And it was Flea Market Saturday !

Flea market day ! Odd, ‘cause the usual corner signs weren’t out, or I’d have noticed and gone yesterday. Still, I found out early enough to go before it got too hot – and it was still stifling in the barn / arena. About the only reason we stayed as long as we did was because there were three tables, laden with fabric bundles and bags of who-knows-what notions and such. We saw it all, from the guy selling those tiny water bottles for 50¢ again (and doing quite well, I saw them frequently in browsers’ hands), to the seller trying to get $50. for one of those 90s reproduction cathedral-style radios with the cassette deck in the side. 

Turned out, the tables were owned by the same guy who sold me all those Barbie books and D’ella last time, so I could cut a slight deal, but I already knew everything was pretty much priced as marked. Oh, quick lol – of the six or seven Barbie books I didn’t buy, only one remained. After much consideration, I snagged two bags and three bundles of fabric for $10. Not too bad. The black floral is silky-textured, been meaning to work with floaty fabrics again, now that I have the walking foot. Unbleached muslin is always good to have, especially for household projects, and I just couldn’t resist the spring colors of the floral dotted Swiss. I’m also a total sucker for vintage needle cards and grab bags, and can always use thread, so. . . 

We only stayed an hour, even with the water bottles I’d remembered to bring, we were both dripping sweat in minutes. Plus we’d seen most of it last time. Pretty much bought everything that caught my fancy, and couldn’t wait to dig into the bags once we were home. Opened the more expensive ‘needle card’ bag first , it yielded two needle cards – one advertising Kenmore sewing machines and console cabinets was tucked inside the Empire State one – two spools of 18¢ white thread produced for Wal-Mart Discount City, wooden spools of white and off-white quilting thread, and a small wooden orange spool, three scraps of fabric so 70s, I pined for an avocado-green stove for a few minutes, four miniature granny squares crocheted together, two wrecked and one intact crocheted doilies, a foot of wide Chantilly lace, one of those rubbery jar-opener things with the local hospital’s name emblazoned on it, and a pretty, hand-sized print of an orange butterfly nesting on yellow flowers, probably from a miniature crewel kit, a pencil and a slightly grotty paper clip. 

The cheaper bag was packed ! It yielded 10  spools of thread, half wooden, including one that’s almost twine-thick, an eight-inch ‘dress me’ doll, whose head and arms have detached, but they’re in the same bag, a small scissors sharpener, with directions, 19 café curtain rings, most still in the vintage TG&Y package, a cone of silver lame thread, also from TG&Y, a cone of silver elastic cord, small ball of crochet thread, a yellow felt drawstring bag, five semi-complete cards of hooks and eyes, mostly Clinton brand, a small plastic container of more loose hooks and eyes, an ‘Arnold’ container with mostly grotty white and black pearly boutonniere pins, three cards of metal snaps, a card of no-sew snaps, complete with install tool, an odd broken faux pearl necklace, a string of faux seed-pearls, two vintage cards of  cluster beads (they’re known as tri-beads now) in blue and green, a set of red clackers on twisted red/pink/white yarn, purple Magic Bow ribbon still on the card, a vintage pack of white Press On (‘Mend as you Iron’),  a Wonder Bread Ladies’ Hosiery Mending Kit, another tiny sewing kit, a six-inch Farm Bureau wooden ruler, six jewelry bits that probably go to that odd necklace, a dozen random buttons, two safety pins, three needles, a barrette, and the pouch to a pair of $3 Revlon nail scissors, offering a service guarantee and advising occasional joint oiling. 

Quite a haul ! I’ll have to scan a lot of this stuff, the artwork is awesome and there’s something just so attractive about vintage, even when it’s just packaging and advertising.