the best for last

My best find from last weekend isn't quite as spectacular as the quilt top I found last year but still pretty cool.



It's a Progress No. 2623-4 unbleached muslin apron with colorful binding stripes in yellow, orange, and brown and featuring stamping for embroidered flowers on the waistband corners and body. It's very clean and crisp and someone stored it carefully since it's creation in 1938!



It includes the original instruction sheet (that's how I know the date) and the flowers are to be embroidered in yellows, oranges, and browns (to match the stripes) with a little green thrown in for the leaves and stems.


You can click on this picture to see a larger version on my Flickr page. I've also included the colors that correspond to the numbers in case you want to reproduce the flowers for one of your own projects.

See the long stitches at the end of the flower petals? These are to be worked in a different color than the petals so they'll look like the two-tone flowers shown near the end of my Stitch School lazy daisy post. I'm going to try making the long stitches first, then looping the second color through like I mentioned here.



I bought this apron for an unbelievable $6! I spotted it underneath a pile of other things and it wasn't marked with a price. Luckily I had some other things already picked out and they totalled $14. The seller looked at it for a minute, then rounded my total up to $20. Sold!



I might have to do this project next, right after the set of baby bibs I'm finishing up now.

more feedsacks

A couple more finds from the show—


Blue floral—big roses? mums? I'm not sure what they are!


This feedsack has the best colors ever! I've also seen it in another colorway—hot pink, periwinkle blue, and lime green butterflies on a light blue patterned background.


A close up view

wholesale

Head Bitch in Charge asks about wholesale—

I'm finally growing my business to the point where I need to focus more on wholesale. I'm overwhelmed with all the options I have and choices to make. Mostly with things like minimum orders, how to bundle things (sets of 2 or assortments of 6?) and the best way for retailers to contact me and order. How have you handled growth and what were some unexpected hurdles you faced?

I'm probably as overwhelmed with the subject of wholesale as you are. Most of my non-retail sales have been (and still are) consignment, although I do have some wholesale accounts. One of the problems I have is that most of my products are one-of-a-kind and that can be a hard sell to shop owners who need to know exactly what they're getting. I can sell them two dozen zippered bags, for example, but I can't say exactly what the fabrics will be. Although, if they wanted all florals or stripes or whatever, I can tailor my fabric choices to fit. All of this involves a certain amount of trust and flexibility.

Minimum order amounts are what feels right to you. I'm OK with a dozen of my smaller items—wallets, tissue cozies, zippered bags—although I find most shops will order two dozen at a time. Shop owners know that small items look best grouped together—like a basketful of tissue cozies. I sew them in multiples anyway because it's easier and faster, so this works out perfectly. For pillows, my minimum order is around six—but I'm not very strict about it.

I have a one-page folded paper catalog that I print out myself and mail to prospective buyers. The items shown in it are examples of styles and I'm clear that what they'll get will be slightly different. Because of this one-of-a-kind thing I don't have my website set up for wholesale sales like some shops do. Shop owners either call or email and we discuss details.

The biggest issue you need to think about with wholesale is pricing. People often start out selling on Etsy or their own site and have very low prices. Honestly, sometimes so low that I wonder how they're even covering the costs of their materials let alone the time spent making the item. But, when you sell wholesale, you only get half of the retail price. Can you still make a profit? If the answer is no, then you need to rethink your pricing. Or find a way to lower your materials cost, although you should be doing that anyway. Make sure your prices allow you to make a profit at wholesale. Then, if you sell on consignment, you'll make a little more profit (usually it's a 60/40 split), and if you sell retail you'll make still more!

One problem you may encounter is a shop owner who won't buy from you because you also sell retail. The concern being that you might undersell brick-and-mortar stores. If shoppers can buy more cheaply from your website, why would they shop at a retail store? So, you need to keep your prices consistent everywhere you sell.

