Haberdashery Heaven

It was such a lovely day today, I decided to pop along for a rummage around the local car boot sale. There are a couple near me every Sunday and the larger one is usually 500 plus cars. I love the fact that 90% is absolute rubbish, 9.9999% is reasonable but not what I actually want or need and then if I am really lucky there is the 0.0001% that I will be really pleased I found.

I was over half way around today before I made my first purchase. I spotted just a little bit of some really fabulous 1970's fabric on a stall, completely covered over with over items for sale. Having carefully pulled it out, the fabric turned out to be a floor length curtain, so quite a bit of fabric. All she wanted was £1.00. (For the benefit of my friend Michelle in the US that is about $1.55!). An absolute bargain!

Next, just as I reached her stall, a lady reached into her car and pulled out a bag of 43 assorted zips and another bag of bias binding. All she wanted was £1.00 for each bag. Another bargain.

My final purchase was 3 metres of white curtain lining fabric which is always useful for using behind thinner fabrics fore strength. Cost? Well in comparison to my other finds I was positively ripped off, it was £3.00 but that's still a lot cheaper than the shops where it would be at least 3 or 4 times the price.

Funky Fabric

I seem to spend hours trawling the internet in search of fabric and textiles to use in my handbags and home wares. I much prefer to use vintage and secondhand textiles in my creations and particularly enjoy repurposing items.

Of late, I have been trying to buy vintage curtains as you get a lot of fabric for your money. Using clothing can limit what you are able to make as the pieces of fabric can be quite small. Curtains are great as you usually have a large expanse of flat fabric leading to endless possibilities. I have a huge pile of vintage velvet curtains in various colours but I have been trying to find some patterned fabrics to add to the pile.

I have a penchant for the funky fabrics of the 1950's to 1970's. I love the geometric designs, with the bold colours. Curtain fabrics are usually quite thick and with the strong designs, the fabrics are perfect for doorstops. I am constantly watching and bidding on curtains on eBay but they seem to go for more than I am willing to pay.

This morning I trotted off to the local car boot sale with my usual open mind, looking for anything that might be useful, fabric, buttons, beads, vintage handbags. I was quite taken aback to spot a pair of funky green and white curtains on one stall. My first thought was that they were modern from somewhere like Ikea. On closer inspection at the label though, I realised they were in fact genuine, 1970's curtains from Marks & Spencer.

The curtains are both 64 inches wide and 52 inches long, so a really good size. More importantly they are in fabulous condition with no marks or fading. Just think how many doorstops I could make out of them?!

The only problem is, they are so fabulous, I don't think I can bring myself to cut them up. I wouldn't hang them in my house but as a pair of vintage 1970's curtains, I love them. I think I am going to list them on eBay and see what happens. If they sell I can buy other vintage fabric with the proceeds. If nobody else buys them, then maybe they will get the chop after all.

Button It!

As it was a glorious sunny Sunday morning today, I couldn't resist popping out to my local car boot sale. It has just reopened after the winter and with such good weather, it was pretty packed with sellers and buyers. I'm never one to roll out of bed early on a weekend, particularly a Sunday, so I didn't actually get there until about 10.45am and it opens at 7.30am!

I can never decide with car boot sales if you should get there first thing to snap up antique and collectible gems or wait until the end when people are so fed up they sell everything off at rock bottom prices. As I hit the ground running midway through, I didn't really have very high hopes.

About half way around the stalls, I spotted a pile of fabric remnants which looked interesting. I bought a couple of useful pieces for making door stops, which were only 10 pence each, so I was quite chuffed. A bit further on though I thought I was hallucinating when I spotted a biscuit tin full to the brim with buttons. Not to put too fine a point on it, I love, love, love buttons, particularly vintage ones.

After a quick stir of the buttons with my finger, I asked the seller the price. She hesitated for a moment and the said £5 the lot. I couldn't pay her quick enough! I didn't even bother to haggle over the price. It was only when the seller popped the lid on I realised that even the biscuit tin was a vintage treasure too. It looks to be about 1950's or 1960's. It needs a bit of a clean but other than that is in good, collectible condition.

Having got home, I spent a happy half hour with a cup of tea sifting through all the buttons picking out the ones I want. The reject pile was probably two thirds of the tin, which I will sell on eBay, as well as the tin. I reckon the tin and buttons will sell for at least £5, making my button pile free with a bit of luck!

There are some fabulous buttons in my keep pile, lots of them are old, dating back to the 1930's or 1940's. I am always drawn to interesting shapes, sizes and colours. Anything that looks interesting really. I use buttons on all sorts of projects from lavender bags to handbags. I often change the buttons on my clothes too if I don't like the buttons they are sold with. I've certainly got lots of lovely buttons to choose from now anyway!

Car Boot Heaven & Hell

This morning my husband and I went to a local car boot sale in search of bargains. I am always hoping to find vintage handbags, buttons, fabric, jewellery etc. To be honest, I don't often buy anything but it is quite nice wandering around looking at everything on offer.

Today, half way around the sale, I struck vintage bag gold. Trust me it is a rare occasion! I spotted an Art Deco beaded purse being sold by a professional trader who was packing up to leave. He was in no mood to haggle with me, trust me, I tried. I couldn't resist such a gem of a bag so bought it. I paid a fair price for the bag, it certainly wasn't a bargain. The dealer knew what it was worth. I was still pleased with my find anyway, so I was happy.

Happy until we got back to the car anyway. Having stowed all of our purchases in the boot of my husband's car, I got into the passenger seat. My husband got into the driver's seat and said "Where are the keys?!" I looked blank, he looked concerned and then announced, "I've locked them in the boot!"

Now it is worth just pointing out here that the boot of his car can only be opened with a key. There is no button to push, or lever to pull inside the car. Even the manual helpfully informed us that you should be careful not to shut the boot with the keys inside. Great!

There was only one solution, I phoned for a taxi to come and pick me up, take me all the way home so that I could get the spare key and drive back again in my car. So, £17 later on the taxi fare and over an hour later, we were both back home. I was still pleased with my one and only purchase, my husband's day was slightly more expensive. Next time, we'll take my car!