colorways

Finding nice vintage fabrics is a challenge. Finding two of the same pattern in different colorways is a miracle!


Gray, green, red, black and white


Red, yellow, blue, navy and white

And, no, I didn't find them together. One was an Ebay purchase and I can't remember where I found the other. I thought at first it might be feedsack but the fabric is much too light in weight—definitely not sturdy enough to have been filled with grain or flour.

pods from outer space

Can anyone help me out with identifying this plant?



I found lots of them growing on the edges of my yard. The plant is a single very thin vine with corkscrew tendrils that wrap around anything near it—trees, blackberry bushes, tall weeds. And the seed pods look like something from a science fiction movie. They're quite heavy for the size of the plant's stem and hang straight down. And they look fuzzy from a distance but are covered with green spikes. The seeds inside are suspended in a greenish goo and are about the size and shape of pumpkin seeds. In the young pods they're white; in the more mature ones they're brown like this:



I'm quite sure they're something I don't want growing in my yard because I can see them taking over (that science fiction movie thing again). I just want to know what they are. Anyone?



Thanks to K who identified this as Wild Cucumber (Echinocystis lobata). You can see more photos here.

not quite chicken scratch

This is the last of my finds from last weekend's trip to Kutztown.



The seller who I bought this from had two and the first was traditional chicken scratch made into a pillow top (another idea for using this style of embroidery) with a ruffled edge. Nice but nothing you hadn't seen before. The one I bought had that little something extra. More like a lot extra!



The small crosses have a twisted thread which is a great variation of the traditional double cross stitch. To do this variation, make your cross first, then the straight line from left to right. Then, when making the final stitch from top to bottom, loop your thread over the center of the crossed threads and the left-to-right thread.



There are also great examples of the ribbed spider's web stitch using twenty threads and skewed into a spiral. This is done a little differently than the spider web stitch. Instead of simply passing under and over the cross threads, the threads get wrapped over each cross thread, forming a raised tube. It could be straight but, in this example, it's twisted to form a spiral. Will have to try this to figure out exactly how it was done.



The spiral designs alternate with woven crosses, also done over twenty base threads. In this design the thread is woven in four sections back and forth over the five threads in each corner.



All done in ivory-colored lightweight wool on a heavyweight red gingham background. It looks just like lace from a distance. I can't even imagine how long it took to make this—the work is flawless. I'll probably frame this piece because it really does deserve to be preserved and, because the threads sit on the surface, it could easily get snagged.

Updated to add the size of this piece, which I should have stated before because it has so much going on in a not-very-large space. It's just 18 inches square and each spiral block is 1.75 inches across!

unusual apron pocket

The apron itself is very simple—just plain solid yellow cotton—but the pockets are amazing.



Blue and yellow binding strips form a lattice. Yellow binding holds it all together along the outside edges where it's sewn to the apron body.



I can't quite figure out how this was sewn since the stitching runs over areas that are open underneath. Any thoughts, dear readers? Would it help to see the back side of it? No matter how it was sewn, it's really pretty and unusual.

You could use the same basic idea to sew the strips onto a background fabric—creating a three-dimensional lattice. And then add appliqued or fabric flowers on top. I'm envisioning a pillow here if you couldn't tell :)

Updated to add a link to a photo of the back side.

more feedsacks

It's been a feedsack kind of summer for me. I keep finding really pretty ones in patterns I haven't seen before and for reasonable prices, too. These are from my trip to Kutztown on Saturday.


The dark lines on this are actually a very dark blue, not black as I originally thought.


So much going on with this one; I love the contrast between the geometric background and the bright red-orange daisies on top.


I love the bright colors on this but the pattern is kind of a mess; it's a smallish piece and I'll cut it up for bags or tissue cozies.

Otherwise it was a pretty miserable day. It rained all the way there and most of the way back and my eyes were so stressed from driving in all that mist and water that I had to take a nap when I got home. But it was fun being back in Kutztown again and visiting some of the same vendors who were selling at the farmer's market when I went to college there many years ago. Most things were different on the main street, although a few shops were still there. A friend's house at the top of the hill is now a used book store which is sort of funny. She and her roommates were all big readers and their rooms sort of resembled a used book store when they lived there. Overflowing shelves and books piled up here and there. Hee :)

I found a few very cool needlework/sewing-related things that I'll show you in the next couple of posts. Stay tuned!

crazy for carrots

My latest pillow, just added to the website—



This uses, as it's central motif, one of the quilt blocks from that batch I won on Ebay this spring. I already had the carrot fabric left over from an earlier project so I embroidered the bunny in colors to match. And added a few details to jazz it up a little—orange and white polka dot fabric and four vintage white flower-shaped buttons in the corners, and some lime green rick rack around the edges of the block. Isn't he cute with his little plaid jacket and bunch of carrots?



