Last month when I was at this yard sale, I picked up a couple of 20+ year old instruction sheets from Roach as to how to use their brand of iron on transfers. It was completely thrilling to me to see them!
This is pretty much how I make them work now with my vintage heat press (except it takes a little more heat and time to get them to work).
For those of you who know me (and probably some of you who don’t), you know that I’m a pretty quirky girl about certain things.
I am obsessed with T shirt tags, I carry enough stuff in my purse to give the average person a chronic back-ache, and I own four of the same cropped cardigan in different colors.
Another thing I’m quirky about: vintage pillowcases.
Last week I had an entire conversation on Twitter with a complete stranger about the wonderfulness of vintage sheets and pillowcases. It was passionate, and perhaps a little silly. But if you are the type of person who loves the feel of a 20 year old T shirt on your back, you should seriously try a 20 year old sheet over your body.
Kids sheets are especially comfortable, because they were made cheap and thin, usually with a 50% cotton/50% polyester blend material. Which is exactly what most of the vintage T shirts in your closet were made with!
Dan and I have a bunch of pillowcases that we received as wedding presents and christmas gifts, but we never use them. Instead, we use 80’s pillowcases. It may look a little odd, but the comfort is worth it. Our linen closet is home to lots of them – Transformers, A-Team, Holly Hobbie, New Kids on the Block and many others. We both agree that they are far superior to any new pillowcase out there, and refuse to use anything else.
If you have a queen or king sized bed like us, you probably aren’t going to find much out there for you for sheets, but if you are a sewer, buy them up anyway! They make incredibly comfy pajama pants, and with a simple drawstring or elastic waistband they are very easy to make. Years ago I picked up a pair of 70’s elastic waist, elephant leg pants in the ugliest orange material you’ve ever seen. They fit great, though, so I disassembled them and for years have used the pieces as a pattern to make myself pajama pants that fit like a dream. If you can’t find a pair of pants to cut up, try this easy-peasy tutorial on Instructables, and soon you’ll be addicted to vintage sheets like me in no time!
The DIY Street Fair was one my favorite weekends of the whole year, hands down. Crissy and Scott were so fun to hang out with in the tent (I missed you though, Dan!) and the fair was a total success and a total blast!
I love fairs like this because I get to see so many friends from all sorts of times in my life. I always am sad at the end of the fair that I was just too busy to take pictures of the day and all the people I get to see. It’s a pretty amazing time, and so great to see so many friends and catch up, if only for a moment.
So, now is the tough part. Filling the website back up now
that so much has sold over the past two weeks of busy fairs. Over 25% of the inventory is gone, and I’ll be working to feverishly up the inventory again! Make sure to keep checking out the site over the next few weeks for some really amazing new pieces and some great new fall sweaters, dresses, shirts and coats!
Wanna see more pictures from DIY? Check ‘em out on our Flickr!
I am VERY excited to have a tent at the DIY Street Fair in Ferndale, Michigan this weekend!
If you live in the area, you’ve gotta come check out this fair. The band line-up is AMAZING and chock full of the best local bands around, and there will be a beer garden, and kid’s area, and of course the marketplace (where I’ll be) with 90 local, DIY businesses selling all sorts of one of a kind items. The fair is from 11 am – 11:30 pm on Saturday, and Noon-9pm Sunday.
I’ll be set up right next to the Handmade Detroit booth, and am lucky to have my friends Scott and Crissy (from Indiebizchicks.com) helping me out while Dan is in Washington D.C. I’ll not only be bringing most of the stock on the website, but also some new items that haven’t even made it on the site yet – boots, crinoline skirts, and lots of great dresses and T shirts!
Like last weekend, if you are not in the Metro Detroit area, and if you have been eyeing a certain something on the website lately but haven’t ordered it yet, you may want to order it tomorrow. I will be shutting down the website for this weekend while we have most everything there, and I expect to be selling a bunch of stuff!
Wish me luck, and have a great weekend!
I’m so thrilled with this article! Real Detroit, I heart you!
You can read the whole thing on their website here.
Disclaimer: You can’t dye all screen prints! Drop a bit of water on your T shirt first. If it beads up on the screenprint, it should be alright. If the screen absorbs the water, don’t do it! I’ll be writing a tutorial on this soon – might wanna wait until then.