Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Newest Items at SassySisterVintage

Here's some of the items I've put in my shop (or will be) this week:

This gorgeous 1940s black cocktail dress will be in my shop in the next day or so.


Coral Pink 1970s Grecian Goddess Dress in SassySisterVintage now.

Amazing 1960s Alfred Shaheen dress is my shop now.

1950s Illusion Lace Dress with Ribbon Detail in my Shop now.

1940s Black Cocktail Dress with Pale Pink Insert with Rhinestones.

Handmade necklace made from a large opaque white/cobalt blue vintage marble and antiqued copper chain.  In SassySisterVintage now!

LARGE sized 1950s needlepoint bag/purse.

Thanks for looking!

Monday, December 6, 2010

I'm In Love with Vintage Sweater Dresses!

This past Friday I went into one of my favorite places to find vintage and happened upon this light mint green sweater dress from the 1970s by Lillie Rubin.  My intentions were to put it in my shop to sell.  I tried it on and immediately thought.....nope, this won't go in my shop for a while.  I like it too much!


Not only did it fit well but it was super comfy too!

I decided to browse through vintage sweater dresses on Etsy today.  Here's some super cute one's I found:

The first one comes from TreeandKimballMarket.  Not only is the dress cute but I love the fabulous wallpaper background.

This one comes from TheRubyKitten.  It looks super comfortable!

 This one is from Studio1950.  Would look super cute with a pair boots.

and this one from the thevintagemistress.  LOVE this color!

Thanks for looking!

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Button, Button, Who's Got the Buttons (and Marbles)?

I recently added jewelry to my shop that I've been making.  I couldn't resist the urge to be creative and make something, and why not put it in my shop?  In addition, my mom just taught me soldering and I'm having the best time with it! 

I've collected vintage buttons and marbles for some time and have several drawers full.  I'm going to add other vintage findings to my designs as time permits....that's the key TIME!  Where does it go?







Thanks for looking!

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Already in Preparation for the Next Vintage Clothing Fashion Show

I made a short visit to the back of the Salvation Army today.  My visual senses go on overload when I look at the racks of cool clothing, shoes and accessories collected for the next show.   Carol, who is in charge of the show, and I picked out a couple of outfits that I will be wearing.


About half the clothing is vintage and the rest modern. We mix and match it  Many of these pieces of clothing and accessories will be used on the 30 women and children participating in the show.   The last show went so well that this one will be at the Civic Center.

Shoes, shoes and more shoes.....

The clothing is sold after the show and all the proceeds go the Humane Society, the local art center and the Salvation Army.

It's like going into a 1,200 sq. ft. closet that's well organized.  My closet at home is neither one of those.

Some of the formals.


and lots more.

Like I mentioned, the clothing is for sale after the show.  I've already got first dibs on about 10 pieces.  The hard part is waiting until after the show to get it since the show isn't until March!  Yep, we're getting a running start ;)

Sunday, September 12, 2010

A Decor Dilemma

A couple of months ago I was in my favorite local antique mall, The Highlands just plundering (for some reason that I don't remember, I had a little time all by myself). I've been looking for a large letter "T" to hang up in our dining room and just happened to find a very large one in a booth at the back. I assumed it would be outside a price range I'd feel comfortable paying, but nope, it wasn't! $35 was reasonable enough for me.


I'm sure it came off of some old sign because of the brackets in the back and was hooked up to be electric.  Ya just don't see T's like this anymore.  (My intentions are to take the brackets off in the back but just haven't gotten around to it yet.)

So finally last week I had the chance to hang it up.  I asked Duane (my husband) to go and take a look at it. I was so sure that Duane would be thrilled with it because it was the first initial of his namesake.  The last name that he's carried around with him all his life.  A big "T" for Thomas!   He looked at it and his first reply was "it's pink".  Pink?  I looked at it and thought it was red.  In his eyes it was pink.  I asked him, well, so do you like it?  Duane:  hmmm, it's alright.  I was so surprised!  No other comments from Duane since.  Geesh!  Don't get too thrilled next time Duane.  Well, my intentions are to keep this big letter "T" hanging right where it is.  It's cool, funky and different.  Really, what I think is that it's just a bit too big and wild for Duane.  His conservative nature just won't allow him to like my big letter "T".  I'm keepin' it 'til I find one I like better though.

P.S.  Did you see those other big letters?  The white ones on the floor.  Those are big enamel/metal letters from the 1930s.  They still need a little bit of cleaning but will be in my shop http://www.sassysistervintage.etsy.com/ soon!

Monday, September 6, 2010

Do you Dress Like Your Spouse, Boyfriend or Girlfriend?

I saw this picture the other day and it made me laugh to myself.  Mostly because my husband and I have such different senses of style/fashion.  Um, more like my husband could care less about fashion or ANY kind of style.  Jeans or shorts, a 5 year old t-shirt and shoes.....any kind of shoes (flip flops, sneakers, etc.) are fine with him.  He came from a humble family of 8 kids and grew up in a small town in Wyoming.   Fashion and style were the last things on this families mind.  Needless to say, I didn't marry Duane for his sense of style but he has many other wonderful characteristics that make up for his lack of fashion sense.

