PastGems Vintage Jewelry Blog

Upcycled Tee-Shirt Jewelry Pouches!

I just realized I haven't posted anything to my blog since December 17!!  So many distractions over the holidays and the distractions have continued into the New Year.  I haven't even published my January Newsletter yet and I apologize to those few who might actually look forward to it.  It will be coming soon I promise.

I hope everyone had a joy-filled and heartwarming holiday season.  Mine was mellow and wonderful spending time with my family.  A good time was had by all.

Anyway!  I am very excited about something new we're doing here at PastGems.com.  If you know me at all, you know that I am becoming ever more fanatic about reusing and recycling -- I'm for whatever I can do to make a smaller footprint.  Well, I got this idea to make little pouches out of cut up old tee-shirts.  Not an original idea -- I saw someone doing it on Etsy.  And I thought -- omigod -- I have a gazillion old tee-shirts and actually I had a box of them saved with the idea of someday making a tee-shirt quilt -- right -- like that's going to happen!  But this is something I could do right now!  And put to good use.

I ship a lot of my jewelry in cute little gift boxes with cotton and all that.  And they are nice.  I've searched and searched for boxes like these made from recycled materials and if they exist, I haven't been able to find them.  It seems like such a waste to buy them new.  So I also collect these from my friends and family.  You know how you save those little jewelry boxes whenever you receive a gift?  Seems like everyone has 'em.  But making pouches out of old tee-shirts just seemed brilliant to me!

Now you  have to understand that I've never held myself out as a seamstress.  My one shot at really sewing was when my daughter was born (almost 29 years ago!)  When the nesting instinct set in, I bought a sewing machine and made all her clothes for the first couple of years.  And then for several years after that I made the kids' Halloween costumes.  It was fun.  But I never felt accomplished enough to make things for myself or for the kids as they got older.  So the sewing machine is still languishing -- I keep carrying it around and just a couple of months ago I thought about getting rid of it, but now I'm so glad I didn't!

I have a customer named Pink (yep, that's what she goes by -- but her favorite color is orange -- so I don't quite get the Pink.)  Anyway, she is VERY creative and does wonderful things with fabric and other things.  We've become quite friendly over the past year or so, so I asked her if she would help me create these little pouches.  She loved the idea and invited me to her house on New Year's Day for a little sewing fest.  We whipped up a bunch of pouches that look like this:
These particular ones are tied with a narrow strip of silk chiffon from some fabric remnants.  I've decided I don't really like the chiffon -- a little too "stringy" for me -- so I'll be finding something else for future pouches.

So if you buy jewelry from me (and I hope you do!) you may receive your treasures in a little handmade pouch made from old tee-shirts.  They're soft and will be perfect for storing your jewels, protecting them from scratches and banging around -- perfect for travel, too.  And I hope you'll even use them to pass on to others. (Don't worry -- I ship in Priority Mail boxes, so you don't have to worry about things getting broken or smashed.)

Your pouch may or may not have parts of logos -- it could be any color.  They are fairly unstructured and may have some rough edges -- down the road I might try my hand at lining them.

Also down the road, I have this template for making really cool foldover pouches from Japanese fabric remnants, so you may be seeing those in the future too.  But I need Pink's help figuring out how to do it and we're both pretty busy, so finding time is a challenge.  But once I get the hang of it I hope to be offering some of those nicer, more polished pouches as well.

So there's my latest effort at reducing, reusing and recycling!  I hope you all like them!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
XOXOXO,

Karen

The Library!

Yep, I'm in love.  I don't  know how (or why) I ever made it this far in my life without being a library member.  I've been reading ever since I could.  My whole life.  But I had this fantasy once of having a house big enough to house a library with floor to ceiling shelves and one of those ladders you slide along the shelves...so I had this compulsion to OWN all my books. 

This compulsion has gradually declined over the years.  First, I just ran out of space to keep storing all these books.  So I stopped buying hard covers and waited for them to come out in paper.  And then books got so darn expensive, so I started buying them used from either my local Friends of the Library store or from Amazon.  And then I started SELLING my books on Amazon -- OR donating them to my local Friends of the Library.

I started ruthlessly weeding through my collection and keeping only those books I truly loved.  I read so voraciously that it was hard to keep up with having enough books on hand -- to feel really secure I need to have a stack waiting to be read.  If it gets down to only 1 or 2 I get really nervous.

Well, a friend of mine regularly goes to the library.  in fact, several of my friends do this.  I always felt a little intimidated by the library -- I don't know why.  So I asked one of these friends to take me one time and show me around and how it all works.  And then I got my card and checked out a whole armload of books.  And they send me email reminders of due dates and you can renew on line and it takes 30 seconds for me to pull in a return books and I LOVE going in with my list of "Wanna Reads" every 2-3 weeks.  And the icing on the cake is that it feels TOTALLY GREEN to borrow books to read and then pass them back for someone else to enjoy! 

I LOVE getting a book that's already been read so many times that the pages are all soft, the cover is a bit bent -- it just feels loved and well-used.  So the whole thing fits in with my intentions to make a smaller footprint.  I buy very little "NEW" anymore.  There are still some types of books I feel compelled to buy (like my vintage jewelry reference books) but I still always try to get them used.

By the way, i'd love to hear from you what your favorite vintage jewelry reference books are.  One of these days I'll write an article listing some of my favs.

Meanwhile, I hope it's as warm and nice where you are as it is where I am -- I LOVE this warm weather we've been having.  Have a wonderful September day!

xoxo
Karen

Adding to the Family Jewel Collection?

Did you know that a single new 1/3-oz, 18K gold ring creates about 20 tons of mine waste?   Think two big garbage trucks.  For one ring.  It shocked me to learn that.  Check out Ideal Bite for more tidbits of information like that.

I LOVE vintage jewelry.  I love looking at it, handling it, hunting for and discovering new pieces and most of all, I love finding new homes for these orphans that might have been on their way to a landfill.  Perish the thought!

One of the things I love about the vintage jewelry business is that I get to help the environment in one more small way, by encouraging re-use of unique and vanishing jewelry.  So next time you are looking to make an addition to your jewelry box, or buying a gift for graduation, Mother's Day, that special someone's birthday, or hey, your WEDDING (bridesmaid's gifts?), think outside the box. Go Vintage! 

Check out my website for truly affordable gems from the past that will add a unique touch to your style.  True, some of our items are higher end estate pieces, but we make every effort to provide a wide selection in every price range.  There's something for everyone at PastGems.com.

Keep coming back to check our blog.  We have plans to share with you our resources and information regarding cleaning and caring for your vintage jools (I love that word), history of some of the well-known (and maybe some lesser known) designers and whatever else we think might be important enough to pass on.  Or maybe sometimes just some ramblings. 

Anyway, thanks for stopping by and taking time from your busy schedule to read this.  Remember, Think Green and Buy Vintage!  Have fun out there!