bits and bobbins

for a long time i have been yearning to take books from my collection, and show you and share with you their interesting insides. not all of them are “fashion” related, but are inspiring all the same. i can’t keep all this good stuff to myself! i want to share it!

when i can find the time (i have so little of it these days, what gives? *sigh*) maybe i will share some peeks into my books with you. cool?

perhaps they will inspire you somehow, even if it’s for something as simple as a clever color combination in the clothes you deign to wear or perhaps a personal touch you can maybe add to something you’re making (clothes or otherwise)? or maybe they can just fun to look at!? i think so!

most of the books in my library are craft, art, or fashion related. i am a book lover, a book addict. i especially love old books, and seek them out wherever i can: thrift stores, antique fairs, amazon, ebay, you name it. i love the old, sometimes forgotten tomes and styles of the past; old books are a lovely window into past styles, fads, and norms. so, so fascinating, no?

here’s a book i found at a thrift store this past week for one dollar: golden hands bargello.

looks like it’s from the 70s. for those who don’t know, bargello is a style of needlepoint embroidery, usually employing wool yarn, which is stitched to a canvas backing. you often see it adorning old pillows, ottomans, and the like, but it can and has been used to adorn clothing and accessories. decorator/ceramacist jonathan adler has famously used bargello on some of his pillow designs.

i love bargello for a bunch of reasons: it’s graphic, it’s textural, and there’s a lot of potential for colorplay. i love bargello best when it’s especially colorful…the more riotous the colors, the more i like it, as is my way! i have a small collection of bargello pillows, i would like to add to it over time, if time and money will allow!

anyway, here you go:

love this shot and all the pillows, immediately made me think of the interiors work of wary meyers (whom i LOVE):

love the bottom pattern here:

patchwork! yes!:

more patchwork, yes x2!:

this one is especially timely for me…i found a tiny little ottoman at a thrift this week that i want to restore/restyle/referb, and seeing this page (and the whole book, really!) totally makes me want to stitch up a little bargello topper for it!

fun, eh?

found over the past couple weeks, here in san fran, at goodwill and thrift town (aka my usual haunts).

these clip-ons reminded me of little doilies:

handmade acrylic pins, part of a larger cache of oversized 80s acrylic jewelry i scored all at once (including MASSIVE earrings, not shown here):

ikat is one of my textile loves. and i have a thing for clutches, oh yes:

always a sucker for polka dots and le orange (natch):

almost fluorescent vintage slip. probably the greatest vintage slip i’ve unearthed as yet:

a lovely silk dress, originally from banana republic. giant orange flowers, oh yes! doesn’t fit my currently burgeoning pregnant bod, but will *hopefully* fit afterwards. i’m crossing my fingers and toes!:

i’m back from hawaii! it was so amazing! i’m in such a fog today…i think my brain is still on vacation!

you can find a few choice shots from our travels in my hawaii 2008 flickr set (should you be interested in that sort of thing. i know other people’s travel pics can be a major yawn!)

i allowed myself one official souvenir from hawaii: this handmade hawaiian quilted tote with a pineapple motif. in orange, NATCH. *grin* i bought it at the hawaiian quilt collection, an adorable little shop in downtown waikiki (on kalakaua avenue). the cute little old ladies who ran the shop told me the pineapple pattern represents “friendship or welcome”. a cheery meaning for my happy new bag.

the shop was filled with lots of supremely lovely bags of various and sundry shapes and sizes, as well as gorgeous pillow covers, kitchen accessories, and full-sized quilts, all in beautiful vivid color pairings. i was in heaven, i wanted to buy absolutely everything i saw!…and i also believe i was also the youngest gal in the shop! guess these sorts of things aren’t appealing to the youth of today! har har. anyway, i do believe that i am now obsessed with hawaiian quilting…it’s something i am raring to try sooner rather than later, giving it my own spin somehow…

i managed to do a little thrifting whilst on vacation, too!

here be the motherload of 80s enamel earrings! thrifted in kailua, oahu, hawaii:

only 50 cents per pair. whatta steal!

glitter dot blouse, thrifted in kailua, oahu, hawaii:

silky vintage floral blouse, made in hawaii! thrifted @ the savers in kahului, maui:

vintage japanese-made mugs:

an adorable local that was standing nearby when i was checking out told peter and i that these japanese made mugs were a give-away gift at a local hawaiian savings bank.