Thrilling Thrift Store Find!

I went to my secret thrift store this past weekend and was happy to find a bunch of J. Crew items!  Since I'm really trying to stick to my b*dg@t (what a swear word!), I only purchased this skirt.  It's a 100% cotton Ikat Monterey drawstring skirt from Summer '09, MSRP $65.  I love skirts that have pockets!  It was only $3 plus tax.  I'm not sure what I'll wear on top yet...

Quilted Laptop Sleeve

Since I started my new job, I've been carting my laptop back and forth a lot more than previously.  I have a case for it, but find it too bulky to fit in my tote bag.  So I was browsing the plethora of tutorials online, and decided to use this one from Robin Quilts, etc.  It's super easy, and turned out great!  I've received many compliments.  I promised I'd make my mom one next :D  

The outer flowered fabric is from a vintage bed sheet that I had left over from a swap.  The lining is actually a soft flannel Robert Kaufman remnant.  The binding is left over from making vintage sheet place mats - I had just enough!  

This was my first attempt at machine quilting with Francine (my Bernina 440) and the BSR.  I tried to create a meandering pattern.  Getting the stitch length consistent was difficult for me, but I'm sure the more I practice the better it'll look.  For now, promise me you won't look too closely!

Craft show update

Well everyone, the craft show didn't go as well as I expected :(  I did sell one apron at the end of the show, which covered the cost of the show.  The lady did want to buy another apron, but I have to make it first and couldn't bring myself to ask a grandma for prepayment...  


I did sit next to a couple lovely ladies and had fun while we were waiting to pounce on the people that walked by.  I was asked by a woman to make a quilt from her husband's dress shirts, so we'll see if that comes into fruition.  


My dad's coming to visit this week and I'm super excited!  Oh and my mom's on a mission trip in Austria right now, and I think she's bringing me fabric from Venice! Yippee!

Another rail fence quilt

I sewed this rail fence quilt top together the other day.  As I was laying out the pieces, I felt kind of limited due to the fact that I only had 5 different fabrics to play with.  The fabric is from an off-brand jelly roll I bought at Wal-Mart last year.  It only had 5 fabrics in it, and not very many of the striped, but it was on clearance for $10 so I decided to go for it.

I've said before there are a lot of "oops" when I sew.  Spiral Stripes, the blocks I had originally intended to make with this fabric, were from the Jelly Roll Quilts book by Pam & Nicki Lintott.  I accidentally cut the blocks an inch smaller than they were supposed to be (eep!) and was quite in despair.  


A few months later, I decided I could figure out something to do with them, and used the rest of the fabric to make this super simple rail fence quilt.  I like the fact that there's a pattern of "T's" in the green because that's my last name. How awesome is a monogram quilt?  I'm not sure if I'll keep it.  I do have a whole other jelly roll in this same fabric so I may make another.  I'll be adding borders soon.  I'm thinking a thin robin's egg blue and thicker brown, with a green binding?  I'm planning to attempt machine quilting this baby myself.  Wish me luck!

I'm so excited!

This weekend I'm having a booth at a local church craft fair - my first time ever!  I can't wait to see how it goes :D  Wish me luck!

Consignment Store Review: Clothes Mentor

When I was living in Wilmington, North Carolina, I visited a consignment store in Wilmington called Clothes Mentor a few times.

The store was chock full of all kinds of mid-level designer items.  Mid-level = Ralph Lauren, Lilly Pulitzer, J. Crew, Ann Taylor, Banana Republic, etc.  Sorry ladies, no Chanel here that I saw!  They did have a large Lilly section in all sizes that seemed reasonably priced.  A nice selection of petites and womens' were also available.  Clothes were grouped by item and then by size.  I remember skirts around $8-12, pants $15 or so, and shirts were $6-15, depending on material and brand of course.

Personally, I gravitate towards blazers and jackets.  I have many that I wear infrequently, of course!  Maybe that's because it's summer... Anyway, I found this amazingly cute Juicy Couture short sleeved blazer for $32.  Usually I don't spend that much at consignment clothing stores, but it's too adorable, and I wanted to make my friends a tiny bit jealous because I had something other than the standard Juicy sweatpants.  I'm not a big fan in general of the brand, but this jacket has merit other than the brand name!  I wear it with grey pants.

Overall, I would return to Clothes Mentor to purchase clothes, but they seem too picky about buying/consigning clothes.  Here's an example.  I took a Cape Madras mini skirt that was brand new without tags (I hadn't worn it) in one day and they told me it wasn't in style....  They obviously don't go to the beach very often to see everyone and their brother wearing patchwork plaid!

One more thing, if you stop in, be sure to pick up a pen.  They have argyle under the pen grip.  Love it!

Weekend yard sale & thrift store haul

I lucked out this weekend with cheap stuff for my kitchen, craft stash, and wardrobe!  I usually surf craigslist throughout the week looking for estate sales that may have sewing items like fabric on the cheap.  When I get there, if the price is right, I may pick up a few extra items too.  


At garage sale #1 today, I scored two different fabric "remnants" for 25 cents each, a small marble mortar & pestle for 50 cents, and a quiche plate and nice flour sifter for 10 cents each.  Grand total = $1.20.  I only had $1.25 so I let her keep the change.


Moving on to garage sale #2.  This one advertised thread, which I thought was strange, until I arrived and saw a whole table filled with spool after spool of thread!  The owner had been a seamstress and had quite the collection she was getting rid of.  I didn't really want to hoard that much thread, not knowing what colors I'd use, so I grabbed several white spools and a teal that would hopefully match a t-shirt I'd been meaning to redesign.  I also got a bobbin of elastic thread and a wooden spool holder, both of which I'd been contemplating purchasing for awhile now.  I offered $5 for the lot, which would have been around $10, and the lady accepted.  Yay for me!

Carlton checking out the goods

Last stop was the thrift store.  I found a blue Loft t-shirt that was on sale for $2.50, a red pintucked and ruffled shirt from the Gap for $5, and a pair of Talbots chinos (the updated, modern, stylish version!) new with original price tag of $69.95, for a mere $7.  

How patriotic, eh?

Life is good :D