LOVE vintage notions!

See what I picked up at my Thrift Store! I was there yesterday bringing stuff to donate. I always have to check and see if there is any fabric ...

​So, no fabric, but a little baggie of old notions. The best kind.

Only 3 dollars, too.

Which is about what you would pay now for a single package of bias tape today. And look at the difference. The old bias tape has 5 yards of 100% COTTON compared to 4 yards of stiff poly/cotton!

55% polyester to be exact.

And see, it is "finer fabric" ... "more threads per square inch" ... so NICE. 

This package is from the 1960's.

What really blows my mind is the way bias tape was sold in the 1920's. Check out this page from a Wright's project book. You could get bias tape in all kinds of fabric from lawn to silk to linen and stripes and checks, too.

And in 13 different widths ... amazing.

They used it for everything, for neck facings and all sorts of surface decoration.

We have to make our own now for such variety.

I, also, got 4 packs of RAYON seam binding and found a 5th one I already owned. This is great stuff for finishing a hem edge before slip stitching. It is so soft, it contours to any shape and so light weight it doesn't' show through, at all, on the outside.

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This is what you can buy now a days. It is solid polyester and so stiff and unmanageable. I never use it. Not sure why I even have any. You can see I've had it for a while.

At my sister Theresa LaQuey's recommendation, I have purchased a few 100 yard reels of rayon seam binding in neutral colors. It is great and I use it often for all sort of things, hems, stabilizing shoulder seams, making hanging loops, etc. etc.

If you sew a lot you might want a roll or two of your own.

I love the way hooks and eyes used to be sewn to a piece of cardboard. Every hook had a straight eye AND a looped eye. Now if you get a package with 14 hooks, you only get 7 straight eyes and 7 straight hooks, which is a bit limiting.

I guess snaps are the thing that has changed the least. But when I tried taking these snaps off their cards the vintage snaps were so much stronger. Something to really consider if you are making a vintage dress that is using snaps along a placket to get in and out of it.

So, make a trip to your thrift store, you never know what will be there.