Estate Sale Loot: Max Factor Make-up Kit for Students

I bought this two weeks ago at an estate sale near Skokie and forgot to take pictures of it with the rest of my loot. It is deserving of its own post because I think it is cool and interesting. I saw it on top of a dresser and decided to buy it after opening it up; it was unique and since I always read /r/makeupaddicts on Reddit, I thought I would buy it for the low, low price of three dollars.

 I did some lazy internet "research" and it seems that these date from the 30s to the 50/60s. There are male and female sets, and I have a male. It look like the main difference was that the female one had mascara and another blusher. Older versions of the male one included a fake mustache and nose putty! I guess this would be closer to the newer end, but nothing is dated.  A few have sold on etsy and I saw another incomplete one on ebay that sold for $95!

 It is supposed to have some eyeliner pencils and a big powder puff, as well, but those are missing.

The cold cream has been used up completely, but there is still a small, flat powder puff and a lot of face powder in a light skin tone.

 There are four cream liners in yellow, black, brown and blue. The brown and blue are very dried out, but the others are fine. There is also Moist Rouge, which is a cream blush. I swatched all of these using q-tips onto printer paper, as I was kind of skeeved out at the thought of putting 60+ year old, used make-up on my skin. Shocking, I know.

 There is a nearly untouched powder blush, which has its puff and you can even still read the Max Factor stamp on the top of the rouge. It has a nice black and gold metal tin.

 There are four grease paints in various skin tones, but it seems it was sold with five. It seems the box comes with directions (now missing) on how to make yourself up into various characters like "straight", elderly, "Hindoo", Chinese and Spanish, which seem a little random. Mine is missing the instructions, though.

 Here is it all laid out together.

 I repacked it incorrectly. All the liners go in the center rectangle. The top left would have been the pencils and the top right would have been a big powder puff, if it had them still.

I thought this was a cool find and wanted to share it with you! What do you think?

Today's Estate Sale Loot- Vintage Lingerie

Thank you for all your well-wishes and pregnancy pattern suggestions! We are very excited, as are all of our parents for the first grandbaby on both sides. I have lots of sewing plans, so hopefully that will motivate me to post more often!

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Andrew came with me to four estate sales, and then was immediately filled with regret (I think). They were all fairly close-by in NW Chicago and the other neighborhoods that pretend to be small, independent towns. Then we ate hot dogs. It was fun!

All of my loot came from two of the four; the other two were just junk that did not interest me. It cost a grand total of 8 dollars, 4 of which were for a cast iron skillet that Andrew wanted. I forgot to take a picture, but you can use your imagination!

I bought this masterpiece of a dress for $1. Maybe I will be a fortune-teller for Halloween! The waist is ruched and the skirt has panels made of two different, bright prints. Plus the peasant-style bodice.

 Coral gloves, $1.

 White slip with blue embroidered flowers, to sell on Etsy. 50 cents.

 Nude slip with sheer ruffle and flowers. 50 cents. For Etsy.

 Sexy lingerie featuring ruffled panties and a dress. It was impossible o take a picture of very well, but the top has a double layer to the bust and the under layer has bows over the nips. $1 total, also for Etsy.

So that was fun! I think someone on etsy would like the vintage clothes. Hopefully I can sew around my brother and Andrew as they bottle their latest beer today!

Have a good weekend!

Estate Sale Loot featuring Vintage Clothes!

These are from last Saturday's estate sale-ing. I have been on summer break/laid off, so I do very little during the week. So on Saturday, I wanted to go to estate sales. Andrew, on the other hand, worked all week and wanted to chill. So with the help of my handy, talking Google maps app lady, I set off alone to three sales in N/NW Chicago. And I wasn't even murdered. Wow.

This is everything from all three and I think I spent 5/3/7 for a total of 15 dollars. I love estate sales because it combines many things I enjoy: snooping through people's stuff and homes, judging people, buying old crap I don't really need, and being very cheap. Yay!

