A Tale of Two Blouses

It all started at the fabric store, ahem, Goodwill, when I found this delightful bird fabric.

A few adjustments were needed.

Not usually a fan of novelty fabric for clothing, I discovered I couldn't pass this up. A blouse did briefly cross my mind as I put it in my shopping bag. Whatever it's fate I loved it. Fast forward a few months.....

 In building my thirties wardrobe, I decided this blouse pattern would be the perfect match with my birds!

I found a date stamped on this pattern of 1938.

This year my sewing goal is to finish one item a month, and so far I am on track! I may fall off the wagon this summer, as the garden and Lady Day are calling my name in the warm breezes BUT it has been a LONG COLD spring. Which means more time to sew, but still deadlines are much more effective.

Antiquing in Hixton, and Easter vacation in Florida were two deadlines on my schedule!

I almost hate to remove the buttons  from the card!

Pulling together my notions for the bird blouse I found some cute vintage buttons in my stash and decided to try bound buttonholes. Isn't the placement of the buttons adorable?

Always best to practice first.

I fall madly for the details of vintage clothing, and this blouse has a few. The pleat in the back and the little tucks which make it tuck in quite nicely to your high-waisted pants.

Hard to imagine wearing any of these clothes when it's snowing outside!

I finished it just hours before Hixton!

I must admit after getting my fabric at Goodwill, I get a little sticker shock when I go into a real fabric store. Two bolts of Moda pleated cotton caught my eye right away, and though I tried to forget about them while browsing I decided that this would be my next blouse. Well, what's a little splurge anyhow?
 I used a pattern from the 40's for this blouse that is very similar to the thirties styles.

As this one was being sewn during the Sew for Victory sew-a-long I decided to submit it. If you haven't checked this out, there is tons of inspiration and flawless seamstresses out there. Even if you don't join I recommend looking it over!

Initially, I planned to omit the trim on the blouse, but then I remembered one of my stashes. This would be excellent use of my vintage rick rack, not an overtly rick rack look, but a softer, scalloped look. More vintage buttons were found in my other stash that worked perfectly.

It occurs to me I have to lay everything out ( no folding the fabric) match the seams, and seam the top of the collar so the pleats would come out matching. I was obviously blinded by love in the fabric store.
Turned out very nicely I think.

Ready for Florida! Are we there yet?

 Ahh.. I finally got to the warmer weather and it was more delightful than I remembered.

Oh, and check out my Freddies! I have never paid this much for a pair of jeans, but I have to tell you, if you want the vintage look and top quality, you will not be disappointed. I am in love with them and already planning which will be my next pair when I scrape up some extra money. Freddies of Pinewood.

I may just buy some capris in case it warms up this summer!

The Power of Attraction

I am a firm believer in the power of attraction, and along with that the idea that whatever you focus on expands! Within the last year alone I have acquired a vintage mohair couch and club chair, turntable, fridge, and camper! But this is not solely about purchasing items you like, it's how things come to you in unexpected ways. I think the best example of this is my vintage aluminum canister set. My neighbor gave me a canister set she found in her cabin, and though I was in love with it, it was missing the sugar canister. No matter, I loved them and cleared the clutter (my huge microwave) to make room for them.

 After seeing my canister set on Facebook, my cousin's friend contacted me and told me she had a sugar canister that she thought matched  for me. I picked it up and indeed it did match! A beautiful canister set that came to me for only the price of gratitude.

Just added-S & P set from antiquing in Hixton.

Soon afterwards, my mother gifted me this spice set too!

This holiday season was a particularly delightful one for me. I had decided to cut out the stress of gift giving by not pressuring myself to get the perfect gift. You know what? I do believe that everyone got a well-suited gift from me this year. I also received well-suited gifts this year. The following are a few of my favorite gifts!

Daddy-O got me this gorgeous vintage blue coat!
 Blue is my favorite color, which you don't see too often.

I think this gift was for Daddy-O, but I'm claiming it as mine!

My brother made me a beautiful wooden tray and this vintage sign that goes perfectly in our newly remodeled breezeway.

Good Luck
Compliments of T J Wirrer
General merchandise
Mattoon, Wis.

Bo Peep found this plate in Waupaca brought it home to Mattoon, and fits perfectly in my "new" living room!


Last spring I bought some rocks and shot glasses from my late Great Uncle's estate. I didn't even know other sizes existed until I spied Rebecca's Collins and highball glasses at Mississippi Mayhem! I always gravitate towards glass at any thrift store, but no matching glasses were to be found. Then I received an early birthday present from Bo Peep.

Tom Collins, Highball, Old Fashioned, Rocks, and Shot.

Imagine my delight when I spied the glasses as I opened up the box! Now my mismatched glasses are gone to make way for my beautiful "new" set! Even though they are bar glasses I plan on using them as kitchen glasses. I delight everyday in using these beautiful glasses, and there's no reason to store that joy away!

And would you know it, now I noticed Annie has some too! My focus is expanding.

My mother gave me some of my Great Aunt Helen's lovely jewelry which includes Mount Rushmore sweater clips! Now I am reminded of her whenever I wear one of these.
 I have received many more great gifts, and love witnessing the power of attraction in my life. It never gets old. And if you're wondering what all this power of attraction talk is, I have been reading E Squared by Pam Grout. I highly recommend it!

