Showing posts with label Gunne sax. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gunne sax. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Denim. Levis. Love.

When I was little, er, a young child..I loved my jeans. I would whine and cry and pout if I was forced to wear a dress. If I had to wear a dress, it had better be plaid or a sailor dress. I would wear my jeans under a dress....Now I can wear jeans...lovely lovely denim all day and all night if I want to....
San Francisco California was the center of the universe for the proliferation of Denim....from Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis and their waist overalls...the Levi riveted jeans.... to the Gap company with their high waist jeans in the late 60s, to the Gunne Sax Jessica McClintock dress company that used chambray, muslin, calico and denim to make some of the most pretty and beloved dresses ever! 

Jeans made from blue denim were just work pants...now they are high fashion!
The fabric has a twill weave that makes the characteristic diagonal ribs.Indigo is the blue dye that blue denim is dyed with...back in the day before the 1920s, it was natural indigo, plant based, but now it's all chemical. Some indigo dye used for commercial denim has better color than others, in my humble opinion!  Denim warp threads are dyed indigo blue (or another color), but the weft threads always are white.




Things I made for the first child, Jan....
yeah.
a jacket I made from lots of jean patches, sewn to a lining of red and blue check flannel, with a ladybug braid trim on the edges....little brass buttons, and pockets too!  There's Big E indigo denim, and a lot of selvedge!




...and I made a skirt for her too....more Big E denim and some Lee to go with the vintage Levi's...all the clothes I made back then, used a lot of worn out Big E Levi jeans....oy vey.



and a pair of 60s Big E kids jeans, a Levis zip front, with the Talon 42 zipper, a pair of 505's for the kiddies.
All the kids wore this pair except Robbie since he was 9 when I met him.




Here's a poster of  Vintage Jeans  with LEVI 501xx Buckle back & LEE from ebay seller toysandjeans.




1969 Wrangler Jean ad from ebay seller scottalbertson




 What else is made from denim? mmmm a Vintage 70s denim Gunne Sax dress with calico and lace ! 

Denim Calico Lace Gunne Sax Dress 1970s vintage patchwork Peasant girl M L


 a little kids dress....70s vintage denim and tartan plaid dress...aww so cute. 

Blue Denim red tartan plaid Girls vintage 70s Cowgirl childrens Dress  S  4



 amazing wear patterns on this pair of vintage blue denim Levis jeans

Levis 505 Vintage Blue denim Jeans USA authentic Wear hige 34 32



and what to wear with Levis, denim and jeans....moccasins and Converse, of course!




High top red cotton, white laces, rubber and logo. High tops, these are Made in the USA, classic Converse All Stars.

Vintage RED high top Converse sneakers 7




Vintage MINNETONKA Moccasins from Paramount Vintage. Cute!

Vintage MINNETONKA Moccasins womens 9M -  ADORABLE, leather moccasins, flats, sandals, hippie, native american - FREE Worldwide Shipping




Inspirational ! big thick sweater, denim shorts, socks, leather sandals....big mans watch, long hair...Of course I like this picture...this is how I dress most of the time!
this whole blog, beauandaero is full of images in a genre I call, Drunk Teenager. Vacuous girls with no life history beyond the trauma of 11th grade PE class. Gawky. Vain. and trying way too hard to be sophisticated and worldly.


 


Make a rug from lots of blue denim jeans ! 
 

Sunday, May 27, 2012

Winnebago stuff, Gunne Sax, Burlap definitions

well my little gas guzzler Home is now sporting some fine curtains....Burlap and vintage fabric (of course)....

 I made undercurtains of burlap! Burlap! I love burlap!! see below to see more Burlap ! I think they're the perfect textury touch and they are Burlap !
and we ate dinner at the dinette the other evening....
The tree curtains are made of a 70s acrylic momie...a rather lightweight barkcloth, that was most often used for dresses, men's shirts, and halter tops...It's bright! and it's tree trunks and branches....in oh so 70s brown and orange and green....


mmmm....dinner !  organic broccoli, vegetarian corn dogs, garden salad, baked potatoes....and a martini to wash it down....



When the nasty nasty mini blinds were still up, I clothespinned the fabric in place to see if  I really liked the fabric, and the colors....and I do!

I used the selvage of the burlap panels to sew stretch wide lace to make a top casing. I also sewed a line around 3 edges to I could fringe the sides and hem....I love burlap fringe !!  I hung them up and they were too stiff........so I washed them. Warning !!! They Shed fibers!!
Oh well.  I hung them up again, fringed the edges, and bingo!! I really love them. This is about the 5th time I've made curtains of burlap.....