I have been trying to drink more liquids, so I wanted some small glasses that actually show me what 8 oz is. And a tiny llama mom and baby wooden figurine, cause why not?

 I also bought a set of rainbow striped sheets, or as we call them, "dead people sheets." Also a nice drink shaker with a little screw off spout, for really violent shanking shaking.

 Now to follow are some very taken-with-a-potato quality pictures of me modeling my new 70s clothes. There was a trunk in the basement of one of the houses of a woman who was clearly my size in the 70s. The clothes all fit, even the pants are the right length. So nice. Andrew and my brother were drying some of their hops and said it was disgusting that I didn't wash them first. So prissy. I showered afterwards because they did have that old house stank, which transferred to my skin, but I couldn't wait to model them.

I plan on wearing this sexy muumuu all winter long!

 A scarf blouse that is also a bodysuit? Shazam!

 Like a diaper. So sexy. I actually really like the blouse, so I think I will just give it a new hem and take off the diaper part, which was very obvious under pants. Aren't you glad I shared this dumpy picture of my butt with you? Heh.

 The full ensemble with green polyester pants. They are a bit snug right now, as I have gained 9 lbs (ek) but I will save them and wear them in the future. No wrinkles! Don't need to hem them!

 Same pants, but in white. Oh la la! Je suis tres a la mode!

 I call this picture Ebony and Ivory. T-Rex really loves being picked up in the air, lol.

 My final polyester blouse. Andrew and Luke's groans and cringes could not phase me, look at my smile! It is really a conversation starter! I said I will wear i when we go bowling next time. It seems like a great bowling shirt!

 Wow, those cuffs!

Now that you are uncontrollably jealous of my awesome new clothes, have a great Labor Day weekend!

Estate Sale Loot: a wicker purse

On Saturday, we went to two estate sales. It has been a long and cold winter, so we haven't gone for months. Especially since it is "a thing" here to make you stand outside in a line as they let people in one by one. That is always annoying, but the cold makes it unbearable.

This wicker purse reminded me of something Camelia Crinoline would have, so I bought it to sell on Etsy. Andrew said it was ugly and looked like picnic basket, so that made me want it more. As I carried it around the sale, I grew to like it. Now it is my purse. It makes it easy to find things because it folds open like a suitcase. I feel like a giant hipster carrying it around, but oh well. Only five dollars!

I also finally sold all of my Swirl dresses on Etsy and now I listed some estate sale fabric I will never use. Go check it out, if you're interested!

Exciting news and a bit of estate sale loot

Andrew has found a very awesome new job that he loves and is also improving our quality of life in the money department, too! So we took the opportunity to purge his entire wardrobe and get new clothes ( and some for me too, don't worry!)

He hates shopping and I am not really a fan either. We counted back and the last time he got new clothes was two years ago, for his last "new" job, and then two years before that when he started business school, and then... so basically every two years or more. And that wasn't even a lot of clothes. 

So we took huge bags of clothes to the Village Thrift  to donate and now be both look much more adult! He of course gets to immediately wear his new threads and I have been on a super boring pants hemming marathon- only two more pairs to go! Sadly, even the petite pants need to be hemmed with the exception of my Gap petite jeans. A 28 inch inseam will do that, but I want everything to be ideal for flats- I am not teaching all day in heals.

That has been exciting for us the last few weeks, plus we went to visit friends in Nashville. I was sick and lost my voice, but it was so fun to see Steph and Steven!

Oh my gosh, plus his new job meant I got to quit working at the restaurant because if I have no income in the summer it is not a tragedy! That is monumentally awesome and now I get to have weekends again like a real person! So we have just been having great fun!

On to my estate sale loot:

This was from a disgustingly decrepit house in Rogers Park. It was so run down and dusty, it kind of makes me sad that an old person was living like that. In the kitchen, there was a hole in the wall by the floor and you could see into the basement. 

The advertised sewing patterns and there was some stuff left when we arrived. All of this was four dollars.

Two lengths of cotton flower prints and three cards of real pearl buttons. One card of cute, white plastic buttons.

