New Patterns!

I just picked up this great box full of vintage patterns from a local woman cleaning out her sewing room. In that big cardboard box are 4 shoe boxes stuffed full of vintage patterns.


I'm so excited, one of my favorite parts of this, is going through all of the patterns. I love seeing the old clothing styles, the great illustrations, the fact that patterns were once 35 cents. (When was the last time you saw anything for 35 cents? Serious question, if you've seen something for 35 cents lately, post a comment. I can't remember)



I haven't finished going through them all, but here's one I'm excited to find. A great 50's era Simplicity dress, that was never even used.






















This one's already up in my etsy shop, more coming soon...

Surprising Source

I just picked up this sweet little mirror from a couple eager to clear out their home before a major renovation. Once it belonged to his mother or grandmother, he wasn't quite sure, but he was just happy to get it out of the way. It was covered in dust, a tad wobbly and in need of a bit of wood glue. (But that took all of about 15 minutes)


What I want to pass on is my source, freecycle. It's the internet's answer to putting that old couch on the street corner with a cardboard "free" sign. Its a series of local groups that members can post offers of or requests for free items. Don't count on getting a free luxury item/high end electronic gizmo/pristine antique, there's plenty of people trying to find new homes for beat up sofas and a glut of CRT computer monitors. But if you're willing to look through the list, you never know what you're gonna find from people who don't know, don't care or don't value what they're getting rid of.


This little mirror is a dresser mirror/shaving stand. I haven't been able to find an exact date, it's not a valuable antique, but seems to be the first half of the 20th century. And (I love learning bits like this) was made by a company only about 30 minutes north of me.

I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do with it, now that I've cleaned it up and brought it home (I don' t have much of this wood tone). But, that's ok, I'll find someplace for it!

My latest find..

Just a quick post of show off my latest find, a Jadeite green vintage kitchen scale.


I spent a couple of hours last weekend happily poking around around yard sales on a lovely sunny weekend.

One of my favorite ways to pass a couple of hours, but, this time, utterly fruitless. My last stop was an uninspiring former warehouse space that an estate liquidator was apparently using to store the contents of several estates.

It was a dark, damp, musty building with stacks of banana boxes full of stuff. I was tired and pretty much ready to be done, and not quite inspired enough to go through every box. But I did browse long enough to find this vintage scale.

The jade green paint is a little battered, the face a little yellowed, I wouldn't hold my breathe on it's accuracy (although it's intact and seems functional) but it's got charming character.

I like my vintage aesthetically pleasing, but also practical & utilitarian. Delicate porcelain display pieces meant to be protected in glass-fronted cabinets have their place, but I'm much more interested in pieces that worked for a living, and show the wear of if. And for now, this sturdy little scale has a place of honor on one of my shelves.

I [Heart] vintage

Just listed a new vintage pattern in my etsy shop. I'm not feeling particularly articulate, right now. But I love this lot of patterns, they're all Marian Martin patterns, mostly from the 1960's. I do love these very simple, classy styles, and how well they've lasted over time. But,I was originally drawn to these patterns by the great art.

This image is the front of the instruction page

And all of them have these great black and white line drawings on brilliant backgrounds. Others are jadeite green, and red-orange, and fuchsia and they're all wonderfully visually appealing. I have a couple of them set aside to display in my craft room.


These patterns are mail-order patterns. The illustrations are on the instruction page not the outer envelope as you see today, because the envelope is a sturdy manila mailing envelope.

The envelope is great, there's such a sense of history. This pattern was ordered from the Saskatoon Star Phoenix by Mrs. M. C. Hanson, and mailed from Toronto in December of 1961. The envelop has an original (2cent!) post mark and a mailing label cut from blue-lined looseleaf notebook paper, hand addressed and pasted on.

Mrs. Hanson ordered most of the patterns in this box, and it's amazing how much I know about her, 40+ years later. Her clothing preferences, her address, what her handwriting looks like...


It's reasons like that, that keep me coming back to vintage. Even when I don't know what the story is, it's fun imagine.

In addition to loving vintage, I love photography, and blog about it as Parallax Photo.

My photograph often has a modern, abstract, geometric artsy style. Which is a little bit odd, because it's not my style in anything else. I'm definitely a classic button down shirt, and vintage/antiques/cottage style decorating sort of person. Both aesthetics are true, and me, but they don't always blend. (It can be really hard to find spots in my home to hang photographs I love, because their colors or composition just don't blend with my decor) So this meditation on the antique in my photography is a nice change.

These are the keys to my parents' antique china cabinet. When I was home for Christmas a few years ago, this shaft of sunlight from the window was pointed right at them, like a spotlight. I love how it highlights the woodgrain, the gloss of the wood, and the patina of the keys.

Keys

I grew up with antiques, most were rescued from the attics and basements of family and family friends who were not impressed with the unpromising, dusty, moldering cast offs we took in. It took a lot of elbow grease to fix up, clean up, occasionally refinish them into beautiful pieces full of character. But it was a wonderful lesson, to learn to look past a bit of surface dirt.

I had work friends over to my apartment for the first time recently. We're 20-somethings working for little money in non-profits, trying to change the world, as a result, most apartments still look vaguely like a college dorm, or at least decidedly unfinished.

But a childhood of DIY restoration projects, the wonder of the internet (my favorite home decor stores include craigslist and my local freecycle group) and a great selection of local flea markets and yard sales gave me all I needed for an apartment that as one woman said 'Looks like you're an adult!'

I've lived on the top floor of a big old Victorian for almost 2 years now, and I've repainted every room, hauled more furniture than I care to think of up to the third floor, collected, sewed, re-upholstered, shopped, hammered and generally spent my Saturday afternoons making a home I'm crazy about.

Welcome

Welcome --

I'm not an appraiser, I don't carry Kovel's price guide in my tote bag, I can't spot a rare thingamabob at 15 paces. I'm just a girl who likes her home filled with items with character and history.

I don't specialize, my kitchen where I'm typing, has Pyrex 1950's mixing bowls, Depression era Petalware plates and turn of the century silver-plate teaspoons. And they all live happily together.

I love my vintage and antique finds, and want to share them with other folks who will appreciate their charm.

So, if you're here looking for expertise, sorry, keep looking. If you go to the flea market or antique malls to window shop, and love seeing charming old items, enjoy!