More Nutsy Stuff, Plus...

And I thought Aran longjohns were a hoot! You have got to see this collection of vintage advertising images from the blog Fleaosophy:

 http://fleaosophy.blogspot.com/2014/01/just-in-time-for-superbowl-weve-come.html

There is no way I can match the wow impact of Fleaosphy's post today, but if you don't mind the contrast between the unbelievably and the mildly amusing, I invite you to read on. I've been gleaning more photos of unflattering knitting and crochet projects being touted during the sixties and seventies.

First, the Terrible Tunic Award. It's not so bad on her, but on the guy--good grief! 

I notice it's usually the men's patterns that look the worst in these vintage magazines. The men's classic sweater patterns are wonderful--that's why they're classics--but the trendy stuff is ghastly, especially from the 1970s.

Here's another winner, this time in the Vapid Vest category, McCall's Needlework & Crafts Fall-Winter 1970-71 issue. It looks like this man has been raiding his kid sister's closet:

Another apparent difficulty these magazines faced was finding enough quality knitting and crochet projects for the Spring/Summer issues. After all, who wants to wear proper sweaters in the warmer months? So they turned to scary children's play outfits and swimwear:

Perhaps this little girl got the bathing suit on backwards? We can only hope.

A grotesquely ugly sunsuit is surpassed by a "wrap-dress" that looks like it was either meant for an infant or the crocheter ran out of sufficient yarn to finish it. Fortunately, I notice that a pattern for "companion panties" is mentioned in the fine print. I should think so!

Now for a dress I have to admit I actually admire. It's the real me!

Actually, this 1966 Spring/Summer issue is full of wonderful patterns I adore, both for women and children. One of these days I hope to carve out enough time to try some out.

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Okay, off to another subject. 

I've been playing around with ideas for displaying/storing some of my jewelry. I have a couple of jewelry boxes, but generally I find if my pieces are out of sight, they're out of mind, and I forget to wear them. Especially where pins (brooches) are concerned. 

Last weekend I finally tried out an idea that's been flitting in and out of my brain, and for a quick, cheap solution, I'm actually rather pleased with how it turned out. Here's what I slapped together to display some of my vintage figural brooches:

 The materials I used were:

• a picture frame with cardboard backing
• velvet-textured upholstery fabric
• polyfil fiber
• some decorative cord
• ordinary white glue
• a stapler 

First, I cut the fabric a bit larger than the cardboard I took out of the frame. I put a couple of handfuls of fiberfil on the cardboard, doing my best to smooth it out evenly. Then I placed the fabric (cut larger than to cardboard so it could overlap) over the fiberfil, and stretched and stapled it around the edges. Easy! 

At this point I crammed the cardboard back into the frame, but found that the staples were visible. So I rummaged my sewing notions, found some decorative cord that matched the fabric, and glued it around the inside of the frame, covering the staples. 

It's won't win any awards for craftsmanship, but it works. Very satisfying!

My next "craft" (well, it's hardly a craft--merely a new use for an old item) was to contrive a way of organizing and displaying some of my clip-on earrings. I have kazillions, lying piled all together in my overstuffed jewelry box. Finding matched pairs is a pain, and besides, they're in danger of getting scuffed up jammed all higgledy-piggledy like that. Wearers of pierced earrings have all sorts of storage items designed for their use, but clip-on wearers--not so much.

But recently I picked up a 50 cent item at a thrift store, and raced home to see if it would do for a clip-on earring holder, and here it is:

It works!! I'm going to hang it up on the inside of my closet door so my favorite earrings will be easier to keep track of. I can add lots more, and even hang some necklaces from this as well. Handy-dandy.