Vintage Loves

One of my favorite weekend past times is thrift store bargain hunting. I have been shopping at local thrift stores since high school; I would take the bus down with my best friend to Laguna Beach andwe would spend the day jumping from store to store searching for amazing vintage treasures. At the end of the day, during our return ride home, we would compare and admire each other's finds.

These days, I tend to be more focused with my hunting sticking to one category (i.e. handbags, earrings, accessories, etc.) due to limited time and/or budget. Despite these factors, I still manage to discover wonderful vintage pieces that I am able to add to my collection, sell, or repurpose.

Lately I have been on a handbag craze. I don't know what it is about vintage bags - their small compact design, their shape, their material - all of these appeal to me. I am struck by how nothing is overly done, the bag a purpose and it serves it's owner well. Whether it is the simple yet elegant evening clutch, the useful yet alluring carpet bag, or the classic yet sophisticated satchel; all of the vintage styles appeal to my love and appreciation for the unique and classic.

Hankies, Hankies, Everywhere!

I have to admit I love vintage hankies...it started with my Gram and the delicate ones she would carry in her handbag. I loved searching them out to see which one would be in her purse. Was it the cream one with an appliqued green "June" in the corner or the ivory one with the lace flowers on the edges? I actually inherited her hankies and now have twolarge frames with several of her hankies hanging in my home. Thank you, Gram for inspiring my repurposing hankie project!

Along with loving hankies...I LOVE pockets. I think that most pieces of clothing are lacking pockets and now I have the perfect way to easily add them most anything. I simply take a hankie and fold it in the way in which I want my pocket to look on the garment, then I cut along the fold. The next step is to pin and sew it in place. Thus far I have made pockets on a sweater, a dress for Harper (see previous post) and a top.

Flower Corsage Cuff

My newest creation is the Flower Corsage Cuff I came up with this idea while I was making the shirring dresses for my girls this summer. I had the sleeves left over from the men's dress shirts and was trying to decide what to do with the remaining fabric...when I realized that the cuff of the shirt is already a bracelet. I made the flowers from vintage scraps and the center of the flower is made from a clip-on-earring that has been sewn in place. After I made my initial corsage cuff, I have been on a mission searching out all the local thrift shops for more supplies for the next bunch of flower cuffs. These can be worn with jeans and a tank or dressed up for a night out.

Introducing....Sewing Sundays

In an effort to organize my life, I needed to dedicate some creative time for projects on a weekly basis - say hello to 'Sewing Sunday.' About two weeks ago I took out my sewing machine, a few of my husband's old dress shirts, and some elastic thread. After an hour or so of mild frustration and a few turns with the seam ripper - the first of several shirred tunic tops emerged! This turned out to be the easiest sewing venture to date and so cute to boot.

I love REPURPOSING things! I get excited by the challenge of taking something old and transforming it into something new and fabulous. I recall, while in 6th grade, taking a worn out red sweatshirt that my belonged to my Dad to make clothes for my Cabbage Patch Doll. I ended up creating and hand stitching an entire ensemble for my doll - complete with purse and headband. She was a wonderful model, I just wish I had a picture!

So last week, I was feeling giddy and grand with my sewing abilities and decided to tackle making a dress with the following materials - a tank top, some remnant of fabric (enough to make the skirt), and vintage embellishments. I created the pattern from an existing skirt. This was very easy to do, I simply laid the fabric down and pinned the skirt to the fabric and then made two cuts that would now become the side seams. I then pinned the skirt (right sides together) and sewed trying to stay and close to the edge as possible. The next step was to attach the tank top to the skirt, I pinned them beginning at the side seams and moved inward - to insure that the seams stayed aligned. The final step was to finish the bottom hem and add the embellishments.

I created two looks in the span of a few hours. For Harper's I used a remnant of linen fabric that I already had in my stash. Her pockets are made from a vintage handkerchief that was cut in half and sewn in place. Dublin's is made from a scrap of vintage fabric that I picked up at a local thrift store. Her apron is a repurposed crocheted table runner that is sewn in the waist of the dress. LOVE! LOVE! LOVE!

Exploring New Territory

I have several obsessions that I go crazy for...coats, shoes, handbags, and jewelry! Therefore it makes sense that I would eventually start making jewelry. I wanted to make something that would not take me all day to create, however, still have a chic and trendy edge. Bottom line my girls needed to LOVE it. I began by taking stock of what I already had on hand - ribbon, slide charms, buttons, flowers, and more ribbon. I decided to make a simple bracelet using ribbon and a Hello Kitty slide charm. These will soon be in my etsy shop and also at Kat's Meow in downtown Chico.

My second endeavor was a bit more ambitious. Lately, many brands are incorporating lace and doilies into there fashion and or accessory line(s). I love taking something old and re

purposing it into something new and fabulous. I thought I would try taking a doily and making it the center piece of a necklace. I found the faux pearl necklace at a second hand shop in town

and then went to town embellishing the doily with vintage buttons that were in my sewing box. I also incorporated some rhinestone buttons to add some sparkle the overall look is vintage inspired and fabulous.

Finding Inspiration

Sometimes I find it difficult to get inspired, it is almost as if I have inspiration-block! When I am in a creative funk it can be very frustrating, however my two girls who always find a way to brighten my mood and somehow get the artistic side working once more.

Lately I had been trying to decide how to broaden my accessory line and was coming up short. But A few weeks ago, my daughter, Harper was attending a Fairy Princess Dance camp and had transformed herself into Blossom Fairy. Everything was about flowers and fairies and dancing! Every night our family would get to see mini performances during dinner. On the morning of her final day of camp, Harper was looking for ways in which to wear her hair during the big performance that afternoon. It of course had to be fairylike and floral. She decided to have her hair in a bunwith a hug peony blossom attached to the top of her head. She looked so adorable and suddenly I was inspired once more.

I have been making my large flower clips for awhile now, but how could someone wear them differently? Then it came to me - on a HAT! My new additions to the Chico Bambino line are the army style cap with 3 mini felt flower clips as well as the visor with the large flower clip -the great thing is that all the clips can be removed and worn separately.

Hey This is Cool

Just started the Chico Bambino Blog....this is cool and I am excited to finally get to doing some journaling and posting of the ever growing Chico Bambino product line.  Please stay posted for more to come.