4.27.2011

Vintage Patterns and Books

While my husband was on vacation we drove to the little town I grew up in to go to the antique mall/junk store and the city wide garage sale.  We usually have good luck there and this trip was no exception.  We came home with a ton of awesome vintage finds and today I’m going to share a few of them.
I am always on the look out for vintage patterns, the illustrations on the envelopes are eye candy for me.  I love to see the differences in hair and clothing styles.  I also like them to be cheap, chances are I’m not going to be sewing any of these so size and condition are not a huge issue, I like really vintage though, 1970’s or earlier.3-2011 patterns 1I love the pockets and yoke details on the three skirts on the left of that McCalls 5113, the three pattern pieces of the super jiffy Simplicity 9032 are great and who doesn’t need a terry cloth tube dress?, full and half slips on Simplicity 9115 (can you even buy slips anymore?), and the last two Simpliciy 7345 and 6653 are 70’s chic and such high and modest necklines!3-2011 patterns barbieI was super excited when I saw this Barbie pattern, those little dolls outfits are amazing and all of the pieces seem to be intact, although they are all cut out, I bet someone’s Barbie had an awesome wardrobe!  There are even instructions on some embroidered embellishment for one of the skirts.  There are 10 full outfits, the other five are pictured on the back of the patten or you can see the back views of them in this picture.3-2011 patterns 2This little man pattern was too precious and when I peeked inside the envelope I found another treasure, there was a letter, some clippings with appliqué examples, and some colorful corduroy fabric swatches.3-2011 booksSome lovely sewing and embroidery books also found their way home with me.  That center one has the most delightful, kitschy projects!  horseshoe nail wizardryI HAD to have this one, I have never seen anything like it and surprisingly some of the projects look really modern, not the windmill sculpture or the owl plaques, but the pendants are nice.horseshoe nailsThese pendants are definitely unique!  I’m wondering where exactly you find horseshoe nails these days? and are they comparable to nails of 1974?  The introduction says this is the perfect hobby for a man <snort>.  Another fun fact, this little pamphlet was published right here in Nebraska!
I hope you enjoyed seeing some of my new treasures, don’t worry I’ll share some more soon, I have a whole collection of crochet pamphlets and some very interesting German magazines.

5 comments:

PussDaddy said...

I wonder if it is a Mangelsen's book (the horseshoe one)? I have never seen one either.

PD

Crafterella said...

Yes, it is a Mangelsen's book :), it was too good of a find to pass up! I have definitely gotten $.25 of enjoyment out of it already!

Sara vs. Sarah said...

I love the horseshoe nail book! My mom had a horseshoe nail necklace when I was a kid. Great find.

PussDaddy said...

I thought it might be. Mangelsens is like a great big craft store

http://www.mangelsens2.com/

based here in Omaha. I think they are mainly local to Omaha and not anywhere else but if they are it would be somewhere like Iowa. Anywho they used to publish a lot of nice craft books back in the 60's and 70's and I have bought a few myself. Of course I say I will make something some day but I get them mostly for nostalgic purposes and because I like looking at them like you do. I get a lot of old craft books on eBay. I haven't ever seen this horseshoe nail one. I would think horseshoe nails are still made the same way so you might be able to make something.

PD

mieljolie said...

Great find! LOVE the horseshoe nail book! I actually found some old broken pieces of horseshoe nail jewelry that I made into one larger, more ornate necklace. Fun stuff. :)

I did look around for more nails to use, and was only able to find boxes of them at tack and feed stores here. You'll be happy to know that the manufacture of the nails has not noticeably changed in many many years. Though, there are different styles and sizes for different uses.

Mieljolie