It's a Vintage Cover-Up

It's a wonder that because my mom was an accomplished and prolific seamstress the first sewing project I completed was in 8th-grade Home Ec class. I suppose it may have been a good thing that Mom waited to let someone else teach me to sew. It may have saved some frustration and hurt feelings for both of us. That mother/daughter thing, you know.

My first project was a simple apron. Nothing fancy. Just basic straight stitching. It even had a self hem--no hand hemming.

Oh, did I love the fabric I chose! I've always been a butterfly lover. These winged beauties are straight out of the '60s. Pink, orange, avocado glory.

When I completed that first sewing project, I felt as if I'd been crowned Queen for a Day. I don't think I realized it then, but I know now that sewing gave me a special bond to my mom. I never became the exceptional seamstress she was, but I definitely know my way around a bolt of fabric and a sewing machine. I've done all right and Mom always was the biggest fan of my creations.

My first sewing project has served me well--for 45 years. It's experienced a bit of the kitchen, but cooking isn't my strong suit. Instead, my apron grew old and thin in the craft room and serving at money pouch and catch-all at my many garage sales over the years. The pockets are amazing. I can pack a week's worth of goodies in those roomy pouches.

Over the years, that first sewing project has taken a beating. I've had to restitch the pockets numerous times, as the stitching wore thin. It had a run-in with a Sharpie pen a while back. And, yet, it remains my Old Reliable.

On my more recent thrift adventures, I've lucked into some lovely vintage cover-ups. And, while I personally don't need any more aprons, I'm drawn to them like a fly to honey. For me, vintage aprons conjure smells of fresh baked bread, oven fried chicken and applesauce cake. Not to mention remembrances of summer days on the farm, church picnics and picking fresh vegetables for dinner.

Each carefully crafted gem reminds me of my mom and my grandma, neither of whom ever worked in the kitchen without a nice, handmade cover-up.  They made their aprons from flour or feed sacks and trimmed nearly every one with coordinating rick rack like this lovely one I found at an estate sale last summer.

Grandma, a farm wife, favored the full cover-up, similar to these. Every Monday, she churned butter in her apron. Tuesdays, she baked enough bread to last for the week. Wednesdays, she baked the week's pies and cakes. Other days, she canned meat or fruit and vegetables. That kind of messy kitchen work called for full coverage.

My daughter inherited her love of aprons from the older women in her life. A barista at a small, local coffee shop, she cultivates her unique image behind the bar with a variety of wonderful vintage aprons she's personally collected or received as gifts. A couple of weeks ago, I found a fun candy stripe full apron at a sale and gave it to her for her birthday this past weekend. Red is her favorite color.

I love the soda shoppe feel of the fabric and color. Grandma would have loved it, too. It's trimmed in matching rick rack.

Grandma taught me to crochet when I was nine. My mother also crocheted. But, I don't recall Mom or Grandma crocheting one of these beautiful aprons. I haven't made one, either. Yet.

This was a recent Goodwill find.

Some of these sweet throwbacks I've found will end up in my shop. They simply must, as I could so easily become a vintage apron hoarder.

So many cute styles, heartwarming fabrics and creative twists on the old standard. Of course, you know a few will make their way into my personal collection anyway.

Make it a great day!

Linking to:

Knick of Time Tuesday
Be Inspired
What's It Wednesday
Primp Your Stuff Wednesday
Wildly Original
Thursday Favorite Things
Time Travel Thursday

Junkin' Joe Vintage and Thrity Finds
Sunny Simple Sunday

Still Star Struck--A Quick Homespun Garland

Twinkle, twinkle little star . . .

Stars have fascinated me since childhood. Both the celestial kind and star-shaped anythings.

A look around our home and, year-round, you'll catch a glimpse of my Abingdon Pottery and other star vases, some rustic metals and primitives and milk glass filled with shiny baubles.

My dad was an amateur sky watcher and built his own telescopes. We spent many a summer evening with our eyes trained on the sky, examining the sparkle of the stars and imagining if there were others like us out there in the vast darkness.

The past few months, I've seen so many cool crochet items on Pinterest and Etsy that I got the itch to get out my crochet hooks. It's been a few years since I've done any crocheting.

Source: Pinterest

Source: Pinterest

Source: Pinterest

Since the week of Thanksgiving, we've made two trips to Illinois. Nine hours round trip each. Great time for a couple of crochet projects.

I made a garland of cream-colored stars on the first trip and, on the second trip, nearly finished a longer garland with smaller stars in green that I plan to use in my spring decor.

