Monthly Archives: June 2010

June 15, 2010 · 7:07 pm

Clothing Swap

In a three-pronged attack involving 1. Getting Out Of The House, 2. Meeting New People, and 3. Cleaning My Closets, I participated this weekend in a clothing swap. Outside of an informal “hmmm, I think this would look better on you” with my friends, I’d never done anything like this before. Lucky for me, the gals who organized it (mostly, I believe, members of LUPEC) do it every year, and had their proverbial act together.

Capelli Floral provided beautiful (and sizeable) studio space, clothing racks were wheeled out, tables were set up, and a system of organization (t-shirts here, slacks there, sportswear over on that table, etc.) was put into place. Organized, that is, until some latecomersâ€”myself includedâ€”took over a second room all willy-nilly.

I arrived with my yard-debris tote filled to capacity, and the excess packed into my Ginormous Suitcase. If you’ve traveled with me to Viva, you know the hideous orange one to which I am referring. And lo, it was full as well! Didn’t I just donate three trash bags full of clothing and handbags to VVA a few weeks ago? And a box full of dresses and shoes to Adams 12 School District in April? My closets apparently open into Narnia.

Knowing that any “leftovers” would be packed back up and donated to local charities, I planned to head home empty-handed. Well no, I’m no fool. But I planned to head home with a small fraction of what I’d arrived with, and at that, I succeeded. It turns out that one gal and I have similar taste in clothes, and are similarly sized, so we both wound up with a bag of each other’s things.

The photos throughout this post are of my “loot,” some of which is vintage. Not shown is one squee-worthy vintage black party dress, omitted only because I immediately put it in my Fancy Dress closet and forgot to fetch it when I was taking photos. So, um, I need a party to attend. Anyone? Anyone?

I succeeded in emptying out a chunk of space in my closet, got some new-to-me wonderful things, others picked out new-to-them goodies, and three local charities (Goodwill, SafeHouse, and Father Woody) got boxes full of the leftovers. I’d call that a win-win-win-win situation.

Many thanks to Michelle and Andee for including me in the fun!

mail order 8149

Doing a little research for 11 (eleven!) vintage aprons I’m preparing to list, and I came across this ad for mail-order sewing pattern 8149 in a copy of The Pittsburgh Press dated February 26, 1948. I love the shirring at the shoulders, the scalloped button detail on the bodice, and the asymmetrical gathers on the skirt. I could see this in a cotton print with eyelet ruffles as a very nice day dress, but also a lovely party dress if done up in a taffeta or crepe with rhinestone buttons.

Even with the unique details, it looks overall like a fairly simple dress to construct. 11 pattern pieces as best as I can tell, including the self-belt. Plus neckline facings. If I were a decent seamstress, I could work this one out. Actually, I could probably work this one out anyway, were I more inclined to do so. But it’s not as though I’m running around naked for lack of dresses in my closet!

I couldn’t find it at http://vintagepatterns.wikia.com nor in a Google search. I suspect that someone, somewhere, has a copy of it hidden in a cobwebby box in the far corner attic. And this is why we go to estate sales. :)