Vintage Pattern Love

Clearly, I love vintage patterns.  This isn't a new thing; I've been collecting them for a few years now.  It all started with this:

The image on these three collages came from a pattern I picked up at Market Day way back in 2009....long before I knew how to sew.  There was just something about this image.  The look on her face, that full skirt, the tiny waist...I'm not quite sure exactly what it was, but I  had to have it, and so I bought it.  Just because. (And it was only a dollar.) I had it about a year before I did anything with it, and it then led to a whole bunch of collages that I just had so much fun making.  I sold all the others, but the first one I did was always my favorite.  Here's a closer look:

If you've followed along with me here, you may recall that I even had this image printed on fabric a couple of years ago.  One of those mini-quilts was featured in Art Quilting Studio magazine last year, which was exciting for me.  This collage is available as an art print or a blank greeting card in my etsy shop, too, in case you might like one.  I've also used old pattern envelopes as journal covers too.  There's just something about those illustrations of the vintage fashions.  I find them irresistible!  I'll be making another batch of pattern journals for opening day at the Downtown Des Moines Farmers' Market on May 7, because they make perfect Mother's Day gifts.

Yesterday I took a little time to tidy up my sewing room and hang these three collages up together.  The colors in these pieces seemed to go well with the apron I was working on.  I love the combination of aquas and reds together.  Here's the apron:

The fabrics used are from JoAnn's; the pattern is a vintage McCall's from 1966.  It's a "sample" pattern; I've never come across one of those before.  I bought it simply for the envelope illustration, which is retro and yet looks very contemporary to me:

Eventually I want to frame some patterns and hang on the wall and this will likely be one of them.

What's just as much fun as vintage patterns?  Vintage pattern print FABRIC, of course!

This fabric is by Michael Miller.  Love it.  I'm tempted just to re-cover a message board with it rather than sew it, so I can enjoy looking at it all the time.

A Whole Lotta Making Going On!

Ah, summer, how I love thee!  Afternoons at the pool are our favorite activity.  When I'm not swimming with my little guy, I've been using my weeks off from Farmers Market to get some new inventory ready.  I've been inspired by some new papers:

Boy, do I love that bicycle print.  It comes in other colors and previously I had the green & teal on gray version, but I think I might love this gray & white on black version even more.

I'm also excited to use this leaf-print paper:

I've been working on a new batch of vintage dress-pattern journals this week as well.  These have been a popular item at Market so it was time to make more:

These are much more time-consuming to make than vintage-book journals, because I have to cut the book board, then glue the cover papers to the board...but I really love these.  I hate it when I hear people say how they've thrown away so many old patterns...because even if you aren't going to sew the garment, the artwork on the envelope is beautiful and there are oh so many uses for the pattern tissue.

I'm also doing a few Bingo Books for a customer.  I used to do make a lot of these back when I first started doing shows, but then online sellers really raised their prices on vintage Bingo cards so I don't do so many any more.  These cards actually belonged to my grandparents, and since they weren't heavy chipboard, I just glued them to book board so they would be sturdy enough to make a journal.  These are nice sized, a little bigger than 4 x 6.

So that's what's been going on around here.  I've got one more Saturday to sleep in before I'll be back at the Farmers Market on July 25.  You can find me at 2nd & Court with lots of new stuff.  Come say hi!