New pop up vintage shop in town!

Ho ho - did you see what I did there? My shop has popped up in my old trunk!

In order to complete the pop up shop I am going to add some writing to the inside of my trunk lid and tra la la there you have it!  I have been kindly asked if I might have a stall at a local vintage fair so started to collect some bits together.  The usual dilemmas regarding a) would it be good enough b) what style/era to go for.

So these photos only show one possible 'genre' (fancy!) - I could not decide on just embroidered linens, just fabrics, just 1960s/70s, just children's,  just books, just things that I have made.....

So here is the first version of the pop up shop - I must add an apology in here.  At Christmas I thought that I had sold a tin that had purses and assortments in by mistake....I was sorting through some old suitcases today and found them all in there.  Humble apologies though that tin did have some nice badges in...

So I have been able to add some embroidered purses and miles of vintage hand embroidered bunting into the mix.  Sifting through the 'Cupboard of Wonders'  and taking a hard look at children's things - we have enjoyed them all over the years but time to move I think.

Too fuddy duddy?

See - an entire shop housed in an old suitcase - ruddy marvellous (the idea not the contents!)

Pity that it is a little too heavy to fit onto my bike - how delicious it would all look together and then I could tra la la along the sea front plying my wares (steady...)

Just need to add a bit of trim to the edges and during the night I thought of fixing in a little shelf into the lid.....don't worry I have thought it through. In my head everything always looks great - the reality often sadly differs.

Thank you as always for not posting elsewhere (Pinterest take note)

Thoughts and comment gratefully received as always

Coming up next week....how to recover a recovered trunk....

Simple floral pleasures

Whilst in 'The Shop in the Cellar' I found lots of vintage knives and forks...the other day I used some of them as little floral supports.  These were some pansies that I had leftover from filling a hanging basket - bought cheaply from a car boot but how pretty they are.  I popped the last few in some vintage cups - I do like this size of cup, just right for a hot milk at bedtime (when not being put to pansy usage)!

A little bit of cheeriness was very much needed on these wet and windy days.  Sad that these photos have been put onto Pinterest - it really does make me feel as though some people have no interest in reading this blog but just like to take the photos...do people on Pinterest never ask first???? Perhaps someone could enlighten me as to whether or not manners exist over there?

 Here my fork has wobbled a bit!  The copper fire hood seen in the background was £10 from a car boot last year and replaced the bit of chipboard that had been placed there by the previous owner

Gilding the lily as always - so fished out an old pot stand that I had used for a scrap of 50s fabric years ago (these are pretty easy to find and often in a parlous state - all they usually need is a clean and a bit of old fabric smartens them up):

This make seems familiar to me - it might be because I have others from the same factory in the house, I will have a search around for others!

Anyway simple enough but bright and cheery I think

PS Also dug out my lovely old yellow teapot from the cellar (just seen in the background) - I could not find the lid, grrrr.  I will take a photo of it and someone may be able to identify it for me!

Happy planting.

For any budding builders or architects - more cheering up'ness

Made this today for cheeriness and just because'ness (also because I finished a batch of marking a day early - yay'ness !). What do you think?

Thank you for not posting my photographs onto Pinterest or Tumbler or....

I wonder if you get to see this Ali you would let me know if you would like it for your little boy - thank you so much for your support and kind words. For budding builders the world over - a sausage dog of a pencil case made from 1970s Daisy Walk fabric and matching orange segment! I might do a range of 'predictive' purses (when I grow I am going to.....) !!!

I bought this old Kiddicraft puzzle last week at the car boot - bought mainly because it was only 50p - daft I know (the buying it not the 50p bit!).

I also bought this old tea storage jar for £1 - madness as I have so many tea cannisters I could start a tea cannister shop! Goes nicely together though....

 I was on the brink of 'moving on' an old Magic Roundabout duvet cover when Bronte spied it and asked if she could have it.  She is now of such a lofty age she can use 'trendy' objet from the past that might otherwise be considered too young.

It went quite well (in a clashing sort of way) with the cushion that I made a couple of years ago from the same Daisy Walk fabric (bought from a car boot along with some other lovely fabrics I remember).

With some smaller offcuts of this fabric I made little purses last year and gave them away as prizes for a game whilst camping...wish I had kept them now...


Jolly fabric I think

Little boxes made out of ticky tacky
Little boxes on the hillside
Little boxes all the same....
Little boxes, little boxes
...join in....my dad's favourite song strangely!

Upcycling the recycling...

Hello again - I will cheer up eventually, being a misery guts from time to time is part of my nature (silly things get me down)!

I bought this from a charity shop the other day and was really buying it for the little case (Bronte is fond of these) and I was going to do what I often do and donate the slide projector back to the shop (I have often done this with china when I really, really do not want it all but just a 'token piece' - daft really).  Anyway I changed to the glasses that I can see close up with and realised that it was quite a nice looking projector.

