Redhead Sadie!

Happy Thanksgiving, and a new event!!

2011-11-24T21:38:00.001-08:00

I hope everyone had a lovely day today….me, my fella, and my son went over to a friend’s house to celebrate with her family. We had a wonderful time, ate amazing food (my friend Dori can cook like you wouldn’t believe) and hung out, just being together. As my fella is a musician and happened to have his git-tar with him, he was called upon to play some music, which he did with no hesitation. It’s funny-he is rather shy in person but get him on stage and he is Front Man Extraordinaire! He made a blueberry pie, I made a pecan pie and sweet potatoes with marshmallows….mmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

I am so thankful for many things in my life…it has been a wackadoo year, with major ups and major downs. I have grown IMMENSLY as a person, woman and mom. I have let so many old beliefs and habits go, which has made room for new ideas and things that have helped me to move on. Life is funny, really. I am doing things now I never thought I would do. Even when things have been bad and scary, I have still gotten through it okay, which is a new idea for me to believe in. Thank you, Universe, for therapy and new friends, family and old friends. Love, luck and daring. Patience, serenity and faith that things will be ok. Happiness, smiles and rainy days (but I could use a few more of those, please!)

On another note, I decided I didn’t have enough to do, and created a Winter Frolic Vintage Market for me and a few of my friends!!! We will be vending on December 3rd from noon to 5 at 5626 N. 20th Drive in Phoenix, near Bethany Home Road and 19th Avenue. Lots of fun pretty things, both old and new, perfect for holiday gifts or a treat for your own self! Yes, there will be wine and other goodies, festive vintage holiday music, and friends, friends, friends! Shop Local Businesses, darlings!!

And so I jump back in…

2011-09-11T22:49:00.001-07:00

Once again, it’s been awhile since I blogged. I do this a lot-fade out and come back around. I put this pressure on myself to blog regularly, but then real life steps in and takes over, and I find myself without time to do it. How do others do it almost every day, and add pictures and buttons and all the fancy stuff, and still have time to have their lives? I read so many other lovely, pretty and interesting blogs, it makes me feel like what I do is nothing compared to others. Yeah, I need to get over it, and I’m working on it. I want my blog to be memorable and fun, but I really just don’t know how to do it. Tutorials are hard for me to follow-I need to be shown. It’s having the time to ask someone to help me….what I want is to use my blog in a few different ways. First, to just talk about random pretty stuff and people, and also to promote the fact that I sell vintage (and hopefully to start making vintage-style clothing). Also just to have fun with it.

I feel like I am on the verge of Something….for the last year I have been in therapy and am just about to end it. I turned 40 last year and am just about ready to turn 41, and I am actually quite pleased with how far I have come. I have figured out so many things about myself and the world, both good and disappointing. Now I feel like I have to take some kind of next step, and it has to do with my work that I have chosen. I have been talking about sewing (and selling) vintage style things for years, and I have to say, this is the closest I have come to actually doing it. I have been sewing for over 20 years, off and on, but I find my skill level is not where I think it should be in order to sew for others. I’ve done a few random things here and there for others and also a ton for myself, and I obviously understand vintage style pretty well. I’m pretty confident about that part! I have so many wonderful ideas that pop into my head; I can look at a piece of vintage fabric and instantly see what it could be. I’ve been collecting (some say hoarding, haha!) vintage sewing notions and materials for years. I’ve got a ton of patterns and know how to put stuff together. I have the resources.

So what’s stopping me?

Fear. Fear that people will laugh at me, fear that I am so insignificant that nobody will care, fear that it will be a resounding success and I will get overwhelmed! I am doing what I hope will be a large rockabilly show here in Phoenix the end of October and I want to make a few pieces, put them out for sale along with the vintage stuff and see what happens. My market is not the local rockabilly crowd, I already know this, with a very few exceptions. I’m honestly not sure who my market is! People like me and a few of my close friends who love true vintage style are fewer and far between anymore. Most people seem to want the cheap re-pops nowadays, which is fine, but the quality is just not there. If I had money to really spend and I didn’t sew, I would spring for better quality. I love handmade stuff, made well and built to last. So many people don’t care about that anymore.

I have a month and a half or so, and I want to make about four pieces, I think-two dresses at least, and a couple boleros. I have this darling vintage darkish pink cotton velvet that I would line with pink satin and put old pearl beads on the edge; I can see it in my mind’s eye and it won’t go away! It’s like these things are asking to be made manifest and won’t go away until I make them happen. I have been reading so many books on finding your true purpose and being authentic-the sewing/pretty dresses/vintage fashion thing has been cropping up in my life ever since I was a little girl. (I used to draw constantly as a child, page after page of ladies in fancy dresses and hats.) I like to make women feel pretty; when I worked at the vintage shop one of my favorite things was helping people find things that would work for them. I miss that aspect of that job so much.

I find myself wanting to sew for me and my friends all the time! As a single parent, though, I have to spend most of my time making money to take care of things, so my sewing time is very small. I envy people who have time to not only host online sew-alongs, linky parties and other things, but to actually DO the sewing!! But oh…if I could just have a week to do nothing but sew…..how amazing that would be!!

I know what I WANT to do, I want to deal with the fear and just jump in and DO it. It just takes time away from what NEEDS to happen-making money so we can live decently. eBay supplies a lot of that, as do my other two jobs: working for an estate sale company part time and cleaning 3 houses a week. Add having ADD into that and things just can be so interesting…I have to be so scheduled with my time, but I am getting so much better at it; I am proud of myself for all the work I have done so far. I am actually excited to see what I can do. Sometimes I forget that I have more choices. It’s just that damned FEAR…..

So, if you like, come along with me while I work this out. I think I need to be accountable somewhere, so my goal is to blog once a week, and sit down at the sewing machine once a week, to begin with.

Thanks for listening!

Jenny

A new dress! Butterick Retro B5209

2011-05-29T21:57:00.001-07:00

After the gigantic fabric score, I got a major jones to sew again. I go through these stages where I want to sit for like a week and just be left alone to sew, and then other times I get all over something else. I’ve sewing for over 20 years, and I grew up with my mom sewing. My great-grandmother, who was named Sadie, was a dressmaker/alterations lady for dress shops for years and years. It’s in my blood. I know that if I had the time, I could get really good and make some great stuff! Just takes time…sigh!

