wienerdog tricks.

I Almost Don't Want to Tell You.

See, this is the downside of being a thrifting blogger--you get all excited and you think, "EVERYONE should know about this!" but then this tiny little mean, selfish voice of your Inner Cheap Scrounger says, "Noooooooo, My Pretty, if THEY know, then it will all be gooooonnnnnnnnnnne." But then you say to yourself: stop that. Just tell everybody. There's enough old stuff to go around.

I do this sort of inner management regularly. I know: that means I'm not all I could be. I'm working on it. I feel compelled to tell you about a really cool spot to find old stuff. Maybe you already know about it, but I troll there every couple of days. It's almost as good as the "free" section of craigslist. Stop it.

Okay: it's Public Surplus. Do you already know about it? It's the slough-off of all kinds of weird, old usually-working institutional stuff that cities and universities and such auction off at ridiculously low prices. I live in a college town, so I find crazy good goodies there pretty regularly. Just this week I got this:

For $5.41. That included tax. And you might be saying Great. But what are you going to do with THAT? Well, lots of things. I think it has character. It's begging to live between my outdoor patio chairs. It might become my sewing table. I'm on a need-to-know basis about this and right now I don't need to know.

How do you find the one near you? Click over there and go for BROWSE--you can choose your state, then look through the towns/colleges/public institutions that are selling stuff. You'll get hooked.

And see, I bet I just grew. So that's positive.

This Lovely Tote Could Be Yours.

The party's over for this giveaway. Check out the winner here. And come back next time. :)

It's true. I'm offering up this never-before-and-never-again totally reversible polyester tote to a lucky somebody as part of Sew Mama Sew's Big May Giveaway Day!

Yes--I know it looks familiar. It's the very same tote I made in the 37 Minute Totally Reversible Polyester Tote Tutorial, with the added love of a little necessary stamped-out commentary:

I would love to send this happy polyester tote to a good home full of people who want to fill it full of ruttabegas at the farmer's market or books to go back to the library or, really, whatever important-to-you crapola you drag around. Why not drag it all around in something this happy? 

Here's how it works: just leave a comment on this post any time between today and May 31st (We'd all love to hear some good, "This is the best thing I ever did with Old Polyester" ideas, but if you just want to say "Hi," that's okay too.) I'll pick the winner by random. How easy! (And to be perfectly clear, I'm even happy to send it to people who live in places like France and Australia and Israel. I'm not afraid of international postage.)

And did I mention that (if you haven't already) you should go over to the big list of giveaways at Sew Mama Sew? It's like a Free Stuff Tornado of already-sewn and sewable goods over there.

And remember, if you don't win this one, you can just make one yourself. I swear you can do it.

Jumping in the Tote Bag Tutorial Swimming Pool

Okay, I know there are already about three gazillion tote bag tutorials, but I just feel like jumping in the Tote Bag Tutorial Swimming Pool and splashing around for a bit. And I feel a real calling to spread the news about old polyester. It's like a calling for me right now.

I've put together an easy-to-follow tutorial for how to turn some of this (that double knit stuff you're always passing over in the thrift store fabric bin):

Into this:

It's the best-ever fabric for making tote bags: sturdy, easy to sew and just sort of happy in general (can't get enough of those patterns, myself). 

For a play-by-play tutorial on how to make this tote, click right on over to my 37-MINUTE POLYESTER REVERSIBLE TOTE TUTORIAL. It's really easy, lots of fun to make, and the perfect project for big thrifty scraps. I think you can pull it off in 37 minutes. If you're like me and have to work in 4 1/2 minute stretches of uninterrupted time, then it might take a whole evening. Still, it's quick and super do-able.

Go do it. You'll have a good time.

P.S. To add to the fun, I'm offering up this very tote for Sew Mama Sew's big May Giveaway Day, May 27th. Click here to get the scoop about all they're giving away over there next week, and come back over here next week for a chance to win this superific tote for yourself.

P.S.S. We just got a real friendly shout-out over at Craft Gossip. Go check them out. It's like finding a secret room you never knew about in your favorite store over there: full of good stuff, surprising and like a really good moment in your day.

NOW It's Finished.

"Alice never told Carol that the secret to the bubbly cheese on top was 350 for 45 minutes. (It was that easy.)"

