Vancouver Shopping: Value Village

If I may digress from sewing for just minute (or a paragraph), I'd like to start this post by talking about the simple pleasures of thrift shopping, which I have started to experience ever since I moved to Vancouver. What's not to like: amongst piles of well, ok...junk, the discovery of one simple little object, often old and beaten up, but offering the promise of a whole new life with as little as a fresh coat of paint or even just a good scrub sometimes.
My recent thrift purchases for example included an old-fashioned yellow kitchen scale (to go with my yellow painted kitchen) a small mirror, a stylish frame and a lamp...Like I said, a fresh coat of paint on the last two and a good scrub on the first is all that was needed for them to become part of my home decor.

Value Village in Vancouver is a great place for that, as it has aisles of knick-knacks that you don't need at all, but it's (fairly) cheap and shows so much potential...you just have to have it....(or I do anyway). Even when I don't find anything, I always enjoy the browsing...

That being said, I do sometimes go to Value Village looking for something specific. Like today, and that's what brings me back to sewing.

I'm planing on making my own dress form, a process which is quite common, from what I've seen on the world wide web, and a good (meaning cheap) alternative to buying a commercial one in my size - not to mention having one custom made to my exact measurements. I would be using the duct-tape technique for the shell and most likely filling it with expandable foam. I would then cover it with a thin layer of batting and some nice fabric...That part (the top) I have all figured out and already scouted the Home Depot for all the necessary material. However the bottom part is what's missing. I want my dopplegänger to stand on her own two feet or rather on some sort of stand or pole with a base, so I can have her be the same height as me or approximately. Preferably something not too hideous, possibly made out of wood and that would not damage the hardwood floors in my rental....oh and of course, it has to be cheap too...

With that in mind I was going through the furniture section at VV today, looking for something like an old wooden coat rack, or even an old floor lamp... When I saw the back of a neck and shoulder sticking out from behind a hutch I thought for a second I had lucked out...An actual dress form standing proudly with her head...well her neck about 6 feet above ground. Surely she had a stand that I could recycle and I might even be able to include the bodice into my own form.

But as I turned the corner of the aisle, there she was, actually standing on a table, with what looked like a christmas tree stand as both her legs and feet...

Looking closely, I could tell that she had once been a pretty lady with a rather petite silhouette, thin waist and narrow shoulders. A fresh coat of paint or a good scrub wouldn't do much for her now raggedy looks, but a new fitted dress might do the job, assumingthat the foam underneath wouldn't start flaking off once the demoiselle was naked....It seemed like a bit of work though and not really what I was looking for in the first place. At the risk of sounding like a pig: if she'd had nice leg(s) I would have taken her home...but however cheap she was ($12.99), her single foot just threw me off and so I turned my back and left her there...What is that you say? I am being difficult ? Well...for now anyway.

I was only getting started with my browsing though, and because today's visit was after all sewing oriented, I jumped at the opportunity to exercise my fashion eye...Well, let's just say that most of Value Village's style (if we can call it that) is from an era that I do not particularly wish to see coming back...But maybe that's just me.

First off: patterned fabric...Check out these beauties and reflect on the visual power of a strong floral...

The one on the right would really make a statement, paired with it's neighbour's dalmatien pillow.

Next Up: Trends

This is actually a Medium...Major shoulder padding going on here, great for added self-confidence, and for only $9.99 you get a leather jacket and a leather capelet all in one !

This gorgeous one would have been worthy of starring in Project Runway's wedding dress revamp episode from season 6...

Complete with the huge bow and cascading ruffles....

And finally: Design

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against a man wearing a dress. But to me it seams that this one's trying a little bit too hard to bring out his manliness, with his collar sticking up and his pipe in the hand....
and now in a sexier version, with the side slit to show off some (shaved ?) leg...

(I'm trying real hard not to make a comment on the "fast and easy" part...let's move on )

I hear polka dots are still very much in trends....or totally back...or definitely 2010...anyway look no further, for here they are:

and now for the dual return of the crazy shoulder padding AND the strong floral statement :

All joking aside (no, really !), I did purchase these two patterns: Simplicty 8749 and Simplicity 8389 (both dated 1978):

I thought view 3 (the white dress) was rather cute and an easy summer dress to make...also IMO, $0.99 was well worth spending to see what view 2's face looked like, especially since view 3 seemed so taken by her conversation skills...She even had View 1 turning her head back, trying to eavesdrop...

I liked the Peter Pan-collared top from Simplicity 8380, it also looked easy enough to make, plus, as an added bonus, the "no fuss fit": the pattern includes complete instructions on how to adjust the jacket pattern for a perfect fit, which will certainly come in handy as I have never made a jacket before. The style isn't overly exciting, but it might be a good learning project...

I may just mention that neither pattern is actually in my size. The first one's one size too big and the second one size two small...which will make for a nice challenge and again an occasion to learn in both cases.

So that's all I came out of Value Village with today, but I certainly had fun browsing (can't you tell). Always in the spirit of taking something old to make something new, next time I might just pick up a couple of actual frocks and go all "New-Dress-a-Day" on them, as I do like the idea of revamping a piece of clothing 4 sizes too big, especially if the fabric is interesting....

Not sure what I would do with these though....

and yes....this is a jumpsuit...