Limbs and head flopped out to sleep. Looking d-e-d.Filed under: Cooked it, Scavenged it, Thrifted it | Tags: glass, jars, provisions
Maybe it’s the cold. Maybe it’s the engagement, a preparation to marry. Maybe it’s my Mister is far away. Or the uncertain economy.
I’m crazy lately about glass jars, jarring things, putting things up in jars, drinking from jars, storing all kinds of grains and beans and veg and soup in jars. I thrift them, like this bicentennial 1976 Ball Jar in blue. I save them after the olives are gone.
Case and point: Jars of yogurt and jars of chicken broth made from a whole little Cermak Market broiler in the fridge. Yogurt consumed from jar for lunch. Ditto for chicken broth this week.
This week the remainders got combined into Turkish yogurt soup, seasoned with dried mint kept since the summer in old quilted jelly jars. Now soup’s stored in jars from green olive and marinated eggplant to take to work.
I like the way they look, lined up and irregular, full of different colored things. I like the permanence of storage in canning jars. I like recycling them in my own house.
Filed under: Fixed it, Made it, Scavenged it | Tags: Life on Hoyne, purple, refashion, sewing, table
I used to have a dining room.
It’s now my work space, home to files and a printer and a few spots to post ideas and deadline reminders and all.
Computer sits on this small table pulled from an alley when it still was green and had a narrow shelf underneath. The shelf since has been dropped, redrilled and bolted on and the whole thing a stunning shade of purple found on the Home Depot Oops paint table. Scanner machine fits underneath now, and the alterations are less apparent.
I can’t sew right now. I’ve knitted a tiny bit while watching TV news, but I don’t feel like I have the luxury of crafting quite yet. Soon, I hope, once the chips have fallen and I have a productive daily routine.
At least I’m finishing something.
Filed under: Do it, Love it, Scavenged it, Thrifted it | Tags: antique, Chicago, junk, ravenswood manor, yard sale
We used to call the neighborhood garage sale annual extravaganza in Chicago’s Ravenswood Manor the Governor’s Yard Sale because Ill. Gov. Rod Blagojevich lives there and when first elected, socialized and pitched a table of goods to hawk. Now that he’s generally hated for doing *nothing* on the taxpayer’s dime except hand over jobs and $$$ to campaign contributors (allegedly), he’s nowhere to be seen. But the name stuck in my mind because they’re some of the loveliest homes in Chicago and there’s good stuff to be bought. Totally a solid mix of junk for cheap and antiques for relatively cheap.
I was pretty restrained this year. With all the recent fuss of intended nuptials, I’m feeling a little full of stuff and over-crafted — or at least over committed to the crafts I’ve already started. But a few wonderful bargains could not be resisted.
Four dishes printed like fancy cheeses in a round cheese sort of box $1.
Packet of holy cards, mostly feat. O.L.
Miss Manners tome (heart her!) for $2.
Vintage knitting pattern catalog (free to a good home).
Necklace kit containing 55 freshwater pearls and the hardware to put it together for $.50.
Packages of lovely stationery with scalloped or torn edges, glossy or matte paper, white or rosewood or heart-printed, 6 for $5, and a box of pint-sized Mason jars I’ve been wanting for the dried spices from the bulk bins or the garden, and the hot sauce the Mister likes to make once the pepper plants do their thing.
Portrait in needlepoint of Our Lady of Fatima I’ll use to make a present for my friend and fellow lover of Our Lady, Kelly B.
And this smocked apron, hand sewn by a grandma of the woman who sold it to me for $1.
The hand work that went into the tiny tucks and rick-rack edging make me dizzy, since it’s not a ball gown – it’s a utilitarian apron.
How lucky am I to live in the 21st century where crafting is a choice, not a means of survival?
Same lady had a sewing chair for sale – a low cushioned chair with a flip up seat that reveals storage space for mending and darning bits. I left it there since I’ve already dragged home 7 or 8 chairs, and then the Mister always asks, “Why do you want that?” and “Where will it go?” I want it because the ottoman I sit on at my desk (upholstered from a nightstand) isn’t comfortable at all. Might have to knock on the lady’s door and see if she’ll sell it a week later.
See, I totally come from scavenger stock, and some of my earliest memories with my mother’s grandmother involve touring and throwing yard sales with her. The best part of these sales is purging junk from the house that other people can and still will use. If you come away with a few $$$, it’s even more fun. I love
Filed under: Get it, Love it, Scavenged it, Thrifted it | Tags: desira, dress, fabric, hat, purple, stash
Card by Rar Rar Press, Chicago.
My mister has a fantastic auburn stash growing under his nose. And I have a fabric stash growing under a terrarium (it sits atop a bookcase, stuffed with folded fabric).
Totally just added to it. 70 degree weather (!) inspires all kinds of growing. And whenever the Joann has a 50% off the clearance fabrics sale, I totally stock up on basics and stuff for baby gifts. Some sewers advocate a five yard minimum when buying fabric for unknown purposes, but I’m more of a two-yard sewer. I don’t wear big dresses or full skirts, so two yards – esp. 60-inch fabric- is usually enough for pants, A-line skirts and most tops for me.
Too bad they didn’t have any plain denim. I’ve been itching to make a warm weather denim wrap dress using the BurdaStyle Desira pattern I’d lengthen like this one I already made for my favorite little girl.
Jojo did have:
Weird white cotton with red print of pheasants and old-timey looking couples. Will line something. Or turn into a blouse.
Gray lightweight twill for a Desira wrap dress.
Wine colored polished cotton. Some kind of summer dress.
Brown cotton with subtle black stripes and little dots for a spring top – the Ellinor Sew Along with Nikkishell.
Eggplant crepe backed satin. I really have a purple dress problem.
And this black stretch terry for one of these outfits, thrifted in a ratty Chicago spot:
Also bought this McCall’s pattern because of the hats.
I’ve been wanting to use two angora sweaters I managed to shrink to copy my favorite Kangol furgora jeff cap but have had zero luck finding a pattern. This little cap (E) is sweet and close enough for now. Will try it out using a chunk of heavy denim from this Freecycled bag of scraps.
Anyone know where to find great hat patterns?
Filed under: Get it, Love it, Scavenged it, Thrifted it | Tags: etsy, fitzfabulous, fitzfabulous@etsy, fitzs, pink
I’ve gotten the hang of etsy after getting sick of ebay. True, I once sold a thifted pink jumpsuit w stirrups on ebay for $153 after a fierce bidding war, but then I got stuck with big listing bills and zero sales too many times. I’m too cheap (or too small-potatoes?) for America’s favorite auction site.
So I’m on the etsy bandwagon. Better late than never. I’ve had some luck selling fun stuff I found thrifting that didn’t fit me right or is pink or doesn’t fit my narrow reporter uniform standards of everyday dress. And I love the hunt for fantastic design, weird details and anything made in countries that don’t exist anymore.
A happy pair of metallic shoes (too small!) is going out in the mail. 
So is a bluebird dress (blue not in uniform).
And some Wrangler jeans (too wrong for short legs). 
Proceeds will send me to P-h-i-l-a this summer to see the rest of the Fitzs. And that love of Fitzs overcomes my shame at the thought of self-promotion, so take a look at the old fitzfabulous.etsy.com and see what’s been hiding among Chicago’s overlooked thrifting gems. Some are already listed; some are coming soon.
That’s fabulous.
