Look at what I did with the Vintage Sheet

So, on the last post, I showed you the vintage sheet that I had found. Now - here is the finished product! An eighteen inch pillow with a ruffled flower-ette in the center. It is bright, sunny, and deserves to sit on a porch somewhere in the sunny South, or on a sofa, chair or chaise lounge in a solarium, or sun room up here in the North. This vintage sheet that became a pillow, is very soft from use and features a very antique and feminine print. There are many situations where I would rather use old, vintage material for my projects than a new piece of fabric! I will let you know when I post this listing on my Etsy store. www.sleepingvirginia.etsy.com 

Making Something New from the Old

Look at my newest acquisition. A sweet gold and yellow floral vintage twin bed sheet. I own a queen-sized bed, so why am I so proud? I'll tell you. I'm going to up-cycle this piece of fabric into some fabulous throw pillows. Maybe plain, or with a sweet little ruffle going right down through the center! I can just see them sitting pretty on someone's wicker furniture on a porch somewhere south of the Mason-Dixon. Or on a pretty cherry sleigh bed covered in a white matisse coverlet.

Vintage items, especially vintage fabrics are some of my favorite possessions. I probably won't want to part with these pillows once they are completed, but I've become better at listing them in my etsy store  www.sleepingvirginia.etsy.com for someone else to enjoy . And that's a good thing, otherwise I wouldn't have a store at all!

Check out the following links to some Etsy stores that list vintage items.
There's some great stuff out there that would love to have a second chance from their previous life.


Peachy Vintage
My Vintage Whimsy
Frostline
Vintage Fabric Jane




I'll be posting these pillows on this blog when they're completed. Envelope back or zip? Ah, decisions, decisions!

Trends - They Come and they Go...

It's common knowledge among the fashionistas that trends come and go in clothing. Trends are also recycled. There is an old idiom that says "if you notice a style coming back around, you're probably too old to wear it! Well, in clothes that may be true, but pocketbooks, satchels, and handbags are an exception. I believe that anyone at any age can carry any style bag that one pleases. In fact, vintage bags are very popular with everyone.

I did some research and found some bags from the 40's through the 1990's. I find it interesting to see how styles have developed over the years. It makes sense that bags have gone through such changes. For instance, stylish women of the 1940's probably carried a wallet, lipstick and compact. By the 1990's, handbags were required to hold more items such as cell phones, laptops, blackberries, organizers,etc.

So, look at some of the handbags I found representing decades from the 40's - 90's. Click on the links,and a list of Academy Award nominees and winners will be listed for each year of the corresponding decade.

http://www.filmsite.org/oscars40.html

http://www.filmsite.org/oscars50.html

http://www.filmsite.org/oscars60.html

http://www.filmsite.org/oscars70.html

http://www.filmsite.org/oscars80.html

http://www.filmsite.org/oscars90.html

The Wonderful World of Bags!

Ah, the handbag. I've had a crush on them since I was old enough to hold one in my prepubescent hands. A couple favorites really stand out in my memory. When I was about eight, I took the last cent of allowance that I had saved and purchased a wonderful little Holly Hobby bag. I can see it clearly now. It was light blue with a lace edge and REVERSIBLE. How cool is that? The inside was lined with Holly Hobby print and man, I loved that purse!

Skip a dozen or so years later and I inherited another little number which I cherished all the more, because the original owner bequeathed it to me with great love and reluctance. It was a drawstring brown leather bag which she had purchased in high school, (she was well into her twenties by this time), and as much as she loved this accessory, she handed it over because she loved her husband more. Let me explain. This guy was a big-time mucky-muck working in a corporate environment which included attending many office outings. My friend needed to dress for these events, and her husband finally had the last say in the bag she chose for an accessory. She claimed he told her in no uncertain terms that it was time for her much loved leather drawstring handbag to go Pocketbook Heaven. Well, she knew I'd take good care of it, and so that bag lived out it's twilight years in my possession. I dare say I loved it as much as she did!

So, with that said, I'd love to hear about favorite bags you have owned over the years. Do you have one that stands out in your memory? Do you change bags according to season? Outfits? Are you a lover of the big bag that can house the kitchen sink? Or do you prefer the small little compartment bags that hold the essentials, money, lipstick and ID?

Vacation is over, time to get the lead out!

- I have just returned from my annual week long sabbatical in Ocean City, Maryland. I go with my sister, my niece and her best friend, Kaylie. Every year is slightly different, partly due to the fact that my niece and her friend are each year a little older and have more, let's say "mature" interests. They are now twenty years old and young adults. Yikes, next year they will have both have turned the legal drinking age. I'm betting we see less and less of them from then on!

You'd think I'd have been relaxing by the pool or the beach with sewing the last thing on my mind. On the contrary, with a week off, I had more time than ever to spend designing my latest endeavors. The exception being that I was creating in my head with a Margarita in my hand instead of hunkering down behind the sewing machine in my studio.

Which brings me to the latest greatest joy in my life, my newly expanded sewing studio. My bf being the great guy that he is, donated his portion of the attic to provide me more room for my projects. Right now it's a room-in-the-rough, but like wine, spaces develop better with age. I expect to be arranging and re-arranging for some time until I get it just right.

**Need a gift for someone, or maybe treating yourself for a change? Log on to http://www.etsy.com/ and shop locally whenever possible!