Anyway, I found two precious yards of this darling 40s cotton:

I knew I wouldn’t have enough for a whole dress, so I decided to make the top of the Butterick pattern out of it. There was some staining in the middle that just would not come out, so I had to cut around the icky parts.

I cut the bodice lining out of the skirt fabric to save the vintage fabric. I used a black broadcloth for the skirt. I had about 3/4 yard of the vintage fabric left over, so back in the stash it went.

Here is the pattern:

I made the version on the right, and it went together so fast! VERY easy and fun. If I had had the time, I could have made this in a day, from start to finish. (I will get a shot of the dress soon.) I need some more simple cotton or rayon dresses that will be cool for our horrible Phoenix summer, that cover the annoying bit of fat under my arms and also I can swing dance freely in. This dress runs true to size and fits pretty well. I have found that the retro Butterick patterns run large most of the time, but I love this one. I want to make it a few more times!

I might make the skirt more “swingy” next time because when I am dancing, I love having my skirt swish around. But for a nice basic summery dress that is easy to make, I highly recommend this one!

Happy sewing!

Jenny

Vintage Fabric on eBay!

2011-05-19T22:23:00.000-07:00

This is the first of what will probably be hundreds of listings of vintage fabric from my big score! I started out with novelty prints, and there are some great ones I've never seen!

http://shop.ebay.com/bettys-vintage-house/m.html?_dmd=1&_ipg=50&_sop=12&_rdc=1

Vintage Fabric Score of the Century!

2011-05-16T11:16:00.001-07:00

So last Friday morning I was driving home from a friend’s house, and I stumbled across a beat up old yard sale sign…I quickly figured out that it was a place I had been to about 5 years ago when I lived in that area of town. The woman who lived there had been 85 when I first went, and her name was Lula Mae. She was a lifetime sewer and crafter; plus being a hoarder, she kept a few things over the years.

Turns out that Lula is now 90 and sadly blind with dementia, and her daughter who was running the sale remembered me buying a ton of vintage fabric and patterns from her five years ago, and was very happy to see me. We arranged for me to come the next day, Saturday, and shop. So I did…..for 4 hours. There was a shed full of nothing BUT FABRIC. I shopped as long as I could, but I had to stop because my 11 year old could only take so much, and we needed to go! So here is what’s for sale:

All 40s-70s cottons! Novelty prints, florals, geometrics, border prints….all in lovely untouched stacks. I usually have a pretty good poker face but I lost my mind! Here is what I am keeping so far:

Goodness, I love vintage cotton. Almost as much as I love vintage rayon!

Here are some other goodies, and keep in mind that it is just a fraction of what I came home with. I have a thing for vintage rickrack, especially with Lurex in it! I am just showing an example of the colors-there are multiples! Hooray! I always buy ONLY 100% cotton rickrack because I like the colors and how it lays much better than polyester. And vintage sewing tools! Love them! They are fabulous! And sometimes I even use them! LOL

Yup, that whole box is nothing but rickrack. We won’t even talk about the seam binding and bias tape. The Gutterman thread was a nice score-that stuff is expensive!

So, the daughter of Lula, Pam, let me come back this past Saturday and I spent 6 1/2 hours there routing out what I think is the rest of the fabric, and then I started in on the craft stuff. It’s going to take a few more times before I am done, I think. I found this insanely huge box of nothing but vintage bump chenille, yards and yards of it. It’s going to be sold because I just can’t keep it all! The colors are wonderful, and it’s just so much better than what you can buy today. I’ll show the box in another post. It is truly a crafter’s dream!! I walked out of there with 7 huge boxes and so now instead of my poor old minivan being the traveling vintage clothing store, it is now the traveling vintage sewing shop. But, that’s ok, I can still see out the back, and I keep it organized pretty well.

I want to sew SOOOOOOOOOO bad right now, but I have to work, darn it! I can’t keep it all, even though I want to. This fabric needs to be out there and get used! It is too fabulous to be kept hidden away!

To end, here are shots of two fabrics I can NOT let go of. I am sure you can understand….they will be skirts for me, and the blue and pink is dated 1956. Sigh….

Shopping for Viva?

2011-03-18T13:54:00.001-07:00

Ok, I’ll be honest here-I’ve never been to Viva Las Vegas. I’m a single mother and I’ve just never been able to afford it, plus I am just too damned old and cranky to room with a million other (drunk) people! I would love to go, though. Maybe someday. If any of you are going, though, I wanted to let you know that I will be listing on eBay some PLUS SIZE vintage bathing/play suits that will be SO cute for the pool party! Here are a few:

Plus those lovely 40s rayon Hawaiian dresses will be going up too.

This is my eBay ID: My eBay listings

Got lots more to come!

Jenny

Fun Things I Have Found Recently!

2011-03-14T21:25:00.001-07:00

I have been going to estate sales for almost 20 years, and I don’t think I will ever get tired of it! There are always new things to find, new stories to uncover and new people to become friends with! This is a very large part of what I do for a living, so I am always looking for the stuff I can resell, but there are also things that I just have to rescue. It doesn’t matter if they get sold later or never, I like to think I have saved a piece of history. (Of course, looking at my house and storage unit, if I save anymore history, I am going to be history myself!)

Anyway, here are some pictures of things I have made a part of my life this past weekend….some to keep, some to find new homes for. Sometimes, it is enough that they pass through my hands to their true home.

That is the very first true vintage hat stand I have ever been able to afford for myself! I collect those old tins, apparently-I now have quite a few. The silvertone box is Chase.

Can’t go wrong with kitty cat books! I LOVE the glove stand with the butterflies! And another damn tin….

Love me some vintage Lustro Ware Plastics…and the prettiest crocheted purse!

Jewels! I’ve been pretty lucky with jewelry lately. The red celluloid set was stupid cheap and just needed a little repair. MINE! Check out the Sarah Coventry convertible earring set:

190 rolls of vintage tatting thread-going on eBay this week!

Bunnies! Snowmen!

