Monday, July 20, 2009

Orange Satin Bag and Bonnety Happiness

Tomorrow I am headed up to the 4-H fair to see what there is to see. My two sisters are participating this year. Alas. I am too old. I really enjoyed 4-H while I was in it. It's been four years since my last 4-H fair. Four! Can it really have been that long?

I am trying to finish up a bag for my sister so I can give it to her tomorrow. It should have been done already but woe, I cannot find my orange thread. I usually sew with either black or white and all the thread I usually keep on hand is either those colors or red. But orange is orange. It needed its own color thread. But I cannot find the durn spool anywhere and I need it so I can sew on the lace and attach the strap and make a buttonhole to close it.
When I was cleaning out my fabric a week or so ago I asked my mother if my sisters would like anything made out of orange satin. I have four yards of this heavy, silky satiny fabric and could not think of what to do with it. My mother replied that my eldest younger sister would like a bag like I made for my youngest younger sisters birthday. So this bag resulted! It is lined completely with the orange cotton print I made Judah's Civil War dress with and I experimented with a fabric covered cardboard strip for the bottom of the bag to help it hold its shape. Well, I hope she likes it. I certainly would not have thought of making an orange satin bag on my own. I've been making bonnets these past few days, part one of my Little House on the Prairie outfit. I couldn't find the butterick pattern I thought I had so I experimented with shapes and came up with my own. This is the most recent one, made of pale pink cotton with teeny, subtle white polka-dots. The hat hunting did not yield any hats. We went to the antique mall but it closed two hours before we thought it would so we had about twenty minutes to look around instead of the long time we thought we would have. There were hats aplenty indeed but nothing suitable for the 1914 dress. I at last found the perfect hat on eBay but I haven't ordered it yet. I don't know if I want to spend $20 on a hat that I might not wear very often. But I'm still thinking about it. I really want it. If I force myself to wear it often I will consider it money well spent. And I don't want to take pictures of my finished dress until I have a hat to wear with it.
We did find this lovely mirror for $4. It is incredibly heavy. I love it! We also found a beautiful white lace handbag with a silver elephant head clasp with long, long fringe. David said it looked like me. I didn't get it but I might go back for it sometime and see if it is still there. The other thing I found that I really wanted (but didn't get!) was a folk art painting of a little girl in an 1820's style pink dress. David said if it is still there after we move I can go back and get it. It was incredibly cheap. I just love antique malls. I could decorate my whole house with findings from one. You just never know what you will discover!

Have a wonderful, God-filled week dear ones!

Love,

Sarah

9 comments:

  1. The bonnet is beautiful!
    I really like that hand mirror. What a find! :)
    Oh, I see you tagged me. Thanks for thinking of me. I'll have to post it soon :)

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  2. Sarah Jane,
    You are an amazing seamstress.
    The mirror is really pretty. A nice treat!
    God Bless,
    D

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  3. Oh Sarah Jane, the mirror is just lovely, and the bonet - absolutely beautiful ;)

    blessings and have a wonderful and joyful week!

    lady m

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  4. What a fabulous bonnet! You came up with your own pattern for that? I'm quite impressed.

    I, too, love antique malls. I browse more than I buy, though. There's an excellent one within walking distance of my home that I love to spend hours wandering around in. The mirror is a good find, I hope you get that painting after all!

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  5. Cute bonnet and the mirror is lovely.

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  6. I love the bonnet!

    I have decided that hat hunting is somewhat hard to do. At least for me. The hat has to speak to me in some way otherwise it can be a beautiful hat but it's not really what I want. When they do call out though, look out! ;)

    And what a beautiful mirror. Sounds like you had a good day all in all.

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  7. Absolutely beautiful! I saw your bonnet on your Etsy site and just love it! And the mirror is beautiful too! What a great find!

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  8. The bag is lovely, and the bonnet is beautiful!

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  9. I love it all! How fun. We have some interesting antique malls in Portland. I just haven't spent much time in them. I really want to go more once Aaron is done with school and I have a little extra money.

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Thank you for your lovely thoughts!