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can’t wait to unravel this sweater

cotton sweater for unraveling

I think my exact quote for the morning was, “You are not allowed to buy any more sewing machines and I am not allowed to buy anymore sweaters for unraveling.” But when my friend and I got separated at a street filled with garage sales, I had no one to help me with my will power. This sweater is so soft. The colors will look great in my house. I’m thinking join-as-you-go granny square lap blanket.

recycle: “…to take an unloved garment, destined for the landfill, salvage the wool, and give it a brand-new start as a beautiful knit gift; it’s sure to be appreciated by any recipient who loves the planet.” Lee Meredith

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thrifty thursday: denim jacket

thrifty thursday denim jacket

I’ve been looking for a denim jacket for a long time. I wanted it to be dark denim, slightly tapered at the waist and long enough to reach my hips. Yeah, pretty specific. I tried on too many to count. Then one day at a garage sale with mostly kids’ clothes, I spied this on a rack for adults. It was a little big, but met all of my requirements. And it only cost $5. After Korinne assured me that it looked cute with the sleeves rolled up a bit, I was sold.

I brought it home and ran it through the washer and dryer. You know what? I really think this was practically new. It shrunk just a little bit and now I don’t have to shorten the sleeves. I’m not a huge fan of the faded spots, but they are a lot less obvious when I’m wearing it. I even kind of like the applique.

thrifting: If the three most important words in real estate are location, location and location, then the three most important words in thrifting are patience, patience, and patience.

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thrifty thursday

aunt lydia's denim quick crochet

I looked and looked for cotton yarn from every thrifty means available to me and finally caved and bought some from a craft store. Now, all I see is cotton! I got a nice sweater that’s in the unravel pile and the above lovelies for a buck each at a garage sale. I may have gotten a little out of control and bought a pink and purple, too. Oh, well. You can never have too much dishcloth yarn, right?

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world’s smallest garage sale

garage sale

I love going to garage sales. Having them is another story. Every May my neighborhood has garage sale weekend. My first one was very organized: everything was tagged, I had tables, there were signs. I spent all day Thursday, Friday and Saturday sitting in my least favorite room of the house. It was exhausting. I swore I’d never have another one.

Then the 2010 Spring Cleaning began. I found a lot of big items that I wanted to get out of the house. Big, heavy items that weren’t quite big and heavy enough to ask the Mission truck to come pick them up, but too big and heavy for me to pile in my car and make a few trips to donate. When I realized that the neighborhood sales were this weekend, I decided to put them out and beg people to take them away try to sell them.

Earlier in the week I had taken a lot of my daughter’s clothes and toys up to Once Upon a Child. This place is awesome. You drop off your bins of stuff, come back a few hours later and pick up a check. So I really didn’t have a lot to put out. My goal was to close shop once all of the big, heavy stuff was gone. If I sold any kid stuff in the process, it was icing on the cake.

Not much was tagged. My biggest signs were, “Make me and offer” and “Free.” I’m happy to report that I met my goal and closed the garage door after lunch on Friday (with a few hours to spare for my favorite church sale, which was this weekend, too).

The weirdest thing: I made almost the same amount of money with my Once Upon a Child visit and loosey-goosey garage sale as I made with the long, tiring and involved garage sale. Plus, I had A LOT LESS left over. Is this a recipe for success? Maybe I’ll test it out next year and see!

the string: Yes, it’s kind of weird, but I had to block off my garage. People kept wandering in and looking for stuff on sale. I had to tell them, really, what’s in the driveway is all. Our lawn mower and my daughter’s bike are not for sale!

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my first skirt from measurements

embroidered eyelet baby quilt

A few months ago I checked out Sew What! Skirts from the library. The book just clicked with me. The instructions made sense and seemed really easy. I decided to buy the book and spent months reading and looking at the pictures even though I didn’t have time to make anything.

This weekend I’ve got a dinner date and decided it was time to try one out. I made an a-line with elastic waist pattern, but didn’t have enough fabric to make it as swoopy as I would have liked. It’s more of a straight skirt with a little flair, but it fits, looks cute, and was super easy! I think 2010 is going to be the year of the skirt.

stash: The fabric came in a bin that I bought from a UNL fashion graduate. He said all of the fabrics were really nice and expensive (from New York!), but how was I to know? They weren’t labeled or anything. It’s got a nice drape, and at $5 for the entire bin, the price was right!

