This week I hunted for a Salvation Army store I was sure I had seen sometime last year. It was raining and cold and gloomy, making it hard to see where I was going, then I found it tucked in next to the back of a nursery [plant shop not childrens centre] up a back street which is used more for offices and real estate agents etc.
I tried to look relaxed as I walked in but wondered what I had let myself in for. It is a rambling old building which by the look of it used to be a house. The rooms are all knocked through but the layout of them is still there, it was like going into someone’s dining room, lounge room, then bedrooms and finally working back to the old kitchen area. It probably had been used as offices or something but it didn’t feel like it as it is such a rambling old place. I started looking for fabric…no chance and worked my way through various rooms until I found myself back in one of the middle areas…..a lot of mens coats and on the other side of the hallway formal womenswear. After looking for some time and getting dead itchy I had a half hearted look through the mens jackets in case something was there that I could cut up for my throws. I spotted a vinyl jacket in a turquoise colour and after checking realised it was a woman’s swing jacket from the…. wait for it ….the 50s. I found a changing room with a door, unlike the vinnie’s ones with curtains that people can see around as you change. It fitted really well as it was meant to be a swing coat and would therefore have been really roomy anyway.
I paid for it and started talking to a gorgeous young chap about some blue Spodelike dishes on a sideboard. It was like being in my grandmother’s house except no doors! We established that it was Spode and a divine shade of blue and I showed him my coat and he said “but that is kid leather”. So I went outside into the light to check and there it was, in all its glory, a sort of hand dyed swirly kid leather. Not a thing wrong with it and doesn’t even smell after all that time and what with the company it was keeping in that store!
So I skipped along…I wish…..hurry up damn knee replacements…. to Westfield and smiled my way through coffee and banana bread and everyone smiled back…..it is like being in love, everyone picks up on it! I had better be careful in case this feeling becomes addictive but there is really no fear of that as it is so rare that I find anything in my size and for my sort of age bracket. Okay I hear all you women screaming in rage…what is she talking about …we can wear whatever we desire…well maybe but it doesn’t mean we should!
I try to wear quality clothes of rich colours and textures in natural fibres and they are not readily donated to charity shops in my size I find. Okay I am a size 16/18 Australian….see Sulz it is not too hard to tell people your dress size, if I can admit to that then how difficult is it to tell all you are a size 8? [ Sorry, that's a whole other story! ]Last week you may remember I did not actually shop at all so this week I allowed myself $50 and the jacket was $25 can you believe it? Can you?
Speaking of value, Melissa of tinyhappy fame sent me some fabric in exchange for the embroidered linen that I found her and the floral fabrics are wonderful, thanks so much Melissa. It isn’t easy giving people who have particular tastes and needs fabric etc but we seem to have done it! Also a huge success was the Melly and Me swap that Dawn in Durham, England and I are doing together. Her swap arrived here the day before Melissa’s and I truly feel that I have let her down as she did not want too many florals [and me the floral queen] so I sent hand dyed and batiks and now am really really worried. Her fabrics are different to my usual though, bright and quite gorgeous so maybe we will both be moving out of our comfort zone. Perhaps that is why swap challenges are so successful.
Speaking of moving out of my comfort zone, after the thing with flickr and being banned by the administrator I decided after encouragement from several ladies to start a different group and since Monday we have over 150 contributers and over 650 photos. I have chatted with many artisans and been really astounded that the more talented these people are, the more humble. Most are truly delighted to have a new platform to share their work and to also share in the work of others. I have assured them that they will always be informed if there are any problems and that there will be no banning with no recourse here. Of course that has led to a few emails this week trading horror stories of being kicked out of quilting guilds or being asked to leave because their baby gurgling with delight was such a distraction to some of the members. The thing I love about our new group is that there are no rules apart from not flooding the pool with too many photos and I am really enjoying seeing the sheer quantity and quality and range of some of the work on offer. The generosity of the contributors is heartening and their support of the group has been overwhelming. Sally who offered to resign from the other group has been a huge support and her experience as a fabric rep, quilt shop worker and artisan is really appreciated. Some of us are trying to stylise our photo shoots more in future ….to show the quilts and artworks as they are meant to be used.
So this week has been really rewarding and interesting how sometimes painful experiences can be turned around, and an even better outcome develops…all I need now is for my son to start feeling a little better after he had a setback this week healthwise. But he turned things around bless him by writing the funniest post which had his core readers crying with laughter instead of the usual sadness his work evokes. He also fixed my google reader which is wonderful and means I should always be up to date on all your goings on!