The seven patterns were cheap, so why not? I am going to keep the super cute apron pattern and the ties. The clothes are for a 38 bust and they will be November's giveaway next week. The doll pattern is up in the air. 

So that's my life for about the last month! Hopefully I will sew soon, but now I want to fill actual gaps in my wardrobe and not just make crap to make it. 

Thanks for still reading! :)

Estate Sale Loot: The Singer 66

Andrew and I went to two estate sales nearby on Saturday. One was just some random stuff, doors for sale and a basement. We went downstairs and I was like"ohhhh!" Andrew said "the sewing machine?" I had not even noticed the machine, as I was staring at the exact same bouncy horse that I had as a kid. Obviously, I do not need a bouncy horse, so I turned my attention to the machine. 

It was a Singer and the table was cool and it is a treadle. After making sure everything moved and turned, and it did, I asked how much. The guy said 40 but he was willing to negotiate. He accepted 30 bucks and helped Andrew carry it upstairs. That was really nice, since they don't have to help and usually don't, I assume for liability. (I have stitches in my shoulder from getting a mole cut out and can't lift things). 

Then, we tried to jam it into our Mazda 3, which let me tell you is no Oldsmobile 88. It did not fit in the trunk or in the backseat. Andrew ended up going back inside and the guy was nice enough to drive it to our house in his minivan for ten bucks! So, in the end, it was $40. 

I found a good website with info on cleaning up old treadle machines and bought some cleaning things on Sunday, but didn't get started until this afternoon. 

Today, I only worked on cleaning up the cast iron base. I used warm water and white vinegar with a painter's towel and then dried it with a rag. 

before washing

Super dusty gross gross

After about an hour of wiping and using an old toothbrush for the details:

I did not even realize the Singer part was in gold paint!

 The base is still partly rusty from sitting in a basement for so long. Andrew said he would help me sand and refinish the table and repaint the base. I expect it will look amazing!

Much nicer. 

I haven't even attempted to clean up the top yet, but the wheel turns, the needle moves, it has the bobbin and bobbin plate and just needs to be cleaned and oiled I think. Also, it needs a new leather belt, but those are only about $9 online.

Singer 66

 Nearly all of the decals are still in good shape. The chalky white stuff came off when I licked my finger and rubbed it, but the website I found said to clean the entire head with sewing machine oil. I haven't gotten that far, yet.

 "Red Eye" is the 66's nickname due to the design.

 I googled the serial number and it is from 1919. It will be fun to clean it up and get it working. Learning how to use a treadle will be interesting as well. I promise at some point I will start going forward in time, instead of backwards, and get a machine that does some modern functions... like a zig-zag! :)

Regardless, both the table and the machine are beautiful and I'm excited for this project!

Paris Fabric Loot

In Paris, Andrew and I took the 4 line to Chateau Rogue and went looking for wax fabric. I had never been to the neighborhood, even though we lived in Paris for a year. It's certainly interesting; the neighborhood is all African immigrants/descent. Even getting off the train I saw tons of women wearing the kind of fabric I was looking for!

Basically, all the shops are on Rue des poisonniers and there are quite a few. I found three prints that I thought about buying, but in the end I didn't get anything. I don't mind spending the money, but it was more the quantity. What am I going to do with six meters of the same print? 

I was undecided, so we walked over to the Marche St. Pierre, which is the fabric shopping section of Paris. This was all new and exciting, as I got into sewing after I graduated from college and it wasn't my thing when I lived there. 

I ended up buying two meters of this viscose print. It's kind of abstract and geometric, but with peacocks! aww yeah!

The we went and sat on the steps of Sacre Coeur and had some fun people watching, then went and had drinks and dinner. It was a fun day!

London fabric loot

I went to gold hawk road today since Andrew had meetings and work. I took the train which was insanely hot, all by myself like a big girl. :)

I went in and out of a million shops on the left hand side of the street and by the time I started looping back on the right hand side, I was ready to buy. The choices are really overwhelming, but I tried to be stingy and not buy a lot as the dollar to pound exchange rate is so terrible. Well for Americans at least. I picture British people going to American playing "make it rain" ie lil Wayne with dollars.

