Stripped Down Model

Rather than pull the plug completely, I have paired it down my eBay store to the non-subscription level of 250 items or less. I don't have anything listed right now. I could re-list some of the needlekits that have been saved from this hoarding purge. 

I am still thrifting not for sale but for myself, friends and family. Sewing accessories are on the Tami-Allowed list. Here is the most unique set of buttons from a $4.99 bag from Goodwill. Aloha Buttons #411, stamped on the back is Sep 13 1988.

I kept about a third of the bag and thrifted the rest back. 

My clothing closet has also gone through a renovation. Goodbye ball gowns, no room for you! My wardrobe consists mainly of shirts, skirts, pants, leggings, and cashmere sweaters. 

I want to be going, and doing. Experiencing life in all of its glory. 

I am glad now that I made so many quilts, large and small. They come in useful for covering furniture or tabletops, protecting car seats, and for extra padding at the bottom of the dog crate. 

My daugther and her husband moved shortly after I did. We both utilized the scads of cotton fabric I've kept. Great for packing, when done the material is folded up and saved for other uses. 

I get to have roses again. I am nurturing a couple of old tea roses, one white (name unknown) and one red Mister Lincoln. A Grandiflora rose joined the garden, State of Grace and a hybrid tea Elle. I've a lot to do in the garden, so I better get going!

Reveling in Being a Grandma

Art class had started and then ended for me. Got tangled up in a dog's lead and fell. Not just a little fall but a specatular full body ending in a face plant. Severely injuring my left hand that took the brunt of the fall. Being left-handed means ending my art aspirations for this semester. 

An abrupt end to my former living situation has me rethinking everything. The eBay store era has ended. While I made some good pin money for a few years, storing ALL THAT STUFF became overwhelming. Hoarding issue instantly solved. 

My delight and focus is on being a grandma. I am given a second chance on child rearing. I have the freedom of time and energy to devote to little girl Mila. I get to experience all of things I did with my children like Easter egg hunts, and school/sports events. There are the things that I missed with my kids like first steps. I worked full-time in the legal industry that included long commutes. There were a lot of "firsts" I missed with my two kids. 

I didn't have the advantage of nearby relatives to assist with child care. My daughter has not one but two grandmas nearby.👵Every time I see my grandbaby my heart bursts.💖

Segueing to sharing a few sewing patterns I pulled from the 2,000+ I had listed for sale. Anything that seemed remotely "fun" stayed with me. The lead off image is a 2008 Jelly Roses pattern by Bunny Hill Designs. 

This Postcard Art Quilt by The Cotton Ball instructions might serve as inspiration for the California State Fair prompt Wish You Were Here

Of the primitives series patterns I kept makers Kinfolk, Mulberry Folk Art, Hand Dids Primitive Needleart and Primitive Pieces by Lynda. 

Ending the post with the oldest pattern pulled from sale. Undated Let's Sew Design 7157 Knitted Jacket. 

And the pattern insert. 

Embracing my inner Fairy

Even though I am purging the patterns for sale, I am buying CDs. I bought at thrift 6 CDs for $1, it doesn't matter if there is a clinker or two. Music has entered my life again. 

In a time not too long ago and not too far away, I ripped music to my laptop. I was under the delusion that those ripped tunes would last forever (those last two words drawn out longer for special effect). 

Fast forward to now and you guessed it. Those ripped tunes are lost forever. I tried different methods and cloud service blah blah. Nope. 

And the alternative is *drum roll* buying back the CDs from thrift. Not only buying back my favorites but also discovering new music. I am also gravitating toward instrumental compilations rather than just vocal ones. Here is my latest listen Fairy Nightsong.

YOLO and the Purging of the eBay Product

You Only Live Once. My focus has swiveled to less at-home projects and more travel experiences. Exploration Over Accumulation. I am kicking around the idea of traveling somewhere special this summer within the U.S. 

The upcoming 2026 California State Fair theme is Wish You Were Here. The Crafts Special Contest entries should reflect anything related to postcards such as places traveled, different cultures, and iconic landmarks. 

As promised, I ran this prompt through an AI generator *art postcards travel culture landmarks* I didn't receive any inspired images just pictures of postcards. 

I am considering entering the Dollhouse Quilt I showcased in December. Division 192 Class 1 is the one person small art quilt category. Interestingly, the notes for that division state "Art quilts must be an original design, meant to be used as a work of art, and made entirely by the entrant and cannot include any element created or significantly altered using Artificial Intelligence (AI)."

On a different topic - eBay. My selling account was officially closed at the end of January. I am making daily donation trips to hospice thrift. Of the 2,000+ items I had listed these were the few that I pulled for myself. All of the Folkwear Patterns ranging in date from 1978, 1986, and 2000. 

