Buttons in Boxes and Baskets

 

 

Well, let's just say that when a button collection gets so big that buying two new storage boxes isn't enough, well then, that is a big button collection.  Guess how I know.

Recent Vintage Clothing Adventures

There's always something new and interesting when repairing vintage clothes for Rare Jule Vintage! I'm sharing some highlights of the last few months of creative repairing.  From buttons (of course there will be buttons!) to darning to alteration to a fun accessory. 

   

Winter Visit to Sugar Hill, NH

In addition to all the goings on in Massachusetts that I described in the previous post, I spent several days up in Sugar Hill, NH, visiting our cousins.  We traveled north on a dark grey and rainy day.  It wasn't much for taking glorious photos from the bus, but I like the moodiness of these.

 

 

One day was devoted to quilty events.  My cousin is not a quilter, but she loves old things and pretty things.  They live in a house built in the 1820s that is chock full of pretty things collected as they traveled and lived around the world.  She volunteers with the local history museum and is great friends with the museum curator, and she has a good friend who quilts.

So between them, they devised a quilt day.  I gave the same lecture that I gave in Melrose - Quilt Repair Tales - which combines information on quilt repair philosophy and techniques with stories of interesting quilts that have passed through my studio over the years.  Participants brought quilts to show and discuss.  And we had a most scrumptious potluck meal.  All this transpired in a wonderful family home with incredible winter mountain views.

That's One Magnificent Button!

For me, buttons are just about the coolest things in the world.  I am constantly amazed by how many kinds of buttons people have managed to design and produce over the course of time.  Absolutely amazed.

Well, this one stands out from the crowd.  This one is magnificent. 

It resides on this lovely suit.  Just one button.  Demanding all the attention.  But there's more than just this button to appreciate.

 

Yes, Yes, More Buttons

You guys, I just can't say no to a batch of mystery buttons.  No matter how bland it looks at first glance, there are sure to be treasures in amongst the basics.  And if one or two treasures are peeking out, I'm a goner.  And so.....

This batch came from the giveaway table at my local needlework guild.  There are always people de-stashing and we reap the benefits.  It'a a great, albeit dangerously tempting, tradition.

And here are my favorites:

Vintage Clothing Tidbits

So, I thought I'd follow up the previous post, about a lovely 1920s beaded purse, with some more vintage clothing repair highlights.

The first tidbit is a photo of "how we do it".  I don't know if we've ever had a photo together like this before.  This is Julia, proprietress of Basya Berkman Vintage Fashion, and me sitting at my living room worktable.  I am gradually taking over the whole house with my repair work, supplies, and storage.  The living room has a wall-size window, which gives lovely light for handwork, so the table is nearly always up.  Julia had brought over a pile of  "broken" clothes, and here we are, going over each piece and I'm taking notes on what each one will need.  From the way we are dressed, you can tell what kind of winter we had this year in the Chicago area! 

19th Century Toddler's Outfit - Addendum

Here's to the wonders of social media, especially in the hands of antiquers!

I recently posted about this mid-19th century toddler's outfit, and now have added info to share.  

 

Look at These Cool Buttons!

I did a tiny bit of repair on this jacket, and fell in love with the buttons.  It's a cropped polar fleece jacket from the late 1980s or early 90s.  (And for sale, if you're interested, at my friend Julia's Etsy shop.)  The jacket is by Spanish designer Celia Tejada.  And let me tell you, she had quite an eye for choosing buttons!

Has anyone out there ever seen a button styled like this?  I haven't!  I mean really, how fun is this?!

There are appliquéd red rectangles at the buttonholes, so when the jacket is closed, these clever buttons get the spotlight they deserve!

Here's to those who step out of the box!

19th Century Toddler's Outfit

Well, so, a friend told me she'd found a box in the attic with this long forgotten outfit.  Her mom gave it to her more than a few years ago.  She got no information from her mother about it.  It's in pretty sad shape, so .... she thought I might want it.  Hee, hee.

It's so hard for me to say to no to an antique gift!  So I said yes.  I think super fragile pieces like this still have value in the "study collection" realm, as examples of clothing construction techniques of the past.

Sweet Vintage

There’s nothing better than a surprise gift and then when it’s vintage and then when it’s about sewing and then when it has a real vintage button attached. 

Thanks, Hat Lady Mary!   Doesn't this just define the word "adorable"?!

Mary Roback writes a wonderful blog with the delightful name FrouFrou 4 YouYou that is a huge compendium of hat history, especially Chicago hat history.  Tons and tons of info!!  You will be amazed, I assure you.  She also sells on Etsy, hats, supplies, and the occasional trinket.  And finally, you can follow her on Instagram #maryroback.

Buttons! Oh, Boy! Oh, Boy!

 

Well, for the last couple of weeks I've been pretty much sedentary due to a broken bone in my foot.  I have found the silver lining!  I resorted all my buttons!

Edwardian Bodice, Embroidery and Fine Detailing

My friend Julia, proprietress of Basya Berkman Vintage Fashion, comes across some really marvelous old pieces during her search for marvelous old clothing.  This one is a super marvelous, old, old piece that is too delicate and troubled to be mended and worn.  It will be lovely as a decorative piece, just to marvel over.  And I also get to share it here with you.

