Estate Sale 4-28-12

I had already been to this particular Estate Sale this past Thursday. I picked up a few bags of fabric, 3 sets of embroidered and crocheted pillow cases, a large wood quilting frame and a Pyrex refrigerator storage dish with lid. I was too busy to take pictures and blog about those finds. I have been clearing out our retail shop in order to prepare it to be leased. That's been a week long task. I still have a couple day's work ahead of me but took today off to catch my breath. I remembered it was the last day of this sale and all remaining items would be 50% off. Believing that "the best things in life are half price" I headed back. I was not disappointed.

I found this lovely (and unused) quilt for $7.50.

It measures 43" x 55".

A cool Kenmore Blind Stitch Hemmer for $.50. And it's yellow! It is in the original box, with the directions and a cute little cardboard fold up skirt that demonstrates how to fold your hem in order to use this attachment.

Also this box full of seam bindings and trims for $1.50. My favorite part of this box are those sweet, teeny tiny rick racks. I've been thinking about sewing some doll clothes and they will come in handy.

Perhaps the coolest find, though, was this piece of quilt related art. I'm not sure what you call it. It seems to be some kind of embossed paper design depicting an Amish Log Cabin Quilt. It is labeled and signed.

It was hanging on a wall, without a price. I asked if it was for sale and one of the 2 sisters working the estate said, "Yes, it's $15". The second sister argued, "No, I had it marked at $3". This really irked the first sister who exclaimed, "But I spent $60 on that when I bought it for mom. It's professionally framed". To which the second sister replied, "Well, you should've said something earlier". While they were bickering I gathered my goodies and headed over to pay. The second sis was manning the cash box. I asked if everything was half price, at which time sis #1 said, "Everything except that quilt picture". I assured her I'd be more than happy to pay the full $3. It now resides in my sewing room, over my Singer treadle cabinet.

Scary Monsters (Another Reggie Shirt)

I won't have much spare time to sew for the next 7 days. Reggie needed at least one more new shirt and I managed to get this one finished today.

The fabric started out as this cute child's hoodie which I found at the Goodwill in one of the "by the pound" bins.

I cut out the pieces for Reggie's shirt...

....and saved the hoodie lining, zipper and some of the waist band, for future projects.

This shirt went together very quickly.

I have one more shirt to sew for him, out of his dad's union t-shirt, and then I need to start on his sister's dress. She'll be jealous if I don't get her birthday present sewn.

Success! New Shirt For Reggie.

I spent yesterday cleaning and oiling up the new Kenmore and making friends with it. Today I was ready to see what it could do. This morning I re-sized the dog shirt pattern, adding 1" circumference to the body and 1/4" depth to the sleeves. I wasn't sure if it would work so I didn't want to waste any more of that gorgeous red t-shirt fabric. I have been buying up secondhand children's knit wear and pulled out a size 6-9 months shirt from the stash. I cut that up to use for this dog shirt. I am really happy with the results.

Front:

Back:

I was able to use the existing hems for the front and back but had to hem the sleeves myself. I used the machine's straight stretch stitch for the seams but used zig zag for overcasting the raw edges and a regular straight stitch (set to a loose tension) for the top stitching. I fashioned a decorative stripe from some of the original shirt's sleeve fabric and a small portion of the decorative screen printing. I didn't have enough room to turn under a hem so opted to applique the piece to the front of the dog shirt using one of the Kenmore's fancy cam stitches. The child's shirt cost less than $.50. I bought new thread and d-rings (on sale for 50% off) and the white grosgrain ribbon to secure the d-ring but I think this shirt still cost less than $1 to make. And the child's shirt was recycled, keeping it out of the landfill.  Here are some more photos of Reggie modeling his new togs.

 And a close-up of the appliqued strip.

A Kenmore Model 1753

Yes, I know. I just acquired that model 1422. And it worked great. But then this Model 1753 appeared on Craigslist and I was smitten. It was too good to pass up. It has a lot of the same features as the 1422, like stretch stitches and feed dogs that lower, but it also has the ability to use design cams and a buttonhole maker. And it came with a chain stitch adapter. It isn't a fancy looking machine. It's rather plain and utilitarian. But it is solidly built (and really heavy). It was produced in 1969 and was top of the line at that time.

It came with the original owners manual...

...14 cams (there are a total of 30 available for this machine), the buttonholer, chainstitch attachment...

...about 30 bobbins and some needles and thread.

These are just some of the decorative stitches it can produce. And it is twin needle capable.

This is the cam hatch.