Crazy Quilt Ornament kit. A perfect small project for the 2026 holiday. 1986 Dimensions Crazy Quilt Ornaments 9052. 

This chicken needlepoint I have pulled and listed more than once. 1986 Sunset View from the Barn 6419. Forever mine now. 

Yarn is next to go. Searching the storage unit for a Pacifica Pattern. I may have already donated it to hospice thrift.😒

And a New Era Begins

Had a change of residence and in the move I discovered the two boxes of sewing patterns I had collected that range in date from the 1950s through the 1970s. The lead-off image is the new sewing center setup. 

That Simplicity 1570 *sighs* will be next up when I get to sewing again. The Simplicity 3553 is the oldest dress pattern in my collection. 

These Vogue patterns would be fun to make. 

Pulling the plug as an eBay seller, at least as far as sewing patterns and yarn. I haven't decided if I will keep the account for the remainder of items such as Barbie clothes and tarot cards. The glory years for eBay sales were during the pandemic. All the items I had listed for sale were home-based: vintage cookbooks and sewing manuals, needle kits and yarn, books, and CDs. The amount of time invested to list the items and then STORE them does not compute any more. 

Art update: The Design Fundamentals online class is in full swing. Here we are in the 2nd week of the course and the 40 classmates have already dropped to 25. We are starting out with some value drawings so nothing to post for awhile. 

Tower of Trim and Ribbon

I have been spending some time organizing my crapht cabinet. I had trims and ribbons in bags and stuffed in corners of the cabinet.  

A toilet paper roll holder will suffice, now that I can see all of them. 

What else is contained in my crapht cabinet? 

Cross-stitch fabric and thread
Rolls of colored duct tape
Containers of seed beads
Pom Pom trims
Oil and acrylic paints
Pillow forms

Update on the current sewing project. Struggling again with the bodice portion of the dress. I had to recut one part of the bodice TWICE. Good thing the flamingo print I've chosen has extra fabric. 

Thrifting update: I picked up a $3.99 bag of Matchbox cars, here are a few of the interesting ones. There were three other bags of the cars. The bag I chose contained cars manufactured in the 1990s. Someone's Matchbox collection went to thrift. I say someone because as a little girl I loved to play with Matchbox cars. 

Art Class Has Started

Even photographing my art supplies for my professor's review looks artistic. 

At first I bought the crappy crapht acrylic paint from an online retailer. What was I thinking? I already had the required colors in higher-end paint for the upcoming project. 

We also needed brushes and pencils, both of which I had on hand in my amazing crapht cabinet. 

Some years ago, I fancied myself as a landscape painter and worked with oil or acrylic paint. I kept maybe 10% of what I created during that time period and burned the rest in an artist's fit. 

Design Fundamentals is described as an introduction to understanding the underlying structure of all two-dimensional art forms. There are 40 students taking this online course. The professor noted that the community college district added more remote classes and upped the class size (previously 25-30 students) this semester. 

Segueing to the subject of food. I have been trying to branch out making breads and other dishes. Here was my first Quiche Lorraine and I recently made homemade pizza. 

What Sewing Actually Is and the Antique Pattern Find

I am figuring out this new hobby of sewing clothing. I've come to the realization you can be just as creative in garment creation as anything else. There is the base pattern, then you can add your own touches with stitches and other details. 

One comment on this FB post was "they forgot the cursing percentage." I would add seam ripping involves ASR "angry seam ripping." Pressing and ironing aren't even included in the graphic. 

I visited an estate sale liquidator up country and spent $10 on antique sewing patterns. Antique is considered over 100 years old. I never imagined I would be able to obtain such patterns. 

Butterick No. 424 and 426 doll clothes patterns are from 1923. 

Dating back even further to 1899 Butterick 337 Doll's Play Suit pattern

Butterick 4314 Baby Dress, also from 1899

The last bit of ephemera is undated but around the same time period as the others. The Pictorial 2224 child's dress size 1/2 - 6. 

I never imagined I would find patterns this old. Hoping against hope I will find a treasure trove of antique ladies dress patterns to create modern clothes from vintage sewing patterns. 

Watermelon Dress and some crafty patterns

I. Just. Can't. Help. Myself. I traveled downstairs to my sewing pattern repository and pulled yet another pattern. This is why I keep random bits of specialty print fabric - for projects just like this! 

This pattern is child size 2, 1992 Simplicity 7784 with collar and pocket variations.  

Other patterns I pulled were crafty in nature. 1996 McCall's Crafts Sewing Doll with Quilt.

