Vera-ly, Vera-ly, I Say Unto You

Today, I made a reusable tote bag using another tutorial from my online Home Ec class. It was a pretty quick and easy project. The tote is made out of a thrifted, vintage Vera Neumann sheet. I love all things Vera, especially the We Love Vera line for Anthropologie. I cut out the bag in such as way that the "Vera" symbol is visible.

Wipe Out

Double-sided napkins also made using a tutorial from my online Home Ec class. Both sides of the napkins are made from thrifted, vintage sheets. I love the colors in the floral fabric. I'm thinking of making a throw pillow out of these two fabrics. I think it would go really well with the floral pillow I made earlier this week.

Dot Your Eyes

Ruffle-topped curtains I made using a tutorial from my online Home Ec class. I got the fabric from one of my local thrift stores, several yards for $1.00. It's a sheer linen.

Repurposed Filled Life

I found this blouse at my local Goodwill. I absolutely love the pattern. The colors are so vibrant. It reminds me of something my grandmother would have worn in the 70s. Unfortunately, it made me look like someone's grandmother when I put it on. The fabric was so great, I could not pass it up, though. I knew I could do something with it. Enter pillow form I already own.

A little seam ripping, a little cutting, a little sew, and viola. New Pillow. I even managed to make the buttons on the front of the blouse, the opening in the back of the pillow case. The best part, it totally matches the color scheme of my apartment.

Home Ec

I've started an online sewing class recently, called Home Ec. Info can be found here.

The first project is a set of napkins. I made mine out of a vintage sheet I thrifted from Goodwill. More projects will be posted as I complete them.

Ottoman Empire

The semester is winding down and I am finally getting to some projects that have been on my to do list for a while. This is a little ottoman mini makeover that I saw here. I started with a cheapy ottoman from Target. I was hoping to find one thrifted, but this was within my price range and brand new (less cooties).

I covered it with vintage fabric found at Goodwill. I purchased over two yards for less than $2.00. Overall, it was a quick and easy project. It took me less than two hours and the directions were relatively easy to follow.

D.I.Y. Didn't I Do This Sooner?

This is my first foray into clothes making. It's a paperbag-waist skirt made with vintage fabric I picked up at the Methodist rummage sale. I got several yards of the fabric for $1.00 I think. It was really quick and really easy even for a novice like me. I was able to complete it in about an hour or so using this tutorial.

Now if only I had some kind of Mad Hatter tea party to wear this to.

Another Day, Another Thrifting Adventure

Today I went to a new thrift store that opened further out of town. This thing was huge! We're talking like half an old Wal-Mart or something. It was clean and really well organized. All the clothing was divided into categories and sizes. You rarely see that. I made another good score on vintage linens. Set of vintage napkins above.

Two vintage flat sheets which happened to be 50% of today. I got both of them for $3.00. Where else can you get so much fabric for so little money? Okay, maybe a Methodist rummage sale, but that is it.

Vintage pillowcases. They were $1.00 a piece. Perfect for projects that you need just a bit of fabric. Please excuse the dark streaks across the pictures. I really need to clean my windows, but that is difficult three-stories up.

Goodwill Was Good To Me

Stopped again today at the Goodwill close to school. I usually have good luck there getting wacky vintage fabric that no one else in the area could possible want and today was no exception. I found the fabric samples pictured above. There are four of them and they are all different color variations of the same print. The guy at the checkout couldn't categorize them, so rang them up as napkins, $0.49 for all four. The fabric is in excellent condition and will work great for some kind of crafty project. Bright blue strawberries. Ha!

My next find was this vintage mu mu. I absolutely love the pattern, especially the color. The fabric is really crisp, so I don't think that this has ever been worn, or at least not very much. Haven't quite decided what to do with this little beauty just yet. I was thinking of cutting it of short, altering the sleeves and making it into a sundress. I also considered cutting off the bottom half to make a skirt. The fabric would be great for just about anything. At $1.49, it's a steal.

Thrift Store Finds

I stopped by the Goodwill close to the University Campus for the first time. I was hoping to find some clothes that I could alter. No luck there, but I did make a haul on vintage linens. I can't wait to use these in some sewing projects.

Several yards of vintage fabric. Skirt, pillow for the couch, or both.

Three sheets to the wind. Maybe not, but the pink striped sheet is Marimekko marked 1986.

I love the little eyelet detail on this.