Crazy about Rick Rack!

I suppose it is somewhat obvious that I like rick rack. The stuff they make nowadays is okay, but I love, love, love the vintage stuff. It's more cotton than polyester, it's soft, and comes in so many fun color shades. The packaging is even fun!



While matching some colors to some fabrics today, I discovered that I had a package from J.C. Penny's.

Did YOU know they used to make rick rack?

I didn't either.

Well, like I said, I've come across a few more smaller yardage pieces in my fabric stash that were measured to perfect lengths for some vintage-inpired half aprons. I've gone crazy with the rick rack. I have two up right here and two more will follow in the next day or so.

Off to go have some more fun!

::wink::

A Hole in the Wall

Just yesterday while touring downtown, I stepped into a little hole in the wall sewing shop. My first step was onto creaky hardwood floors (a great way to impress me if I'm walking into your store) but just outside was a small vintage table full of sale items. There were high-quality fabrics, patterns from familiar names like Amy Butler, Colette, and others who have a retro flare to their styles (another way to impress me).

I was in this little store for a good 15 to 20 minutes chatting with the lady who was there working. "We probably have to many girls on our staff," she said when I asked if they were hiring. (Bummer! I would totally love to work in a place like this one!) The girl and I went on to talk about the fabrics, vintage patterns, and other little things for sale there. 

She gave me a card of pink coral rick rack. "Oh, you can just have it!" she said when I walked up to the counter, prepared to pay $1 for it. I will be back soon! :)

When in town I stopped by a favorite thrift store and found 4 yards of this poly/cotton fabric. It's a vintage piece (I know, because it's 35" wide) and can hardly wait to make something for summer out of it. I also picked up some back issues of Victoria. I'm not into magazines whatsoever, but I do so enjoy flipping through the back issues of this lovely one. Anyone else fans of Victoria magazines?

I also discovered another tiny "hole in the wall" tea shop while in town. Oh my! :) Will have go back there, as I was pressed for time. If you live remotely close to me, and are an avid tea drinker, we must go there! :) 

Ahh yes. And while speaking of 'holes in the walls', perhaps some of you are wondering how our bathroom renovation is coming along. It is coming, though not as fast as some of us would like. With busy schedules and many of them at various and different times, we haven't had much time together to work on it.

Today and tomorrow we are hoping to get most if not all of it done. We're going to go pick a suitable color later this morning; we decided either a beige or a light pewter blue (more gray than blue, but blue enough to satisfy some members of the family) for the walls, and we're seriously thinking of doing a wainscoting on the large wall. Will post pictures!

The Button Collection: Metals

This is probably my favorite group out of all of them. There is something unique about silver and gold buttons.
I wonder where these buttons would have come from. I'd like to imagine that they came off of an old uniform of some kind.

These rhinestone buttons sparkle and dazzle in the light!

The Button Collection: Pearly Whites

This is probably the largest group out of all of them. Sometimes it is hard to distinguish the ivory pearls from the whites and creams, so all of them are in this collection. As you can see the smallest ones didn't get organized. It was late at night and my eyes were playing tricks on me. =) Like most of the pictures I post, all of them are clickable.

And last but not least, the metal collection will be up on Monday. Have a lovely and restful weekend!

The Button Collection: Black

Contrary to what you might think, black buttons can be very nice. In fact some, quite classy indeed!

Tomorrows featured collection will be the white, ivory, and cream bunch.

The Button Collection: Interesting Ones

Actually, they are the group of yellows, tans, browns, and tortoiseshell, but there ARE some interesting ones. As before, all of the pictures are clickable!

WHO would use those ugly snake ones?!

Stay tuned tomorrow for the black ones!

The Button Collection: Red, Pink, & Purple

This is my smallest group. It shows that I don't sew much with these colors. I'm not sure why, because I do like these colors!

Up Next: some interesting ones

The Button Collection: Gray & Green

Some bright green, some dark, some army greens that turned into gray as I was sorting them out, so both colors are showcased together:

Up next tomorrow: red tones

The Button Collection

Surely this seamstress isn't the only one who collects buttons! Over several years I've seemed to accumulate buttons from my own sewing, and every now and then I've picked up buttons at antique shops, flea markets, and thrift stores.

This week I've decided to showcase the ones I've collected for anyone who likes buttons. Last week I was sorting them out by color and took pictures of each "group." Today's featured color is blue. All pictures are clickable.

Enjoy!

Stay tuned tomorrow for the green ones!

P.S. There is a 10% off sale going on in the shop this week! Prices reflect the discount.