This picture was taken almost 2 years ago but it's the only one of us both together that's on our new computer.  That little baby will be 2 years old next month. I guess it's time to take a new family pic!


Duane and his girls.  When we go to church, as on this day where my family is being pictured.  I help him with his clothes.  He doesn't seem to mind too much.


Here's my 2 sisters, me (on far right) and our 90 year old grandmother.  My sister Tiffany on the far left and her husband have very similar fashion sense.....and they both have good taste.  Courtney, with the darker hair on the right side of my grandmother, has good fashion sense when she thinks about it.  The same for her husband.  But I just don't think it's as important to her or her husband.  But when they try, they both look good.

When you get right down to it, does fashion sense really matter?  How important is it to you?  Has your spouse or significant other ever embarrassed you with the way they dressed?  I suppose everyone is different and has different priorities.  Truly, I try to keep matters such as this in perspective and remember that in the big realm of life and everything that we deal with, that the way we dress shouldn't matter too much.   Why is it then that when I wake up the next morning and I see Duane with this bright orange (Wal-mart) t-shirt on and shorts, that this bright orange t-shirt really bugs me?  He knows it bugs me too, but he doesn't care.  What else can I do...........but laugh.

Monday, July 5, 2010

A Fabulous Featured Article About My Mom in Tallahassee Magazine

Wearable Memories

Monticello’s Sue Williams Transforms Vintage Linens into Heirloom Dresses 

By Carissa Neff

The dresses speak for themselves. And it’s a good thing, too, because Sue Williams, their maker, is beyond modest, silent even, as I stand in her living room and gush over each handmade dress she sits out before me. Williams is the sole proprietor of Vintage Green Peas, which creates handmade dresses for infant and toddler girls from vintage materials.


She sells her pieces, for the most part, from under a plain white tent at local festivals and fairs and from her Monticello home. Since I cannot wait for the next Springtime Tallahassee or Watermelon Festival, I have traveled like a pilgrim to Monticello to buy dresses for my daughters, up the dirt road aptly called Rainbow’s End, past the pastures and picturesque pond, round the bend and up the drive, to be there, in her home, the air smelling, honest to goodness, of homemade pie. I cannot help but enthuse. Ordinary dresses, these are not.

Williams began sewing vintage dresses for her seven granddaughters seven years ago. From there, the business grew organically as she had more and more requests for her work. She sews the dresses, oftentimes from antique dress patterns, both by machine and by hand. The garments are largely inspired by her impressive and ever-growing collection of vintage linen as well as decorative notions, buttons, lace and trim mined from other items of antique clothing and accessories.

“I fall in love with the fabric first,” Williams says. Her business was borne out of her falling in love with a pillowcase at a yard sale. Or, more accurately, falling in love with the beautiful and intricate stitching at the hem of a vintage pillowcase that contained a hole where, apparently,

someone’s head had rested for a good many years. The damaged case had no utility, obviously, but she wondered if it couldn’t be salvaged somehow and given a second life.

“I love to create, and once I get an idea in my mind, I have to see it through,” Williams has said to me more than once. In this case, her idea was to salvage the needlework on the pillowcase by grafting it onto a little dress. What was old, tired and damaged would become honored in a new and transformational way. Soon afterward, a one-of-a-kind business would be born selling one-of-a-kind dresses — literal fabrics of history pieced together to create something new, something utterly more remarkable than its individual parts.

“I probably have the largest collection of vintage pillowcases in the country,” Williams says matter-of-factly. “Lots of people make dresses from pillowcases. They cut out a place for the neckline and arms, add a belt … .”

When reminded that her designs include tailoring and careful handwork, I interject: “No one in the world makes dresses like yours, though, with this much tailoring and care, this much handwork.”

“The handwork is very time-consuming,” she admits in characteristic understatement.

For Williams, there is no alternative to the handwork. It is this attention to detail, together with her skill and imagination, that elevates her work from homespun craftwork to true art. The dresses elicit, for their maker and others who can appreciate them, emotional power.

And Williams is just as in love with the details as her customers.

“I just love old buttons,” she says. “I have a friend who says she has a jar of old buttons for me. Last time I saw her, she forgot to bring it with her. Oh, I just can’t wait to get my hands on those buttons.”

In fact, friends and family give Williams many of the vintage materials she uses to make the dresses.

“One of my daughters runs an antique business in Goshen, Ala.,” she says. “And I find things at antique malls, estate sales, garage sales. I don’t shop online.”

Not that she’s against online shopping.

“Part of the pleasure is finding everything. Different parts of the country will have different things,” Williams says. “My sister even sent me some antique pillowcases from Singapore.”