I thought that I could then upcycle (sort of) this into a fancy light for Bronte's bedroom and perhaps project some vintage images at the same time!  What do you think?  Daft? For £7.50 that was not too bad for a case and light (then again I could have bought a new one.....).

 By sheer coincidence I noticed that there was an image of an electrical gizmo with an old plug also on this fabric

This fabric is a pair of curtains and one day (when I am feeling very brave) I will use the fabric for something.....

I cannot remember a time when I have not used things in ways other than original purpose - when a teenager (what the heck was I thinking!!!!) I bought these two 'things':

I know that you are thinking: "^%£^"£^$%&$$£............%$^&**&&???" - but bear with....these are Edwardian snooker/billiard cue holders of course.  They could be found going cheap because we do not usually have Edwardian snooker cues in our homes any more and also I don't think everyone would know what they are. So what do I use them for?  Holding our umbrellas of course - the top photograph shows the lovely little ratchet mechanism that swirls round!  The photographs are not very good (and are dusty) because these are tucked inside a cupboard but they have been used for this purpose for several decades in our home!  Who knew!

PS: I have been saving up for varifocals - then the awful reality of what I have been making will hit me!

PPS:Just adding something in here that is not related to making things or second hand stuff!  I don't usually watch any medical/hospital related type programmes - I huff and puff about them too much. However I have been watching some of the Great Ormond Street series and the other day Professor Martin Elliott was featured carrying out a tracheal transplant.  I remember him coming to our office many years ago (he did not have white hair then!) and asking us if we would ask bereaved families if they would consider tracheal donation. This was/is pioneering surgery - though I fully understand it is not for everyone to be a part of and we are all different in our thoughts and views.  I was one of four transplant co-ordinators who worked solely on the donation side of transplantation in our region (at that time there were only about 65 co-ordinators in the country and they worked mainly on the recipient side) - I was the person that you never wished to meet because of what I represented. Thinking of those bereaved families now brings a lump to my throat - kind and brave families, I remember you all. I have never been able to attend the memorial services that are held for those who have donated because I know that I would cry too much. A difficult but tremendous job to have been a part of for several years.  I really do appreciate everything that we have and sometimes I really miss working in intensive care.  Adding this in only to show that I am not all frou frou and vintage fabrics!!

Have a sunny day inside - even if it is raining outside!

Making things to cheer myself up

Made this this morning to cheer myself up - it is still a panel at the moment. Will add some nice vintage buttons to the intersections. Embroidery looks a bit washed out in the morning sun.

 Would you make this into a bag, make it into a cushion, shove it in the "Drawer of Shame" (said in an echoey voice) or something different? I fear I know its destiny.....

Designing Women Exhibition - 50s fabricos

Sadly I don't think that I will be able to get to this exhibition..http://www.ftmlondon.org/exhibitions/detail/?ID=75 which will show many of my favourite fabrics.  I thought about this for a while and then realised  hang on a cotton pickin' minute we can put the show on right here!

Note how the curator did not steam press the fabrics before they went on to display - shameful really - you would have thought they would put a little effort into it!

The curator was a little miffed that the original price label that has been on this fabric finally fell off! This is of course a Marian Mahler fabric - waiting to made into something else (has been waiting a few years...)

The fabric below is very, very similar in layout as the one above but they are different with different vases and objects.  Both are marvellouso and I am waiting for the day we finish decorating the front room to begin the chopping and making process (gulp!).  I think that either one or both of these are Marian Mahler.  The one below is particularly striking, all unused and bright, bright colours - though I have lots and lots of it I cannot bear to make the first chop (the first cut is the deepest - sing along at the back.....)

This one I have seen as being sold by Marian Mahler but I don't think that it is - these are a pair of curtains but too small for our windows..The little cat vase used to live in Maille's red bedroom - since reclaimed as mine! Nice pattern all the same (I am tempted to do a posting just on vase fabrics...or novelty fabrics...or seaside fabrics..or...)

The fabric above I think is Sylvia Chalmers - this is definitely going to be made into cushions as the colours will suit the front room perfectly...when done.....

Above is Lucienne Day's Herb Antony - not my favourite but good colours.

Dear Mary from The Vintage Cottage sent me this gift of extraordinarily wonderful ORIGINAL Marian Mahler fabric in the more unusual green colour - I have not forgotten about it Mary and it is waiting patiently for its cushion making chance to shine.  I love it very much Mary

Above is Mary White's Cottage Garden - I love its modernness and freshness.  I have posted pictures of my lampshade made from this before and so here I will show our chaise longue that I bit the bullet and had recovered a couple of years ago (it resides at the end of our bed and mostly gets used for sorting the piles of socks out on...not a great deal of reclining takes place!!!).  The seat itself was bought from Crystal Palace auctions (when it used to be in the old train station years ago) and  it too waited patiently to be recovered....