I suppose I'll have to part with one of my Singers that use cams. I better get that 328 cleaned up and ready to go. I keep telling my husband I'm practicing "catch and release" with the sewing machines...so I better actually release some. I have to love on them a bit first.

Close, But No Cigar

Well, the little dog shirt turned out pretty cute. But because of where I placed the strip of trim it was a wee bit snug. He did agree to wear it long enough for me to snap some photos. Mom will try again tomorrow. I'll add a bit of ease to the pattern. I think my seams were a little larger than on the original t-shirt, too. Poor Reggie was stuffed in there like a sausage.

 Front.

Back.

If nothing else it was good practice sewing with the Kenmore. I got to play around with the stretch stitches and get used to sewing knit fabric. I used one of those ball tipped needles and it seems to have done the trick.

Sewing Reggie A Shirt

Or attempting to. I can no longer find the Gooby t-shirts that work so well for him. They have attached d-rings so you can hook up your leash without having to use an uncomfortable harness or collar. The t-shirts cost about $15 each but they were well constructed and lasted quite a while. But after a couple years of constant use they are starting to wear out. Now that I have a machine with stretch stitches I am going to try to sew Reggie some new shirts. First I deconstructed one of the Gooby T's.

And used those pieces to make a paper pattern.

His dad donated this union t-shirt to use as fabric. Here I have cut out the pieces. I was too smart for my own good and tried to save steps by using the pre-existing hems. But I forgot to take into account the 1/2" hem seams on the paper pattern. I fear this shirt will wind up being too long. We'll see. I may have to cut new pieces. This first shirt will be solid red with the fun CARS trim. If this works the total cost of the shirt will be less than $1, the price of the trim and one of my custom labels. The shirt fabric was free and I am recycling the metal d-ring.

New PJ's

I'm going to try to make myself some new pajamas. Yes, I love flannel jammies (also known as birth control). One of my daughters knows I love to sew and  gave me some birthday money to be used for that purpose. I picked up this cute flannel fabric today.

Jo-Ann Fabrics has their McCall's patterns on sale for $.99 each and I picked up these.

And some of the trims they had on clearance. Decorative trim for Reggie's shirts and rick rack.

I haven't had a chance to take my online couture sewing class yet so still am not able to make myself fitted garments. But pajamas don't need to be fitted.

Estate Sale 4-14-12

This sale was already in it's second day by the time I found it. Things were pretty much picked over. There was a sewing machine but I am turned off by yellowed plastic. I did find a few items of interest. There were some pictures and frames in a backroom and I found this treasure among them. First I was drawn by the bright colors, then I saw the sheep.

It is a nice little piece of primitive artwork. I'm not sure which South American country it is from and any ideas are most welcome. Do any of you recognize the native clothing pictured? At first glance I thought the fellow was riding a horse. But on closer inspection it is a llama. So cool!

And the lady kneels in the grass spinning on a spindle while having her wool on a distaff.

This was painted on some type of animal hide. The skin is stretched taught, like a drum, and secured with little nails.

I also found this glass chicken candy dish.

These stained glass grapes.

And a couple of boxes of canning jars, most of which are jam size. I have about 8 more but they are currently soaking in the sink because they came to me filled with ancient jams and chow chows.

All of the above for $5. 

What's Better Than Yard Sales?

Estate sales! Because old people have the coolest junk. At least I think so. Today I hit an estate sale and found some great needle craft items.

First up, some sewing patterns. 

This bunch I'm going to keep...

...and these I will sell.

I also found some vintage crochet books and magazines. All in pristine condition. I'll sell these. I don't crochet much anymore.

I also found some nice vintage fabrics. 

I think this was the lady's apron fabric stash. 

That was a lot of shopping enjoyment for $3.

White Buttonholer

Today I was feeling restless and thought a little retail therapy was in order. My main mission was to find some cute little shirts to fashion into new togs for Reggie. First I stopped into the This & That shop, a consignment shop on Pacific Ave. There I found this vintage buttonholer for a White sewing machine. Complete with all the parts, the manual and a leather trimmed case. I paid $15 for it, but I have never stumbled across one of these before and felt I should nab it. I think I can use it with my White treadle sewing machine.

Next I stopped into my favorite SVDP. But all I found there was this seed sprouter. They retail for $13.99.

I paid $1.99. Now all I need are some seeds and I can have fresh sprouts. Yum! Lastly I visited the Bargain World out in Spanaway. I found this cute little boys shirt for $.50...

...and nearly 1 3/4 yards of this fabric for $2.99.

We're heading into prime yard sale weather. I can hardly wait.