Let us put by some hour of every day for holy things...

I will not doubt, though all my ships at sea
Come drifting home with broken masts and sails.
I will believe the Hand which never fails,
From seeming evil, worketh good for me.
And though I weep because those sails are tattered,
Still will I cry, while my best hopes lie shattered:
I trust in Thee.
--Ann Kimmel

Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines, the labor of the olive shall fail and the fields shall yield no meat, the flock shall be cut off from the fold and there shall be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. Habakkuk 3:17-18

Thursday, September 25, 2014

Show and Tell, Show and Ask

On my last "real" post I promised to share some photos of my prized flocked fabric stash. Without further adieu, here goes! (If you hate this kind of stuff, you can scroll down and skip ahead.)

 I adore these beautiful, mid-century sheer fabrics! I think it's one of the reasons I got into collecting vintage fabric. ("Collecting" sounds so much more respectable than "amassing", doesn't it?)

These are the fabrics that beguiled females from toddler to matron, back in the 1950s and 1960s when it came to dressing up. And now it's being held captive in my sewing room closet in a big plastic tub so I can take it out from time to time to sigh and gloat over it. Look how filmy and lovely it is--so feminine!



It's hard to resist once you get a yen for it. I especially love the pink dotted swiss with the tiny flowers.

 Now for some luscious, lemony yellows...



Some gorgeous minty green and orchid pink...

Gorgeous rich red dots on white, strawberries on pale lilac, and dainty light blue... Wish I had more of the red dot fabric, but I've just a smidgen. Enough for a doll dress, maybe.

 Not all flocked fabrics are sheer, though. Take a look at these:
 
The aqua fabric is a synthetic of some sort with a sort of bubbly surface. My sister-in-law refers to it as "whipped cream" but I don't know what it's real name is. Some kind of crepe, maybe? It has a nice clingy "drape" to it. I have some identical fabric in yellow. The lavender daisy fabric in front is, I believe, cotton voile--very, very light, crisp, and semi-sheer. And the pink fabric in back is a broadcloth-type, I think made of cotton/poly.


Here's another example I find particularly delightful--flocked pink gingham! It should make a wonderful little dress for one of the granddaughters next spring or summer. And the white fabric with the blue accents is another semi-sheer variety--you can just barely see my hand through it but not quite. 

I suppose flocked fabric is still being manufactured, but somehow I either haven't run into any, or it hasn't been enticing enough to attract my attention. These fabrics I find mainly at a few select thrift shops, and occasionally at a church rummage sale or a garage sale. I always snap it up when I find it.

Okay, now I have a few items I'm hoping one of you can tell me about.

First of all, I have this little child's dish, made in Austria:


 

It's got an overlapping rim, very handy for aiding a little child in spooning up his porridge. Any idea when this was made, or how much it's worth? I love the imagine inside. I presume it's to encourage the youngster to eat up all his breakfast so he can find the picture. Here is the trademark on the underside; I hope someone reading this post can identify it for me.


Okay, here's an oddball I really can only guess at. What do you think?




What is this thing? Is it some one-of-a-kind, homemade candle holder made in shop class? Or maybe it held a skinny cylinder-shaped cigarette lighter? I'm baffled! There's nothing to identify the maker. The scottie dog is hard plastic, and the red base almost looks like bakelite. If you can shed any light on this mysterious item--what it is, and what (if anything!) it's worth, I'd sure like to hear from you.

All righty. Enough of this!  

I did make a treasury today and I promised those featured in it that I'd post it on the blog for everyone to enjoy. Come to think of it, I made a nifty one yesterday, too. Hope you'll check out these shops!

 

5 comments :

  1. Hello,

    I’m hunting for flocked fabric to make a drsss for my daughter. Is there a place you could recommend to find great pieces like these? Or would you ever sell from your collection?

    Thank you!

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    1. Oops, sorry I didn't see this sooner. My blog has been dying a slow death of neglect and I apologize for not noticing your remark. The flocked fabric is getting devilishly hard to find now, and I'm sad to say I've let go a lot of mine for way less than it's worth nowadays, but I still have a bit. If I ever put it up for sale, it'll be in my Etsy shop (Sheertrashroadshow.etsy.com) or maybe eBay (madelinesmomretro). The places I have been most successful at finding flocked sheer fabrics are church rummage sales, small charity thrift shops, and occasionally at estate sales. I'm also just discovering a number of facebook groups dedicated to vintage fabric collecting and selling and they would be great resources, too. The best way to keep up with what I'm collecting and selling nowadays is on facebook. Not crazy about being there, but it's where the people are! www.facebook.com/SheerTrashRoadshow/ I MAY be letting go of some flocked blue and white gingham soon--not sheer, but very vintage and charming for little girls. Thanks for your interest!

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  2. https://www.etsy.com/listing/555817930/rare-m-z-austria-moritz-zdekauer-childs?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=Moritz%20zdekauer,%20childs&ref=sr_gallery-1-3

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for the link! Mine has sold, so if someone is looking for this delightful dish, it's neat they can find it in your shop!

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  3. I do need that strawberry fabric 😢

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