9 Comments
Your jacket was a great find. I do love thrifting! My Salvation Army store has 1/2 price Wednesdays…you never know what you might find. Can you believe how the flickr group has grown! Such beautiful things too..there are a lot of crafty folks out there!
Hi Jacquie can you believe the jacket? They are selling leather jackets for over $100 in vintage shops here. Wow you are lucky with the half price Wednesdays…we do not have anything like that in fact our charity shops are starting to charge a lot more as they have high overheads with removal of unwanted and unusable goods etc and many other expenses. Are you in the Thrift Thursday pool at all Jacquie? Am so glad to meet a fellow blogger who thrifts.
I am astounded by how fast the group has grown and it has given me a few ideas actually for another group. It is easier in some ways to have more than one group as the invitation and administration can be shared…so to speak. Will let you know when I have thought things through a bit more. What I love is seeing the range of talent, before I had to go to so many groups to see what individual quilters were doing, take Gunnels for one…how can you limit her by classifying her as just quilting..she does everything and is really more of a mixed media artist and others are fibre artists..its incredible and very exciting to see the sheer scope of what is being created.
Great find. I don’t think I would dare start thrifting, it would become one more addiction.
Well Kate you just need someone to be there to be the “designated non thrifter” so to speak. Your email to me yesterday went to spam so it was fun to find it just now.
You find the best stuff! One of the things I really miss. living here, are the op shops, there’s one in town, but I feel guilty buying from it when I can afford to buy new and so many people here can’t, and the stuff isn’t that nice…
Hi Ruth do they have vintage or more upmarket second hand clothes shops at all? When we lived in a quite exclusive part of Kent there was on there and it always amazed me but it makes sense because often more wealthy people often like to sell their clothes rather than give it away. As a matter of fact on of my exfriends took her daughter aside recently and said “the truly wealthy in life are so not because they make more money it is because they do not spend their money if they can help it, that is why we are wealthy” ..well she must really think we are paupers then cause we always give to charity!!
So there may be some where you can shop, if not ask the bombshell here about ebay…she is an ebay fiend…was giving my son a few tips on sniping the other day!! Just got an email from you so got to read it as know what it is about!!
That jacket is such a BEAUTIFUL color. It’s just gorgeous. What a great find.
And now you’ve made me want banana bread. *sigh* But I’m too tired to try and find bananas or bake. So I will wistfully sigh and try to catch up on my blog reading and writing. Luckily I only read in for certain people and can take my time. You, however, seem to read a bajillion people’s things and have many groups. :p
What can I say we cannot all be radical student activists with a price on our heads! Seriously though you would have loved this thrift shop. And I have discovered so many artists through our group and some designers you would love who make sexy recycled gear with bustiers etc. Today had 11 blogs to read on my google reader but most were short and had photos. Some fabulous bloggers through our group as well so will have to read them in a roster system or something.Is your situation settling down now? Hope so.
You did so well – I love finding a new 2nd hand store that I haven’t been to before… I get a buzz and my eyes kinda go blurry!
The new group on flickr is fab too! I have never considered myself a quilter but my scarves sort of are…
Well Kara you are a born and bred thrifter, its in your blood! But good to know you still get a reaction to new stores…and it is not just the smell is it that makes your eyes go blurry…it really is excitement!!!
The jacket is fabulous and so is your blog. I am just pottering around it and finding exciting gems around every corner. I’m so glad my ping to Kirsten went wrong! Or right.
Isn’t it great when that happens…..you meander through blogland finding all these interesting people and get a bit surprised when they say the same of you. Lately as well have found that some of the blogs I have landed on have people that I have met through flickr recently commenting there. I now bookmark new blogs until I get a feel for the blogger as I lost touch with so many that are not on WordPress as I forget where I had commented!!! So glad you did not mind me going on about pings, isn’t it great that the ping led to this!!!!
Love the colors of that jacket! My aunt and I do some thrift store shopping when she has time off from work, you just never know what you are going to find! We have a nice local place that has everything… and I mean everything! I try to get a visit in at least once a month. One time I found some large cones of white and cream 100% cotton thread! It was from a clothing factory that has closed but before they went the brought a lot of odds and ends to the thrift shop to make a little extra cash. Now that was a find!
My husband actually manages one of the larger ones in Sydney and was mentioned in a decor magazine this month as having a great selection of artwork. I cannot afford his shops prices so I go hunting around to find my own bargains. His staff do look out for fabric for me though and I have also been lucky with my local shops with fabric ..but its feast or famine isn’t it? I can go months without seeing any fabric sometimes. Am always on the lookout for embroidery for Melissa but that is really rare or overpriced.
Why no new posting?!
K
Hiya! Will be joining your new Flickre group. Have lots to tell you!
Susie