Finally: the perfect declaration of that unspoken tension between Alice (Housekeeper Technician to the Brady Family) and Carol (wife of Mike Brady). I mean--it was always there, wasn't it? That I-Was-Here-First vibe Alice was always hiding behind that mask of a grin. . . . I always sensed it. We thought Alice was leaving with Sam to go bowling. Please. They were throwing them back at some seedy Thousand Oaks bar. Alice, three whiskeys in, "She doesn't even know how to melt cheeeeeeeese." (slurred.)

And now the truth is declared on my this-week Purse that will be my next-week Sewing Bag.

Now it's finished.

Army Parachute(r) Pants Double Re-Do.

They're pants for parachuters, not parachute pants. Think Navy Seal, not M.C. Hammer.

 

I've had these lovely pants--so cool. They're REAL--for at least ten years. 

 

 

Who knows how they arrived. I remember the moment when I discovered them in my costume bin and 'rescued" them for my closet. A sincere move, if not a particularly flattering one.

 

I just turned them into this:

 

And yes, I know you can't really tell how long the thing is (and I also know that you are staring at my war-torn backyard, which I really don't want to talk about) but trust me that it hits me right above the knee and based on my current photographic ability and, apparently, the STATE OF MY KNEES, you will not be experiencing a knee photo from me. Sorry. You'll have to come over to see.

 

Also, I used the leftover pant legs for this:

 

 

I found this cool super-pocketed army bag at a thrift store last month (as part of Totally Obsessed with Totes Month, apparently). It just need a little New Strap Love. I think I'm going to stamp out a small storyline for that fatigue part of the strap. I'll let you know how it goes.

 

P.S. Project update here. 

Well, But Wait.

Having said that, I just found this and this and this, so now I want to sew my own dresses. I want to make Austin Scarlet proud. I want to go to and buy a dress form (which my friend says I might have a shot of finding on craigslist for about 50 bucks.) I want to get over my dress-wearing fear of the wind coming up and showing the whole world my underpants. I want to learn to walk in pumps. I want to sew dresses.

P.S. Do you read cooking blogs? Because I read this one, and in honor of her birthday, I think everybody I know should know that it's some of the funniest stuff I read online. Plus, it's the kind of blog you want to read even if you don't cook. I mean if you DO cook, you'll love it (yummy food, do-able directions, and the stuff actually tastes like she says it will after you make it. I'm just saying.) But if you don't cook--and by that I just mean you don't feel like you've been invited into the Hardcore Foodie Club--, you'll love it too. Everything there is cook-able. Go there. Trust me.

How Mr. T. and I Are Actually Very Much Alike.

Okay, not in the wardrobe. Generally speaking, I say no to tube socks and cut offs. But since I watched this video, I haven't been able to shake it.

I mean, yes, it's funny. Who doesn't want to see an enormous man sing a poorly-written kid song during the early eighties? I know I never want to miss it.

But then the thing that's really been getting me is how NERVOUS he looks. I'm sorry, I just think the man looks like he's in complete pain. And I haven't been able to shake the sense that Mr. T. was bamboozled into this gig. And so I'm asking myself, Why do it, Mr. T.? Why not stick to saying mean-sounding things to flatly-derived characters in crime scene comedy-dramas? Why branch out to tell-them-how-it's-supposed-to-be kids music? And why the oddly-dressed backup singers? And did you write the song? And who talked you into it?

These are the things I would ask Mr. T. if I had a chance to chat with him about that particular turning point in his career. (I could go find him now, but of course, he's busy.)

What does it have to do with my current sewing life? Well, um, sometimes I shoot for something out of my range too.

Exhibit A:

 I used this:

And here's the problem: I love making aprons (and lately, as you already know) totes. These are wonderful projects that involve increasingly fancy combinations of STRAIGHT lines. In this particular shirt project (which I took on because, well, I got overexcited in Adult Ed Sewing), I tried tackling: collar, sleeves, fake 70's placket, invisible back zipper, darts . . oh, and all with slinky polyester. It was, in short, just too much for me to tackle yet. 

And so me and Mr. T.: the same. Good at some things. Not everything.

Another Tote.

Please don't get tired of seeing these, because I think I have another 30 or 80 in me. I'm in love with the texture of old old polyester--the rough stuff. So sturdy. So oddly unattractive until you help it make friends with something spunkier and more awake. 

Here's the new one:

Here's its happy insides:

And yes that's a SNAP, which I handily attached with my brand new thrift store-find-of-the-week snap setter. I feel like the handiest person I know.

I have, of course, already given this away because I couldn't help myself. 

I am currently stretching my brain to figure out how to make these lined totes without having to sew the two pieces separately. If anybody has any real smart thoughts about this, DO share them.