And 1993 Simplicity Decorative Pull Toy in 5 styles. Neither one of these patterns are scheduled for completion, just retained in the keeper category. 

1998 Pieces from My Heart #183 The Chosen Ones. Cutest of the cute holiday patterns. 

Ending with a bit of randomness - I have encouraged people to buy stocks, especially dividend stocks for investment. I received an offer from eTrade to sell an odd lot of 50 FedEx stock. I accepted and wasn't really paying attention to how much that trade was worth. Let's just say I made more than a few thousand and paid off my debt from 2025. Don't be afraid to buy dividend-producing stocks! 

Female Sefiroth Cosplay Part 3

Sally Stand-in models the bodice and skirt portion version of the female Sefiroth cosplay patterned from Simplicity 8074. The arm bands, etc. are cut but not sewn at this stage. 

My first attempt at the bodice was a disaster. Had to recut the fabric and try again. Sewing is not all wine and roses, especially when you are a rank beginner. I went with the second attempt, a mushroom print with a solid center, with the backing in an MCM-inspired print. Going with that solid center inset made it look more Star Trek than Sefiroth.

Working with remnants meant I had to piece the fabric together to fit the pattern piece. In a way it became a Happy Mistake. That is when you intend to go a certain direction in a project and something happens, ok, mistakes happen, then it becomes a Happy Mistake. 

The pattern instructions note to line the skirt with bias tape but I chose to fully line it with cotton. The beige fabric needed to be stiffer to drape correctly. I like the skirt and it fits, unlike the bodice. Even it is too small for Sally Stand-In, I barely got it on her to model it. 

The jacket was made to wear with the dress female-sefiroth-cosplay-jacket. Because of my frustration with the pattern, I am going to put it away for now and move on to the next project.  

Here, I am making the marks with the tailor's chalk. This is the most complex garment I have tackled so far. 

Next up is Simplicity 4807. Fabric is cut and marked, ready to sew. Let's see how a vintage pattern stacks up to a modern one for instructions and easy-to-follow ability. 

My Name is Tami and I have a Sewing Pattern Obsession

This week's sewing patterns purchased at thrift (4 for $1) fuel my obsession. These have landed in my vintage sewing pattern tub of wonderfulness. 

It is an automatic keeper when there is a cat in the pattern graphic! 1965 Simplicity 5080 child pajama, nightgown and cap. 

Another from 1965 Butterick 3656 Misses Evening Length Dress. 

I picked out this Style 2513 pattern from 1994 for the patchwork drawstring bag. 

Jumping back to an early Vogue 6564 skirt pattern from 1965. 

And the rarest of rare, a pattern maker unknown to me until now, Spadea Boutique Patterns Y-1012-2 from 1969. Being sized at 12, this will be a dress I will attempt in the months to come. 

Joining in Again - Grandfluencer Style

https://www.ebay.com/itm/187941766962

Leading off with the embroidered piece scored at an estate sale of a lady who lived in a mobile home park. I made it to the second day late morning. That piece was in a crafter's box, where I purchased a couple of sewing patterns, and a couple of books all for $10. The books were listed for sale on eBay from my iPhone. My $10 should turn into $40. 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/187941099947

https://www.ebay.com/itm/187941661574

And what am I joining in again with? I am already prepping posts for the April Blogging from a-to-zchallenge. Admittedly, one of my favorite parts of the challenge is the Theme Reveal. 2025 Theme Reveal is another of my popular posts from that year theme-reveal-for-2025-april-blogging. I've got the gown, I've got the wig, I'm good to go for the theme reveal post scheduled for March 9. 

Signups for the event are March 24 through April 5. Like my Countdown posts at Christmas, it takes months of preparation. A 3-month lead time is just about right.  

Ending the post with Belle, our German wirehaired pointer splashing around in the pond. We have had a break in the weather so we were able to visit the property. Lots of trees down and the greenery is sprouting fast.

Got the Beads from the Goodwill Bin

In my year-end post I mentioned that I am always on the lookout for seed beads. A pop-in visit to the Goodwill in Rancho Cordova, California, came through for me. 

Goodwill carts items for sale out in rolling bins. I snagged those beads along with a couple of other items from the bins. Is that an artist's palette or what? 

Beginning my online art class Design Fundamentals in a couple of weeks. This is a required course before you can move into upper level courses such as Painting I. As is my habit, I will post intriguing things from my coursework and some of my attempts at artistry. 

Working my way through the Sefiroth sewing project. Had to recut the bodice back because I biffed on the first cut-through. 

Hoping to have this cosplay completed soon.😀

Back to some brrr cold days in Northern California. Keeping the woodstove lit.🔥Here is Belle enjoying the warmth.