Converting Clips to Posts

We're so excited to bring you a post from our new HVG candidate, Marilyn Mercury.  Recently she wielded her glue gun to do a bit of updating to a fabulous piece of vintage jewelry.  This is an easy How-To for anyone who hates those biting clip earrings. 



On the 4th of July, Mr. Mercury and I were looking for something to do that, of course, needed to involve driving our 1965 Mercury Comet. After looking through craigslist, I found a flea market in Northfield, MN, about an hour from where we live.  This drive is one of the prettiest routes you can take, traveling through gorgeous farm country.  We try to go there at least once during the summer. It was a beautiful summer day, which was most appreciated because summer took so long to get here this year.  Here in Minnesota, we still had snow in May!! 

Marilyn enjoying the Summer sun on her flea market trip.

When we got there I was a bit disappointed that it was such a small flea market, but I did find a few treasures, one of them being these amazing atomic-looking earrings! Now at first glance, most vintage earrings seem unlikely to be worn because they're usually clip-ons.  I have often passed them by before, but these just intrigued me.  I just had to try and make them work!! 

So off to Joanne Fabrics jewelry-making department I went. This is something I've never attempted before.  I was overwhelmed at the selection of tiny metal pieces for making necklaces, bracelets and earrings!!

I picked out some silver metal posts and backs. I already had at home some Gorilla glue and a hot glue gun. I figured one of those would work for adhering the posts to the backs of the earrings after I pried the clip portion off with a pliers.  


I ended up using a drip of Gorilla Glue to secure the base of the post.  After letting that dry, I then surrounded the base with hot glue. 

clip removed and post glued in place

I'm not sure it will hold for the long haul because these earrings are very heavy!! But I can't wait to wear these babies out! I think they'd look best with the very outfit I found them in, but now I'll have to wait til next summer! 

For now I will model them in my recent thrift store find, a beautifully beaded cardigan.  It only needed new buttons and a few tiny holes stitched up! Can't beat a deal like that! $4.50 for the cardigan and $3.00 for new buttons!

We think Marilyn looks smashing in her new cardigan and earrings!  Finding vintage pieces is not only an adventure, but restyling them to fit your needs can be so rewarding (not to mention economical).  Thank you for sharing your project with us, Marilyn.  Now I'm off to find my hot glue gun...

Lady Day

Last year we took two glamping trips, and while they were both fun, my heart longed for a little camper I could call my own. A tent really doesn't bother me, however it is a lot of setup work and most of our camping trips are limited to a two day weekend.
My goal for spring 2013- find us a camper!  I did not even have to seek one out, it came to me. A relative had a 1970 Shasta 1400 series that they were going to fix up as a hunting shack but decided they would rather sell it. In comes a girl in need of a camper, and we were soon parking a camper in our snow covered driveway.

I must admit it was not love at first sight, after all I had my heart set on an older model, but she had "good bones" and lots of potential. Diamonds in the rough are right up this designer's alley.

 Walls had already been removed and replaced when she came to us.

Cold weather does not motivate me, but with a deadline of June 1st I suited up and got to work.

 Daddy-O started some demolition, but before going too far I stopped him to survey the progress. The ceiling had some water damage and despite the replacement of the vent, it was unsightly. So out goes the ceiling! We also had to replace some of the wall paneling that was already missing. The yellow houndstooth check flooring was the only original piece I was sure was staying.

A trip to the antique store proved fateful. This headboard came home with me for under $20 and was soon to become my back rest.

 

Daddy-O worked on framing out the back wall, which had no support, and replacing some water damaged wood. My job was to fill in the spaces with insulation.

The paneling in the kitchen will stay, but needs some paint as I am not loving the dark wood.

Cupboard doors off for sanding, priming, and painting.

The first piece of paneling goes up! Exciting!

 Daddy-O worked hard and got most of the paneling up, neglecting his Caddy, in the background.

BoPeep came over to help me pick paint colors, since I had too many ideas rolling around in my head. We discussed chandeliers, hammer handle walls, pop art, and pinstriping. I love entertaining her with my artistic ideas!
I decide up on a pale yellow and aqua to tone down the gold yellows in the headboard and counter.
So much sanding and priming made me think I might never see color, but alas one rainy day I put on my headphones and set to  work getting some paint on the walls. By this time Daddy-O was getting nervous that it would be finished for glamping.

 But my son and I were not worried....yet.

 An aqua stripe was added to tie it in with the kitchen and  I stained the ceiling natural to break up the color. Some where in my hours of painting I was inspired. My vision for this camper was always a place that felt feminine, breezy and relaxing like a trip back in time to a hot summer day in the 40's listening to some Billie Holiday. Ahh my happy place...that's it! I shall name her "Lady Day".

I can not tell you how excited I was to get all the cupboards put back. I could see the light at the end of the tunnel!

However with HVG Glamping less than one week away I was suddenly feeling a knot in my stomach. A three day memorial Day weekend was to the rescue as Daddy-O built me a bench seat across the back, and I added some last minute decorating.

 Curtains were found last minute at Goodwill and they were a perfect fit! The headboard went in as well.

 

A vintage mirror with Lily of the Valley etching caught my eye at the antique store, and now I had the perfect place to put it/excuse to buy it!

 

 

Check the tires and lights, we're ready to go to Wildcat Mountain for HVG Glamping!

To be continued.....