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my new laptop sleeve

I knew I’d have to do some work on our trip to the beach and I had given my Timbuk2 bag to my husband when he got his new computer. He has made it clear that my Timbuk2 belongs to him now, so I had to come up with something else. I decided to sew my own laptop sleeve and bag. First, I started with the sleeve:

quilted laptop case

The fabric was an upholstery remnant that was already striped and quilted. I used some bias tape to enclose the raw edges before I sewed on the zipper and I serged the inside seams.

quilted laptop case

I love fabric that comes with the hard stuff already finished. No patchwork or quilting was needed for this project, but it looks kind of fancy, don’t you think?

stash: The remnant came from the east campus textile sale. Zipper and bias tape from the thrift store.

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thrifted placemat dilemna

crochet placemats

I bought these crocheted placemats at daycare garage sale a few months ago and I still can’t decide what to do with them. At first I thought I’d make two tall totes, but after seeing them folded in half on my shelf, I also considered four zipper pouches. Then I thought maybe just one large tote. I can’t make up my mind. (Yes, I did consider actually using them as placemats, but they are kind of small.)

Any suggestions?

thrifting: Usually I pass up things I can easily make myself, but I really liked the pattern of these. Plus, they were only 25 cents. I wonder what the person who made these by hand would think of that price.

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east campus garage sales: new fabric and yarn!

Last year I barely made a dent in the east campus garage sales. I had no idea how big they were. I took my husband and daughter to the textile sale and by the time I made my fabric purchase, my family was ready to go.

This year I went with my friend Kelly. We shopped all morning and got some great deals! I bought lots of cool fabric at the textile sale and some really nice clothes for refashioning. I did get a few other odds and ends, like a cookbook and some baking pans, but I know you just want to see the fabric, right? Here’s a small sampling of my favorites.

hillestad textile saleI got a mix of textures. These feel like canvas.

hillestad textile saleThese feel more like traditional upholstery fabric.

hillestad textile saleIsn’t this cool? It’s yarn sewn to fabric! I bought yellow one, too.

hillestad textile saleI can’t forget this total deal, even though it’s not fabric. Sweater in progress plus all remaining yarn for 25 cents. Yes, 25 cents. It’s superwash wool.

I’m going to wait to post the clothes, because you’ll see them in the “before” pics when they’re refashioned.

I think this was my last garage sale of the season. Today the air feels a little cooler. The sun is setting earlier, too. I feel like a squirrel who has worked all summer on a healthy stash. Now it’s time to stay in and start sewing!

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wardrobe refashion: shirt to toddler dress

shirt to easy toddler dress

This shirt turned into the cutest dress, but it’s big! I figure it’s at least a 4T or 5T. Since this season is almost over, I’m going to wait until next year to have my daughter try it on. It will probably need a dart in the back because she’s so tall and thin. The length might actually be ok. Just in case, I didn’t sew the straps on in the front.

shirt to easy toddler dress

My seam ripper was my BFF for this project. I unpicked the stitches from the neckline and used the bias trim to cover the raw edges under the sleeve.

shirt to easy toddler dress

I also unpicked the stitches from the cuffs and used them as the straps. I cut off the button hole end and sewed it to the back. The other half will be sewed to the front. That way I can use the buttons without having to resew the holes.

shirt to easy toddler dress

refashion: This was really easy. Seriously! The hardest part was not poking a hole in the fabric while ripping seams! The shirt was $1 at a garage sale. The best part? My daughter said, “Mom, that dress is beautiful! Is it for me?”

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crochet tote finished!

crochet tote bag

I was so excited to finish this last night. I really love it. I plan to use it for my next big project: my Manos del Uruguay blanket. I’ve been squirreling away sale and ebay Manos for the past two years. I finally have enough to make a blanket. Now I just need to figure out which pattern. I want something that can be done in blocks rather than in one piece. Suggestions?

project notes: Garage sale yarn (still have quite a bit leftover). Vintage buttons from my stash. Attic24 crochet bag pattern.