Vintage Train Case Make-Over

Every since saw the movie That Thing You Do, I've wanted my very own train case.  Faye, played by Liv Tyler, has one in the movie and it is so stinkin' cute!  The case looks like it's been covered by a world map.  Every girl should have a train case to keep her treasures in when she travels! 
 

At the end of the movie, there is a scene where Faye is sitting alone in her hotel room.  As she opens her train case to put her makeup bag into it, she spies a picture of her, Guy and Jimmy.  The photo is tucked neatly into one of the elastics that hold the mirror.  As she looks at the picture, you can tell she's contemplating the last few weeks, (and possibly years) of her life.  She thinks about her recent breakup with Jimmy, and her true feelings for Guy.  She reaches for the photo, carefully pulls a scissor from inside the case, then swiftly and neatly cuts Jimmy out of the picture, leaving herself and Guy smiling for the camera.


First of all, I think Tom Hanks is a genius.  He wrote, directed and stared in That Thing You Do and he's one of my favorite actors.  This movie is one of my "go-to" movies.  I watch it when I'm sick in bed, and I even listened to it on my ipod while the dentist drilled my root canals.  If I stumble upon it while channel surfing, I stop to watch....and finish it.  This winter Autumn and I will sit down and finally watch it together!
And....it introduced me to train cases.

Now, after years of searching for just the right one, I found one a few weekends back!  It is a creamy colored white, (just like I wanted), it's American Tourister and even though it's not really old, it could still be vintage.  I started working on it the other day, and it's coming along quite nicely.



Thank you to person who invented the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser!  The picture doesn't show as clearly as real life, but you can see a little bit of difference between the cleaned part and....well...the grimy part.

The inside is nice but it kinda smells funny, so I Frebreezed it and threw a wax cube of room freshening stuff in there.  Soon it should be smelling like a spiced pear.....or at the very least a spiced pear inside an old medicine cabinet.  The plastic tray, that is original to the case, is cracked and had medical, bandage type of tape holding it together.  Because I believed the tape to be the smelly culprit, I removed it and threw it away....far, far away (yuck).

Yucky tape.

The tray is nice, but I wanted to make it more personal, more my style.  So I searched through all of my vintage folders and printed out all sorts of little clip arts, photos, embroidery patterns, etc.  I cut them out and taped them to the tray.  In hind-sight, I should have glued them down.

Before

After!  Before the clear-coat finish.

I took some clear-coat, decoupage stuff and coated the pictures and the tray.  If I ever decide to do something different I think I'll be able to peel it all off.

Now let's pack and get ready for a trip.

My embroidery floss box fits perfectly into the bottom of the case.  I'm going to bring a small skein of yellow yarn, just in case I feel like crocheting.

Next comes a couple of projects.  A stamped tea-towel and the lilac towel I've been working on, in a hoop.

A favorite book.

And finally the tray of goodies.  I've packed a tiny embroidery hoop, thread, and bobbins (just in case I buy floss).  A permanent marker (to mark the bobbins) a FriXion pen for tracing transfers onto cloth, my new itty bitty pin cushion and my bluebird needle book.  I also packed scotch tape and my new embroidery scissors from my darling husband.  My i-pod and head phones will also fit into the tray.

And here we are, all ready to go! Let's hit the road!

It sure kept me busy Tuesday and Wednesday night. Until another day,
Have a Happy Day!

Embroidered Lilac

"Lavender Blue Dilly Dilly" by Dinah Shore (were her parents paleontologists? Just kidding.)
All kidding aside, Dinah Shore seemed to have a very interesting life.  You can read about her here, on Wikipedia.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinah_Shore
Dinah's version of "Lavender Blue Dilly Dilly" is my favorite and seems to be fitting for this post about my favorite lavender flower, the lilac.

Autumn and I have been reading the Betsy Tacy books and Maud Hart Lovelace always mentions the lilacs by the backdoor of Betsy's house. 

Where I come from, a homestead yard, farm yard or yard in town isn't complete without a lilac bush nearby. 

I love lilacs.  They are a part of my childhood, most of the yards throughout the small town I grew up in had them.  They remind me of both my Grandmothers and my mom.  When darling husband and I bought our first house it had a lilac bush in the front yard.  Imagine my horror when my darling husband ripped the lilac bush out of the front yard because it was "too difficult to mow around".  Our little yellow house with white shutters and trim just never looked the same to me....something was always lacking.  I'll never let him live that one down haha!  Unfortunately, I still don't have a lilac bush in our yard.  But I'm workin' on it and maybe next spring one will be planted.

But I digress...

Lilacs can be the prettiest shades of purple and lavender.

 

And lilacs always have the ability to bring me cheer, and they smell good too!

 



Birthday lilacs from my Sis-in-law.

So, while looking for a new project for this week, a simple phrase from a Betsy Tacy book inspired me to embroider lilacs. 

 

And here it is finished.  I suppose it could be a table napkin.  I used one of the two 14x14 quilt blocks that weren't big enough for my Dresden flowers.  Soon, I will stitch the other to make a pair. 