And this old needlework catalog….there’s an order form inside…can I have one of everything please? And a few hundred of those western jackets?!!

Ok, now that I have overwhelmed you, I think that’s enough….there is a church sale next weekend I go to every year that is always good, wish me luck!

Jenny

Rayon Dreams

2011-03-07T21:53:00.001-08:00

One of my weekly jobs is working for an estate sale company, so sometimes I am lucky enough to get first crack at things! The sale this week is really neat-the lady is 96 and just went into a home, but she and her husband had a long happy marriage and did TONS of traveling. The house was built in the mid 60s and some of the furniture is really cool. Total “grandma” house! Today I found four gorgeous vintage 40s Hawaiian long dresses that I snatched up right quick! Three of them are that lovely 40s era spongy gummy rayon and the other one is cotton. I am keeping one but the other three that are pictured will be for sale next week!

I have always been in love with rayon from that era….I’ve got a tidy little stash of yardage I want to use someday. I love the saturated colors and the way it feels, so soft and slinky. Polyester just doesn’t do it, no matter how they fake it. I love sewing with it because it is just a breeze to work with. Every time I find a piece I just get such a thrill! When I measure it before I buy it and I get that magical 35” width, I am so happy!

Watch for more posts like this-stuff I find and may be for sale. Sometimes I’m just going to share pretty things. But you never know….I might be convinced to sell….

Redhead Sadie’s FIRST-EVER Trunk Show!

2011-02-13T18:37:00.001-08:00

This has been a very long time coming!

When I was a very little girl, I started playing dress-up, just like most little girls. I always wanted to be the heroine who happened to be pretty and fashionable-like saving the world and looking wonderful doing it. I was always saving someone, dressed in a lovely, full skirted dress, preferably wearing gloves and tons of jewelry! I used to spend hours drawing pictures of pretty ladies in dresses, complete with accessories and back stories that were very tragic and/ or dramatic. Of course, they always overcame their problems and triumphed, got the fellow, and went on to live beautiful lives.

I also loved to play dress up at my maternal grandmother’s house because I had three wonderful aunties who saved all their pretty clothes and things. They were very generous with letting me play with their stuff, but the best part of all was my grandmother letting me play with her collection of rhinestones. I have a picture of me dressed up, and I have every single one on! They averaged about 4-5 inches across each! Many happy hours were spent in glamorous imaginings wearing them….

I’ve been into vintage most of my life, and starting in 2007 I was lucky enough to be able to work for a wonderful lady in her vintage shop. I spent 3 amazing years as Heidi Owens’ “Gal Friday”, managing Hollywood Regency Vintage here in Phoenix, which is sadly no more. (If you want to read more about how it was, go a few entries back in my blog to read the story.) Heidi passed away last June, and things changed, and the shop is now a different place. It was such a great time of my life, and I learned so much from Heidi. I will never forget her, ever.

My trunk show is simply the next step in this journey….and what a fun trip it has been! It is a huge leap for me, because this has nothing to do with the shop; it is all ME. I don’t have Hollywood Regency as a backup, and Heidi isn’t here to advise me. I am putting myself out there all alone, and even though I am slightly terrified, and I am also so excited. In figuring it out, I asked myself if I would regret not doing it…and the loud and clear answer was YES. So, it’s time to put up or shut up and see what I can do.

I LOVE selling vintage, and I love helping people figure out what they like in this vein. I have some really fun things to offer at my sale, And if you are a plus size girl (bust 38-42 average) and you like vintage, have I got some pretty dresses for you….the estate I just bought has oodles of lovely things for what I like to call “real-size” girls! Plus jewelry, accessories, swimsuits, purses, sexy foundation garments, peignoirs and MANY MANY SLIPS-all VINTAGE! It will be a fun day for all!

So that’s a very condensed version of my story, and I hope to see you at my sale…..or on eBay, or on Etsy. Stay tuned, because I have many plans in the works!!

Stay beautiful!

Jenny

Under RE-Construction!

2011-01-16T20:20:00.001-08:00

I am currently working on re-doing my blog with lots of fun new things to come…stay tuned!

Been awhile

2010-09-13T22:55:00.000-07:00

Goodness, it has been a long time since I felt like sharing on here. I'm going to get this blog thing going again soon, I think. SO much has changed since the last time I posted. Some for the better, some not. People have come and gone. One very amazing, special person died. The dream job is no more. BUT-I am still here, still trying to look pretty and be happy as much as possible. Many doors have closed, but many are inching their way open too.

Time to move on, and talk about other things. Soon.

Hollywood Regency, The Shop

2010-01-01T22:52:00.000-08:00

This is where I work, and it is the best place on earth. Hands down.

Hollywood Regency was started in April 2007 by my boss lady and a friend, mostly to sell furniture and household things with a small emphasis on vintage clothes and accessories. Then the economy tanked and nobody was buying furniture anymore. So, my boss realized that the clothing etc. was paying the rent, and we switched to that over time. Her friend moved and sold his interest to her, and somewhere around October of 2007 I started working there. It has evolved into many TV appearances, numerous awards from local media for Best Vintage Clothing, quite a few mentions in magazines, most recently a brief blurb in Sunset Magazine! People come in and love us! Lately I have been hearing that we are unique; that there is nothing in Phoenix like us. It's pretty and happy, and sparkly and shiny. It is also very clean, as we wash/dry clean our garments before they are put on the floor. I spend the majority of my time there ironing and steaming, mending and organizing.

This is the BEST JOB EVER and I know I am damned lucky to have ANY job right now, much less one that rocks. I KNOW how good I have it here. I thank my lucky stars every day that things have worked out the way they have for me with this place, because I have had some crap jobs, let me tell you. I have come a long way from the teenage welfare mom I was 21 years ago. That I get to dress up every day and go to a magical, beautiful place like this to work is an everyday miracle for me. I get paid conventionally but also in so many other ways-I think I have finally acquired something that looks suspiciously like self-confidence. I've never been given this level of responsibility and it feels pretty damned nice. I've never been the best employee at my former jobs but this one I strive to be as good as I can. I want to live up, every day, to the expectations that are put on me. I think I manage to achieve that most of the time.

