Saturday in New York City

                            My mom and I, fabric shopping in Mood. I was pleasantly surprised by everyone’s sincere friendliness and helpfulness. I expected a cold shoulder since I am not a wholesale buyer or a designer, but was happily mistaken. I found exactly what I was looking for—a pale gray patterned cotton for a pair of Edwardian bloomers I am making from a Folkwear Pattern (the pattern is called Edwardian Underthings).

We also happened upon this stunning brocade fabric which we had to buy to fashion a Victorian style skirt. I am so excited! The fabric is stunning—the other side of it is completely covered with netting which ages the fabric’s look by 100 years

Our next stop was the Antique Garage Flea Market (on 24^th Street by the Tish Building). We saw everything from antique writing desks, pornography from 1911-1941, vintage & junk jewelry, old books & vintage apparel, to WWII death announcement cards.

          

Here are my finds:

Three antique hat pins—so dainty & dangly!

Vintage chains—one with pearls! So delicate & feminine!

A child’s silver identification bracelet, engraved: “H.A. [worn too much o discern] Pinehurst Ave., Troy, NY”

Three vintage cuff links—can’t wait to Steampunk these!

A metal pill box, not vintage but beautiful. I am going to gut the plastic out of the inside and replace it with a very soft velvet.

                    

Two silver lockets—I have already begun collecting lockets for a collaborative project with Tara @ Plume Perfumery. We are going to make a line of Steampunk perfume lockets filled with Victorian scents!

I wish that every Saturday were filled with flea markets & fabric shopping!

Today's History Lesson

In the spirit of Labor Day I would like to share a story. Doing what I do--scouring flea markets to find things to upcycle into Steampunk jewelry, I wind up with roundabout history lessons. Today's lesson is courtesy of one of my patrons, Casey. A year ago Casey purchased a necklace from me, it was made with cute pink glass beads and a tiny silver metal bow and a bronze metal tag that I had purchased at the Stormville Flea Market. While Casey and her husband were grocery shopping, the gentleman who checked them out was astonished by the bronze metal tag on Casey's necklace. He asked her excitedly where he could find one and told her of their rarity. As it turns out, the bronze metal tag (which I took to be an old hotel room key tag) was in fact a coal miner's tag! Coal miner's tags are rare because they are often kept within families as an heirloom and passed down from generation to generation. Coal miner's tags are unique to American history and cannot be found elsewhere.

I was eager to know more--and so, like most people, I googled "coal miner's tag" and a very interesting interview popped up which I urge you to read if you're at all interested. Carol Malcolm-Parsons, daughter of a coal miner, provides us with a definition & description of what coal miner's tags are and what function they serve: These tags are a "symbol of a career"--the career of a miner. Each miner has a tag and, in her words,  "each mine, I guess, can do it different. Some of [the tags] just have their Social Security number. Some of them have the miner's last name and first initial or something. So before you go underground, you have to move your tag to the section of the board that shows that you're underground." These tags were a safety measure--though not as famous as a  canary in a birdcage.

I bought three tags at the flea market that day. I only have one coal miner's tag left and I wish I could discover who it belonged to because it is more than a "symbol of a career" but a life lived--so whoever you were, Coal Miner no. 38, Happy Labor Day.

Steampunk Beads

I am in awe at beadmaker & artist, James A. Jones, for his mastery of minutiae & upcylcing. Jones makes his Steampunk beads from old machines no longer in use.

My favorite bead is one made with gears and a combination. Check out Jones's beads here.

A Day of Quilting & Sewing

I am an Aunt once again! My best friend had a baby girl, Elizabeth Lee. I am scrambling now to finish her baby quilt (which I am making with fabulous flannel--polka dots, blue sconces, pastel stripes, & Mother Goose Nursery rhyme scenes).

But future naptimes need a little something more than just a soft fabric oasis & so I have also made Lizzie some pals. Meet Egbert the Sock Pig! He's one of the many cute and easy to make animal friends you can find in Stray Sock Sewing.

I still have my baby quilt. My grams made me a "Garden to the Stars" quilt with flower and constellation patterned fabrics. My favorite part of the quilt is its book pocket which had a special note I could read if I woke up with bad dreams.  What was your baby quilt like? Or your favorite playtime pal?

Over the Moon for Lady Macoon

I just finished reading Gail Carriger's fourth book, Heartless, in the Parasol Protectorate Series (a Steampunk fictional tale about vampires, werewolves, romance, and manners). As a Ph.D. student reading is my primary job, but this was certainly a vacation! I started the series two weeks ago and I am now finished with all of the currently available volumes. Carriger's next installment in the PPS, Timeless, debuts in March 2010. In between my feverish reading I was tinkering away. Here is a necklace I made that was inspired by the PPS's heroine, Lady Alexia Macoon. Lady Macoon sadly, because she is soulless, has no sense for fashion and relies solely on others. Her French maid, Angelique might have chosen this as an accoutrement to one of her mistress's outfits!

One of my favorite creations--this necklace is made with plush purple velvet ribbon, gray ribbed lace ribbon, vintage gold beads, a clock cog (of course!), and part of a vintage clip on earring. The earring is an intricate piece because of the etched blue cameo set in the metal and accented with pearls.

Handsewn and made--this will be a hard creation to part with! If you haven't already, check out Gail Carriger's website (with lots of great posts to hold you over until March). Sigh, I wish I could just build a time traveling device so that I could pick up the book earlier. I'm dying to know what adventure our heroine will undertake next!

What Steampunk Fiction are you reading?

Thrift Store Finds

It has been a busy week! I launched my new website (leave a comment below & let me know what you think!). I have also been rummaging through local thrift stores for interesting display items. I luckily found two treasures I've been searching months for--an old suitcase and wooden printer drawers!  

The Suitcase

I cleaned up this well worn suitcase and filled the pocket at the hinge with stuffing to make a long, skinny pincushion. This will be perfect to display hat pins, buttons, and even rings (held in place by tacks)!

I glued 6 clothespins to the top part of the suitcase so I could showcase pictures or more intricate necklaces. The pictures here are Victorian portraits from Montreal, Quebec.

What I love about this suitcase is the circus red cloth interior. I also bought the glass medicine bottles pictured here at a garage sale two weeks ago. I love how they catch the light.

The Printer Drawers

I found two printer wooden drawers (from an American company) with a nearly complete set of metal letters, numbers, and punctuation.  I bought them for a wopping $50, a real steal! Printer drawers are all over Etsy (and for quite a price!). The drawers make excellent jewelry displays & holders.

I am going to modify my drawers a bit and paint the drawers' little cubbies with chalk paint! I'll let you know how it turns out.