Life Magazine - Time Machine

I love looking at old magazines. They are a fun step back in time. And while the articles can be fun to read, for me anyway, it's the ads that really tell the tale.

We went to an estate auction recently and one of the boxes of crap treasures we came home with had a 1954 Life Magazine in it. I'm going to reap a few blog posts from it, as it's a great issue all about fashion, but I'm going to start with one about the ads.

 Get a load at that price! $2.95 for the set. Do you know what complete sets of those Anchorglass Mixing Bowls sell for today? Ones in good condition bring over $100.00.. that's some appreciation rate!
 I love how the two women in this Briggs and Statton lawn mower ad are both mowing the grass in skirts. 

 What a fancy dress for admiring the new window air conditioner!

These just made me giggle. From the lady in the flamenco dancer dress who's constipation worries are over, the innovative step stool that lets housewives "work relaxed", and the woman who dreamed she flew a kite in her new Maidenform bra!

 Here's two more things we can all be thankful for. The invention of a better toilet bowl brush and the 10 key calculator!

Do you eat open face hot dogs with a knife and fork? I guess you'd have to! And how fun is this Libby's Pineapple juice ad?

 Never forget... if you want to win the boys, stay sweet as you are! And of course that starts with Listerine mouth wash! heheh

      
 I guess some things were lost in translation over the years. I'm not really sure how shrinking cotton causes you to be "swept away".. and besides.. when your waist is as small as your neck do you really need to worry about your clothes shrinking?

The "48 states" caught my attention. It wasn't for another five years after this magazine issue that Alaska and Hawaii joined the union and we became 50 states. 

 Due to my watch fetish I had to pay homage to this old Timex ad. I just don't know why the pups look so sad. They're advertising watches! What's there to be sad about?

And I guess after an evening of watching the little woman hang the wallpaper, she could go to the kitchen

where she could sit on her step stool and relax while she cooked dinner using her "pride and joy" Wear-Ever pots and pans! 

Thanks for stepping back in time with me. I hope you enjoyed the ride as much as I did. 

Have a great week :)

I'll be joining DebbieDoos and other fun parties this week, check out my Link Parties page for the complete list.

Technicolor Tuesday - Purple

It's Technicolor Tuesday here at Show Me Crafting. 
Tomorrow is my sister's birthday and purple is her favorite color. So in honor of Susan, let's party in purple!

Gorgeous Dress! If I only had the figure to wear it! Or the sewing ability to make it!

 Purple Yams. Did you know there was such a thing? They make purple ice cream with them.

 Purple Chair. I always wonder if this type of furniture is comfortable to sit in.. or just pretty to look at...

 This purple crab is prettier than the ones that were all over the beach in Biloxi that summer on vacation.. I wonder if my daughter would be just as terrified of pretty ones like this?

 Cute purple shoes!

 My Grandmother had a purple ceramic cow that sat on a shelf outside her kitchen. I think it was like this one.

 A selfish plug... One of the vintage sewing patterns up for sale in our Etsy shop :)

Since I've recently started bike riding, I thought this was appropriate.

I'd be remiss if I didn't include a purple heart, especially today. God bless our troops. Thanks for protecting us, for fighting for us, and for keeping us free.

Thanks for stopping by :)

A Bag For My Bike

With Labor day coming to a close it's time to bid adieu to summer time. We didn't get to take an official vacation this year, but Mr ShowMe and I did take up bike riding. We've had quite a lot of fun with it. My bike's an old hand-me-down, but I really like it. It has a sort of retro vibe and of course you can't beat the color!

It didn't take too many trips out on the bike with my keys and other personal effects crammed into my pockets that I decided I needed a bag for it.
My intentions were good. It's not as if I don't have a lot of wonderful fabric in my stash. I searched the web. I even picked one bike bag as my favorite. 

Tamara at Etcetorize posted this lovely bag that she made for her bike and even provided a tutorial to take out all the guess work. But before I got that far I ran across a ready made zipper bag that I received from the airline both times I flew to the Philippines with my job. 
They gave us these bags with toiletries in them. I had one from each of my trips there. They aren't really big enough to use as a travel bag, but with me being a bit of a pack rat, of course I still had them. 
I hand sewed on strips of some nylon strapping that I had and added Velcro on each. 

It turned out to be the perfect size for the front of my bike. The fabric will be more water resistant than anything from my stash would have been any way, and it's plenty roomy to hold my keys, cell phone, Kleenex and inhaler for my allergies, and even my camera. 

So on one hand I cheated, but on the other hand I recycled something that I didn't really have a use for otherwise. Maybe I'll embellish it with fabric flowers or something so I don't feel like a complete sell-out! (But if I do that, I'll stick to embellishing just the bag on my bike. I don't think Mr. ShowMe would find it as aesthetically pleasing on the one I put on his bike! hehe)

Did you have any fun adventures over the summer?

Thanks for stopping by! :)

A New Bag - Because I have expensive taste!

I made a new bag a few weeks ago. As it turned out, I think it's more of a fall/winter bag, so I probably won't carry it for a few more months. I was inspired by one I saw on the web that retails for over $1,000. Who would pay that for a bag? Here's my version.

I made it using fabrics that I picked up at thrift stores, and I'm rather pleased with how the pretty paisley lining peaks out along the edge.

Here's my inspiration. It's the Joplin bag by Thakoon. I've never heard of that maker, I just liked the look of the bag when I saw a picture of it and then was really shocked when I saw the price.

