Vintage fabric trade advertising - 1969

I love these photos. They are from a Kanebo sample catalogue, vintage 1969. You are more than welcome to right click and save them for close ups etc...I just didn't want to reduce the resolution any further to dim the intensity...



The catalogue is selling Kanebo Soiestar, a beautiful soft nylon.



It's a trade brochure with samples also enclosed, but I forgot to scan them - sorry!



We are signing off from the operational side of the business this Friday, so we are busy getting orders out almost as soon as they come through the door. The break is only operational - no cutting of fabric, no posting/shipping - so we'll still be online and contactable via email.We're here if you need us :)

Half price advertising on this blog!

We are trying a new advertising service on our blog, called Igloo. It's customer based, so the Igloo interface makes it easy to upload advertisements and book a campaign.

We've decided to have a half price sale until Friday 9 October!

For as little as $3 you can advertise on our blog for a week or more and have your lovely advert as the top of our main page - so it's on view on every blog page.

The code is halfprice - see the top right hand corner of our blog for the advertising link...the offer finishes on Friday 5 October.

We hope you're having a great week!

A family tradition - AFL Grand Final day...

For my whole life I can remember enjoying the AFL Grand Final Day. Every year our family gets together for lunch, cake and some beer and scotch (for the boys). We cheer on the underdog if our team hasn't made to the final. This year it's between St Kilda and Geelong - St Kilda haven't won a premiership for decades so I'll be barracking for them. 'Carn the Saints!

Yes - and this is from a person who lives around eight minutes outside of Geelong. Pfffsstt! Who cares....my team Carlton aren't in the final so you've always got to go for the underdog, I say!

Have a great Grand Final day for those of you in Victoria!

A wall of 1950 glass...

Another dream home design. A wall of glass. A picture from every room. Sun shining in. Magnificent. Of course you'd need the land to match the house - you wouldn't want to look out on a drain or anything :)

Totally digging 1946

Pink corduroy with velveteen feel - anyone want it?

This fabric doesn't really suit the Retro Age aesthetic but it's lovely fabric, nonetheless. We got it in an estate sale but I am thinking more modern - 80s, 90s?

It's not going on the website, but if anyone would like it let us know. It is 104cm wide x just over 2m long, super soft and medium weight - $15 including postage (it weighs almost 700g, so postage is the ye olde 3kg pre-paid satchel).

You always want what you can't have

I am a total bath addict. I love my bath - with a dash of eucalyptus. I read in the bath. I relax in the bath. It's my time - no mothering, no wife-ing, no instructing, no fabric-ing...just me, a whiff of the Aussie bush, red-hot water and silence.

I got my heart halter put on today, just for 24 hours. Uncomfy thing to wear - suckers and cords everything - but I know it's for the greater good (my sanity).

So what do you think I am wanting the most?

Meh.

PS. I so want a vintage claw footed bath like the one my Nan and Pop had. None of this modern stuff.
PPS I so want a bath.

Total colourway wipeout...put your shades on...

Don't say I didn't warn you. Super bright yellow and blue paisley. Kapow. Down for the count? I know I am with this fabric - it's an absolute knock-out! For sale here.

Website photoshoot

We are currently freshening up our website - hopefully it shall be live soon, so you'll see all of the cool improvements. We had a photoshoot earlier this morning to try and get some fresh fabric shots. We didn't end up using any of these so I thought I would pop them here for some vintage fabric eye candy. Most of the fabric in the shoot isn't for sale yet - so here's a little sneak peak of what's coming up :)



We've had a weekend filled with guests so the days have gone super fast. I found myself wondering about time again - the older you get the faster it seems to go. Why? My childhood days each went for an eternity!



Lots to do this week. We're having a break from the business soon (yes - shock horror!) so I want to get everything organised before we have a rest. We'll be online still but no postage, wrapping or uploading - we really need the rest!



We'll be posting orders until early October so there's still lots of time to purchase that particular fabric you love! Justin has put his foot down after a year of crappy health for me, so we'll see how a break from the operational side of the business goes. I am thinking we need a trainee!



