.

And patterns aren't always complete... But some of them are worth it just for the envelopes alone.

This whole beautiful bunch of patterns and notions were from just 2 trips to the thrift store.
If you go thrifting, ask if they have a craft section. You never know what you might find!

Now my biggest question is: what do I sew first!?!

Go On, Get Your Thrift On!

Kiss For Luck,
Betty

Any New Vintage Knitters??? Up For Grabs!

Hi All!

Well, the tomorrow I mentioned on my last post came and went, but here is the giveaway. At the thrift store, I found a great book of chunky vintage knitting patterns circa 1962 by Bernat! But I still don't have the skills, so holding on to this would be just plain wrong.

I'm with Milo... I also like the argyle.

So it's up for grabs! And I'm throwing in some big, pink, size 15 needles. All you need is the yarn!
Leave me a comment and I'll draw on Thursday!

what a darling couple.. and so cozy looking!

These patterns are all cute, a little bit kitschy, and as always here at the Craft Cabin, they are Kitten Approved.

Come on, you know you want it!!

Peace, Love and Snuggles,
Betty

Thrift Thursday: Kokeshi Rescue

This sweet little baby was face down in the November mud at a yard sale in Jamestown, CA.
She was even a little bit moldy. She'd been out there awhile.

I brought her home and have now, 5 months later, cleaned her up, repainted her original design, and given her a new hair stick.

I think she likes the way she looks.

Tutorial Tuesday: Vintage Suitcase into Mobile Studio

Once only a lonely lost piece of luggage
Now this cutie is full of gift tag and correspondence goodies...

I like a good vintage suitcase, but after you aquire 40 or 50 of these little darlings it might begin to occur to you that you can and quite frankly MUST give them a second incarnation of true utility, or buy them their own house or something.
While thrifting in my old hometown got a sweet little green case and I was reminded of of something I saw on Koreana's Flickr that she had scanned from a Cottage Living (I think) article.

So I gutted the little darling.
It was yucky, wear gloves.

cute on the outside...groddy on the inside. But for 2.00, who cares?

And now my step by step Tutorial on the vintage case upgrade.

You will need
a stripped out vintage suitcase
paper bag or large paper to trace a pattern. sturdy is better
fancy paper or fabric- amount varies by case size I used 2 large sheets of paper
foam core enough to make an insert for case lid and bottom
a large piece of poster board- enought to wrap around the sides of the case top and bottom
I used bias tape for an accent trim
flat elastic for tool loops

glues:
spray adhesive
hot glue

craft knife and scissors

1)Use a paper bag to make a template of the lid and bottom of the suitcase.
2) Use the template to cut the shape from foam core board or corrugated cardboard.




3) Lay out the tools the way you'd like them to hang in the case. Mark the back of the board where you will add elastic loops. (In the final design, the large pinking shears were too heavy for this lid insert.)


4) Cut the paper extra large round the board



and clip notches in the overhang, so it will lay properly as it's folded over.



5) Mount with spray adhesive. Fold over edges and let dry

6) Cut strips of the poster board to fit into the edges of the bottom and the edges the lid of the case. Cut paper to cover; enought to fold over the top and have 2-3 inched of notching clips on the bottom. ( Similar to lid insert.) Glue to cardboard, I used the spray adhesive.


7) Fit sides to inside of case.


You might need to slice 3 or 4 really deep notches to go around rounded corners.

Hot glue into place. Notched ends can be secured with white glue or more hot glue,

8) Apply bias tape as an accent and to hide little goofs.


9)Now lay out the tools and add the elastic loops to hold them in place. I pierced the paper and board witha sharp clean standard screw driver, and fed the elastic through from the front to prevent paper fraying. Mine are secured with knots and hot glue on the back side.



10)Hot glue in lid and bottom panels

11)Fill and thrill to the joy of your super custom stylish craft case.


12) Decorate the outside of the case as you see fit. Mine got a floral racing stripe decoupaged to it. But a stencil could have been really cool too...

Wanna be penpals? I got the paper.

Smooches dolls,
Betty

Thrift Thursday:Thrifting Therapy from my Hometown

It was a fun day of shopping in my "home county" of Tuolumne on Tuesday. I came up with some fun and lovely stuff. Vintage patterns, all cute! And one is a western shirt with fun cuffs!

Vintage Sewing box in a most covetable color.

Hmmm, not usually a label girl, but I am able to make exceptions...

And a cookbook that was likely bought for the red cover with black dots...


Because it sure wasn't for the delicious looking color plates that dwelled within.
Yipes!

It was very theraputic to make a fun thrift haul because my last retail therapy was buying a great new pair of jeans. I got lucky and found a pair that fit, were flattering, had those cute pocket flaps, and were relatively cheap. I got them up near my sister's house which is an hour and a half away. I left them in my car, and left my car unlocked in front of my house... and somebody stole them! So frustrating! Did the thief know they were getting a one in a million purchase? Could they possibly understand what a good pair of jeans can mean to a woman of 40 who just put back on all the weight she lost last spring? I knew better than to leave the car unlocked, and as for replacing the jeans, I know that will not be so easy. Jeans and bathing suits... they make the dressing room a battleground. All that therapy... straight down the toilet.