I buy purse handles at JoAnns when they have sales and had this chunky chain handle in my stash. 

I really love the way the lining fabric looks. It doesn't photograph very well, but it's a really pretty paisley of browns and coppery metalics.

The handle clips on with oversized lobster claw clasps, so I can take it off too and carry it as a clutch.

I think I might make a second one from a more summery fabric. I could use the same handle and just switch it from one to the other. It might be cute with bright floral, or maybe with some of that Amy Butler fabric that I won.... hmmm, the sewing to-do list just never really gets any shorter, does it? Does yours?

Thanks for stopping by!

Sewing Machine Cover

I've been meaning to make a sewing machine cover for some time now. When I won the Amy Butler fabric from Flamingo Toes I considered making one with some of that, but before I made my final decision I went through my fabric stash and rediscovered this really cool retro apron. I should have taken a picture of it when I started so you could see the "before". It was in really bad disrepair. There was a hole in one corner and the tie was ripped. I could just never bring myself to toss it because it was just so darn cute despite it's poor condition.


I always thought I might find a project for it that wouldn't stress it too much. I tossed it in a lingerie net bag and washed it on gentle and was super careful ironing it once it was dry. I had to piece the back section with the ironing woman fending off her man with the steaming iron. I cut the phrase in a separate piece and made a pocket with it. 

Plain white cotton for the sides, top and back. And now I have another reason to smile when I walk into my sewing room!

Maybe I'll tackle the ironing board cover next!


Have you made a cover for your sewing machine?


I'm joining DebbieDoo's and Fox Hollow Cottage Pin the Tail on the Bloggy. You should join us for the fun!

Anthro Inspired Tote

I'm trying to teach myself how to mix prints together. I see pictures on the web where it's been done and it always looks so good. I tend to stick with the safe pairings, like a print with a solid. This is my first sort of over the top mix of prints. What do you think?

I'm not sure I have a "natural eye" for it, but I'm convinced I can learn how to do it. I think this first attempt isn't too bad. I was inspired by the Yunga tote at Anthropologie. Isn't it pretty?

Here's a few more shots of my version.  

  

I was first going to pad it well to use as a lap top bag, but during the course of making it, I decided I'd rather use it as a flea market bag. Do you ever change your mind half way through a project, or it that just me? 

It's really big and will be a great bag for carrying my purchases around. I put wall to wall open pockets on the inside to give me a place to toss my keys, camera, phone, billfold...you know, the usual "purse" stuff. And best of all, it's mostly all made from reclaimed or recycled fabric. The lining is a table cloth I picked up at the thrift store. The interior pockets are fabric dinner napkins. The daffodil print is remnants of the fabric I used for my kitchen curtains and bar stool recovers. I think the only piece of fabric that was purchased new was the animal print that I bought from the clearance area at JoAnns. Even the leather straps that I riveted on for handles came from the thrift store, (and by "I riveted" I mean Mr. ShowMe-while I watched), and the rings that the handles hang from are reclaimed drapery rings.

Do you mix patterns in your projects? If you have any tips or want to share your own projects I'd love to hear about them.

Thanks for stopping by!

I Won Amy Butler Fabric!

I've told you how I never win drawings. I know it's too early to think my luck is changing, but first it was the Cardinal baseball tickets that I won at work in April, and now I've won a fabulous fabric giveaway from Flamingo Toes!

Do you know Beverly's blog? Surely you do! If not, you need to rush there as soon as you're done here. She has great tutorials, a weekly link party, and tons of fun feature posts. She even has a Flickr group for you to post pictures of things you make from her tutorials. 


And this isn't just fat quarters. I won 2 yards of each of the six pieces of Amy Butler fabric! 12 yards of Amy Butler fabric! I know!!!


So now.. what to do with it? I've been perusing the web and have so many ideas. The nice thing about having 12 yards is that I don't have to pick just one project. Here are a few that have caught my eye. What do you think?


I just adore this Zip Organizer from the Zakka Style book. This fun mermaid version was made by Sara at Sew Sweetness. I think I might add a wrist strap if I make it. I love the mermaids, but I think the Amy Butler fabric would look great too.

 

I like this Butterick tote pattern. It would be a great flea market bag for the weekend.

I keep thinking I need to make a cover for my sewing machine. I like this one with the pocket on the front. I found it at Sew 4 Home.

I found this cute skirt at Pinterest. It's a McCall's pattern. Wouldn't it be darling with the Amy Butler fabric?

I like this notebook cover that I found at The Cottage Home. She has a great tutorial for it. I love all the slotted pockets on the one side. This would a be a great project to mix some of the prints together.  

Here's another Pinterest find. It's a repin from someone else's board. The link seem dead, but I think I could wing this easily enough without having a pattern. Wouldn't the Amy Butler fabric be cute where this floral print is against a coordinating solid?

                                                        

One of the ladies in the purse sewing group I belong to posted this cute tote bag tutorial. Isn't it darling? It's from All People Quilt, and while I don't quilt I really like this bag. I think the fabric I won would be great for this. Maybe use two that coordinate, just using a band of the second fabric around the bottom where they pieced a strip in their version. I really like the grommets and little bows on the sides.

Here's a couple more apparel patterns I found at the Simplicity site. Wouldn't that fabric make up the cutest summer tops with these patterns?

 So to say I'm inspired by the fabric prize would be an understatement. I just have to decide what to make first. What would be your first project?

Thanks for stopping by!