I only bought three things, but they are cool and unique! This is four meters of Swiss voile in a very large, cool print. Pink and brown looks very nice with my skin tone, and I picture it as a maxi dress it something. 25£. Eh. I talked him down a little...

At a different shop, I bought this neon 1990s-meets-Africa print. Two meters for 6£. Knit, but not super stretchy.

This delight was absolutely worth 25£!!! It's an off white skin and then it's been printed with a shiny giraffe pattern in browny-tan-gold. Its a whole hide. I am going to buy a walking foot and make the sweetest, most awesome leather purse anyone has ever seen!!! 

London is super fun and I'm having a great time!!! We're here til Friday so I still have lots of time to explore!

Finally, some sewing loot!

On Friday after work I was able to go to that estate sale of the two spinster sisters who loved to sew. I am sure that it had already been picked over quite a bit, but there was still a lot of stuff. 

There was a whole room of fabric, but it seemed like they hoarded solid, bright colors in heavy polyester. Ick. I found six prints that I liked. 

 The blue and pink flowers are sheers, a magenta flower print and the blue rectangles is a heavy 60s style poly. Who knows... The light green has a nice faux Asian print and then blue polka dots. So the fabric was $15, but it's definitely enough for six dresses.

 The trims were $3 a card, so I only got three. Just for reference, the cards are like a foot long. Each of these trims are about an inch wide. Shades of blue, Murica red white and blue, and a hot pink with flowers in the center.

 There were two pattern cabinets full of patterns and they had them organized by style. It was mostly 60s-90s heavy. I wonder what they did with their older ones? Or they got into sewing later in life? It was fun to dig through and everything was a 32/34 bust, so that was cool.

 Some dresses, a nice costume pattern, some embroidery guides.

 Nightgowns, a Swirl style wrap dress and the "romance on a bridge" one just made me laugh.

Unopened tracing paper and a nice McCalls with an elastic(!) waist! I'm definitely making that one!

There were also just rooms of clothes they had made for themselves, but none was really my style. Just tons of solid bright colors and short sleeve boxy blouses. There was also a strange hipster girl with a tri-pod camera taking pictures of things in an artsy way. That was interesting. 

All in all, some good loot! I think the total was like 35 bucks. Yay!

Estate sale loot: New, old irons

**Don't forget to enter the March giveaway by midnight if you want to win some patterns!**

I went to two estate sales this morning. One was a waste of time, but the other was interesting. It was near Cicero and Belmont, which isn't too far away. I went because it was the first sale of two for two sisters who owned a two-flat together  Each had her own apartment, they never married and collected sooo many knick-knacks and dolls. OMG. But they both also loved to sew, so there will be a second sale in a few weeks with all of the sewing stuff and more. 

Anyways, I don't want freaky dolls or dust collecting figurines. However, in the last room I found three old irons, two of which look new and were still in their boxes. Since everything was 50% off, I bought all three for $17. 

Then I took them home to see if they worked. The first one was obviously well-used and got a newer cord at some point. It works and is nicely heavy with a smooth plate. Not that horrible non-stick plate on my modern iron that is melting off every time someone accidentally uses setting 6. It has temp settings on a thumb wheel 

 The second was a GE travel irons, new in its box. It has its warranty card, a travel pouch and a detachable cord that you can unplug from the base and then the handle folds down. Kinda cool. It works as well and the box says it weighs two pounds. I think that is going on Etsy.

Warranty card.

Box info

 This one is the same as the first iron, but brand new in its box. One and Three are both Sunbeam Ironmasters. Very nice. It works really well. Both Luke and Andrew seem to think I am hell-bent on burning down the house, but people successfully used irons with no auto-shutoff for many years. And not all of those people died in house fires. The cord is brand new and not frayed at all.

Anyways, it was fun to find some sewing related stuff after a long gap of wasted drives to crappy sales. Yay!