I haven't been very aggressive with finding more wholesale accounts for a couple of reasons. If I'm saying that my products are one-of-a-kind and handmade then I want that to be true. I don't want to contract out my sewing. So, I don't want to get orders that are so large I can't handle them myself. And, because I use vintage materials which are limited in supply, if I get too big it's going to be harder and harder to make that work. I'll have to use more modern material (and I already do somewhat) and I'll lose the vintage charm of my products. I do admit that I may need to rethink this position in the future—we'll see.

Hopefully, this answers some of your questions. There aren't really any hard and fast rules—you have to do what works for you!

feedsacks

I spent some time yesterday washing my fabric-related purchases from the weekend. I did not iron anything, however, because it's was 90 degrees in my house! We're finally getting some hot weather here and it actually feels like summer... and then some :)

Here's one of the feedsacks I found at the show. I love the lime green flowers and I think I may have buttons that match them exactly so it's going to be fun to work with. If I can cut it, that is.



You see, this feedsack is still in bag form. In five years of collecting them I've only come across two or three that are still intact and I really have to think about whether I want to cut this. But it does provide a rare opportunity to show you what a feedsack originally looked like.





Each sack was made by folding the fabric in half with right sides together and then sewing (with heavy string) along the open side and curving around to the bottom. The sack shown here measures 37" x 21-1/2" so, when opened up, it will be 43" wide. When removed, the braid-like stitching leaves a row of small holes all around the edge. And that's one way to determine whether something is a feedsack —look for that rows of holes.



Here's another one from my collection that's quite small—about the size of a 10-pound bag of flour. It has the same stitching.





Feedsacks also have a unique texture and feel to the cloth. Once you see and handle them enough you can usually spot them pretty easily. And I love how some still have that clean, sweet farm smell—like hay—from the grains they once held. Sometimes that doesn't wash out—I have several feedsacks that, when ironed, release the scent again and again.

and we're back

It was a long and tiring day yesterday. Lots of walking (which I'm paying for today with some hip pain) and very bright and hot (although there was a slight breeze which helped a lot). I set out with a mental shopping list of fabrics and buttons and found lots of both, including several feedsack fabrics for great prices. I'll show you some of my purchases over the next few days but overall I didn't go crazy and actually came home with half the cash I brought. I passed up several great items that were just too overpriced. One thing you learn with vintage shopping is that there are always more great things down the line. That's not to say that if you really fall in love with something that you shouldn't buy it, though.

Like this appliqued and embroidered hanky that I paid $10 for.



The workmanship is exquisite and you all know how much I love things with cats :) Here are a few more closeups of the details.



Look at those tiny stitches and the appliqued border continues all around the edge.



I love how much personality they have—all with a few tiny shapes in fabric and thread!

we're off

Gas in the car—check
Maps printed out (we're trying a different route to avoid construction on I81)—check
Coffee and scones for the drive up—check
Sandwiches and drinks in the cooler for lunch—check
Comfy shoes—check
Large bag for stowing purchases—check
Lots of small cash for acquiring those purchases—check

And we're off to the Bouckville show. Hopefully I'll have lots of great stuff to show you tomorrow :)

pretty feedsacks

Don't forget the Madison-Bouckville Outdoors Antique Show is this coming weekend in upstate New York (Bouckville is located on Route 20, roughly halfway between Syracuse and Utica). This will be my fourth year and I always find great stuff—with 1000 dealers how could I not? The weather is looking good so far, which is great. There are very few indoor booths (some large tents) and, believe me, it can be pretty miserable if it rains. The very high humidity we had one year wasn't much fun either. I'm hoping to find some great vintage fabrics this year.

I've been doing lots of updating to the Primrose Design website lately. There's now a fourth page of vintage plastic buttons, a few new pillows (including some smaller handkerchief designs), and lots of new trims (including shell braid in five colors and rick rack in the package and off-the-bolt). Remember the discount code (CUPCAKE) for 20% off your order!



