10.22.2007

:: ze loot... ::

Finally! Pictures of some of my finds from the rummage sale this past Friday. I bought some clothing too, but part of it has already been sent to be cleaned (namely the most gorgeous 1960s, black wool sheath!), so I’ll share pictures of those pieces later on.

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1. rummage sale loot . 07, 2. rummage sale loot . 05, 3. rummage sale loot . 11, 4. rummage sale loot . 06

Shall we begin? First, let me set the mood... I got to the sale an hour and a half before the public was admitted, and with good reason too. Housed mainly in a large equestrian center (and a few of the out buildings), this thing is huge. Lines begin forming early, and I decided that getting there the earlier, the better (especially so I could get a good parking spot!). I was the second person in line, and parked myself on the ground with my knitting (and latte... must have caffeine for these things you know!). I chatted with people who had come from Maryland, West Virginia and even Massachusetts to attend this!

The closer it gets to admission time, the more you can feel people getting twitchy! Its tough to wait when you just know there are piles of goodies just lying there waiting for you! When the doors open, people tend to rush through, and yes, even I have been known to sprint to the antiques and fabric tables in an effort to pick over the best stuff first! lol.

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This year my first stop was the antiques, especially since I had found a lovely typewriter last year and knew that I had to check in first. I didn’t find a lot, which made me wish I had hit the fabric first. (Especially after running into my friend S. who had already looted three bags of scraps!! That explains why the fabric seemed so picked over... lol!!!)

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The craft tables weren’t that picked over, although there were a handful of women hovering around the boxes of knitting needles and such, so it was a bit hard to get in there. Never-the-less I managed to snag a couple of vintage needlework goodies:

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My favorite find, however, was this box:

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It looks like a box of junk, doesn’t it? It was taped shut, so I couldn’t look inside, but a little voice kept telling me to buy it. Marked at only $3, I figured if it was full of notions that I didn’t care for, I could probably find a new home for it! But look what spilled out when I opened it up:

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Buttons! Gobs of them! Most of the buttons range from about the 1940’s/1950’s to the 1980’s, so it is a pretty good range of styles and materials. I’m still going through them, but there are some real gems!

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Also, oddly enough, there was a large stack of vintage clothing labels in the box too. As well as vintage Vogue Designer labels (that they used to give out when you bought a Vogue designer pattern). I can only imagine the rather eccentric woman who must have saved all these labels!

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I also picked up a back of vintage snaps and hooks for a quarter. Besides being useful, I love the graphics of vintage notion packaging!

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*sigh* It was a good year! Not as spectacular as last year (when, besides the typewriter, I also scrounged a stack of 1920’s needlework magazines), but not shabby at all. I’m already looking forward to next year!!

Cheers & Creativity,
Casey [ email me ]

3 comments:

Rebecca, A Clothes Horse said...

rummage sales are heaven on earth. those are some fabulous finds.

Grace and Aria said...

I have one really big rummage sale that I go to every year, too. It's held in different buildings all over town and I can never decide where to start. Such tough decisions in life...

Sarai said...

Yay for vintage buttons and knitting!