Look at that!
Trees!
I bought it about a year ago, and I had no idea what I was gonna do with it......because the rule is "The lady with the most fabric when she dies, wins!"

It could have become a ...tote bag, skirt, pillow.....but curtains for the Winnie is the right choice.
(If you want to see the beginnings of the re-do of my Winnebago, click the ----> Winnebago posts.)
This is what I mean, when I say "the recycled life". Winnie is recycled, and so much of what is here is re-used...thrift store, yard sales and stuff I've had for decades....


 I look at this fabric and I am reminded of the deep redwood forests of Northern California. That totally suits me fine.
Like I said,"When decorating, I'm trying to make Ralph Lauren cry.....
 and referencing a California cabin in the woods on the Marin coast, and a bit of classic 70s stuff....the kind of things I had when my kids were little...."




I've noticed looking around the blogosphere that birch trees and birch tree wallpaper is very popular right now....and I love love love birch ...it's on my Top Ten Trees I Love....but I adore this ...and you know me, I like to do my own thing, and not follow fads.


this neat vintage  fabric is from etsy seller vintagesistersoup





I also made little valances....one over the sink.....and one over the door....(pictures coming soon)

....the other thing I've noticed when I go looking for RV related topics is that many folks are painting their  trailer and RV interiors white........so, I get it. It can be dark and claustrophobic in there, but I adore the faux bois, so I won't be painting it white. I am thinking of doing something with the refrigerator door......but we'll see.

This is a sweet cottage style RV....lots of fabrics, lots of white paint, and so very cute....




Here's the original source, an RV blog that needs translation !


and now ....BURLAP. Burlap is bur·lap/ˈbərlap/ Noun: Coarse canvas woven from jute, hemp, or a similar fiber, used esp. for sacking. Lighter material of a similar kind used in dressmaking and furnishing. Synonyms: sackcloth - sacking - bagging.

 Origin: 1685–95; earlier borelap, equivalent to bore ( l ) coarse cloth. from Old French burel (see bureau ) + lap. burlap 1690s, probably from M.E. borel "coarse cloth," from O.Fr. burel ; or Du. boeren "coarse," perhaps confused with boer "peasant." The second element, -lap, meant "piece of cloth." Definition of Bureau: Origin: 1710–20; < French: desk, office, originally a kind of cloth (used to cover desks, etc.), Anglo-French, Old French burel, equivalent to bur- (probably < *būra, variant of Late Latin burra wool, fluff; compare bourrée ) + -el noun suffix. More info »Dictionary.com - Answers.com - Merriam-Webster - The Free Dictionary

 ...and also see Hessian cloth at wikipedia.
So,yeah, fabric used to cover a chest or desk, from Middle English and Old French. Coarse cloth. And yes it is! That's what I like about it...simple and basic. also let us not forget gunny sack. From which I am sure, Jessica McClintock took the name Gunne Sax.
Just after The First Depression, and WWII, after 16 loooong years of poverty and make do.....folks had been mighty accustomed to making clothes from that which was discarded...you know recycled and repurposed.......such as flour sacks and gunny sacks....such as this....

 Hi Marilyn! Nice dress made from a very itchy gunny sack!



here's a gal who made her own burlap curtains.....her inspiration was Ballard Designs....here's her tutorial....Way Cool....



here's one of my favorite things of all time....a 70s vintage jacket made from....burlap. yup. I wear this all the time.




made by Campus Casuals, of California....
of course, and I do love the rips in the jacket....
I blogged about this jacket before......go here to read all about why burlap was used, and who might have bought this jacket originally........


Bike and burlap pin I made and a burlap heart with custom calligraphy.....






so not only do I make lots of things from burlap.....I also use a huge coffee bean sack for the rug in my photo area....

you've seen this a billion times....




this 60s dress is available here.....





Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Sneak Peek at Wednesday's listings....and Thursday too



Got the time? 60s sundress pocket watch Novelty print on ticking stripes ..wow!





black label Gunne Sax........




70s Mary Jane Cherokee wedges....




Sparkly paisley 60s Enid Collins "I wish I was"



50s - 60s black sequin sheath.......nice size, from Saks Fifth Avenue...



and the next pile of goodies.......several rompers, a couple of bathing suits.........and some guy shirts........a Bjorn Borg polo and a Jantzen shirt ....coming soon to the etsy shop.......