I've got a lovely lot of fabrics going up onto the site in the next day (promise!) - there's some lovely 60s and 50s pieces just waiting for new homes...

Have a lovely week, everyone!

New arrivals this morning...

I decided to work this morning. Keep pace a little. And I like working in silence :) - hopefully that doesn't sound like a bad parent. So I snuck here and popped some fabrics onto the website - the cotton above is here...



This is a lovely drapery blend with vivid purple flowers...



I have a soft spot for this large scale rose border print...very romantic



Indian or hippie take on the paisley...soft, light cotton blend



Go back to the glitz and glam of Dynasty with this brocade...more on the website for you to view, too!

Nautilus by Javier Senosiain - organic architecture

This amazing house was designed by Javier Senosiain. It takes my breath away every time I look at it and his other designs. I wish our suburbs had these homes - instead of building boxes, we could mould the earth into natural, organic individuality. I hope you like the journey of the house called 'Nautilus'. It looks like it's straight from a 70s magazine or Logan's Run. But, no - modern day architecture...in it's most basic form and function.

Courtney Love and Friday

I had a wonderful day today. Made an appointment to get a heart halter on me for 24 hours next week - strange, but as soon as I made the appointment I felt more relaxed. My arrhythmia is almost all of the time so it's a little tough to handle - but I am hoping an end is nigh'...of sorts!



It was a beautiful sunny day - Summer is coming! Lots of great parts to my day - one part was the realisation Retro Age is followed by Courtney Love on Twitter (yes - the real deal). I totally love Nirvana and Hole - my whole university days at RMIT revolved around Seattle sound. I adored grunge music - Soundgarden, Smashing Pumpkins, Faith No More...oh, those were the days of youth! Time has moved fast - I was 20 then and before I know it I am 36...how?

The shots are of a fabric going up on the website soon - totally adorable and quite unique, I think. An embroidered piece...don't you just love the red birdies??

Have a lovely weekend, all!

Announcing the winner of our store credit!

I used the wonderful Random.org and left it to the universe to choose a winner for our $20 store credit giveaway - and the lucky winner was Lea!

Lea said : i love vintage fabric because it inspires wonderment of what it might have been and who might have worn it.

Congratulations, Lea!



If you've got a couple of minutes read some of the wonderful responses to the line "I love vintage fabric because...." - they are all so special! Here are some below...

Carmel said: I love vintage fabric because it prompts threads of memories of a Marimekko-filled childhood.

Jenna Z said: I love vintage fabric because I get tired of seeing things made with the SAME fabrics that everyone can get at the quilt shop! Vintage fabrics are so unique because they are most likely the last few yards that have survived and you (YOU!) get to decide how to use it!

Miss Jane said: I love vintage fabric because it brings back such sweet memories of my groovy mum and aunties!

Nest said: I LOVE vintage fabric because it is both beautiful AND environmentally friendly. There is nothing more aesthetically pleasing than mid-century to 1970's prints. The bold patterns, the warm and rich colors, I love it all so much!

Anne said: I love vintage fabric because it reminds me of photos of my Mum way back when. How I wish she had kept some of that stuff.... Also reminds me of the crazy curtains we had that didn't match anything!

The line from Dixie is priceless:

I love vintage fabric because I was there and loved it when it was new!

So very true! It's a pertinent reminder that vintage was once new and highly sought after for break-through design - but I do think there is something wonderful about using something with a history...but that's just me!

Thank you for playing, everyone - stand by, as we've got some wonderful giveaways coming your way!

I cried with pride

Tonight was the first school concert. I can't believe I cried with pride - not just at my son, but all the kiddies who got up on stage to sing and dance their night away. I was such a proud Mum. All of the shots of Logan are film, so I only have this image of a very, very tired little brother, who, at 20 months, stayed up and watched every minute of the one and a half hour gig...he was delighted and thrilled. Magical.

And now both are in the deepest sleeps in dreamland...

And don't forget - 24 hours to go!! I am looking forward to giving away $20 of website credit to some lucky duck out there! If you haven't left a comment yet you have until Thursday night to! Good luck!