Thrifty finds: woah mama!

For all the complaining I do about our local thrift stores on this blog, I was bound to have some good luck sooner or later.

First up, this fabric, which my sweet baby's chunky little wrist is helping to model. To the left is a 100% groovy polyester. It's so totally 60's and much more navy in person.  It reminded me of a more angular Amy Butler print. It's 2 1/2 yards and I paid a buck a yard.

On the right is a whopping 8 1/4 yards of mid-century upholstery fabric. IN LOVE. Paid nine bucks for it, and I can't wait to find the perfect re-upholstery project for it.

I almost titled this post "I will NOT buy more fabric, I will NOT buy more fabric," but it's finds like this that make me glad I don't stick to that mantra. I can't believe I was initially on the fence about buying this fabric!


I got this sweet little food pantry, which will be great for storing pastas and canned goods. If I didn't need it in the kitchen, it would be great towel storage in the bathroom, or a sewing stuff holder. It was marked $39 and I was all ready to pay that, but it rang up for $27 including tax. Gotta love surprise sales!


Here's the doozy; my husband brought me home an antique Ironrite mangle so I can iron my yardages and quilt tops quickly. I wish I took a picture of the manual-- it has a lady holding an extremely stiff baby girl's dress, like a piece of cardboard. He tells me it was originally $100, but wasn't selling so they marked it 75% off. So he bought it for $25, plus the manual, and the chair.

And, if you're a design freak, yes, it came with the mint condition Ironrite Health Chair (not pictured). Yes, THAT Ironrite Health Chair.

Eat your heart out, "Robin's Egg Blue"

Just kidding, Robin's Egg Blue, I still love you.

But this chicken egg is about to give you a run for your money.

I present to you, "Americana Egg Green"...

I know what you're thinking. "That's not very green."

Just trust me on this one. They're much greener IRL, and my mother-in-law's Americanas/Araucanas don't seem to be laying as green as they were a few months back.

But these hen's eggs can get very green. Case in point, these pictures I pinned...

Source: my.opera.com via Elisha on Pinterest

Source: en.wikipedia.org via Elisha on Pinterest

Source: knowwhey.com via Elisha on Pinterest

Source: cottagewoodhill.com via Elisha on Pinterest

Source: davesgarden.com via Elisha on Pinterest

Source: odd-dolls.blogspot.com via Elisha on Pinterest

Eggs weren't the only thing we brought home from our trip to visit the in-laws in Mendocino County.

We also hit the thrift stores. Husband didn't find anything, but I got a wad of bias tapes for 50 cents each, and this weird elephant fabric...

I liked it, but my Grampa just gave me even more of Gramma's stash. As in another, even larger Rubbermaid tub. Did I really need to buy more fabric? Husband ended up talking me into it.

It this loosely woven, linen-like white, with blue and red elephants screen-printed onto it. I haven't checked the selvedge for info. You can see I (husband) paid 3.25 for 1.66 yards. I thought it looked 60's-ish, or like nautical elephants.

Thrifty Finds: fabric and notions

I've discussed the problem with my local thrift stores at length (if you don't feel like clicking, the long and short of it is that they pay higher rent than in other parts of the country, and the pricers are very Internet savvy... making most local thrift stores here not very "thrifty").

So I didn't feel like I was getting the greatest deal when I walked out paying $16.05 for the fabric, binding, bias tape, and piping pictured above.

But I couldn't help it; 50 cents for each of the Wrights tape/binding/etc. was certainly a good buy. I would've purchased those anyway. The fabric all worked out to about $2 or less a yard, but it still pained me to buy it, considering I've still got my Gramma's stash to work through.

It's just that I don't think I have any little boy fabric in the current stash, and I've got to start jamming out various item's for my son's room. The trucks and tractors pictured above hardly fit with the "Robots in Space" boys room theme, but at the very least they could go in a quilt. Prices for the truck and tractor remnants ranged from 50 cents for a 7 inch by 2.25 yard strip, to $2.50 for 2 full yards of the John Deere stuff.

The 90s looking floral second from left I'm not particularly fond of, but for the price and quantity ($5.50 for 3 yards), it'd be great for a muslin without me actually having to use muslin. And that piece in the middle is may absolute fave; a HOUNDSTOOTH with a FLORAL BORDER PRINT! I paid $2.50 for 1.5 yards, but might've dropped a little more for that one.