Illustrating this post are some new feedsacks I won last week on Ebay. I've added the pictures to the Flickr Feedsack Group, which is a great place to view gorgeous feedsacks uploaded by members. We're always looking for new members, too, so feel free to join and start posting your own photos. There are almost 500 so far!

fun facts

Some fun facts about Primrose—

• I ship the most orders to California (by a very wide margin), followed by Texas and New York who are neck and neck for second place. I've shipped to every state except South Dakota.

• The farthest away that I've shipped an order is to Australia, or maybe Japan—I'm not sure which is farthest in miles. The closest are the ones I don't ship at all—like when friends come to my house to buy or I deliver orders to local shops.

• An item I sell consistently is the package of duck diaper pins. They aren't vintage but look like they might be. But people don't buy them for diapering. Women buy them to decorate baby shower invitations, sports coaches buy them for their teams, one woman bought them because she says they're the best thing to separate clumps from mascara, who knew?

rick rack on etsy

I don't know why I never thought to look for rick rack on Etsy before. I use the large size to trim my tea towels and I'm always looking for the 100% cotton kind in fun, bright colors. I bought a bunch last week from three different sellers.

When you search for rick rack you get all sorts of interesting listings besides packages and off-the-bolt yardage. Here are some cool things I found while looking (clicking on the photos will take you to the etsy listing).


vintage yellow crocheted pillowcase edging with rick rack woven through the top, $4 (backthroughtime)


A vintage blue tablecloth trimmed with a triple row of white rick rack attached with black and white embroidery floss, $12 (IndulgeYourShelf)


A 1950s rockabilly jade green circle skirt trimmed with rows and rows of colorful rick rack and braided trims, $28 (VintageJubilee)


Yellow cotton tatting with beige rickrack attached to the bottom edge, $5.50 (SalvageNation)


And finally, an amazing pair of clip-back earrings fashioned from pink rick rack and beads (jackandjoey). Don’t go looking for these—they're already sold—to me!

say hello...

...to Hello Bluebird! I mentioned the other day that I was going to deliver a bunch of product to a new shop on Thursday. I didn't want to say too much about the shop without first asking the owner if it was OK. It won't be opening officially for several weeks and then just for a soft opening. The Grand Opening is scheduled for September 3rd to coincide with West Reading's First Thursday and the opening of their first gallery show. Titled Show and Tell, it will showcase works combining art and the written word.

Owner Alex McCarty, who you may recognize from her online shop Blossom Boutique, describes her new venture as an indie boutique and gallery. Located in an old row house in the historic business district of West Reading, PA, the shop has original architectural details with tons of vintage charm, wood floors, and walls painted with gorgeous saturated colors—bluebird blue (of course) in the first room, with a fruit-punchy raspberry on the back and staircase walls. The remaining rooms, which flow from one to the other (shotgun style) will get a similar treatment in the coming weeks.


Display of cards against the raspberry-colored wall.


Newly arrived bags artfully arranged on hooks. Isn't this wall color perfect?


Little journals and picture frame magnetic boards covered with vintage fabric and with matching fabric-covered magnets—love these!


Tiny lampshades with storybook animals and ball fringe trim, jars of chunky wooden beads for stringing, and children's dresses made from fun fabric combinations.

I got to meet Tara Gentile from scoutie girl and Handmade in PA who was helping out for the day and several other local consignors who were dropping off items. Everything beautiful and well-made—you're going to love shopping here.

I hope you'll stop by for the opening to welcome Alex to the neighborhood, meet some of the artists, and browse the gallery show. If you hate crowds (too many people—ack!), skip the opening and stop by when things have quieted down a bit and you can browse in a more leisurely fashion. It's not too early to think about starting your holiday shopping and you might just find everything you're looking for here!

Hello Bluebird, 609 Penn Avenue, West Reading, PA 19611

sewing machines

People sometimes email me to ask what kind of sewing machine I use, thinking that because I have a business I must have some fancy schmantzy machine. And I do have a Bernette that I bought that first year. But, you know what? The machine I use the most is my mom's Singer Featherweight that she received as a going-away-to-college gift in 1950.