The pictures I have shown were taken about a month ago, just a sample of what we are all about. I want to try and show more clothing in future posts. (We are re-setting the shop this week.) But I had to include one of our shop kitties, Lamar, asleep in his suitcase-we can't sell it now because he would be very annoyed with us! He is about 12 years old, so he is a cranky old man in a cat suit most of the time, but people love him. I will get a picture of our other fella, Basil, soon. We love our cat boys-we even have people who come in just to see them!

So, that's my job. My fabulous, wonderful, beloved job. Come see me and we'll play dress up! :-D

Emma's Stuff Part 2

2010-01-01T22:06:00.000-08:00

Oh my GOODNESS.

That was my first reaction when I saw what was there, but those weren't my exact words I said to myself....heehee. I do try to keep the blog clean, y'know.

I've been doing vintage this and that for almost 16 years, and I've NEVER seen this much clothing in one place. At least, not one single person's. Emma, gods love her, saved it ALL. Every dress, every hat, every girdle, every slip.

I felt, after awhile, like I was raiding Joan Holloway's (Mad Men) closet. I giggled with glee everytime I thought of that. I almost expected her to come flying through the door to ask me just what I thought I was doing!

Four boxes of nothing but white blouses from the 50s. One box of nothing but white pedal pushers and high-waisted shorts of the era. Two boxes of nothing but sky-blue wool, orlon and cashmere sweaters. The two boxes of white sweaters. Red sweaters. Colored sweaters. The one box of just navy blue rayon 40s 50s suits. Pencil skirts in twill and wool, never worn. A stack of countless pillowcases with crinolines and slips. The boxes of black 50s bras and girdles. Same with white. RED circular stitched bras and matching garter belts.

Dresses. Cocktail dresses. Matching jackets. Lace dresses. Chiffon, Silk twill. Summertime halter dresses. Spring pastel linen dresses with matched sweaters, in multiple colors if she liked the style. Black rayon dresses. Box after box of dresses, folded neatly 40 years ago and waiting patiently for me to come, unfold them and bring them back to life. I think she wore things a couple times and then bought more because the condition of it all is AMAZING. Those old lace-over-taffeta dresses that are almost always rotted out under the arms? Nope. Near mint. The only thing about alot of them is that Emma had a lot of weight fluctuation in her life and let the darts out of MANY of her things. (I cannot tell you how many dresses I have already re-darted. That has been an interesting experience!)

And then the boxes of purses. She loved reptile, so there were tons of those. The 40s purses were pretty cool-Corde' ones with lucite pulls were plentiful. Many of them were dried out, unfortunately, having been stored in the garage for 40 years. Every single purse was full of wadded-up hankies and gloves. One real treasure-a GORGEOUS mint condition Llewellyn amber Lucite beehive purse. I drooled over that...... And her SHOES...long, narrow spiked heels in 8, 9, 10. 40s platform shoes in suede. Small, of course!

Hats! Hats! Hats! More old millinery flowers than we will use in a lifetime! And the good ones, too-40s and 50s velvets, European-made. Floral hats, picture hats, toques, juliet caps, bonnets.

I finally ran out of time, and had to stop. I was there for two days, and we hopefully will be going back in the spring when the son comes back from Montana, as there are still boxes in the garage and the dresser drawers to go through. You know those wardrobe boxes from U-Haul, the tall ones? Well, there are four of them in the master closet full of nothing but slips, girdles, gloves, etc. I ran out of time!!!

Do you know why it is hard to find vintage? Because Emma was hoarding it lo these many years. :-)

So, Heidi and I are washing, steaming, mending, taking to the dry cleaner this treasure trove of goodies. I have a good number of dresses at the shop and will have a major influx the end of next week. The bestest, most fabulous part? NOT tiny stuff. Most of the dresses range between a 26 to 36 inch wasit, with the majority being in the 30-34" range. She also had a bust that probably could stop traffic, so there you go. Real vintage for real size girls......it does NOT GET ANY BETTER than this!

We feel very honored to have been lucky enough to make Emma's lovely wardrobe available to the next generation of ladies. Come and see the "new girls" at the shop!

Emma's Stuff

2010-01-01T21:47:00.000-08:00

So let me tell you about Emma.

She lived in Chicago with her husband and son back in the 40s and 50s, and Emma loved to shop. From what I can tell, she could have given the rest of us a serious run for our money. I mean, she LOVED TO SHOP. And she never ever threw anything away. EVER. Even after the three of them moved to Phoenix in the late 60s, it all got boxed up, labeled, and put away in the house in Sun Lakes, Arizona.

Emma passed away, peacefully, a number of years ago, leaving it all to her only son. He had since moved to Montana and become a very successful eye doctor. One day he realized it was time to come back to Arizona and clean out the house. It did not take long for him to realize what a daunting task it was going to be, because Emma pretty much saved every single piece of clothing she wore from the 40s up until her passing. Not to mention the hats, shoes, purses, etc. So, he tried a few consignment shops in snooty Scottsdale, thinking the good quality would impress them; I mean, she had bought it all at Marshall Field and other fine establishments, so you would think, right? Nope, nobody wanted that old stuff. Too old, nothing older than 5 years for them. Thank goodness. Because one day he found Hollywood Regency on the internet and the rest, they say, is history.

The first time he came in, he brought us about 25 colorful wool knit dresses. Beautiful, late 50s, early 60s. Red, green, purple, black, white, etc. Great condition, we bought almost all of them. About 6 months after that, he walked in with some insane number of hatboxes and I really had to try hard not to drool, they were THAT GOOD. Bought all that. This time he told us about his mother's house and the sheer amount of stuff to get rid of. He had to go back to Montana and promised to bring more. By now we were DYING to see what else he would trot over to us. Almost a year later, he calls the shop and says he has a full carload, can he bring it over. OF COURSE, no problem, bring it!

We bought over 80 pairs of shoes and probably close to a hundred pieces of clothing that time. This time, we set a date for us to come to the house and just get it done. Date set, we're ready to go, Heidi gets sick and can't go. He had told us there were vintage linens there, so I reset the time and just plan to go alone, concentrate on linens for myself (that's my main thing-textiles) and then shop for the shop.

Best laid plans......

continued in next post!

