Show us your Thrift and/or yard sale finds

[BegintheBeguine]

Please, do tell.

Mannequin, with original bag, instructions and extra parts, $10

Extra parts? I'm going out of my head trying to figure out what they could possibly be?

 

[Vintage Betty]

Extra parts? I'm going out of my head trying to figure out what they could possibly be?

I just opened up the brown envelope and I received a brand-new jersey and string for topping my foam mannequin as the extra parts. YAY!

 

[BegintheBeguine]

Cool! I still use the Dritz dress form my dad bought for me from the Singer shop for my high school graduation as I can never find another good mannequin at a reasonable price.

 

[Vintage Betty]

Cool! I still use the Dritz dress form my dad bought for me from the Singer shop for my high school graduation as I can never find another good mannequin at a reasonable price.

I own my mother's mannequin, but it really needs some repair work. It could probably last much longer if I took it apart and maintained it.

I got a couple mannequins through my volunteer work, because they were defective and they were literally about to be tossed into the bin. If I had shown up a bit later in the day, I would have missed them. And I have another manequin on loan to a friend, for her costuming use. I think it's been there 2 years at least.

Now all I need to do is learn how to sew! lol

What does your Dritz form look like?

 

[Trickeration]

My daughter and I found this 1940's wedding gown in thrift store today. It was $10. It closes with side buttons and has beading at the collar. And the fabric is amazing! It's really in beautiful condition, too. The color on the train in the first picture is some kind of lighting issue, it's not discolored. I'm not sure what we'll do with it yet. I'm leaning toward selling it, but my daughter thinks we should save it for her . Guess we'll see.

 

[miss_elise]

that's just gorgeous!

 

[goldwyn girl]

So beautiful, don't sell it !!!! Even if you never use it, it's too lovely to let go.

 

[Trickeration]

Yes it is beautiful. We just about died when we found it. The selling part came from the fact that my husband goes nuts because my daughter and I have so many dresses that we don't fit in but that are too pretty to part with. When we bought it yesterday our first thought was that it was a rescue. We didn't want to see someone else buy it for a costume, or to cut it up and "re-design" it. I do love it though, and was wondering what excuse we could find to just keep a wedding dress around the house. It's pretty stylish for a dress from that period.

However, since last night, things have changed. Later in the evening, my husband said he really liked the dress and that we should keep it for when our daughter gets married. He said partly because she does like it and would appreciate it for what it is, and partly because "how often does someone get to buy their daughter a wedding dress for $10?" So now it seems, we have our daughter's wedding dress .

 

[goldwyn girl]

I'm so glad to hear you're keeping it.

 

[Vintage Betty]

Trickeration - What a beautiful dress! Please remember to clean it with a specialty textile cleaner and place it in an acid-free box with acid-free tissue before storing! I am so happy it is staying with you.

Vintage betty

 

[Vintage Betty]

Ok, you can hate me starting right *now*. [HATE]

So you know those times when something hits you wrong and you KNOW that you deserve it due to karma? Well, this is finally the OPPOSITE of that experience.

Last weekend was our city-wide garage sale. For those of you who aren't familiar with this concept, it started in the midwest I believe. The entire city has a garage sale, and City Hall has sign ups and distributes maps of all the garage sales in town. It is absolutely amazing. All the garage sales open and close at the same time, and you can get free signs at city hall. There are hundreds of garage sales on the same day.

The weekend after the garage sale, the annual trash pickup occurs. The city is trying to reduce the amount of trash, so they started the annual garage sale the weekend beforehand.

Well, for all the right reasons, I made a conscious effort to NOT go to all the garage sales: high price of gas, low on money, and most importantly, the charity I was volunteering at had their annual sale and they were woefully short of volunteers. So, instead of celebrating my favorite holiday of the year, I stuck myself in a store for about six hours.

Anyway, I was driving to the store and about a mile up the road the wonderful police closed the road (no signs down at the bottom of the hill, of course). I get to the very top, and am turned around. So I go down the bottom of the hill and make a detour. And what appears before my eyes: GARAGE SALES! So, I step quickly out of the car and this is what I found at the first sale:

1940's fabric from England, uncut with the tags still on. Vintage tweed, wool and 100% cashmere. And vintage trim, 1920's booties and children's knitted capelet and baby blanket and 1940's knitted apron. Plus more! I got the whole pile for $25. And the seller knew what she was selling - it was her mother's, and she brought it back from England!

Sometimes karma is a b*tch. And sometimes, it rewards you well.

[/HATE] Your hate experience is now expired. Thank you for joining us for this experience and hate with us again soon.

 

[CherryRed]

Trickeration your daughter is gorgeous in that gown! I love the bead detail and I am so happy you are keeping it for her.

Betty that fabric is wonderful! I love the blue and black houndstooth. I can just see it made up in a vintage suit. Congrats!!!
I know how hard it is to bypass good sales. We went to my stepdaughters graduation last Saturday and passed by about a half dozen antique malls I had never been to before. DH even volunteered to stop on our way home but I didn't because I knew I haven't a cent to spend and didn't want the temptation.

 

[Trickeration]

Thanks everyone. We're all pretty happy with the decision to keep the dress. I was just so sure my husband would have fits about us buying a wedding dress with no weddings in sight. I'm so glad he likes it, too. My mom finds it frighteningly premature, though .

Vintage Betty - Thanks so much for the storage tips. The gown is currently in a walk in closet, but with moving next month, we do need to get the dress properly protected.

Oh, and your fabric find is marvelous! Detours can lead to great things.

 

[Vintage Betty]

Thank you CherryRed and Trickeration! I was tickled to find it all. And CherryRed, I'm sure you'll appreciate when I spy garage sales, my husband hits the gas pedal. shakeshead

 

[sixsexsix]

free from a friend moving out of town

we repaired the spring work already, i just need to put more batting in the cushions and re-staple that upholstery hanging down loose at the front

 

[Vintage Betty]

free from a friend moving out of town

we repaired the spring work already, i just need to put more batting in the cushions and re-staple that upholstery hanging down loose at the front

WOH! That's GREAT! Very cool.....

Vintage Betty

 

[MrNewportCustom]

free from a friend moving out of town

we repaired the spring work already, i just need to put more batting in the cushions and re-staple that upholstery hanging down loose at the front

That's beautiful! I love the color: It's the same as the interior of my car. lol

Lee

 

[sixsexsix]

thanks! i really love it too, and it is in such great condition.

that car looks smoking hot!

 

[MrNewportCustom]

Here's the exterior. I love it, it's a lot of fun. Drove it to work today and got to drive home in a downpour. lol

It's probably as comfortable as your sofa, but a little more mobile. Enjoy it. Relax in good health.


Lee

 

[sixsexsix]

That is really really nice! I wish we could have older cars in Canada, but they are really only drivable less than six months of the year bc the salt they put on the road eats them away