Spring clean declutter!!!

Ok so when you love vintage you tend to accumulate and sometimes it is hard to let go of what you accumulate since you never know when you will find it again as it is no longer made and is perhaps over 50 year old.  But at some point somethings got to give and as my closet was busting at the seams and so were many other closets in my house I decided now was to time to start to declutter, well actually both my husband and myself have been working on selling off unused items in attempt to not just declutter but to also reduce some debt.  So what do you do when you want to get rid of your over abundance of vintage and repro wears?  Well I have been a seller on both etsy and ebay.  Right now I have put a few items on my etsy shop.  I also have tried some of the face book swap sites in the past for some of the repro items I have with out much luck but I am trying that out again with this pair of Johnson Shoes, Lovely shoes but I have wide feet and while they fit my foot I found them uncomfortable I was rather disappointed as my husband had a pair that he thinks are the best and very comfortable perhaps it is just that they are higher and I tend to stick with a lower wedge.

So sorry to say I spent my time I should have been sewing, taking pictures, posting on my etsy shop which I only got 2 items up but at least have pictures to try to put up more.  

So readers in what way have you had the best luck reselling you vintage and repro items when you no longer want them?

Oh and if anyone can tell me how to make a link to my etsy shop on the side I would be forever grateful as it wouldn't do it for me when I tried in the past.

Time to Get Sewing

OK I gotta admit that I spend more time thinking of sewing than actually sewing.  In the advent of having my own sewing space in my house I have been taking inventory of my sewing supplies and i gotta tell you I have an enormous stash of fabrics.  I guess thats what happens when you spend more time thinking about sewing than actually sewing.  So know how much I have it makes me determined to get going on a project.

Well I have to confess myself as a bit of a sewing failure in the past.  While I have many reasons and excuses for my failures I decided if I commit to a project on my blog it will spur me on to actually complete a project.So now what did I decide to start this project with?  Well I thought since I have not sewn in a while and my tendency it to stop (although I don't admit to myself that I am doing this) when I hit on a snag like something hard like inserting a sleeve that I have never done before.  So well I choose a modern retro pattern to get back in the swing of things.  My pattern is from Decades of Style the New England dress.

I started tracing the correct size last night on my pattern paper.  I ran out of time and didn't fully complete but did get the major pieces traced out.  My next step will be to make a muslin of the dress.  I will report back soon and let you know how I progress.

 

VLV past (pictures from 2003) Outfit post from the past

I was thinking this morning what would I be doing if I was in Vegas right now at Viva Las Vegas so I decided I would look through some old pictures and well I was inspired by one of my favorite bloggers recent post Straight Talking Mama recent post a trip down memory lane (if you do follow her already I recommend that you do not just because her post are fabulous be she is such a sincere lovely person too). 

So anyway I thought I would do my own.  These pictures are from Vegas 2003 I think it was my 3rd trip there but I think it was the first time I must of had a way to back up digital pictures (or maybe even a digital camera) because they were the earliest ones I could find saved on line. I guess that will call for some scanning for those earlier years I went.  Here we go some outfit post which I personally rarely do as I have been struggling with my weight the last 4 years.

Here I am with my friend Sean in a black Cheongsam for the Vegas preparties.  Not vintage but I thought it had a good vintage look then.  You know I used to go to Vegas by myself and find new friends from forums that we posted on or from weekenders past.  I never went with someone from home until I met my husband.  Good thing I am not shy I guess.  I did always manage to have a good time.  

I love this red vintage dress it had some fabulous cut outs.  I think this was my Friday night outfit but not truly sure that I remember that well.  Aren't all these ladies adorable though!!!  See I was never really shy wall flower even though I traveled alone.

Ok this is by far the best of the lot of that year so I know I would have saved this dress for Saturday night.  Its a pink vintage sarong dress.  I still have it.  It was my first sarong dress I think.  Not a Shaheen and it did have a wee bit of fading on it which at that time is probably why I was able to afford it.  I do still have it and love hopefully I will fit into again some day.

Finally this was the dress I wore to the car show. It is a terrible picture of it hmm perhaps my lack of posing was to blame.  It is vintage, I think I still own it but I do remember it got a cigarette burn in it from a careless drunk.

Well thats all folks if you are at Vegas now I hope you are having a gay old time if not hopefully you are spending today with the ones you love.  Take care and happy Easter.

Save the Vintage Bathrooms!!!!

Images found mid century homestyle

Well I am sure I am preaching to the choir here but I really hate to see people Modernizing and tearing out those colorful 50's bathrooms.  Today I was saddened to see a colorful green blue toilet in a dumpster bag when out on a walk. I was very tempted to go back with my car and get it, is that weird?

When we were house hunting one of the things I was looking for in a house was a nice vintage (hopefully pink) bathroom but it was a really tough house market at the time and I did not get my dream bathroom. As a result I have often scoured the free section of craigslist for pink pottys, sinks, or tubs.  I do have a toilet not yet installed in my house as well as a pink sink to go with it but so far a tub eludes me as often they are heavy and people choose to remove them in pieces rather than try to take them out as a whole.  I am sure many of you have seen the sight save the pink bathroom if not you really need to check it out.

Pink bathrooms have been around since the 30's but Mamie Eisenhower is really credited with making them the popular mid century choice for bathroom decorating.  Well my personal thanks goes out to Mamie and well to all of you who love and preserve your pink bathrooms.

Oh and well not sure if some will consider this a sacrilege but when found the sink it came with a toilet that had been chipped when removing if from it original home and as we had another I decided to install it in our back forty.  Here it is in the bloom of summer.