Thrifty Guilty Pleasures

Yard sales: I have conflicted feelings about them. I love the thrill of a good find as much as the next person. And it is wonderful to get things we need from someone who no longer has a use for them rather than from a big box store. But it is still consumption, still buying and still stuffing our perhaps-already-overloaded storage spaces with yet more surplus.

There you go: conflicted.

My son loves yard sales, and they do make for some good entertainment. Yesterday, he came home with a large plastic pipe (for creating a bazooka), while I (the anti-consumer, you know) netted four pieces of fabric and a rolling cart.

The cart comes at a welcome moment. I've been eyeing rolling sewing machine cases. They look handy, well-designed for protecting the machine and very expensive! Not to mention quite glaringly unattractive. I had been turning over in my mind that there are many, many cases and carriers for all manner of baggage in our attic. How could it be that a solution didn't exist there already? I decided that the missing elements were a frame and wheels, in a configuration that could accept a sewing machine in a hard case. This American Tourister cart is sturdy, so I know it is up to the job. And only $2. Shown with the Capitol Deluxe rummage sale find of three weeks ago (ahem), and a divine piece of vintage wool plaid blanketing fabric from yesterday.

Probably the best fabric find was this Viyella. Only 36" wide, but nearly three yards, so enough for a blouse. Viyella is a wool and cotton blend of high quality.