It does nothing special—no fancy stitches and I can't even get the buttonhole attachment to work right. But for straight sewing it works like a dream. And it's all metal. Unlike the Bernette which I sometimes think will break if I look at it wrong.

My Mom (that's her on the right in what I think is a dress that she made herself on that same sewing machine) was officially a home-economics major in college but, as many young women of the time were doing, was actually pursuing her MRS degree. In her case she succeeded :)



Actually, she did teach for a while, too. But, when I came along (and then my brother and sister) she opted to stay home. And she put those home-ec skills to good use. We didn't have much money but she was so good at stretching every dollar that I don't think we really noticed. Except for some of the weird casseroles (with Spam and canned salmon) she sometimes served for dinner. She made a lot of our clothes on that sewing machine, too. I wish I could find pictures of some of them.

snakes alive!

First off, let me apologize to all the people who left comments over the past week. I never received notification from Blogger so couldn't approve them and they never got added. Imagine my surprise when I logged on today. What's up with that I wonder.

After a flurry of posts every day for a week, I haven't been posting at all. I've been out in the garden every day—if I had a nickel for every weed I've pulled... I could hire a gardener! I'm working on a custom gift order for my SIL. And I've been gathering up product for consignment at a new shop that's opening next month. I'll tell you more about that later but I'm driving down on Thursday to deliver everything in person and check it out. Everything I bring has to be packaged, labeled, or tagged for retail sale. That's a little different than how I do it for my website.

I don't know if this photo will disgust you—it depends, I guess, on whether you're afraid of snakes. My husband has been cleaning up an area near the driveway and was moving some big stones this morning. Look what he found when he lifted one of them.



The picture's a little fuzzy but I wasn't getting any closer than I had to. Not because I'm afraid but because we don't want to scare them away. We're very happy to have snakes—in fact, the more the merrier. They eat insects and small pesky animals and they're really too small to be a bother. This photo makes them look larger than they are —those little green leaves are clover so you can see they aren't that large. This pair, probably a male and female (one's a bit larger and lighter in color), were curled up together and a third smaller one slithered off into the bushes. Another small one lives near the front porch and often suns himself on the top step. My cats watch from inside the screen door and are fascinated with it. I've also seen him lurking under the coneflowers in the herb garden. I think he's sort of cute!

tiger, tiger, burning bright...

Just a pretty photo for you today. Tiger lilies remind me so much of my grandmother, who died while I was in college. There was a long row of these old-fashioned beauties along the stone wall outside of her back door. The window above the kitchen sink looked out on them as well so she could enjoy them while she washed dishes.



It's really hard to choose a favorite flower because I love so many of them. But these come pretty close, at least they're among my top five!

rickrack redux

I found this very pretty embroidered runner at the flea market last weekend and wanted to show you how the rick rack was attached.



It's simply tacked down with a single stitch on just the top curves (the bottom curves hang over the hemmed edge so all you see is rick rack). The bottom row shows what the back side looks like.



Here's what happens at the corner turn:



This is pretty for a runner but probably wouldn't work so well for clothing—it's not very sturdy and could easily pull off with rough handling. But I love how simple it is and think of all the color combinations you could come up with!

fresh peas for dinner

You know how I've been complaining that we didn't have a good strawberry crop this year and I've been buying them to make up for our shortfall. Well, there's no shortage of peas—this is just a small sampling of the hundreds of pods still on the vines.



I sat on my porch this afternoon and shelled these. And I'll cook them for dinner tonight with our grilled lamb and roasted potatoes. And for dessert we'll have what's left of the fresh strawberry pie I made yesterday - yum! I tried this recipe but added a bit of sugar to the cream cheese filling and cooked the glaze longer. People were mentioning in the comments that they couldn't get it to set up and I thought that might help. It did. It's very simple and fresh-tasting, not too sweet, and really let's the berries shine.

going to the dogs

I never knew where that expression came from but it means going to ruin as in food that isn't fit for human consumption (i.e only good enough to feed to dogs). Poor dogs. None of this has anything to do with my post today but it's so hard to come up with catchy titles and I do have some doggy things to show you. Both are newly listed items on my website.