Folded neatly into a nice little square.

 

 

Until tomorrow, have a Happy, Stitchy Day!

Embroidery--Quilt-n-Chicken

So, is this a quilting chicken, who sits on her roost and stitches the day away?....no, it's a quilt and a chicken!
I've been working on these all summer for a friend and it's been kind of slow going.  But now they are finally finished and ready to be mailed.

All I need now is a nice little card to put with them and they'll be ready to pop into the post!
Until Another Day,
Have a Happy, Stitching Day!

Vintage Ads From Country Gentlemen Magazine

Here is another magazine, purchased over the weekend.  It's called Country Gentleman but about 2/3 of the way through, it switches to Country Gentlewoman. 

 

 

This particular magazine has some really neat vintage ads for regular products, but with a rural, country spin to them.  Like did you know Dreft detergent could be used to clean your cream separator?  I didn't! 

 

 

 

Here's a good one from Continental Red Seal Engines.  Apparently some "well-to-do" farmers had personal airplanes (not to mention airplane fuel) for those quick jaunts into town....because going by car just took all day.   My question is this...once farmer and wife landed at the airport, HOW did they get to the grocery store?  Even in 1947 I'm pretty sure grocery store parking lots didn't allow planes.  Did they walk?  Because I would think that would cancel out the time gained by flying.  Did they take a taxi?  Ride a horse?  Borrow little Jimmy's bike?

 

 

"It used to take us all day...now we're home by noon....but it cost us 10 times more to get there!!

 

Is it just me, or does this oil heater look a lot like a radio?  "WHY is it so hot in here, Honey!?"  "Because I was looking for Amos and Andy!"

Oh!  I just love this ad for Youngstown Kitchens!

 



 

And it just wouldn't be a vintage magazine if it didn't have a Rinso advertisement! 

 

 

 

That's all for today.  I'm back to embroidering in the evenings lately and will have lots of stitching goodness to show in the days to come.

Until then,

Have a Happy, Vintage Day! 



1927 Needlecraft Magazine

One of my favorite finds from over the weekend is this December 1927 Needlecraft Magazine.  This was a special find for me because just earlier in the week I'd read an article in Mary Jane's Farm about needlework.  MJF magazine had recreated, through photography, a cover of a Needlecraft magazine from July of 1928.  It showed a little girl holding a sampler behind her back.  They showed the cover of the Needlecraft Magazine and I was fascinated by the fact that there was such a magazine back then!  I had seen Workbasket Magazines, but never a Needlecraft.  I wanted to know more about them.

And now, I own one!  Eeeek!



I just love the colorfully illustrated cover.

It's not in the best of shape and has some water damage to it. It will get the onion and vanilla treatment (to elimitate the musty smell). And hopefully then, I'll be able to thumb through it without having to wear a mask.

Here are some pages from the inside.

Herrschner's as in THEE Herrschners that are still around today?!  That's pretty cool.

Aahh, the fashions of the late 20's.  Not so sure I care for them, but those dresses would hide a bit of a tummy if one had one.  But the dresses really didn't do anything for those who did have a figure either did they?

A small stitching lesson.

I thought this little tot in her embroidered bib sure was cute!

Crochet directions are like reading Greek to me.  I don't understand it at all.

Handmade bags.  I like the little marble bag with the two squirrels on it.

Here is the pattern.  And if you look very closely, you can see that this pattern was hand drawn.  Well, duh.  There were no computer programs to create patterns.  Those little squares inside squares are hand drawn!

This ad is my favorite.  Don't you just hate it when a long phone call keeps you from your cinnamon rolls? 

Well, that's all for today.  Hope you enjoyed a little trip back to good ole 1927.
Until tomorrow,
Have a Happy, Vintage Day!

A Gift From Uncle Stan!

My Uncle Stan is da bomb!  Growing up, I can remember him taking us around town to as many garage sales as possible in a small amount of time.  "In-n-out...take no prisoners" he'd say, to keep us moving along.  He is a collector of vintage, and anything else that is cool.  I like being able to tell him about my great garage sale finds!  And today....he gave me a present!

30 iron on transfers! (3 duplicates went to my mom).  I could hardly believe my eyes!

I especially love these nifty Vogart transfers.

These anthropomorphic fruit, veggies and kitchenware are the coolest!  I especially like the pot dancing with the beet (at least I think it's a beet).

Thank you so much, Uncle Stan!  I can't wait to stitch-up some of these vintage patterns!
Until Tomorrow,
Have a Happy, stitchin' day!

August TUSAL

Luckily, I've had some time to do some embroidery, so the TUSAL (Totally Useless Stitch-a-Long) jar is filling up.

If you'd like to learn more about the Totally Useless Stitch Alone stop by DaffyCat's blog. http://itsdaffycat.blogspot.com/2011/11/totally-useless-stitch-long.html?commentPage=2

Until Tomorrow!
Have a Happy, Stitchin' Day!