vintage bellefonte

My New Yorker friend, Maria, was in town this weekend for an impromptu visit. She loves vintage as much as I do. Finally! An excuse to skip the laundry and pay a visit the town of Bellefonte in northeast Wilmington and try out my new Pentax K-7 DSLR camera (happy birthday to me!).

Bellefonte is a neighborhood of old bungalows and four-squares in varied states of repair, but oh so charming. Brandywine Boulevard, the main drag, has a bakery, a quirky cafe, a fire house, and a handful of vintage and consignment shops all within 2 or 3 blocks.

candlesticks- Finders Keepers

We started at Finders Keepers, 901 Brandywine Blvd. It's a classic, choc-full, dusty sort of place, ripe for the digging.

bells, etc.- Finders Keepers

throws- Finders Keepers

Next we stopped in to JPT Caning at 803 Brandywind Blvd.

stools and doilies- JPT Caning

salvaged table legs- JPT Caning

chairs awaiting repair- JPT Caning

 JPT Caning

I'm going here if I ever need any caning done.They also carry depression glass.

Blueberry Hill

You can't come to Bellefonte and not go to Blueberry Hill, 1015 Brandywine Blvd.

knobs and pulls- Blueberry Hill

kitchen kitsch- Blueberry Hill

mmmmm...textiles- Blueberry Hill

Bellefonte Cafe

We stopped for cappucino at the Bellfonte Cafe, 804 Brandywine Blvd., and unexpectedly got to hear some live rockabilly by Betty and the Bullets. Who'd-a-thought on a Sunday afternoon? Our food never came, but it was a fun time.

The bakery, Sweets to You, is across the street. We'll definitely have to come back.

a message board for gramma

I don't know about you, but I find it especially hard to think of gifts for elderly people, especially those in a nursing home. How many pairs of slippers or boxes of candy can one person use? So the other day when I was paying a visit to Gramma at the nursing home and she was fumbling around in a drawer looking for some loose pictures she wanted to show me, I had an idea... a padded message board! She was all over the idea of a place to display these things on the wall, so I vowed to come back with one later that week.

My first instinct was to run over to Target and pick one up tout suite, but then I remembered... I've taken the handmade pledge! Oy, but I'm so busy! I checked the garage for a scrap of 1/4" plywood and actually had one already cut to message boardish size, just shy of 18x24". Sold! I'll make it myself. This project is as old as the hills, but I'm doing a tutorial anyway.

To make this project you will need:
-a piece of 1/4" plywood, you decide the exact size
-2 medium triangle ring hangers
-see-through ruler or L-square ruler
-hammer
-staple gun
-disappearing fabric pen
-package of upholstery tacks (they come in packs of 24, I only used 17)
-remnant of fabric big enough to cover the board + 2" all around
-remnant of  quilt batting just big enough to cover the board
-3+ yds of or 5/8" ribbon (I used exactly 3, for a bigger board, get more)

I attached the hanging hardware first. I thought it would be safer than doing it after the fabric and ribbons were on.

It's a good idea to mock up your ribbon placement on a piece of paper first. Fold it in half horizontally & vertically to find the center and plan for a ribbon criss-cross there. I think it looks best not to have 45 degree diamonds. Make sure whatever angle you choose, that you mirror it on the other side. Add parallel lines, repeating every 5" or so.

I'm channeling my inner 94 year-old and have chosen an ivory brocade upholstery fabric. She's gonna love it! Trim the fabric with 2" of extra all around. Trim batting to the board size.

Now layer the batting between the board and the fabric and staple. Staple one side, then the opposite side, pulling tightly.

Be careful at the corners...

Now use your mock up to mark the ribbon placement. Make holes with pins and stick the tip of the fabric pen through.

Lay on ribbons and cut allowing  for 2" overhang, so you can staplegun the ends to the back. Now you can pound in the tacks, but FYI, the tacks I used came through the back. If you care about your table, put a scrap piece of wood underneath. Turn over the board and flatten the points with the hammer.

And there you are Gramma!

end of an era

It's a gloomy day here in Wilmington and not just because we are on our 4th day of rain. This morning I decided to make a trip over to the only true art supply store in town, Wilmington Blue Print, for a roll of tracing paper only to find that they are CLOSED. CLOSED. As in out of business. I guess with the slump in construction, their architectural printing business must have just suffered too much? Maybe they didn't keep up with the times? Certainly the local big box Michael's store outdid them on price... I think the root of it is that most of us are willing to sacrifice the experience of good service for cheaper prices. It's very sad to me since Wilmington Blue was an institution since 1934. Now I will have to buy online instead.