The first is a new pillow featuring an embroidered Scotty dog that I recycled from the corner of a vintage tablecloth. I think it's probably machine-done as I've seen it several times before and it always looks exactly the same. In fact, I think I made a pillow a couple of years ago with the same motif. This one is all about red, white, and black and I've used three coordinating prints in those colors and some vintage red buttons at the corners. This almost looks Christmasy with the little red berries and red bow around his neck.



The other is a set of six rectangular linen cocktail napkins—three white and three black—with appliqued poodles in the corners. I love the tiny stitches and little red collars! One napkin has a yellow spot near the edge but the others are in good condition. A nice example of 60s cocktail culture—break out the Salty Dogs (vodka and grapefruit with a salted rim)!

button jewelry

I've mentioned before that I have several customers who buy buttons to make jewelry. And that I'm fascinated by button jewelry and, really, anything unusual and different made from buttons. I met another button jewelry artist this past weekend—Judy Perilstein from Pequea, Pennsylvania—at the flea market I attended and bought a bracelet from her.



She named this "Get Fresh" and I love how she's combined buttons with beads and sea shells to create something that reminds me very much of what you'd see spilling from a treasure chest in a pirate movie—a jumble of seemingly disparate elements that somehow work together.



I'm also coveting her simpler Queen Anne's Bracelet made from white and cream-colored vintage pearl buttons on an elastic band. It's available at her Etsy shop—Round Two Jewelry. She has several bracelets for sale that are similar to the one I bought but in different color combinations along with gorgeous necklaces featuring larger antique and vintage buttons. I'm happy to recommend her work—and I'm pretty picky when it comes to buying jewelry!

10 flea market tips

Just my "two cents" and compiled after my recent flea market excursion on July 4th...

1. About timing. They say that you should arrive early to find the best stuff and that's true if what you're looking for is popular or the flea market is heavily visited by professionals. But, they also say that the best deals can be found at the end of the day because dealers don't want to pack everything up again to haul it home. So, it depends on what's more important to you. I'm an early riser anyway so I try to arrive as early as I can. But not so early that I leave my house when it's still dark outside.

2. Try to find out something about the flea market you'll be visiting ahead of time, especially if you'll be driving any distance to get there. Some flea markets are not what you think they're going to be. My local market, for example, is mostly junk—tables full of new clothing, shoes, beauty products, and CDs. I only occasionally find anything there and wouldn't go at all if it wasn't ten minutes from my house. The great thing about hunting for treasures at flea markets is the accidental great find and you want to travel to places where that might actually happen.

3. Wear comfy clothing and shoes. You'll be doing lots of walking and blisters are not a good thing. I wore a pair of crocs on my last trip and they worked great except for the tiny pebbles that kept working their way into the holes at the sides. Ouch! Next time I'll try sneakers.

4. Bring a big, lightweight tote bag for your purchases. It won't help much for larger items but it's perfect for smaller things—like the buttons, trims, and hankies I like to buy. I have a brightly striped one that is also good for identifying me in a crowd. That way if I wander off my husband can spot me from a distance.

5. Bring a tape measure if you're looking for furniture or something to fill a particular spot in your home. You don't want to buy something that's too big for the space you have to fill. Or too big to fit in your car!

6. Bring lots of small change. Yes, they'll think you're crazy at the bank but vendors will appreciate it if you have exact change. Many won't take checks or credit cards anyway.

7. Don't be afraid to ask for a better price but don't be rude. A simple "Can you do better on the price?" will do just fine. If you buy several items from a vendor they'll usually be amenable to a group discount. I bought a patchwork quilt from a vendor and she gave me the handful of handkerchiefs I had in my hand for free. Chatting up sellers and being nice will go a long way.