Random Cool Sewing Item

2009-12-03T07:27:00.000-08:00

Any of you sewers ever use these? I originally bought some at a sale because they are aluminum, and pretty. I found more recently in a grab bag of sewing stuff at an estate sale Then I used them a few months ago, and I just love them! They are very handy, and they grip really well. I noticed that my hems on the last few things I have made turned out much better. I would highly recommend the little suckers! Plus, they are from the 50s and are colored aluminum, like the tumblers.

Sewing Circle!

2009-12-01T08:21:00.000-08:00

So, yesterday I got a wild hair and decided to set a date for the Sewing Circle idea that has been floating around my head for a long time! I have always loved the image of women sitting around, sewing or doing other creative things together, like they did back in the day. I am hoping that it will be fun and we can all learn from each other. I know how Pollyanna that sounds, but in my not-so-secret heart there is a lot of June Cleaver and Betty Crocker dying to manifest!

I can be raunchy and all that, but I truly love the whole 1950s mom ideal. Dancing around the kitchen in heels, pearls and a spotless apron cleaning with Glass Wax and all that. It's funny-I joke around in chagrin that I always end up being the mom or the goody-goody when I really want to be the vamp or glamour girl. I would love to be a mankiller, but I always get back to the 1950s mom-type. Or the 1940s we-have-to-be-strong, woman-on-the-home-front. (I suppose I could just be the very sexy housewife-it's been done!) Maybe it's because I grew up a latch key kid in the 70s and TV in the afternoon was heavy on the 50s sitcoms. My 40s/50s magazine collection is one of my favorite things to read. One of the best ones is Ladies Home Journal-they had a feature called "How Young America Lives", and they profiled young families of the time. Fascinating how things have changed AND stayed the same. People certainly did more with less back then-I admire the hell out of that.

Anyway! Tangent there, sorry.....I am excited about the sewing circle, and I plan to make those days set aside for it strictly sewing days, no matter who shows up. If nobody does, then I'll sew alone! I am so thankful that I have a good place to work in, and notions and such I can share with my friends. I am so curious to see everyone's projects and see them grow! I hope this is a success! I plan to do one weekend day and one weekday so lots of people have a chance to come. The first one is Monday, December 14th and the next one is Saturday, December 19th. 9am both days, but it is a drop in thing. I will space it out better in January.

I hope this works out! :-)

Pink Glider!

2009-11-08T18:34:00.000-08:00

I did this about a month ago-it's done! I now own a flamingo-pink metal glider! I love the color so much. I want to make everything pink. Well, not really, but you understand. This took 2 coats of primer and 2 and a half cans of spray paint. If you page down a bit here on the ol' blog, you can see what it used to look like. LOVE IT!

New stuff I made...and catch up!

2009-11-08T17:57:00.000-08:00

I guess I went on a bit of a hiatus there...just to briefly catch up, the Mad Men Fashion Show on September 18th went swimmingly! Everyone was amazing and we got tons of great feedback for it. It took me about 8 weeks to get it together, and it really showed. This was the best one we've done. I had a lot of last minute help, thank goodness. And my friends as models were incredible-I am so blessed!

Our Halloween Housewarming party on October 30th was fabulous fun too! I had a wild hair and dressed up as Lolita Haze...no one outside our circle of friends would have known who I was because of all the in-jokes in my costume, though, so it was good that I did it at our own party! We had some out of town guests too-Karen (and her husband) of the blog Bobbins and Bombshells had come in the shop during the day, and on a lark I invited them to the party. I was very pleased that they came, and we had a great time! Goodness, I drank a lot...the next day my mom came into town from central Oregon for a visit. She surprised my son with her visit, and he was stoked! We did the Halloween trick or treating thing and had fun. We spent the week doing a lot of thrifting and messing around. Fun!

Last night, Saturday, Charles Phoenix and his slide show came into town, courtesy of my friend Marshall. If you don't know who he is, go see his site: www.charlesphoenix.com. It is like nothing I have ever seen. HILARIOUS!!!! I made a couple new things for the event, too. The bolero is a 50s pattern, made of vintage light wale red corduroy and lined with red satin. The skirt is also a 50s pattern made of vintage atomic print cotton. I am really rather proud of this outfit, actually! The bolero is going to be made again, I can assure you-it was SO easy!!

So now we are heading into Thanksgiving. I have so many sewing things I want to do and I need to get back on the dreaded eBay. I miss the old eBay so much this time of year-it was pretty magical back about 10 years ago. I used to get so excited for the Christmas selling season. Now....eh. But I am thinking about Etsy and the possibilities there. All things must change, I guess. ;-)

Hollywood Regency Fashion Show!

2009-09-07T13:04:00.000-07:00

That's right, this is coming up in less than two weeks! I am very excited and becoming a little nervous...I still have to write the text and make the dress CC is going to wear....it is my interpretation of the polka dot dress that Betty Draper wore in season 2 where she has her meltdown. Everyone's outfits are picked out and tried on and I finally found shoes to fit one of our girls, thank god. She wears size 10+ so that was fun....! Have to pick up a Playboy Bunny costume for Lolita to wear, find a pipe for my Hef, and get a pair of pants shortened, figure out what the heck Louis will wear. It's coming together. If it works like it should, this will be the best one we've done.

Just cross me some fingers out there in blog land, ok?

A few goodies

2009-08-30T18:41:00.001-07:00

So I have been trying to get this new house together, and I decided to get out a collection I have that I have not seen for a long time. There was a time there when I was really into Gilner Pottery pixies, and every other elf/pixie thing I could find. They are a little harder to find now, but I am happy with what I have. It's nice seeing these fellows again!

I was at Big Lots not too long ago, and spotted this cute retro clock in mint green and baby pink, and once my old alarm clock died I decided to blow $15 and get the pink one. I love it! It sure has a clanging alarm, though, but it does get me awake!