This comes on the heels of the local children's shoe store, Children's Shoe Boat, closing thanks to competition from Target, etc. Sure, the store was unglamorous and hadn't updated it's decor in 20 years, but they had a nice selection of quality shoes and very experienced shoe-fitters. Now I am forced to buy shoes in stores where I am on my own, pulling boxes of shoes off the wall, and hoping  I am measuring the kids feet right, no salesperson in sight. Sad.

So what is there to take away from this? Maybe the mom & pop shops need to do better at keeping up a spiffier, more stylish image. Hard, I know, when profits are low. Maybe they need to be more creative with marketing and play up the service aspect.

On a brighter note, my favorite sewing store in town is not a chain. Hayes Sewing machine Co. is doing a brisk business despite the economy. Established 40 years ago by Trevor and Mary Hayes, the whole family still works there. It's not a glamorously turned-out place, but you can barely walk 3 feet into the store before someone is helping you find that obscure notions item, or whatever. I asked Mr. Hayes one day (he is in the store everyday, personally repairing machines) what he attributes his success to and he said: SERVICE. They also do a good old-fashioned newsletter mailing quarterly or so, despite the expense, rather than mass emailings. "What good would emailing do if half you customers are elderly?" says Mr. Hayes. He's got a point- you have to tailor your marketing to your audience. They also have many, many classes expertly taught by the Hayes' daughters. I can attest that they are good, and I always wind up buying a gadget or two or three afterward without any pressure to do so. Now THAT'S marketing. It feels different buying something in a store where they recognize you from one visit to the next rather than someplace where they couldn't care less who you are. That feeling breeds loyalty. I hope.

Loyalty is probably why Fairfax Harware, the local mom and pop hardware store, stays in business despite being within 2 miles of a Lowes and a Home Depot. They can't compete on price, but their service is impeccable- no wandering up and down aisles looking for that random washer or screw. Everyone knows about them and says they love them, but do they put their money where their mouth is? I hope so!

Shop mom & pop!

the peeps are in!

It's that time of year again. The snow is melted, bulbs are poking up out of the ground, Easter is around the corner...

The peeps are in! We Americans are champions at cheesifying our holidays, so in remembrance of the death and resurrection of our Lord, we celebrate with garishly colored, blobby marshmallow treats!

Appetizing right? That's not the point though. Peeps have many uses.

If you're lucky enough to live in the Washington DC area, you qualify to enter the Washington Post Peeps Diorama Contest. It's been going on since 2007 and gets better every year. The rules are simply to use Peeps as characters in a diorama of a famous occurrence or scene. It can be a historic, current or future event, or it can be a nod to pop culture. I hear 30 other papers have contests now, so maybe you can enter one in your town...

 "Night Peeps" by Melissa Harvey

Last year's winner. A take on Edward Hopper's painting "Nighthawks". Just brilliant!

"Double Peep Strike" by Bradley Gordon, LeElaine Cormer, & Justin Donnely

Finalist  from last year. I sort of thought this one should have won on topicality alone. This flight 1549 image dominated the media.

 "Oh My Peeps, there's an 'H' in There!" by Gwen Jones

Another 2009 finalist. The other major media obsession of 2009: the "Octomom".

"Chinatown's Lucky Dragon Dancers Perform Goodbye Year of the Rat, Hello Year of the Peeples" by Betty Thompson

Another finalist. So realistic, right down to the sauce on the poultry. Can't wait to see what people come up with this year...

 

Retail store display is getting in on the action too. 70's style guru, Cathy of California, created this ingenious window display at the Yolk store on Silverlake Boulevard in LA. Fab use of Peeps!

What the... an actual Peeps store??? Yes indeed, just outside Washington DC in National Harbor, MD.

from cakespy.com

And of course there are culinary uses.

from fancyflours.com

Peepalicious!

how to make bias binding

I'm into my Japanese pattern books again, thinking about things to make for spring and summer. I'm loving all these cute items with bias binding and ties.

 

  

 

But everyone knows bias binding is a pain to make perfectly, right? I've been visiting with my friends over at Hayes Sewing Machine Co. again and have some tips to try for perfecting the look of bias binding at home.