I added the garland to the family room mantel above which we recently hung a special family painting my husband's parents gave him. 

These little gems are a joy to make and very easy. I found the instructions on the internet here. I strung them all together with a simple chain stitch string. Twinkle, twinkle . . . 

Make it a great day!

Linking to:

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
Open Call Tuesday
Cowgirl Up!
All-Star Block Party
Whatever You Want Wednesday
Primp Your Stuff

Finally Found Her

I can't even remember how long I've been looking for an affordable vintage dress form. She didn't have to be perfect. She didn't have to be beautiful. She just had to be.

Now, after all this time, meet Marvey (short for Marvelous).  I met her at a local estate sale and took  her home with me. She isn't perfect. Her body is unevenly faded and more than a little dusty (she fits right in around here), her innards are rusty, but all the parts work (more than I can say about myself!) and she has a number of small blemishes on her skin. But, she stands tall, proud and stately.

Take a look inside her and you get a glimpse of a bygone era and a forgotten project.

Recently, when I was cleaning out my work room, I pulled out a few items I had stored away in one of my old steamer trunks. Here's Marvey modeling some of my personal '70s fashions.

My mother was an accomplished seamstress. When my sister and I were growing up, Mom made most of our clothes (something that, unfortunately, we didn't fully appreciate at the time). She taught herself to knit and also knew how to crochet. In 1970, I headed off to college in style in this wonderful poncho she knitted for me.

While I was still in college, she crocheted this striped beauty. Are you getting the sense yet that I loved ponchos?

It didn't stop there. In what could have been dubbed The Year of the Poncho, Mom also made me a gorgeous brown plaid wool poncho with a hood. It was fully lined and finished with a gorgeous brown trim and big wooden buttons. Imagine the sick feeling in the pit of my stomach when I discovered that poncho wasn't in the steamer, where I thought I had stored it along with the other two. Oh, I do hope I find it somewhere. When I reflect on my college years, I most often visualize myself in one or another of those lovingly made, wonderfully special ponchos.

To close out today's 1970s style show is this fabulous crochet and suede vest. Far out, as we used to say! My mom didn't make this one. I found it at a thrift store back in the 1980s and have held on to it over the years. It's in like new condition.

Thank you, Marvey, for making this fashion retrospective possible.

Make it a great day!

Linking to:

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
Cowgirl Up
What's It Wednesday
Whatever You Want Wednesday
Vintage Thingie Thursday
Time Travel Thursday

Vintage Finds Stack Up

The local estate sale scene has finally picked up since the lull right after the holidays. There were so few sales in January, I nearly went through withdrawal. But, these past couple of weekends, I've scored a number of new treasures.

I'm sharing a few here today. I'll share more in a future post.

Got both of these nice vintage suitcases for a 10 spot. They're in excellent condition, inside and out. The insides are nearly impeccable and the big one has all the original hangers attached. Best of all? They don't even have a hint of that dusty, musty and moldy smell that so often accompanies old luggage.

I'm going to put these fine, old girls to work storing and hauling some of my craft projects.

But, right now, for purposes of sharing with all of you, I've temporarily loaded up the suitcases with some of my other recent finds. Lots of wonderful linens, some handkerchiefs, a vintage frame and a sweet vintage two-piece rabbit mold.

My favorite hanky is the yellow one with the crocheted trim. It reminds me of my grandma, who crocheted borders on all of her Sunday-best hankies. How a farm woman who, with my grandpa, raised several kinds of livestock, grew several commodity crops, tended a large garden, cooked, baked and maintained a house had time to also be a prolific crocheter, is a marvel. But, I digress. Someday, I'll tell you more about the remarkable woman who was my grandmother.

A nice red checkered tablecloth with tiny green rick-rack and fringe and two terrific flour-sack tea towels will be super additions to the summer kitchen. Also found the sweetest little hand-crocheted vintage baby bonnet in perfect condition and a pretty embroidered dresser scarf.

Admittedly, I've never used a mold in the kitchen for anything, so I don't know exactly what type of mold this nice little bunny is. All I know is that when I see something this darling for a buck, I'm not going to pass it up. It's not small--about 10" by 9"--and it's in excellent condition.

The old wood frame features some nice scroll work and will be nice to have around for a future project.

Still to come:  my husband expands his small, but growing, collection of vintage cake carriers.

Stay tuned . . .

Make it a great day!

Linking to:

Flea Market Finds at Her Library Adventures
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm
Tuesday's Treasures at My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Share the Love Wednesday at Very Merry Vintage Style
Rednesday at It's a Very Cherry World