I went over to the Goodwill recently and found a few little doodads...the red belt is patent and I have been looking for a wide red belt forEVER, so I was quite happy to find this! The pattern is from 1998 and I was very pleased to pick it up in my size for 99¢! I saw it on eBay for $32.99 BIN, which is just crazy expensive. The skirt looks a little long so I will shorten it, but I have this lovely piece of emerald green rayon that will be just perfect for this. I plan to do the 40s style dress first. The party book is a scream from 1932 and even has the complete plans for a real minstrel show! It also has ideas for just about any kind of theme party you could think of. The copper set is on eBay now because I can't wear that color at all.

So, there is a little bit from here-more to come as I unpack boxes and hopefully hit some estate sales soon!

Glider project

2009-08-30T18:31:00.000-07:00

I bought this fabulous vintage metal glider about 10 years ago in a suburb of Phoenix called Maryvale-which for you non-Arizona folks, is a place I would call our own version of Levittown. Built in the 50s, it was an all-inclusive community full of cookie-cutter houses, shopping centers and schools. It used to be a great place to live, and the houses are huge! Now, unfortunately, it is full of undesirables, renters who don't care about where they live and has acquired a reputation for being dangerous. I used to go to some amazing estate sales out there. I still love going to look at the houses because you can still get a sense of what it was supposed to be. But I digress! :-)

I bought this from a house where it had sat for about 40 years on its own little concrete slab. It had been painted to match the trim on the house! Its original color was dark green, which I would have liked to save, but there is lots of rust, so i will have to use Kilz on the entire thing. I wanted a dark raspberry pink, and so I selected "Watermelon" from the Krylon line of colors. I LOVE it! I need to get this done because I am dying to see the finished look. I plan to make some vintage fabric pillows to go on it as well. It will look good with my repro yellow and turquoise metal motel chairs. What do you think?

Argh!

2009-08-09T21:00:00.000-07:00

Well, we just moved three weeks ago into our new-to-us-house and I have been busy getting it set up and DONE, which of course when you have ninety million boxes of STUFF like I do, that is a distant dream. It is nice to see my stuff again, though-it's been a year and it's almost like Christmas. :-) I am sorry that I haven't updated recently, but I have a couple projects I am working on and would like to share, hopefully get to posting about that this week. I've also made a couple of things for me that are fun. So, pictures and all this week, I hope! Moving in, sewing, working, mom-ing....someday it'll all run smooth. I'm so darn busy living my life I have no time to write about it! More to come soon, complete with eye candy. :-)

Some new goodies

2009-06-23T23:21:00.000-07:00

One of my jobs is working with my friend who runs estate sales-and the one this week is huge! I restrained myself a bit, though, and only got a few things. (There is a giant church sale Thursday morning that I have been waiting for for a month, so I am trying to save to be able to go to that one.) Anyway, here is what I brought home today!

I have a thing for those plastic covered fabric sewing boxes-my mom had one. I LOVE that this one is pink. I now have three-oh NO, it's a new collection! The leopard thing is HARD TO FIND cinch belt elastic-a couple YARDS of it, and oh YES some of it will be adorning my waist very soon. The velvet pincushion is a lovely faded aqua blue-usually these are red but I LOVE that this is blue instead-it's rare. The Mother poem picture is for yet another collection of mine-I love motto pictures, especially the sappy Mother ones. They are just so sweet. Double daisy flower hook is Italian tole and destined for my workroom at the new house. And how can you go wrong with vintage thread in colors like that? I never buy new thread, ever-I don't need to. Plus the colors are better working with vintage fabrics. Any readers need thread, let me know-I 'll pick some up for you. We sell the large ziploc bags of thread for about 3-4 bucks at the sales. You can get pretty much anything you need sewing-wise, sometimes, at these sales, for next to nothing. Why do y'all think I have ended up with a big ol' stash of notions?!

Now, think good thoughts for me at the church sale-I'm getting up stupid early to go to it. I am excited-I haven't been to a proper sale in months and I'm ready to score some stuff!

A fun project I did!

2009-06-23T23:11:00.000-07:00

My daughter turned 21 whole years old yesterday! She had asked me beforehand to make her an apron for her day, and so I turned to one of my handy 194os era Sewing books, and found this neat idea, cobbled it together with some cute dragonfly fabric that my son picked out for his sister, and here we have an apron, vintage inspired but totally modern for my new-things-only-loving daughter! I am quite pleased with it! I hope she likes it!! This is one of the first times I have taken an idea out of a book and made an actual garment-I am a total slave to patterns (it's a comfort thing, I guess) but this was easy enough to figure out. I liked working with the bias tape and even made two matching potholders and a bib for my grandson, just because I could. :-)

Back on the 'Bay today!

2009-06-17T21:26:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to say that I have some lovely vintage textiles and other fun stuff listed on eBay tonight..go check me out, if you'd like. Sorry, I don't know how to link properly...

http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewListedItems&include=0&since=-1&rdir=0&sort=12&rows=50&userid=bettys-vintage-house

New stuff and ramblings

2009-06-15T22:56:00.001-07:00

Sorry it's been awhile-I really had great intentions to blog at least every other day when I started this but real life gets in the way! I work the equivalent to 3 jobs so it's hard to find time to just sit here and indulge in blogging. But, here I am now, and here are a few fun things that I have found recently!

I love the cigar box covered in vintage shelf paper-I don't know what its fate shall be but I sure like it! The tissue box is a metal Ransburg one with glued on rhinestones. The darling cocktail party invitations are SO CUTE-and will be used when we have a get together at the NEW HOUSE I will talk about in a moment. And the vintage printed bias tape is something I am always chasing-they haven't made this for YEARS and the patterns are hard to find unused. I have a nice little stash I want to use someday.You just can't go wrong with vintage thermoset plastic. Especially a set! It was 40% off at one of my favorite thrifts. I love that it is black-it goes with a lot of different things!I have always had a thing for Scrabble tiles, and this set HAD to come home with me! There are 180 tiles in RED, and I want to make something really fun with them.

Oh no! Tacky 60s plastic mushrooms are growing out of my sofa! I love anything with red and white polka dot mushrooms on it.
This marvelous fruity hat walked into Hollywood Regency, never hit the floor, and came home with me. I don't do that very often, believe it or not, but this time there was no question.
And finally, this cool 50s BoontonWare heavy Melmac covered casserole was waiting for me at the Goodwill. I used to have a serious Melmac problem about 12 years ago, and can usually resist, but this was just too good to pass up. Boonton is the STUFF-it is probably the best Melmac ever made. It is HEAVY!

