Thrifty fabric

I found an old curtain at the thrift store yesterday. It won't stay a curtain as we don't have any windows the right size, but I loved the fabric.


thrifted curtain
It's been awhile since I've found anything for me, though my thrifty luck (and persistence) has been providing splendidly for the Wee Lass (from clothes, to shoes, to toys). There's a ton of fabric in the curtain, but I figure some will end up as a cushion cover or maybe part of a patchwork slipcover for a thrifted armchair.

Photographs and artwork by Allison Gryski. © All rights reserved.

Thrifting treasure: silk scarf

silk scarf

I went thrifting the other day and found a silk scarf for 1.50€!

I've used it as a nice,lightweight nursing cover-up on a picnic but I originally bought it with the idea of using it as a headband scarf. I've seen some cute ideas on the web but whenever I try these styles, the scarf just wants to slide back and ends up falling off eventually. Are secret bobbypins involved in making these looks work? If you know the secret, please share it. I frequently have rather messy "mom-hair", quickly put in a ponytail, and I'd love to distract from it with a pretty scarf!

Photographs and artwork by Allison Gryski. © All rights reserved.

More Blogging Adventures

I have been rather sadly neglecting this blog of mine just lately. This Summer, it was travelling and first trimester exhaustion, then in the Autumn it's been more travelling and a series of long-lasting colds. However, I have one little blogging surprise up my sleeve. I will be joining a number of other writers in contributing to The S.W.A.P. Team blog!


SWAP Team Blog Screenshot

The S.W.A.P. Team is a Montreal-based non-profit that organizes clothing swaps in partnership with local charities, such as The Salvation Army. It's 100% volunteer-run, and all the un-swapped clothes go to the charity partner. So far, they've contributed over 21,000 clothing items to charity, and of course, sent many happy swappers home with new-to-them clothes. (One of my favourite clothing swap scores is shown below.) They have chapters around the world now (want to get involved?) and I'm so excited to be able to contribute to such a fantastic organization.


Fairyesque skirt suit with brooch

My blog posts over there will focus on themes like vintage and thrifty fashion and sustainable, eco-conscious consumption. My first post went up today, and it's entitled, How to Find "The Good Stuff": A guide to second-hand clothes shopping. I hope you'll wander over and check it out!

Furniture News

Dresser before & after

Awhile ago, my sweetie and I lugged home a beat up dresser from the thrift store. Ok, well, I just carried the drawers. It wasn't too pretty looking, with lots of chips, nail holes, and missing drawer pulls. But some patching of holes, some drilling of new ones, a bit of paint, some pretty knobs, and ta-da! A pretty little dresser for my bedside. It's still in the dining area at the moment because the paint is still a bit odorous. I'm really pleased with how well it turned out, though.


Dresser makeover after

In other furniture news, we got sick of not having a desk or a coffee table or a proper dresser (this bedside one is quite small) and caved to the ease of IKEA. Last weekend, we rode our bikes out to IKEA (a rather fun adventure) and picked out some things. We paid to have them delivered and then biked home (not as fun an adventure since D had to awkwardly carry some items and there was a charming headwind). But it's oh-so-nice to have a real desk to be typing this at, and to have my current artsy mess scattered on it instead of the dining table!


Artsy Mess


Photographs by Allison Gryski. © All rights reserved.

Thrifty souvenirs of summer

1930s quilt
Originally uploaded by allisongryski
One of my family's beloved activities is searching garage sales, thrift stores, flea markets, and antique fairs for treasures. This summer, we had an absolute bonanza of it, and I came home with some gorgeous bargains. The main event was the Odessa antique fair. It's a huge collection of booths and tents out in a field with everything from furniture to figurines. I have no pictures as I was far too busy searching the hundreds of stalls for something spectacular. But picture a grassy field absolutely stuffed with stalls. Odessa has often been brutally hot and sunny, but for a change, this year it was cool and grey. Just as I stepped inside the small building to finish the few indoor booths, it started pouring rain. But I wasn't too sorry, since I'd already found my Find early on.

This year, I came home with a beautiful, hand pieced and quilted quilt for just $60. Based on the fabric, we figure it's probably from the 1930s. In any case, having worked on a quilt with a machine, I can only have a sense of the huge amount of work that went into this:


1930s quilt
Originally uploaded by allisongryski

I saw another quilt, also at Odessa. It was larger, with a pinwheel pattern and some green blocks. I rather loved it too, but at the (fair) price of $335, it was outside the range of my allotted spending money. I'm still boggling that the vender could sell me the above quilt for only $60. I could barely say "I'll take it" fast enough, once he named his price. My mom and I waited until we were several stalls down to let our massive grins shine.

And the thrift stores were just as kind. First, this pretty vintage sheet, which will work well with lots of my quilt fabric leftovers.


vintage sheet
Originally uploaded by allisongryski

This hand-embroidered cloth has a couple holes in it, but for 75 cents, it deserves a second life.

hand-embroidered cloth
Originally uploaded by allisongryski

I think each quadrant could perhaps be used for a pillow or totebag. (Apologies for the creases, but this is straight off the laundry line.)


hand-embroidered cloth
Originally uploaded by allisongryski

And, last, but certainly not least... perhaps my most surprising thrifty find to date...


Fluevog boots
Originally uploaded by allisongryski

A pair of Fluevogs! Now, if I'm totally honest, they are a little snug on the toes, but for $2.50, I'm going to wear them and enjoy them... just maybe not for all-day excursions.

Pretty things in purple

Thrifty Purple Finds
Originally uploaded by allisongryski

Despite the distinctly grey and rainy "summer" that we've been having in Montreal, I haven't been much in the mood for blogging. I've been twittering little nothings instead, extolling the virtues of bixi mostly. Yesterday I finally pulled out my oil paints and got started re-learning how to use them. Today I went to the thrift stores to see about finding a suitable old shirt to use as a smock, but instead I came away with pretty things in purple: A dressy sort of blazer, a purple bobble necklace, and some vintage buttons. I almost got a purple polka-dotted scarf at the first shop too, until I noticed it had some stains.


Vintage buttons
Originally uploaded by allisongryski
The necklace and buttons came from the church bazaar at Mont-Royal and St-Hubert. It has quite a lot of sewing notions and some bins of old patterns. It's also where I got one of the pillow cases that I used in my quilt. And, in a funny coincidence, where I found the skirt that I'm wearing today (for $3). The blazer came from the friperie Retromania just down the street on Mont-Royal. Not as cheap as the church bazaar, but definitely higher quality stuff when it comes to the clothing. It's the usual thrift store trade-off ... if it's "curated", you're more likely to find something nice, but it's not going to be as cheap. The other thrift store I wanted to visit, on Gilford, appears to be closed for summer holidays until August 4. But it's another place I found a great $3 skirt. Perhaps tomorrow I'll check out the Salvation Army on Notre-Dame and see if I can find a smock. Or you know, maybe something else purple.