Pattern Haul: Vintage Vogue and Retro Butterick

Here's the latest round of patterns I purchased; all reproductions of vintage patterns and not one contemporary pattern!

I did a little research before this pattern sale and it seems that $3.99 may be as cheap as Vogue goes at Jo-Ann, so I bit the bullet and bought some of those. And even though I expressed regret at not buying certain Butterick patterns last time Butterick was on sale, those weren't the ones I bought. That's because they were $1.99 this time, and even though that's a huge discount, it's still twice as much as the 99 cent sale!

From left to right in the image above, these are the patterns I purchased in my latest pattern haul:

• Butterick B5281
• Butterick B5209
• Vogue V2960
• Vogue V2787
• Vogue V1044
• Vogue V8728

Most of these are labeled advanced... tell me, am I courting trouble with these purchases?

Thrifty Finds: zippers, souvenir scarf

Here's the haul I promised to show you weeks ago, although calling this a "haul" is an exaggeration, because it's really just two things. Two things I got for next to nothing.

I feel like the thrift stores in my town ain't what they used to be. There's an upscale Hoff Brau in the old Salvation Army, an Italian joint in an awesome place that used to be called "My Sister's Closet", and you can expect to pay the going rate or more for most of the goods for sale in any of the thrift shops. There's really only two stores in my town that I frequent.

So it was totally by chance that I decided to go by one of the younger thrift stores in my town, just when everything happened to be 50% off. The entire store, save a few furniture items.

I got this kitschy vintage Mexican souvenir scarf, which was originally $4. The red version sold on Etsy in the 20 buck range. The big ziplock bag of zippers was marked  $4.90, but the guy entered it into the register for $4 even, bringing my grand total to $8 minus 50%, meaning I walked out paying four bucks plus tax.

Pattern Haul: McCall's on sale for 99 cents!

You knew it was bound to happen when I told you the next 99 cent pattern sale at JoAnn would be McCall's. Here's what I came home with this time:

• McCalls 6446
• McCalls 6435
• McCalls 6319
• McCalls 5927
• McCalls 6024
• McCalls 5972
• McCalls 6069
• McCalls 6277
• McCalls 6324
• McCalls 6404 (Not pictured-- yes, it's jeggings. Don't look at me like that, I still wear Uggs, too.)

Pattern Haul: Simplicity on sale for 99 cents!

Say what you will about Jo-Ann (I've read the Yelp reviews, yikes!), the chain fabric store really throws down on the pattern sales.

Last time, it was Butterick for 99 cents, now it's Simplicity (through Monday, October 10th for the Columbus Day Sale).

And unlike the Butterick sale, I was determined to have no regrets-- I maxed out the 10-pattern limit with the following patterns:

• Simplicity 2174
• Simplicity 2180
• Simplicity 2215
• Simplicity 2282
• Simplicity 2363 (Paging Mrs. Roper!)
• Simplicity 2444
• Simplicity 2702
• Simplicity 2219
• Simplicity 2588
• Simplicity 4044 (Not pictured-- I only had space for nine patterns in my montage! It's one of the 1940s "retro" suit patterns.)

You know the drill, let me know if you're tried any of these and have any tips for me, and stay tuned for the dresses I actually make out of these. I'm a little worried about the Project Runway Patterns. They only go up to size 20 and my post-pregnancy bust is an embarrassing 45"!  I'll put those in the "way later" pile.

Next up on the pattern sale front: McCalls will be 99 cents at Jo-Ann October 13th through the 15th. And I've got a thrift haul to show you too.

Pattern Haul: Butterick on sale for 99 cents!

Butterick patterns were on sale for just 99 cents at Jo-Ann last week! They were limit 10, but the hubs and the LO were with me, so I only walked away with four...

These four:
Butterick 5564

Butterick 5454

Butterick 5451

AND! The controversial Butterick 4790

If you're not familiar, B4790 is one of Butterick's "Retro" patterns; a remake of a vintage one. But most reviews of this pattern you'll find on the Interwebs complain that the update is not true to the 1950's silhouette; it's looser and baggier. But I love the dress and at just .99, I thought I'd give the pattern a shot anyway.

Did I make good choices? Kinda overdid it on the wrap dresses, didn't I? And I kind of regret not buying B5674. And Butterick's 5731, just to have, maybe to alter into a non-wedding dress. Darnit! More regret even as I'm typing this.

Have you tried any of these, and if so, do you have any tips for me? I'd appreciate it!

Oh yeah, and stay tuned for the dresses I actually make out of these.