I use every last scrap of fabric so some was used to make a little purse

I tried to sell this on e**y but no success, I must have given it away I think because I have no idea where it is now...oh dearie me I wish I had it use...

I love it when designs go together - an old flickr picture of mine showing Maille's 1950 rubbish bin that goes very nicely with some more Marian Mahler fabric.

I have stuck to the 'exhibition' brief and not strayed into different decades  or indeed genders- a bit difficult for me to be restrained.  I may do other posts on fabric designers across the last century!

Exhibition only open for a very short period - one day in fact.  Oh, now closed....

I am a vintage collar worker!!

Well in this instance it is a 50s  collar worker - made this really to  show how the smallest bits of fabric can be used for something (see older posting regarding use of tiny scraps for cathedral window patchwork).  You might remember that deliciouso Herzberger fabric that I used for bag and for lampshade (plus a few other things that I have not photographed) - well the fabric was old curtains originally and I kept the raggedy old hem - see below!

There are all sorts of bits and bobs jostling for position to be used in our house and yesterday it was the turn of the old hem!  I did not measure the fabric but it can only be about two and half inches wide - if it had been narrower I would have just made a narrower collar.  I also have enough left to make matching cuffs (have dug out some nice old cuff links and will try and persuade Dom that it is THE THING to wear this season.......).

Changed the 'old' collar pattern (24 hours old that is) and made it a different shape. Used plain black fabric this time to line it.  I had to sew this slowly as I was sewing at six in the morning and thought it a little unfair to subject the house to the rattling of my falling apart sewing machine (at top speed it is like that scene in Mary Poppins where the family have to hold onto all the furniture).

Could not resist adding one or two more things into the photo....

The tins house sewing thread - a bit painful really as they have to be tipped out to find the colour that I need but let's face it that is not a huge problem to have in life!

Might not have time to make a 60s one tomorrow - half term has whizzed by and we have been very busy.  Mind you if I get up at 5.30......

Off to the vintage thingy at Brighton racecourse today with Bronte - I may be wearing this collar.  Do say hello if you see me wearing it!!

Thank you again for kind words and coronets

Please let me know if you too make a collar and I will start a collar club on Flickr!
Best wishes
Jenny

PS I did indeed add top stitching to the embroidered collar of the other day and refolded it so it looks nicer now
PPS Thank you again for not posting on Pinterest
PPS Bike is getting a little big headed now as not only did it appear in the BBC Homes and Antiques article but the photographs of it when it was green and the current blue one are both in Explore on Flickr.  Bike is now signing its own autographs

Hot under the vintage embroidered collar!!

Along with a hundred other things I have been meaning to make are some collars for Bronte  - she has taken to wearing some of my old blouses (circa 1965) that have a nice pointy collar so thought that we could throw a bit of versatility into the mix.  I have made Peter Pan ones before but this was this first time I had ventured into the world of 'proper collar' making!

Not difficult at all - I got the old blouse (circa 1965) and had a good look at it - drew round it as a pattern and then realised that it is only two parallel lines - one slightly shorter than the other and then a line drawn to join the two together (the wider the differential between the two end points will result in a more/less pointy collar).   Since fiddling about with all that I found lots of tutorials on the interweb - but as with lots of patterns it is usually best to adapt so that it is just right for you/moi!!

This collar is lined with some old Jonelle fabric (used to be a pair of curtains and has been used for lots of different things).

Tomorrow I am going to make one with 50s fabric and then the next day it will be the 60s.  Such fun!!

This photo makes it look as though it is an odd shape but I promise that it isn't.  It did take a while to find the right sort of embroidery.....

This is Bronte wearing it!

I like top stitching but did not do that here - now wish that I had....

Bronte much preferred the first mock up that I made (complete with pen marks!) - out of an old sheet.  The next one I make will not be so high (though it is not as high as it appears in these photographs - this one looks very Edwardian in style!).  I also made these to be used with my collar studs left over from my nursing days when I wore, what I call,  a 'proper uniform' and a white collar (rubbed like heck by the end of the day mind you!).

Never fear I will not be going into collar production! Have a lovely week.

PS Thank you for kind comments and messages regarding Homes and Antiques - I didn't know which edition it was going to be in so was surprised too.  The photos were all taken a year ago and they first asked me February 2011!! I hate having my photo taken and did not think that would be needed so not had my annual 'shearing; but had managed to get a nice streak of grey in my hair (that takes years of practice to get that right!!).

PPS thank you again for not posting on Pinterest - my bike has appeared there though....