8. Stop to refuel. Large markets often have food stands and they can be a great way to sample local fare. Smaller markets don't always have the healthiest choices though. If greasy junk food isn't your thing then consider packing a picnic lunch. We do this for the Bouckville show—not because the food isn't good but because the lines are so long! Make sure you drink lots of liquids, too, especially if it's a hot day. Lemon-Shakeups (my personal fav) are good for this purpose ;)

9. About those liquids, make sure when you arrive that you scout out where the bathrooms are located. You don't want to be hunting for them when you really need it, if you know what I mean.

10. Have fun! Laugh about the silly things you remember (and wish you'd kept) from your childhood. Be open to discoveries but don't be disappointed if you don't find anything. That's the beauty of hunting for treasure—it's like a game—sometimes you win, sometimes you don't.

strawberry time

Wow, can you believe it's July already? Maybe it's because it doesn't feel like July weather wise—too much rain, not enough heat. Most of our garden is doing OK (at least I don't have to water it) but I was right about the strawberries—they never did very well. We got some but nowhere near the usual quantity. It was just too wet.

Luckily we have Pallman Farms in Clarks Summit, a wonderful place to pick your own strawberries! Since I'm still recovering from my bursitis, climbing around in a 10-acre strawberry field wasn't really an option, so I took advantage of the fact that they sell them already picked as well. This is actually the second batch I've bought—last week's eight quarts were either eaten (homemade ice cream and strawberry sponge cake) or in the freezer (put them in a single layer on a tray in the freezer until they're hard, then put them in freezer bags). Since it's raining again today (sigh), I'll be indoors preparing this new batch. But think how wonderful they'll be next winter, like a little taste of summer!



The cat is a stray I've been feeding since earlier this spring. I've hesitated to introduce him because I'm afraid he'll disappear as mysteriously as he arrived. He does go away occasionally for a few days here and there (I say he's gone walkabout) but he always shows up again. I've named him Little Bear because he looks like a mini version of the black bears we've seen so much of this spring. He's very sweet and well-mannered and obviously had a home at some point. My husband thinks someone dropped him off in the country to fend for himself, something I think is very sad. The average lifespan of a cat "on the street" is something like four or five years—it's tough out there. I do have to keep him outdoors (my cats hate him) but he's managed to find sheltered areas to hang out and knows I'm good for free meals.

Pallman Farms, 1511 Summit Lake Road, Clarks Summit, PA 18411

home sweet home

Karen at First Fruit Flowers blogged about the custom sampler project I recently completed for her. You may remember this as the pattern I copied from Susan's (The T-Cozy) original sampler and that she has for sale on her blog. A word of warning though—this is kind of an advanced pattern—if you're just beginning embroidery you may want to get some practice in on simpler projects first. It took me far longer than it should have but I realized something about the way I work that partially explains that. I'm easily bored and do better when I can work on several projects at once and can jump from one to the other.


A close up of the bird and birdbath.

Finding a fabric for this project was a real problem—we both wanted it to look like it could be vintage. I investigated options and even ordered several different kinds of linen and linen/cotton blends to work with. Nothing was quite right. Too stiff, too much like Aida cloth. So I ended up embroidering on a vintage towel that I had purchased several years ago. It had a nice weave, although a bit "soft" so it was a challenge to keep it from distorting the embroidery. I also discovered, after doing a bit of the border, that the weave wasn't "square". What I mean by that is that I counted four threads in each direction for each cross but the crosses weren't square. I backtracked, counted four over and down five, and that did it.

I mostly stuck to the colors of Susan's original except for the flowers—they needed to be brightened up—and I chose whatever colors I thought looked good together. I'm happy with the result but, honestly, I don't want to do anything this ambitious again for a while. I'm sticking to the easy stuff (and ones where I don't have to count threads) for my next few projects!