Free is Nice

I love to find items for free. Sewing notions, sewing machines, cabinets (no, not cabinets!) and this week a got a wonderful bunch of sewing patterns for free! I found the ad on Craigslist early on a Sunday morning but noticed it had been posted the previous afternoon. Oh no, I was too late, but I sent a response anyway. No answer. At the end of the day I send another one saying I was still interested and could come another day...? The response back was that I was too late but she would keep my response because they might be a no-show. No problem, I could wait, especially for free!

Two days later I still haven't heard so I send a friendly email asking if the patterns had been picked up but they were getting picked up on Tuesday night and I was next in line: should she take her ad down? This generous soul was new to Craigslist and didn't know some of the protocol. Ah, yes, how to keep your ad up without the hassle of multiple calls for an item that probably isn't available anymore. She would tack a "pending pick up" note on her ad but will give me a call if necessary. Wednesday morning we woke up to day long rain but I got a welcomed email: the pick-up was a no-show. I was up next! You can bet I wouldn't be a no-show.

We arranged to meet while her son was in hockey and after my yoga class so I drove over to the ice rink and that's where I met TJ, or Tari, and her generous donation of patterns. We promised to connect online as she has a blog and a Facebook page and I rushed home to take a good look at my wonderful haul:

This isn't even all of them, just the ones I want to take action on first!

Wow, oh wow. There were over 30 patterns, some were the specialty ones that do not go on sale and are around $10 each so it will be fun to try them out, too. I haul out my fabric that I've put aside for the little girl dresses and start to match patterns to fabric and come up with the following:

Vintage gray and pink print pairs with hot pink for a jumper with a front zipper

Navy dot with cream all-over eyelet, possible trims, too.

Both lavender fabrics are silky for a lovely fancy dress

Red and white dots with dotted trim for a summer shift

Blue and yellow stripe with pale yellow contrast, maybe blue lace?

Black and white with eyelet trim with a pattern I already had for a layered dress

Pink dots with animal print for a different layered dress

I guess I just love dots and lace. Please vote on your favorites or tell me "no, no, NO!" if something seems way off. What happened to those years when I was a trend setter (that might be a bit of an exaggeration, but at least I was in style) to now when I have to breeze so many fashions by my daughters for a thumbs up or down? Maybe I'm just a tiny bit behind? This is one way to keep current and, besides, I'm still having fun!