Thrifted for $9

I bought this simple white Noritake mug.

My favorite part is the bottom that has the logo and information—I love the type. 

I got this set of four Stegorcraft spoons that I thought were really cute.

I also got this ¼ teaspoon—I looked for other sizes, but only found this one. I liked the long handle.

Then I got two 2 quart Cuisinart pots for $3 each.

I was going through the items in my basket to make sure I wanted everything before checking out, when I decided to return one item. Instead of being lazy and just sticking the item in the wrong place, I went across the store to return it to its correct location. As I was making my way towards the checkout area, I noticed something on the ground—a wood inbox tray. I picked it up and knew I wanted it. I immediately thought I could take it to work and replace the black plastic inbox tray (that my workplace provided me) with this awesome wood and metal inbox. I happily spent $2 for it (it was my favorite purchase of the day).

Everyone seemed to notice my new inbox at work (I suppose it’s pretty hard to miss—its two tiers makes it fairly tall). I really love it. It’s something that’s always in my sightline, and I find it much prettier to look at then my old inbox.

Quote: No Pressure, No Diamonds

I’m Not Going to a Funeral…I Just Like Black

When I go to a thrift shop, I generally don’t have anything specific in mind to buy. I may be keeping an eye out for a pair of jeans or a jacket, but I’m not on a mission of desperation for that one item. I just like seeing whatever’s on the racks and maybe I’ll come across something interesting.

Although there’s a wide array of colors to choose from, I often end up with black garments. I suppose it’s not terribly surprising since black is probably the most popular color for clothing, thus there are just more black garments to choose from. I found two black pieces at two different thrift shops.

The first is a black wool and angora Yarnworks sweater—which is quite warm. It has scallop edging along the collar and some beadwork. It clearly has some decades on it (as there are shoulder pads). I like that it’s a little looser in the bodice but tighter at wrists and waist. This is one of those items that I nearly feel on the fence about, because it could lean frumpy—but in the end I think it’s how you put everything together that makes an outfit work or not. It’s a comfortable sweater and I think it works well with a pair of jeans. I bought it for $9.99.

The second item I got was a pair of black pants from White House Black Market. They’re in a tuxedo style with satin at the waistline, and there’s an additional satin detail on the slits on the side. These pants were $5—a pretty good deal.

Sewing Stuff and Silverware

I went to an estate sale and picked up a few things. The owner sewed, so there was a lot of fabric and sewing patterns to look through. I tried to restrain myself from buying too much because I don’t need anything and it was also “full-price” being the first day (rather than the 50% off price they often do on the final day of an estate sale).

I bought three lengths of fabric. Two yards of a very dark navy fabric with some woven stripes for $3. Three yards of light blue woven fabric for $8. And over four and a half yards of black slightly stretchy polyester fabric for $5.

I enjoyed looking though the many sewing patterns there. The patterns mostly ranged from the 1950s to 1980s. I got two patterns for $1 each (which is pricey for me). I didn’t see a date, but this dress pattern looks to be from the 1950s. I think it’s a cute dress and it says it’s easy to make.

I couldn’t resist this 1970s coat, pant, skirt and top pattern because I love that coat. I want that coat.

I got a bag of eyes and hooks for $4. I’m sure I already have enough, but it was inexpensive for the sheer volume. I also think some of the older packaging is interesting.

I got some silverware for $8. It’s Stanley Roberts silverware that was made in Japan. I liked the simple pattern on it. I got three large forks, three small forks, one large spoon, 11 small spoons, one very small spoon and one butter knife.

And finally, I got this loose-leaf tea spoon that I thought was cute and usable. It was marked as costing 50 cents, but they threw it in as a freebie. So my grand total was $30.

1970s Wrap Dress

I finally finished my 1970s wrap dress; it took a while because I sewed sporadically over a few weekends. After measuring the pattern pieces, I altered it (in length and width) and managed to squeeze the pattern pieces onto my barely large enough piece of fabric. Because the position of the pattern pieces on the fabric was straight, I thought this fabric would work well because of the pattern’s vertical orientation.

I decided not to do the keyhole detail and pocket because I didn’t really like it. I also did a quick narrow hem on the dress because I didn’t want the length of the skirt to be any shorter. (I’d already shortened the length of the skirt when I cut it out because I was about 1/8 yard shy of the fabric requirements.)

The dress itself wasn’t difficult to sew. In fact, I didn’t have any trouble with it at all. The biggest hurdle was realizing that I didn’t have any half-inch double-fold bias tape in navy, and instead of buying it, I decided to make-do with the quarter-inch double-fold navy bias tape that I happened to have on hand.

It’s a pretty comfortable and lightweight cotton dress to wear—perfect for summer (although its days are already numbered). I prefer to knot the tie ends in the back rather than a bow in the front. It’s a simple dress and I’m pretty satisfied with it.

Quote: Go to Heaven for the Climate, Hell for the Company