Oh well. At least there was good thrift. And one of the patterns has sailor pants.

Thrift Thursday and Tutorial Tuesday: My New Shade

Well..

where else would Thrift Thursday and Tutorial Tuesday Meet but WIP Wednesday?
Here is my new thrifted lamp, and a tutorial so you can make a fancy paper shade...
Just like mine!

Thrifted Lamp: 4.00
plus Paper to recover shade: 2.50
Equals Deluxe Custom Bedroom mood lighting for under 10.00
(and greenish to boot.)

Many lamps from the thrift store are fine except for shade issues. This one was pretty good but very lightly crunched on one side and dusty and cheap looking all over...

Recovering the shade with paper is a quick and inexpensive fix that works best on squared or drum shades.


This type of fix works best on shades that are in this good of condition or better. For shades that are discolored, deeply dented or torn, you would want to mount the paper onto a plastic lampshade backing or heavy bristol board white paper (using a spray mounting adhesive) and use only the metal frame of the lampshade, removing all the old fabric and lining.

For this easier fix, I simply traced the lamp shade panels and cut them out of the pretty paper. I used a high quality sheet of wrapping paper for mine, and a rotary cutter and straight edge to cut it, for a more professional edge.



These panels were glued onto the dusted shade with a strong permanent glue stick. I used a line around the edges and held it in place manually until it adhered firmly.
I used a glue stick to avoid any discoloration or puckering that you can sometimes get with liquid glue. A permanent book binders double sided tape might also work, but only if your paper isn't too transparent.



I then cut 2 inch strips which I folded into a paper bias tape of sorts. Folding the strip in half and then folding each edge in until it met in the middle on the fold line.

You could also use a pre-made fabric bias tape in a coordinating color, as it would both look beautiful and be very easy to work with, needing none of the notching on the corners outlined in the following steps.

The paper trim is then glued on the inside fold and applied to the sides of the shade. They are mitered to exactly fit the sides with no bulky overhang.

If you are not recovering a lamp, but rebuilding one from the frame up, it would be a good idea to use a single thickness of paper glued tightly on each seam and the top and bottom of the lamp before applying this paper trimming over the top.

To apply a strip of paper trim to the top and bottoms of the shade you modify the strip by unfolding and trimming a 1/4 inch off of what will be the inside edge (That is the side of the trim paper that will be facing the inside of the shade and wrapping over the wire frame.)

Then glue the side with the fold so that the crisp edge of the fold meets the bottom, if you are doing the bottom ( Top for the top, of course) of the wire on the frame. Notch a small 'v' in the outside of the tape, Just at each corner edge, so that the paper folds neatly around the outside.
additional touched of glue will make this lay just right.

You next fold the unfolded trimmed inner paper over the wire and glue in place. Make sure your crease stays visible by not over pulling the paper to the inside. I made several small cuts to get the paper to round perfectly on the inside corners and made sure each side was well set before moving to the next. I also hid the seam on a back corner of the lamp shade.

If you are recovering a drum style shade, make these tiny cuts all along the inner edges. But if you used fabric bias tape, don't need to make any.


Place the shade on your lamp, or on your head, and do a happy dance, because you're all done and it was un-believably easy!

Thrift Thursday: Fine Found Art

Look at the $8.00 masterpiece
(Still life of roses snapdragons and honeydew melon? Be still my heart.)
I found, that fit in the previously thrifted frame, I already had.

Thrifty Kismet.

Sigh.
It just makes me keep coming back for more.

Little Boo Peep

Yesterday I got a rare treat. I got to help make a costume for my niece.
She is little Boo Peep.

We recycled or thrifted every bit and I think it came out just perfectly.
Rescued squashed vintage hat. Totally restyled.
thrifted eyelet top embellished with recycled ribbon.
1.25 for thrifted chintz swatch for over skirt.
borrowed petticoats
And a kid friendly "crook " from recycled pipe
insulation used to pack a bicycle,
wire hanger, bamboo garden stake
and recycled ribbon and trims.

Total cost 7.00.

It certainly restored my faith in chintz.
Shepherdesses look great in it!

Tuesday? Really?

Hmm... already Tuesday, already September. 8 day since my last post.
I'm in deep denial.
So here you go... some images of cute animals and purchased loot to distract you from the fact that my promise to start blogging regularly again has not yet been fulfilled:

Gratuitous Thrift:

more stuff I don't need and could not live without.

Gratuitous Kitten:

i just love the sly smile

Gratuitous Pup:

snozzle

Gratuitous Cicada Studios Fabric Splurge:

they make me a little weepy, they are so pretty

As for serious news?
My son is now the same height as myself, I am working on a cool top secret project with my sister, I am sewing a new vintage garment, in swanky, saucy animal print-ish velveteen, the pup can roll over on command (and often actually does), the fridge has been clean and organized for 4 straight weeks, I gained back 3 of the pounds I lost since I started walking almost every day, and J actually likes at least one of his teachers this year.

Let's all have a hearty cheer for Mrs. Anderson, Miracle Woman!

All right, I really will start posting regularly again. I'm serious. This time I really mean it.