New Use for an Old Suitcase

This is a small size white vintage Samsonite Travel Case that I'm transforming into a Picnic Case.

First I selected a vintage Children's Book and cut out the pictures in it. I LOVE these pictures because they take me back to my own childhood. I so relate to the characters from the movie "Now And Then".

With MOD PODGE Gloss-Lustre by Plaid decoupage glue and a sponge type paintbrush I then began arranging the pictures onto the suitcase. Work around the edge first then towards the center. I partially glued some pictures on to decide whether to put the next picture under or over that one as I went along.

On one side I arranged the pictures to see them upright when the case is laid flat and on the other side I arranged them to be seen upright as the case is being carried.


Then when it' was completely covered I applied the first layer of sealant still using the MOD PODGE glue for that as well. The first coat is still tacky. When it's dry I'll add 3 to 4 more coats drying each layer to seal it well then I'll lightly sand the project to buff it with fine sandpaper.

So while it's drying I found this red checkered fabric and I'm debating on how to turn it into the picnic tablecloth. I may hand embroider a design onto white muslin to add to it. Some red rickrack would be a nice touch too.

The inside is slightly musty so I have bleached the inside and crumpled newspaper in it for a few days to absorb any remaining odor. I've removed the inside liner to replace it with a corresponding fabric that I've yet to pick out.



Finally I'll shop for some retro style plastic dishes to fill the case for this summer picnicking.

This is a fun recycling project sure to receive plenty of use!

Isn't it adorable?

Flower Pounding a Mother's Day Gift

We are still perfecting the technique of flower pounding here. When the fabric gets wet the colors bleed. Since vinegar doesn't work to set it and it's too late to pre-treat the fabric like another advised to do we are going to try painting over the design with a clear fabric medium and if that fails we'll simply make a Mother's Day card instead of a pillow so the finished item won't ever need to even be laundered.

Anyhow we're using violets and the wild strawberries little yellow flowers for our project. We ripped a white sheet into squares to fit a 14" pillow form.

You simply lay the whole flowers or individual petals down into any design you like face up onto tape then turn that over and tape it where you want to pound it into the fabric. Turn the fabric over and pound with a rubber mallet or hammer or a judge's gavel like we did until you get the result you want. Peel off the tape and scrape off any bits of flowers remaining with a butter knife, credit card or your fingernail.

We used the entire yellow flowers and single violet petals to spell out "MOM".

We'll post pictures of the end result.





And meanwhile we have several other craft projects in the works. I found an outdated sweatshirt still brightly colored with a cute transfer on it and turned it into this pillow.




The design reads:

Potion of
Wine & Roses
for Love

Take three roses: white, pink and red.
Wear them next to your heart for three days.
Steep them in wine for three days more
and strain the wine into a goblet
and give it to your hearts desire.
When he drinks, he will be forever yours.
Ancient Love Potion

We don't believe in potions and spells of course but it's an amusing thought.

To make this pillow I simply cut a square adding enough length around the design for the fringe edging. I sewed it right sides out around the design leaving room to cut the fringe. We even used a rotatary cutter to dice the remainder of the sweatshirt to use as the stuffing and only had to use a very small amount of fiberfill to make it fluffy enough and finished sewing it closed. The last step was to cut the fringe.

Voila! It was just too easy and everyone here is fighting over it.

It's soft and the perfect size for traveling. It fits behind the back for just the right amount of support. It would make another great Mother's Day gift. And besides all these usefullnesses (is that a word?) it's just too cute.

An Irish Lad & Lassie

PETTICOAT POSSE

Cheri and I, best friends, grew up together. We married best friends back in the 80's and then I ended up moving away for many years. I've lived in Florida, Pennsylvania and Tennessee since we gave our hearts to those boys but we always remained close no matter how many miles were between us. Now we are reunited as I've moved back to our hometown here in West Virginia and we're living right next door to one another!


Journey with us on our mission to empower women through entrepreneurship with special attention to crafting and marketing vintage and collectible items. We hope our Posse grows to philanthropist level so feel free to join us!

On this blog we will share vintage patterns, recycle craft ideas and write about our adventures along the way.

We make heirloom quality items for our daughter's and granddaughter's hope chests and gifts for our families and friends and we make things to sell. Right now we are working on our first craft booklet together. An exciting endeavor! We've got so many crafting ideas we could never in 7 lifetimes major in them all so we've finally decided to unlock them into print for others to enjoy.

We're going to take you back in time to the 50's when kitchens were filled with hand embroidered dishtowels and potholders in whimsical designs, teach you how to make your own chenille fabric and share old vintage patterns as well from our treasure trove libraries.


So let's begin!

This heirloom pillowcase pair with an Irish theme I made for my March born and of true Irish descent granddaughter's hope chest. Here they are swaying in the April breeze on our clothesline to dry before being stored away for the next several years.

Cheri and I share the same backyard and clothesline!

I found the Lad and Lassie designs in old Workbasket magazines from seperate years of the 50's.

Once I found them nothing else would do for this project.






The delicate lace edging that looks like clovers I crocheted myself also from a very very old pattern that traces back to Greece.


~ Carol



Coming up next.... A special Mother's Day Card using a technique called Flower Pounding.