Supplies you will need to make bias tape:
-generous piece of fabric, depending on how much tape you are making (sorry, bias cuts take a lot and waste a lot of fabric unless you seam it to death)
-see through ruler ( I like 2" by 18" size)
-bias tape maker
-rotary cutter
- iron
-bias binding foot (see what is available for your machine)

Step one in making bias tape and binding is to cut strips of  fabric on the bias and seam them if necessary.  Bias just means a 45 degree angle to the grain or selvedge.

You can find the angle by folding up the bottom corner of your piece of fabric to meet the perpendicular edge. It's easy to get exact on a check or stripe. Truthfully, it won't matter much if your off by a few degrees.

The best way to cut even, accurate strips is to use a see-through ruler and a rotary cutter. To get a long piece, you may need to seam your strips. It looks like this:

I've read the directions that came with my 3/4" bias tape maker and it says for regular cotton fabric, I need to cut 1 3/8" strips to wind up with 3/4" tape and 3/8" binding.

This nifty low tech bias tape maker  is my new friend. It comes in different widths for your various projects.

You cut the start of your bias into a point and feed your bias strips through (I'm nudging in with a needle through the slot to get it started) and it comes out the other end, evenly folded and ready to iron.

Feed an inch or two of your strip through the little contraption at a time and hit it with the iron as it comes out the other end. It is so superior to trying to hand fold the strips yourself  that I can't even stress enough how essential it is to get one of these! There is also a pricier high tech bias tape maker that does the ironing part for you too, which looks intriguing if you will be making a lot of tape.

If you want to make a boatload of tape, for binding the edge of a quilt, for instance, here is a formula with directions for making and seaming many yards of bias.

Now I've got this lovely, perfectly even piece of bias tape and I want to apply it to the armhole of my trial sundress. I fold it in half again and iron  it. I apologize for the boring fabric, but I am trying this out for the first time and don't want to risk the good stuff.

At the sewing store, I watched a demo of applying bias binding with a special bias binder foot and succumbed to buying one for my Babylock. It's supposed keep your binding folded and aligned, top and bottom by way of a plastic guide not unlike the bias tape maker. You feed it through the guide and line up your needle position where you want it, so both sides of the binding are caught in the stitching. It looked so easy when Pam Hayes did it. Hmmm, we'll see....

It's not so easy to get the first bit started so I thought of a workaround. I attached some threads to the beginning to have something to help pull it through before the feed dogs can grab it and take over.

This is going swimmingly!

The part where you sandwich the body fabric of the dress into the binding is a little harder. There is a slotin the foot to tuck the body fabric into but it can still shift and come out. You just have to be vigilant and keep a needle handy for poking it back into place. Starting over midway is not an option. Mess up, and you have to rip it all out and start over.

 

I'm happy with the result, though. It really does look professional!

in love with vintage tablecloths

I'm blaming the snowstorms. Stuck indoors for the week, I did some damage to the wallet & the waistline. I spent too much time in front of the computer, bidding on vintage textiles on Ebay and stuffing my face with girl scout cookies. I guess I really want it to be spring, because I bought ten springy-looking vintage tablecloths from the '40's & '50's, among other things. These are the first arrivals...

You definitely have to make a leap of faith buying on Ebay. Most of the sellers have terrible pictures and you have to hope for the best and rely heavily on the written descriptions. I wasn't sure about this one, but in person it is gorgeous!

This one had good pictures and a lot more bids because of it. Had to have it though. With some strategic cutting, this would make a sweet Easter dress.

I broke the rules on this one. You're not supposed to bid with your emotions, because you'll wind up overpaying. This cloth was closed up in this lady's hope chest since her wedding 50 years ago. The dogwood motif grabbed me because I'm from Virginia and it's our state flower. I'm thinking of cutting it up into a bias-cut skirt for myself if I can bring myself to. Actually, I'll be cutting all of these up into dresses and skirts for the shop.

This one's growing on me. I wasn't in love with it once it arrived, being more high-contrast than the others, but it's growing on me.

I think I was the only bidder on this one because the picture was so bad. I love it in person, though. So very 1949, charmingly faded, but stain-free! Etsy sellers do a much better job overall at photographing and presenting their items than Ebayers do.

This one says summer picnic to me. It's tiny, though. I was a little in shock when I unfolded it, but the measurements were fully disclosed at 30" x 31". That wouldn't even cover the top of a card table. It'll have to be made into something very very small!

Spring is really coming! See?