Today’s words of wisdom, brought to you by Sylvester the Cat and my favorite Yogi tea. (not sponsored) “Love is the highest of all virtues.”
Right on, Sylvester.
I’m prepping for my first market since my oldest was an only child. 😬 If you’re local, come check it out. All the details are in the second photo. I’ll have all my handmade goodies from my shop out there.
Have a wonderful day!
#looneytunes #yogitea #sylvesterthecat #wordsofwisdom #smallbusiness #FortWorthTexas
I’ve gotten a lot of questions about my upcycled kaftan or poncho shirts. I thought many of them could be best answered by seeing them on a real person. I didn’t have a model readily available, so you get me with my camera and tripod.
I want to do a product Q&A soon, so if you have any questions, please write them in the comments or send me a message.
I finally got all of the upcycled boho tops listed in the shop. I’ve been calling them poncho tops, but they’re really more kaftan-like. So Kaftan tops? Anyway.
I also finished another upcycle that I’ve been working on for over a year now. If you follow me on the socials, you’ve seen a little teaser of it. Either way, here it is!
This spooky box began its life as a vintage silverware storage box that had seen better days. (Of course I forgot to take before pictures. Grrr.) I gutted it, painted it, re-lined it with some lovely purple velvet and made a cute wooden planchette to go with it. I absolutely love it. It’s great for spooky or goth decor, or for storing tarot decks, crystals and ritual tools if that’s your thing.
Here’s the inside. the purple is such a nice contrast to the black and silver on the outside.
Everything above can be found in my shop. It’s all one of a kind, though, so if you see something you like, don’t miss out.
Here’s a quick peek at some boho upcycled shirts I’ve made. They’re flowy and oversized to be one size fits most.
I’ll have them in the shop soon with all the dimensions and details listed. In the meantime, if you see one you like, feel free to contact me about it now. They’re $60+ $45+ shipping. If you’re local to Fort Worth, we can arrange pickup as well. Oh, and I’ve already claimed the first one for myself.
I’ve recently added a ton of vintage figurines to my shop. There’s several David Winter Cottages. I absolutely love the detail on them.
I also have a few Department 56 Snowbabies, most in the original boxes.
You can find all of these and more in the Vintage section of my shop.
I’ve listed two “new” vintage fabrics in the shop, but wondering if anyone can help with giving more information about them. I love second hand materials, but not having all the details is a bit frustrating. They are:
Vintage Violet Purple Fabric Yardage
I’ve burn tested them, and they tend to burn quickly. The burned edge seems more melted than ashy, which leads me to believe they are a synthetic or a synthetic blend. Here’s a video of the beige burn test:
The violet fabric burns in the same way.
I’m also not sure if there is a name for that type of tiny stripe pattern. Up close you can see the lines, but from a distance it almost looks solid.
Any help would be appreciated!
In order to have high quality finished products, it’s best to prewash your fabric. Without this step, your finished product can shrink and look uneven or lumpy when it is eventually washed. It’s not a good idea to just toss your fabric into the wash, though, as it comes out a stringy, tangled mess. Luckily, there’s a few different ways to make prewashing your fabric painless.
If you have a serger or overlock machine, serge the cut edges before washing. You shouldn’t have to worry about the selvedges as they won’t unravel. This is my favorite method. I usually just leave the thread tails long and they don’t unravel enough to be annoying.
With a sewing machine, you can sew a quick zig-zag or similar stitch along the cut edges to prevent fraying. Even a straight stitch would probably work, although I haven’t tried it. You will probably need to back-tack or knot the ends to keep it secure through the wash.
If you have pinking shears, cut the fabric with the pinking shears along the cut edges. The edges will still get fuzzy, but shouldn’t unravel.
One bonus of using one of these methods is it’s easy to know at a glance which fabric from my stash was prewashed.
I know probably 90% of the people reading this are thinking “Duh!” because it’s such an obvious fix. The other 10% are wondering why they didn’t think of that, much like myself when I first learned the trick.
To make sure you never miss a post, please sign up for my newsletter.
