Vintage Sewing Notions

I love thrift store shopping, and I love sewing. When those two worlds collide, it really does it for me! The thrill of the hunt when searching thrift stores and yard sales is a high that makes you feel like you found a diamond in a dung heap, a silk purse among sows' ears, a needle in a haystack.

It is by far my favorite and most enjoyed way to shop. That feeling of plucking a hidden gem from the jaws of the garbage truck make you feel like the smartest and luckiest of shoppers. It feels like scoring a prize, and saving the earth, all wrapped up in one quiet afternoon at the local thrift shop.

As a sewist, a maker, and a recycler, one of my very favorite things to search for is sewing fabric and supplies. (Check out While She Naps' recent article with tips for this, all of which I whole heartedly endorse.) And as a lover of old things that tell a story, it's just icing on the cake when those fabrics and supplies are vintage.

The most beautiful parts of these vintage trims are the packaging. Each brand (I count about a dozen different brands in my collection) had a different look and each company clearly took great care in the text, image, and layout. Not like the single, utilitarian-looking brand we see in craft stores today. (I'm looking at you, Wrights! I recommend a "throw-back" label, like the beauts you used to make.)

It's also really fun to note the old prices on the packages. It gives a sense of age, too; the cheaper it is, the older it is, probably. Everything from 90 cents to 8 cents (and everything in between). Similar products are $2-$4 a package today!

I initially began scouring thrift stores for these as a way to save money on sewing supplies. But I freely admit that I've fallen too in love with their closed packages to open them and use them up now. So, it's off to the craft stores to buy the modern, expensive, boringly packaged equivalents, so that I can enjoy these pretty gems a little longer.