We are moving in July, to a new-to-us house not far from my current location...and I will at long last have my own WORKROOM! With built in cabinets! I will take lots of pictures and share in the decoration process...it will truly be a labor of love. Finally, a house big enough for all my stuff. Finally, room to yodel!!!

Imperial Court of AZ Vendor space!

2009-05-12T23:29:00.000-07:00

Heidi and I did some vending at the Imperial Court of AZ coronation-it's kind of this huge organization consisting of drag queens and other assorted folks that do a ton of service things for the gay/lesbian/etc community. It was so fun-and for once I was not the most overdressed person there!!! Met some neat boys who are a million times more girly than I....which is saying something. One of the other vendors had this gorgeous black mink coat....for only $700....and I HAD to put it on even though it was hot. Le Sigh. So soft and lovely!
My good friend Sister Felicity stopped by and blessed me with her wand; out of makeup she is my buddy Frankie, who I just love. He's the happiest person I have ever met. He makes me smile!

Falling behind!

2009-05-12T23:26:00.000-07:00

Soory, I am so darn busy that things get past me...but I promise to post more after this week is over. Heidi and I are doing a show on Friday night and Saturday morning in Mesa in conjunction with Domestic Bliss, this wonderful pretty store in downtown Mesa at the corner of Robson and Main. If anyone is in Mesa Saturday morning, come by and see us! I promise pictures because this do is all about the pretty and creative and stuff. I am wearing hats all weekend! It will be hot but that's just the way it is.

New/Old Dresses Score!

2009-04-28T22:50:00.000-07:00

Did a little thrifting after work tonight...while I did not have my car for 11 weeks I didn't get to hit my regular places. I am righting that wrong right now! I love this particular store because it's not a chain, it's a little grungy, and I found a 1930s black seal coat there once for $3.95. The furniture area smells funny, which is kind of quaint. Nothing like a treasure-laden grungy thrift! I like a little funkiness to my haunts.

Anyway! They have dollar tags almost every day, and I found three dresses for me and three for the store, plus a GREAT 50s men's suit for $18.50. Too big for Doc and too small for Louis, sadly, so it is off to Hollywood Regency to be rediscovered! This store had tons of 80s rayon dresses, some good, some I wanted to buy to re-style, some I wondered why they existed at all. For a buck each, how could I go wrong?!

This pink dress fooled me at first. It is fuschia pink (not at all so neon in person as in the picture, thank goodness) rayon and the styling is SO 40s I really thought I had the real thing. It's from the 80s, but it is a DEAD-ON repro. It also fits me like a screamin' dream and it's about the only pink I can wear so....it's home for awhile!
This cute little polyester dress was a hard one for me to buy, because I just don't like polyester. That is, until I saw the label inside! It's so cute on me and looks alot more 40s on a body than it does just by itself. It's a good little dress to wear to work and also dancing. I usually don't do poly but it really has a rayon-like texture and it's nice and light for summer. Plus, how can you go wrong with polky dots and piping?

This one is probably newer, because it is a stretchy cotton, but the label looks really 80s to me. It's a very good 50s repro, and again, a good work dress for summer. I have a light crinnie on under it and it makes the skirt poof just enough. It also fits like a dream!
I am going back soon...like I need more dresses, right? But it was so fun to bring these girls home!!!

Randomness!

2009-04-27T23:13:00.000-07:00

So Zefram had Hawaii Day last Friday, and we togged him out with a semi-vintage Hawaiian shirt from the shop-he was very self conscious as you can see when I took his picture!

Been doing a little thrifting now that I HAVE MY CAR BACK OH YES THANK YOU GODS OF KARMA. (Sorry....it's been almost 3 months without my van and I missed it VERY MUCH.) I found the girls at Value Village, and the one on the left is Lefton (giggle). She's perfect, which is amazing considering the road she has probably traveled to get to my clutches. I might release her back to the masses, but I'm keeping her for a minute. The other girl is MINE, however, because she is a California Pottery girl, probably Yona, Kaye of Hollywood, or DeLee Art. Maybe even a Weil girl, which would make me smile. I collect the Weil girl figures, but only when I find them randomly-I don't search them out. They are sadly packed away at the moment, but will be let out again tp play soon.

I am quite pleased with the fabric-it is cotton and 35" wide, which makes it probably 50s! I love the stylized candelabra at the bottom, but the music notes are the best! This is going to be a gathered skirt as soon as I can get it washed and gathered onto a waistband! It was $4! Woo-hoo!

And then poor forgotten Polly Bergen, All Alone By The Telephone...this is how I feel tonight, I miss my fella. I can hardly wait to live with him again. Polly knows how I feel, though. She was such a pretty lady, wasn't she? She was still really pretty in "CryBaby". She could sing, too!

Cookies, just for fun

2009-04-20T14:58:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday, we had a special open-late shopping night at Hollywood Regency, and I got silly and made some special cookies! I made a rare purchase on eBay and bought a vintage Mirro Aluminum cookie cutter set called Fairy Tale, which included a Fleur de Lis, Crown, Lion, Tree and Maltese cross. I also had some fun with the decorator tip set I had to buy because all my own vintage sets are in storage at the moment! It was a fun night!

Hollywood Regency in Mesa May 15th and 16th!

2009-04-13T21:13:00.000-07:00

Heidi and I will be here:

http://www.bohemianblissmarket.blogspot.com/

On May 15th and 16th.....should be a fun, girly, creative good time! Come and see us if you are in the East Valley!

MEOW!

2009-04-09T23:07:00.000-07:00

Went to Goodwill tonight with the Man because I needed some retail therapy, walked in at 8:37pm, right before they closed at 9, and this is what greeted me! For $8.00!!!!!!!!!
It is missing two of the buttons but I DON'T CARE. It hits me at the knees and it is that really nice, smooth, good-quality faux fur. I LOOOOOOOOOOVE the shawl collar. No label, but it's a really good one! MINEEEEEEEEEEEEE! Of course, I can't wear it much more this spring but it will be so fun to play with next winter!!!