Williams also creates commissioned pieces, dresses made from vintage fabrics people have loved and cherished and want to see given a new life. When I gave her a tablecloth from the 1950s that I loved but rarely used, I asked her to make two coordinating dresses for my daughters with the only instruction being “Do what you do.” I could never have imagined the result. I’m not ashamed to say, seeing my favorite tablecloth reinvented in such an honorable way brought tears to my eyes … and to my husband’s. Our useless old tablecloth had become two heirloom dresses each girl could wear and keep and pass down, and on and on.

Williams also runs a sister endeavor called In The Picture. She paints, from photographs, oil and acrylic portraits of children in classic pastoral settings, caught in a natural and unstaged state.

When asked if any one dress she has ever made was more special than another, Williams is quick to respond.

“Thirty years ago, someone gave me a hand-crocheted Irish wedding dress, and I hung onto it and finally used it to make the most gorgeous christening gown you have ever seen,” she says. “I used the lace from that dress, the leftover bits and pieces, for a long time.

“Sometimes I hate to sell the dresses because I know I cannot ever make that same dress again. Those exact materials — that fabric and those buttons, that lace — it’s difficult to part with them. But that’s the name of the game.”

“I suppose there were many painters who never wanted to part with their paintings,” I say in response.

But after our conversation ends, I think further about what I had said. For the composer, the painter, the writer, the sculptor, the singer and dancer — for all of them, their mediums, the raw materials from which their art comes, are in endless supply. There are always more words and clay, notes and paint. Then again, what makes art art is not the medium itself, but what is done with that medium. The irresistible urge. Seeing it through and letting it go. That’s the name of the game.

Carissa Neff holds a Ph.D. in creative writing from Florida State University. She writes nonfiction, poems and plays. She now lives with her husband and two daughters in Austin, Texas.

Sunday, April 25, 2010

It speaks to me........

Last night while surfing Etsy I found a jewelry shop fancifuldevices.etsy.com.  For whatever reason, this jewelry really spoke to me......  Much of the jewelry had a religious theme, it had a raw and sort of rustic feel to it. There were some really beautiful semi-precious gems too.  All of it added together was beautiful.  I promised myself that at some point, when I have some more time (haha), I'd get my jewelry supplies back out and start creating.  Here's some of the jewelry from her shop:















Here's some new goodies in my shop:

One big ol' vintage beaker. To be specific, it's 11" tall. Found it at a recent estate sale. See it in my shop http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=45559845

  This cool hippie, boho dress sold within 24 hours, but I thought it was so cute on.  Thought I'd share it.

These cool hippie, suede boots from the 60's will probably be listed tomorrow. I wasn't happy with my first pics of them so I'm going to do them over tomorrow.   Love'em!

1960's hippie, suede mini dress/vest. It's in my shop right now: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=45175579

Etienne Aigner 1970's classic leather bag.  Check more of it out right here: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=44918739


Fabulous vintage cowboy boots.  See the other pics because they're actually lots cuter: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=45148836

Many of these items came from the same estate sale.  It occurred to me as I was doing this blog update that many of the items were leather, suede, hippie.  I didn't do it intentionally, but I'm always drawn to these sort of items.  Maybe in my previous life I was a hippie, flower child or something???????

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Pink is Pretty or is it Pretty in Pink?

Just this week I've been a little on a pink binge.....lots of new pink pretties in my shop.

This adorable shabby and chic pink bulletin board. I found it in its natural state (no paint). I did a sweet, distressed and aged paint treatment on it. Ohhh so cute!  Check it out right here: http://www.etsy.com/listing/44773843/pretty-in-pink-distressed-vintage-bullet

This beautiful pale pinkish peach 1950's vintage dress.  Embroidered flowers on a sheer fabric with lining underneath.  For some reason I keep on seeing this dress as being so cute to wear to a wedding.  Find more of it right here: http://www.etsy.com/listing/44800813/pale-pink-peach-mad-men-vintage-evening

Another pale pink dress, this one is in linen. Really, it's much cuter in real life. The original belt is long gone, but I think I'm gonna look for another one to go on it.  See more of this dress right here: http://www.etsy.com/listing/41284722/pretty-in-pink-vintage-embroidered-linen

An adorable late 60's floral dress with pink, orange and purple flowers.  Also comes with a matching belt.  Way cute for the summer.  Purchase it right here in my Etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/listing/44588000/vintage-floral-pink-ruffle-1960s-sleevel

Nubby and soft wool. Too warm for our south Alabama springtime, but so many places where this could be worn almost year round.  Find it in my shop right here: http://www.etsy.com/listing/42789271/pretty-in-pink-vintage-sweater-lg

Adorable fluttering butterflies on green foliage dress.....oh yea, this one recently sold to a lady in England.  Cute dress though....

Such a fabulous carpet bag from the 1960's in pinks, yellows and olive greens.  Check it out at: http://www.etsy.com/listing/42807935/vintage-carpet-bag-purse-unused-and-fabu

And finally, this beautiful 1950's pale pink prom dress. Lovin the amazing crepe adorning this dress. http://www.etsy.com/listing/44444596/vintage-dress-pink-prom-formal-crepe-sat

Hope you have a pretty pink day ;)