Wedding Dress dreaming

I didn't have much time to go thrifting this week and what thrifting I did to wasn't fantastic. My usual Goodwill store didn't offer up anything of note and the small community yard sale I stopped by Saturday morning before work only yielded a Transformer for my son. 

I did make some progress on revitalizing some things that I've had in the stock pile for a while.  Two of them are wedding dresses.  The first one my sister-in-law found for me at a yardsale.  It's from the 1970s and it had some stains on it but I gave it a  soaking in oxyclean and soap for a few days and it came out bright white again.  I love the high ruffled neck and the relatively simple design.

The other wedding dress I found in the bins at the local Goodwill Outlet.  It was heavily stained but I figured that if it didn't come clean I could still use the lace for a project.  Have I mentioned how much I love oxyclean? A few days in the soak and it came out good as new.  I especially love how soft and delicate the lace is, as well as the color, a lovely antique cream. 

Isn't it dreamy?  It only needs a big picture hat to be the epitome of Edwardian style elegance. 

Apparently it's my week for lace and the 1970s version of the Victorian era because I also found this blouse on the same goodwill bins trip. 

It's polyester which isn't my favorite but it's so pretty that I couldn't resist.  I have all three pieces listed in my Etsy Shop and I hope that the wedding dresses get a chance for another special day!

I'm linking up with Apron Thrift Girl's Thrift Share Monday 
Stop by and take a look at all the cool finds!

Thrifting with Mom

It was back to the Goodwill bins this past week.  This time with my mom, who taught me to love to thrift!  She had never been before and we went a little nuts...like three overflowing carts worth of nuts.  But what treasures we found! 

My favorite is this amazing patchwork quilt top

Look at those colors!  The squares run the decades from at least the 1940s into the 1960's and are mostly cotton with only one or two polyester squares making an appearance.  There's barkcloth, and childrens juvenile prints,  great retro atomic patterns, and men's shirting stripes.  I have it listed up in the shop because despite what I may tell myself I would never get around to actually attaching a backing and quilting it!  It's big enough for a queen sized bed too so I hope it will find a good new home.

There was a lot of great fabric this time, including this lovely indigo patterned print in a nice soft brushed denim fabric.

7.5 yards by 58".  Wouldn't this make an amazing squishy armchair??

The poncho below is made of a very nice quality wool and the stitching all over is hand done.  no clue as to vintage, as it could be decades old or very new tourist goods from somewhere in South America.  Anyone have any ideas for me?

Finally I'll finish up with a different kind of thrift.  I work in conference services for a large university and we had our Alumni Weekend the first weekend in June.  The flowers and arrangements below came from the picnic brunch we organized and we all got to take amazing sunflowers and woodsy baskets home with us.  They currently make my kitchen look so happy!

The blue glass Ball jar holding the sunflowers was also a Goodwill outlet find from last month!  It's my new favorite flower vase. 

I'm hooking up with Apron Thrift Girl's Thrift Share Monday  Head on over and take a look at the other great finds!

Back from the Past Future

It's been a busy month around here.  It always seems that as soon as May hits things start rolling along and before you know it June has arrived.  Lots of stuff to talk about so lets get started.  The last time I posted I was working on outfits for the Steampunk World's Fair in Piscataway, NJ.  I actually got most of the costuming bits done and packed my biggest suitcase, along with a train case and a hat box all for 48 hours of fun and wardrobe changes! 

 These were my partners in crime.  I'm on the right and my sister is in the middle and my awesome and talented friend Dawn is on the right.  We greatly enjoyed the happy hour at the Embassy suites each night before we set out for the revelry. 

And here is my friend John looking totally swanky in his outfit.  I had a ton of fun putting this all together because he just lets me pick the whole outfit, and wears it very well I must say. 

There was shopping!  Amazing costumes and people to meet!  Concerts for every taste!  Seminars (I always want to go to them but I never actually manage to DO it) and just general fun.  We decided to throw a picnic on the grass this year, complete with mimosas in from silver coffee pots.  A kind person caught this great shot of us enjoying a fabulous day. 

I also managed to document a few of my costumes this year, two of them are below.  I love an excuse to play dress up!

So if Steampunk seems cool to you, I suggest making time to get to next years Steampunk Worlds Fair.  I'll see you there.