2009-04-08T08:18:00.000-07:00

CC's dress turned out so nice, and it looks amazing on her! I can't post pictures yet because she hasn't worn it, but as soon as I can, I'll show some. I just didn't want to steal her thunder!

I have another sewing job lined up...it's going to be an ongoing thing. Little nervous about that one, but I think it's going to be ok. Not mention all the little sewing things for the store that I have to do! I have to hem (for a customer) this huge 50s Mexican circle skirt that won't be hard, just time-consuming. I need to send out eBay invoices too. Get that stuff packed up and gone. I want to spend a little of what I made recently on a new/new to me sewing machine that does buttonholes by itself...I love my old machine and it works fine, but it doesn't do buttonholes. I have the attachment to do them but it is clumsy and weird and doesn't work that well. I just don't know if I want to go the electronic route because I have heard they are harder to fix. I see a trip to 35th Avenue Sew and Vac in my future to look at machines....and oh, that's right, they have a fabric section in the back, gee, I'll just have to mosey on back there and take a wee peek at fabric. :-D

I also need a new iron. I want a really good Rowenta or the Oreck steam iron. I want the burlesque girl fabric at eQuilter.com, and I want a whole week where I don't have to do anything but sew. I am feeling the need to create on a large scale!

But, I have the rest of the April weekends all worked out with Dan so on the 24th we can go see the Jump Back Brothers and the 25th to see Bad News Blues. That will be a great weekend! I am so happy that my Daddy is free to do things again. I didn't realize until this weekend in Jerome truly how much I have missed that the last 8 months.

I have plans for a Chippie Reunion lunch and the Hotel San Carlos Slumber Party. This WILL happen this year. I am determined!

Just the cute and nothing but

2009-04-05T23:29:00.000-07:00

Just because he is so darn cute, this is my Boo, my little peanut, my lovely little redheaded grandson! The first picture is his mama, my sweet daughter, cutting my own son's hair today.

2009-04-05T22:42:00.000-07:00

Ohhhhhhhhhh my gingham skirt worked so well, and I got lots of lovely comments on it! It spun PERFECTLY, and considering how many times Louis turned me when we were dancing Saturday afternoon, I think he agreed! What a wonderful day. I love Jerome. I love good music and good friends and Miller High Life beer. I think it was the BEST Jump Back Brothers show EVER. The energy was so good and by the third set lots of people were dancing. The Spirit Room is such a magical place. It was just a perfect day, now that all the legal ugliness is behind Louis and me. Such fun!

2009-04-02T22:04:00.000-07:00

So, I've been wanting for a long time to sew for other people, and try to make a little money doing it. I have been contracted to make a 50s style dress (see above for pattern!) for my darling little friend CC, and I am SO excited! We went and bought fabric tonight, and I'm going to start on it Sunday. It is a basic fitted bodice and full skirt dress, which will not take too long at all. She picked out the most YUMMY fabric-the skirt will be this gorgeous buttery yellow and white damask-print cotton with sparkles in the design, and then the bodice will be a corresponding buttery yellow. We'll also make a matching self-fabric belt. She's going to wear yellow Austrian crystals with it that Heidi gave her. I have to get it done by Wednesday or Thursday night at the latest, as she and Phil are going to Viva Friday morning. I am not expecting any issues with it....and I think I am almost more excited than her, because it's going to be such a pretty, lovely dress on her!

Excited!

PS-I also have been working on the gingham circle skirt for myself-I just got done putting 10 ROWS of vintage 1950s pink and black/silver rickrack on the bottom of it. I am wearing it to Jerome on Saturday!

My eBay stuff!

2009-03-31T09:24:00.000-07:00

Check me out, if you'd like....this is my current eBay ID. I've been on there for 10 years, but it was time to start another ID.

http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewListedItems&include=0&since=-1&rdir=0&sort=12&rows=50&userid=redhotridinhood*vintage

2009-03-31T08:45:00.001-07:00

I decided that I needed a place to gather all the best, most pretty things happening in my life, hence this blog. I will also talk about my fantastic job at Hollywood Regency Vintage here in Phoenix! There are other places to talk about the angst and the things out of my control, but this will not happen here. This is beauty. This is happy. This is the total Libra side of me, coming out to party. Sometimes it might get sweet and sticky. It happens! We're going to celebrate the glitter and the sparkle. And the reason it's called "Redhead Sadie's" is because my great-grandma Sadie was an amazing lady and I wanted to honor her memory. More on that in a later post.

On The Hunt: Heidi and I went to a fabulous annual church sale last weekend....and scored! Got some good stuff for the store, and I had a little fun for myself as well!Vintage jools...earrings $1 a pair, fruity necklace $2, 40s strawberry tablecloth $1! Vintage amazing perfume bottle was $5.... and it stands about 7 inches tall!

I have also found recently the little gathering of pretties in the first picture-the candy tin with a REDHEAD on it, the vintage Revlon compact and lipstick in amazing rhinestoned containers (not my colors but I DON'T CARE), 1940s velvet ribbon choker, and the glass fruit bracelet and necklace, all at a sale for about $10.

And, I love the show "Mad Men", and think that Joan is just the best (duh, redhead!). She wears a little tiny gold pen or pencil around her neck on a chain, and I have been looking for one for a long time. Found it for $2, third picture! Wish I had her cleavage to bounce it of off when I walk..... hahaha!

What's happening at Hollywood Regency this week: it's First Friday this week, so I am going to be very busy getting the store whipped into shape! We have tons of pretty vintage 70s era sundresses. I know that I have a TON of ironing of men's shirts and some 50s housedresses to do. Come see me! And PLEASE keep voting for us to win Best Vintage Clothing at azcentral.com-you can vote once a day, and we are now in third place thanks to everyone who has been voting! Make us happy and help us win!

Notes from the Music Room: Louis and I are driving up to Jerome on Saturday morning to go see The Jump Back Brothers play at the Spirit Room. I haven't been there for years! We are very excited! Brothers are also playing Friday night, April 3rd, at a new Irish Pub type place called The Turf, which is apparently at First Street and Pierce. I'll be working until 11pm that night at the shop, but after-that's where we'll be! Come dance with us!