I have a few more of these blocks but no more carrot fabric so the next usage will be entirely different. And that's OK. I'd get bored doing the same thing over and over.

I found some great fabrics, including a few feedsacks, yesterday in Kutztown and will show you pictures after I get them ironed and photographed.

summer coat

When we find vintage things in our travels we don't often get to know who owned them or their history or even anything about them. Once in a while there's something to give us a clue.



I found this at a local antique shop the other day. I didn't buy it because I loved the buttons—they're only ordinary gray coat buttons—but for the note that was attached. The woman who owned them took the time to add a hand-written note when she tied the buttons together with black thread. We don't know if she then put it into her sewing box or button jar or whether it was passed down to her child or grandchild. Or how it found it's way to this particular shop. But we do know that she had a gray summer coat that she took apart. And was probably one of those super organized people that drive us crazy :)

I'm heading out in a short while to spend the day flea marketing in Kutztown. Who knows what treasures I'll find?

chicken scratch sunsuit

Rebecca sent me this photo of her daughter Elizabeth in a sunsuit that she made from purple gingham and embroidered with white chicken scratch embroidery (using my Stitch School lesson found here) all around the collar. Most people seem to use chicken scratch designs on aprons and I wanted to show you how pretty it looks on other items, too. She said it took a long time to cover the area but it was pretty simple to do otherwise. And she was pleased enough with the results to use it again in the future.

I apologize if you were looking for the link to this stitch in my sidebar. Not sure how it happened but it disappeared from the list. It's back now and thanks Rebecca for letting me know it wasn't there. And for sharing the photo of your finished project with us!

success

Some photos from Hello Bluebird's grand opening yesterday evening. I had to leave around seven because I had a two-hour drive home but there was a line at the checkout when I left. And lots of happy faces.



That's Alex ringing up one of the many sales that occurred during the opening. In spite of major internet problems all day and countless hours on the phone with support, it miraculously came back online in time for the opening. Good thing I arrived early so I could help with hanging artwork and arranging flowers!



The shop is full of major cuteness and I overheard lots of customers talking about how much there was to see. Seriously, I could have bought one of everything! I thought these stuffed penguins were especially cute. They're made by Emily Davis of MIAOW from tweeds and wools and she makes little birds and whales, too.



This is the wall of cards, prints, and framed artwork next to the front door. I love the contrast of red door against blue wall, don't you?



And I had to buy this cute little bag made by Brooke Harlan of Brookiellen Designs. Because who could resist the fabric—little fruit trees—love it!

There are more photos on my Flickr page here. Congratulations to Alex on her new venture!

Updated to add a link for the fabrics—Timeless Treasures Apple. There's even one called Orchard Owls!

summer's gone

For the second morning in a row it's been in the low 40s when I got up. It's really starting to feel like fall. Although it isn't officially fall until later in the month, Labor Day weekend seems to signal the start. Where did the summer go? That's the worst thing, I think, about getting older—time just keeps speeding up. And it becomes clearer that you'll never do everything you want to in your lifetime. Did I also mention that I get a little depressed this time of year :)

Remember the fawn who was hidden in our yard this spring? I saw her this morning and she's grown up into a beautiful deer. Her mother's color has changed completely to brown but she's still lighter in color with some spots present. A large number of fawns never make it to adulthood so I'm happy that she did. Although I'll still complain when they're munching on my vegetable garden and perennials!

The vegetable garden is winding down. We had to destroy all our tomato plants due to blight—a highly infectious fungal infection and cause of the infamous Irish Potato Famine. Yes, it also attacks tomatoes. It was just too wet this year and the problem spread like crazy throughout our whole area so it's hard to find tomatoes, even at the farmers market. That probably means I won't be doing any canning unless I can buy some out of area. It's probably a miracle but our potatoes seem to be unaffected.

We still have gorgeous baby cantaloupes but, unless it warms up again, they're not going to mature. Again, too much rain, not enough heat. Gardening can be very frustrating—if you don't already know that.

I'm cleaning up my studio today, doing some ironing, and finishing up a batch of hanky sachets. Here's one from the previous batch that you'll find at GreenBeing in Scranton.

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