It is a silk Victorian era shirtwaist, to be worn with a skirt.  There is a cream-colored blouse attached inside the black shirtwaist with an embroidered panel tucked inside the lower half of the opening.  Each layer closes with its own set of hooks and eyes. 

The center edges of the black silk are decorated with a double silk trim with delicate edge stitching, attached with a faggoted seam.

Summer Sewing

Sitting out in the back, beading and buttoning on my FFF (folded fabric flowers) project.  This will be another little quilt in the Something From Nothing series. 

It's quite thematic for a summer's day, don't you think?

And then I started looking for other things to photograph....  I love the freedom and the possibility of excess of digital photography!

Lovely Laces and Buttons

Here's a lovely little chiffon blouse from the Basya Berkman Vintage collection.  The only mending help it needed from me was re-attaching loose snaps.  I'm sharing it here because the laces and buttons are so delightful.

The buttons, which are decorative only, are sweet little crocheted covers over solid bases. (The front placket snaps closed.)

 

Button Heaven

For those of you, who are like me, totally addicted to Buttons, the Warther Museum is a must-see.  At the very least, it's an idea for what to do with all the button jars and boxes that I can't help myself from buying!

Here's the intro to the Button House section of the museum from the website:

"Freida Warther spent her life button collecting and amassed over 100,000 while creating a unique display of 73,282 buttons on the walls and ceilings of her button house in Dover, OH.

Freida began button collecting at the age of 10 and collected for the next 83 years. She collected about every type of button including: hand-painted ceramic buttons, Goodyear rubber buttons, pearl buttons, brass military buttons, celluloid buttons, calico buttons and even a button from Mrs. Lincoln's Inaugural Dress.

After her children were grown, Freida started laying her buttons out in her own unique designs and quilt patterns. Once the buttons were laid out, she sewed all the buttons onto the boards by hand."

The actual focus of the museum seems to be wood carving:

"The Warther wood carving musuem is the home to over 64 model trains all carved to exacting detail. Mooney Warther loved the steam engine and at the age of 28 he began carving the history of the steam engine. In addition there are numerous smaller wood carvings including, walking canes, plaques, and "whittlings" on display at the wood carving museum."

These two were certainly a creative and interesting couple!  The gallery has photos of both the carved trains and Frieda with her buttons.  I do love buttons!

Darn It! - Creative Mending

This post about creative mending is in honor of my personal New Year's tradition of mending everything I can during this week.  (I don't just do sewing mends, but I'm not going to tell you here about the new seat in my bentwood rocker and stuff like that.)  I like the symbolism of starting the year with a clean slate.  Or mostly clean slate.  I'm coming to terms with the reality that Life is never fully mended....

A short while ago, my blog was mentioned on a site called "Sew Mama Sew" - nice name, huh?  The article is called "All About Textile Repair: How to Repair with Stitching".  The theme is about making repairs that add something new - sparks of color, whimsy, a new design element, etc.

The photos in the article show loads of ways to use darning, sashiko stitching, and the like.  It looks really fun!  It makes me reminisce about the good ol' hippie days, when jeans were patched/embellished with colorful fabrics and embroidery.

A House, A Book, Zippers, and Buttons

I popped in to an estate sale at this historic register house near my neighborhood as much to visit the house as to shop.  The house was built in 1860, with a single story addition just visible on the side that was built in the 1950s.

The previous owners had collected wonderful antique furniture and accessories.  Their daughter was there and said her parents had moved there after their children moved along, and lived there for 30 years.  The house is in great condition, small rooms, loads of wood.

One of Those Amazing Coincidences

So, the other day, my husband and I were at the bank to sign some papers on a financial thingy.  We were ushered into a conference room and ---

The very first thing I saw was the chairs.  The chairs!  I whipped out my camera and took a couple of pictures.

For the last few years, I've been working on a series of quilts called "Something From Nothing", my own personal challenge project using decorator fabric samples. 

And........  The chairs are upholstered in one of the fabrics I used in one of the quilts!  Such fun!

 

The quilt is called "Something From Nothing -- Off Center".  It's 27" x 35".

In keeping with the challenge I set myself for this series, I used all the colorways of this pattern that I had, and I designed the quilt to relate to the pattern.  The appliqued rings and dots are all made with other circle prints, all from the stash of decorator samples.  The dots and the buttons I added are the same size as the design elements in the print.

Those chairs made my day, for sure!

For more on this series of quilts check out these previous posts:
--  the story of how the series came about
-- photos of some recently completed quilts
-- descriptions of the design process and step-by-step photos for two of the larger and more complex quilts - Something From Nothing -- Cleopatra's Fan and Something From Nothing -- What the Birds See

A Quilt-y Excursion

I spent last Thursday through Sunday at a most enjoyable quilters' retreat.

Good times all 'round!  A recently retired friend has bought and furnished a house and is bringing folks up a few at a time to eat great food, visit the quilt and antique shops between here and there, make new friends, and sew and talk until the wee hours.  She is most talented at all these things.

Three Wonderful Vintage Dresses

Here are three wonderful dresses from three very different eras of fashion.  I did minor repair work on all of them, nothing dazzling enough to blog about, but I think the dresses themselves are worthy of a few moments in the spotlight.

In chronological order: