Awesome Finds

This past Saturday, our church had a give-away-a-bunch-of-stuff-for-free thing. I love getting anything for free, and was excited to go. I didn't really expect to find much beyond some clothes for myself and the kids, and maybe the husband. That was exciting enough for me. But I ended up coming home with much more.

Get ready, there are lots of pictures in this post!

The first thing I saw upon entering the gymnasium, aside from the all the folding tables covered with clothes, was this vintage Singer sewing machine! I absolutely love vintage, and old-timey sewing machines make me giddy. And this one was sitting there just waiting for me to take it home and call it my own. And it was free! And now it is mine and I love it.

Not only is it beautiful, but it is also in perfect working order. Score!

Oh, sewing machine attachments? Don't mind if I do!

Wait - what the?

Okay, I recognize some of these (button hole attachment), but those larger ones look more like tiny instruments of medieval torture than sewing machine attachments! LOL! Whatever, I'm still thrilled.

Upon further inspection, I realized that the whole table upon which the sewing machine had sat was covered with a variety of other sewing supplies and notions, most of them also vintage. So I continued to help myself. Here's everything I found:

Let's take a closer look!

Thread! So much thread! And most of the spools are wooden, which I love.

Tape measures!

A snap kit!

Sewing kits! Including two from the Hilton.

Needles! I don't think I've ever been in possession of so many sharps in my life.

Machine needles. Including a double needle, several ball points, and a few all-purpose.

More sharps - pins! I especially love the Patricia box. Seriously so cute.

Fasteners - snaps and hook & eye

A small but heavy-duty pair of perfectly patina-ed pinking shears

A variety of elastic

Five seam rippers. I'll never have to worry about sewing mistakes again.

Finally, a few random things - thimbles, stitch gauges, a thread cylinder, and a tiny embroidery hoop.

 

 

And thus ends my round up of all the lovelies that I got - for free!! - on Saturday. Happy day! :)

Iron Craft #6 - Peeps Mantle Decor

This Iron Craft challenge was fun - create something with marshmallow Peeps, or use them for inspiration. I stuck with something simple, since I'm still recovering from my gallbladder surgery. My mantle needed some brightening up, so I used the neon colors of the Peeps to add springtime brightness and fun.

The glass containers were ones I already had lying around. I used candy-coated chocolate eggs in the bottom, topped with Peeps, and then some flowers from the craft section at Wal-Mart. Easy peasy!

I finished the mantle by spelling Happy Easter with my letter blocks, hanging a Peeps banner I made a year or two ago, and displaying a picture of Christ at the tomb (a reminder of why we celebrate Easter).

Linking to:
Think Tank Thursday at Joyful Homemaking
Weekend Wrap Up Party at tatertots and jello

Iron Craft #5 - Green Binky Clip

This is so far my smallest Iron Craft creation, but I have a really good excuse. I've been dealing with some really painful gallbladder issues, and finally had to have my gallbladder taken out. Actually, I'm writing this post a few days before the surgery, but since my surgery is scheduled for the day before Reveal Day, I'm just writing this ahead of time, and that ornery little organ will be out and gone by the time this post is up.

Our challenge this round is Green - either the color green, or the environmentally-friendly "green." I've been meaning to make my little guy a binky clip for quite a while, so I made him a green one.

As a fourth time mom, I'm not really all that concerned about germs on the pacifier, a little dirt never hurt anyone. However, it was really frustrating when he would drop the binky because it would roll unpredictably all over the place and disappear. Those things are sneaky! I could never keep track of his many pacifiers because they were always getting lost. Not anymore!

I followed this tutorial from see kate sew to make this pacifier clip.

Linking to Tatertots and Jello Weekend Wrap-Up Party

Iron Craft #4 - Mockingjay Tote Bag

In honor of entertainment's award season, this Iron Craft challenge was to make something inspired by TV or movies, or something that could be worn on the red carpet.

I had a really tough time trying to figure out what to do for this challenge. I just wasn't feeling inspired by any ideas I had. Finally, I was browsing Pinterest and came across a pattern for crocheting or knitting a Mockingjay Pin, worn by Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games. A light bulb went off. I love The Hunger Games! I've got the books on my kindle and have read them at least 4 or 5 times. So I grabbed some yarn and got to work.

I know this makes 3 out of 4 challenges that I've crocheted. I do have other crafting skill sets, promise! It's just that my sewing machine and other craft paraphernalia happen to be in the baby's room, so it's not available to me during my favorite crafting time (late at night), because the baby's asleep. I've been meaning to move all my craft and sewing stuff to my room, but I just haven't gotten around to it yet. I think I'll commit to getting that done in time for the next challenge. Hold me to it!

Anywhooooo ... This page contains a link to the chart I used to make the mockingjay.

As I crocheted, while it was exciting to see the pattern slowly emerge and become recognizable, I wasn't really sure what I was going to do with this square I was making. Eventually I settled on turning it into a simple tote bag. So I made another square for the back, sewed them together, and added handles.

I've crocheted tote bags before, and while I like the way they look, I don't like the way the crochet fabric stretches out of shape when you use the bag. So I put a sewn lining into my bag (here's how). Now it can handle actually toting stuff around, and won't pull out of shape.

Hmm, now I'm craving bread, goat cheese, and lamb stew with dried plums...

 

Linked to Tatertots and Jello Weekend Wrap-Up Party

Iron Craft #3 - Rows of Blossoms Scarf

In honor of Valentine's Day, this Iron Craft challenge is Flowers and Hearts. The craft must feature either flowers or hearts (or both if desired), though it doesn't have to be Valentine's themed. I threw around a couple ideas in my head (fabric collage, friendship bracelets, flower-covered tote bag), but when I found this crochet pattern, I knew this is what I wanted to do.

 This is my lovely Rows of Blossoms Scarf. I love how the colors look together, very feminine and romantic. I used a pattern for an afghan, just made it smaller. I also put only two rows of stitches between the blossoms instead of four.

I like how the rows look like simple textured stripes from a distance, but when you look closer you can see the pretty little flowers.

 I can wear this as a scarf around my neck, or a wrap over my shoulders, or even wrapped all around my head and face for when it's really cold outside. Which, in Utah in winter, is pretty often.

 Yep. I like my new scarf. :)

Linking to Tatertots and Jello Weekend Wrap Up Party

Kokeshi pincushion

I lived in Japan for several years as a teenager. One of my favorite aspects of the culture is the cute little dolls and other trinkets that they make. Hachinohe horses, scroll dolls, washi boxes, and especially kokeshi dolls - I just love them! So my newest pincushion is a sweet crocheted kokeshi doll. Isn't she adorable?

 

I used this pattern from Ravelry, with a few changes. I added a few rows to the body, and didn't add sleeves. Also I made a little obi tie for the back.

Seed beads for the eyes, and some straight pins in the hair complete the doll. She's glued onto a simple empty thread spool. Eventually I might paint the spool a different color, but for now I like it just as it is.

Little Kokeshi is a bit dwarfed by Miss Dress Form. Eventually I want to have a whole row of pincushions of different heights, colors, and styles, all lined next to my sewing machine. And yes, they will probably all have names. Won't that be fun?

Linking to Tatertots and Jello Weekend Wrap Up Party

Iron Craft - Orange

The second Iron Craft Challenge of 2013 is Orange. This could be something that is the color orange, or something made with oranges. Not my favorite color, but as was pointed out on the challenge post, this is supposed to be a challenge. So I embraced it and dug through my fabric stash to find something orange.

I have had my eye on these dress form mannequin pin cushions from The DIY Dish for quite some time. I love dress forms, and I love pin cushions. I think that combining the two is just an adorable stroke of genius.

The butterfly fabric is a fat quarter I got from Wal-Mart a while back. My fabric stash is fairly limited when it comes to orange, so I'm glad I was able to find something this cute. I do wish that I had cut it so that the big butterfly in the front would be right side up, something I'll keep in mind if I make any more of these (and I probably will because it's so easy, cute, and fun).

The candlestick came from the thrift store. While I was there, I picked up a variety of different stand possibilities. I ended up choosing this glass candlestick because I thought it matched the big bead at the top of the dress form.

But how cute will these be for other pincushions in the future!

The flower is a small strip of rolled felt, with a pretty button from my stash.

Now that I've made this adorable pincushion, I find myself suddenly obsessed with pincushions! I have a couple already, a plain tomato and a patchwork square. But now I want to make more and more, because I think little Miss Dress Form looks lonely. She needs some friends. Like these! Or these! And one of these would be fun too. :)

Linking to Tatertots and Jello Weekend Wrap Up Party