Three Estate Sales

Over the weekend I went to three estate sales, two on Saturday and one on Sunday. The first estate sale was in the wealthy part of town and I hoped I’d find something interesting, but I instead I found it bland and overpriced and I ended up buying nothing.

The second estate sale I went to was in the country and it was much better; there was a broader array of items at fairly reasonable prices. I got a bag of buttons for $2.

And a bag of thread for $3.

I got a deck of Northwest Orient playing cards for 50 cents. I had never heard of Northwest Orient, but imagined they were an airline (which they were…many years ago). I thought the design was cute; the actual cards have the same design as on the box—and they’ve never been opened.

I also got a perforator for $1. I thought it was a useful tool that I could maybe use on a project

The third estate sale was in the suburbs, and I got a 32 inch wide by 2 yard long piece of black fabric for $1. It feels pretty nice and may be cotton.

Fabric in hand, I was ready to leave, but when I saw the line to checkout was super long, I decided not to stand in line. I went back to the fabric area to kill time and wait for the line to shorten. The woman, whose stuff we were buying, was really into quilting, crocheting and cross-stitching, so there were many pieces to look at.

I can appreciate the time and effort it takes to create these handmade items, even if they may not be my style (which many weren’t). On a whim I decided to get some crochet pieces that perhaps I can use somehow someday.

I got two smaller circular pieces for 50 cents each.

And one larger circular piece that I think is quite beautiful for $1. My grand total for everything was $9.50.

Fabric Estate Sale…Again

I think I just might have an estate sale shopping problem because even though I got a lot of fabric at the last estate sale I went to, I just bought more. When I saw that there was another fabric estate sale a part of me was excited and another part of me thought, “No, don’t do it! You already have way too much stuff.” I was on the fence on going, but I asked a friend if she wanted to go and she said “yes.” So I went.

I planned on being more discriminating this time because I already have so much fabric. This time it felt more relaxed; the store was smaller so there was less fabric to choose from and there seemed to be fewer people. And while there were some clothes, it wasn’t the massive selection of clothing as the previous estate sale; nothing looked interesting so I steer cleared of the clothing.

We got there about an hour after it opened, so maybe a lot of good fabric was already taken, but I still found four bolts of fabric that I wanted. Each bolt was $5 and I found neutrals (which I hadn’t found at the previous estate sale). I got a gray polyester rayon that feels pretty soft, black wool, white wool and a sheer white polyester with a crisscross pattern.

Then I got some notions that were 50 cents each. I got six 22-inch zippers; they had a lot of zippers in just about every color imaginable. I also got some sturdy eyes and hooks (which I needed). And I got buttons; they had a good amount of buttons and I tried to restrain myself. I got three sets of buttons: simple blue and navy, silver and frosted.

My grand total for everything was $27. Pretty cheap. Not as cheap as Sunday where everything was half off, but I just couldn’t go again. I’ve bought enough for a small lifetime.

Singed Gray Dress

Not long ago I picked up this sewing pattern and I thought I could use some lightweight gray fabric I had in my fabric stash to make this dress. It was a pretty simple dress to make; a pullover with an elastic waist and buttons down the front (and pockets).

I didn’t run into any snags while sewing this dress; it was fairly straightforward. I think it turned out fine. However, I wouldn’t ever wear this dress without some sort of belt (it looks a bit saggy and sad); it desperately needs a belt to help cinch everything in.

So I was fairly satisfied when I finished this dress. And then I took a closer look at it and saw slight burned marks on the front of the dress. At some point in time, the iron must have been too hot and scorched the fabric a toasty brown. From a distance it’s not very noticeable, but as you get closer you might think it’s a light coffee stain. Super disappointing. I’m not sure when I singed the fabric, but it kind of sucks since I’m done sewing this dress (and spent all that time and energy making something that’s already flawed). [Grrrr.]

I Love Buttons but They Scare Me

For four years I’ve sewn without sewing a button. Part of the reason is that most of the patterns I have don’t require buttons, but instead use zippers and eyes and hooks for closures. Outside of a button-down shirt or coat (neither of which I’ve tried sewing), buttons don’t seem to be very popular closures in many patterns. A practical reason is that sewing a zipper is probably the quickest type of closure to sew, and a zipper is likely cheaper than a row of buttons, so it makes sense that they’re the go-to closure for many patterns.

However, I love buttons. They’re wonderful design elements that can instantly add style to a garment. And I can’t seem to help but collect buttons because they’re pretty. In fact, I have a box of brand-new buttons that I bought in the hopes of using but never did. I also have a jar (filled to the brim) of mostly plastic buttons that I bought from a thrift shop years ago. So I don’t lack buttons. [Pause.] But I lacked the knowledge to use them.

Up until last weekend I’d avoided sewing buttons. They scared me. I kept having flashbacks of when I first learned to put a zipper in, and how it took me forever to do it; (I think it took me half a day…or at least it felt that way). I remembered the frustration and the cursing and I thought it must be just as hard to put in a button (and I didn’t want to go through that aggravation again). I was intimidated.

But I decided to suck it up and try. It was a sewing skill I wanted to learn and I was ready to spend the day learning if it killed me. I braced myself for pain and suffering…only it didn’t come. I followed my sewing machine’s manual of how to create buttonholes and was pleasantly surprised of how easy it was. My sewing machine has a buttonhole foot that does practically everything. I have to do very little; just measure my button size and mark my material, make sure everything is set up on my sewing machine correctly, and then put my foot to pedal and let the machine sew. It’s automatic and awesome.

Now that I know how to make a buttonhole, I want to make lots of buttonholes. Learning one simple technique instantly broadened the range of patterns I’m willing to try and increased my excitement about buttons. I’m even more in love with buttons, now that I can actually use them.

More Vintage Sewing Stuff

Recently I went to another thrift shop and bought more stuff. For $11.75 I got a little stack of sewing stuff. The biggest portion of my purchase was 4 yards of fabric for $8 (which is a pretty good price). It’s a navy fabric (which I don’t really need since I already have a couple of different navy fabrics at home, but the price was just so cheap…). It’s a fairly lightweight fabric—I’m guessing polyester (but it feels like a nicer polyester).

Then the little stuff. I got some eyes and hooks. And buttons. I don’t need buttons; I have a box of buttons at home but I thought these were nice. I got two sets of “vintage” buttons (I have no idea how old they are). The first set of buttons are gold that have an intricate design on the front.

The second set of buttons are small gold and black ones with a crown and the letters “CM” on them. I have no idea what (brand) these refer to, but I thought they were cute.

Then I got two vintage sewing patterns. These patterns cost more (and are in worse condition) than the patterns I bought previously at a different thrift shop. They were 50 cents each. Most of the patterns there were from the 1970’s (which is a decade that tends to interest me less.), but I found a couple of the older patterns that I liked.

First up is a skirt and shirt pattern from 1958. It’s actually a girl’s pattern, but I think the skirt would still fit an adult since it’s a full skirt; the only fitted area is the waist.

Second is a dress pattern that has a simple and elegant silhouette (that looks like it’s from the 1960’s). The pattern also contains an additional sheet that shows how to adjust the pattern to fit bodies that aren’t the exact pattern size.

One thing I like on these older patterns is that they show you the actual pattern pieces on the back of the envelope—you can take a quick look to get a better idea of how complicated (or simple) a pattern is before you buy it.