For a while now, I’ve been hearing about some super secret button store which is stocked with all manner of vintage buttons. I never understood why it was a secret, because I’m sure such a tiny little business could use the support and customers!

Anyway, I finally found it. Exclusive Buttons in El Cerrito is a teeny tiny little shop run by an incredibly helpful older lady, and stocked to the brim with vintage buttons still on their cards, along with buckles, closures, etc. The owner told me that they stock no plastic. I’m still confused about that because a lot of them seemed like plastic, and some things were clearly marked “bakelite,” which was the first manufactured synthetic plastic.

I bought several cards of beautiful buttons, but seriously had to restrain myself. Beautiful buttons can transform the plainest piece of clothing, but it’s really hard to find full sets of nice vintage ones.

But I think my favorite purchase was the vintage belt buckle kits for making fabric-covered belts! Remember when I was just recently pining for such a thing when I posted about this beautiful yellow Lorick dress?

And just look at those red and white flowery things. They look like christmas cookies. And the ones below are my favorite.

I always thought Tender Buttons in NYC’s garment district was the be all and end all in buttons. And it still wins for selection. But Exclusive Buttons is so much more charming, magical, old fashioned, and helpful.

Still addicted to crochet, and working on more complex things now. This is a lace scarf made from KnitPick’s CotLin. I think the color is “island.” It’s a perfect vintagey coral color, which looks rose in some lighting and peach in others.

It’s basically just a bunch of joined motifs from the Japanese crochet book mentioned previously.

I have a ton of the yarn left, since I originally thought I’d make a sweater with it. I think a matching cloche would be pretty, but cloches aren’t very summery, and this color and fiber is. And I’d still have a lot left.

I’m guessing crochet must be very popular in Japan, judging from the amazing array of great crochet books they have at Kinokuniya. I picked these up recently.

The book on the right are just a treasury of different motifs and edgings. The book on the left is called “romantic lace.” The below images are from this book.

I especially liked these roses.

“You look like a princess on casual day.” That is what Kenn says about my new headband.

I’m learning to crochet more than simple edgings, and this is my first finished project. I’m starting to really get into crochet. I love that crochet has two different sides: One is very homespun and folksy, like this headband; the other is really fine and intricate lace. I also love that there are so so many great Japanese crochet books (more on that later).

By the way, I love this yarn. It’s called (of all things) Seduce, by Berroco. It has a nubby texture and a nice shine.

Here’s another sweater I finished not too long ago. I hadn’t shown it before because I despised the buttons I’d chosen for it, which were cheap-looking plastic things, so I replaced them with these gorgeous etched glass ones.

The pattern is from the German knitting magazine, Rebecca, which labels itself “the young knitting magazine with the big pattern section.” The headlines within the magazine are equally hilarious awkward german-to-english translations. But more importantly, they produce some gorgeous knitting patterns.

I finished this sweater fairly recently, and I’m really liking the way it turned out. It’s a British pattern from 1934, which is contained in my copy of Jane Waller’s A Stitch In Time.

I used a somewhat heavier yarn, Knitpicks’ Shine Sport in Orchid, which is bit more violet-based than it looks like here. I had it on hand, and I love the softness and sheen of Shine; but If I were to make it again (and I would!), I’d probably go with a fingering weight yarn, which would provide the nicer drape you can see in the old photos. Still, the slouchy fit is great and I do love the color. Lacy sweaters, vintage or handmade, are a wardrobe staple for me.

The one on the left with the roses is pretty awesome too. I may have to make that one as well at some point.

Just a quick, belated note that I wrote a short little piece for The Storque on vintage bridal style, for their Handmade Wedding series.

The Storque is Etsy’s ezine, and right now it’s full of ideas for DIY weddings. Reading about DIY weddings makes me want to throw more parties.

{And thanks to Rhiannon for letting me use this gorgeous photo of her!}

It’s times like this that I wish I still lived in NYC. I missed the Radical Lace and Subversive Knitting exhibit at The Museum of Art and Design, and now there’s Pricked: Extreme Embroidery. This show looks amazing.

This last piece reminds me of The Two Fridas.

Check out many more of the pieces at we make money not art.

Wow. I just discovered these amazing handmade shoes by Hetty Rose via an article on Craft Boom. The article talks a little about the business and the shoemaking process, which I’d love to learn more about. The end result here is amazing, custom shoes made with vintage kimono fabric.

Like a lot of women, I have an irrationally obsessive interest in shoes. I wasn’t always this way. I pretty much wore only sensible shoes (mostly clunky lace up boots) until some point in my early 20s when some sort of switch went off in my head and I became really girly about shoes. I haven’t looked back.

I’m not sure exactly what it is about shoes, but I do believe that a big part of it is that there are few other accoutrements that instantly transform your physical presence. They make you taller, can make your legs look longer, and completely change your posture and the way you walk. And I really think those changes in your body affect your brain. Sort of the way smiling elevates your mood, walking tall and straight has to elevate your confidence.

{see more Hetty Rose shoes at their site}

I’m back from South by Southwest! Austin is a pretty cool city, full of neon signs, tons of music clubs, very weird weather, and dirt-cheap thrift stores. I came home with much more than I left with, thanks to my beautiful and super-hospitable cousin Danielle, who really showed me around. I will definitely be back to Austin, though perhaps at a less crazy time of year.

The conference was pretty good too, with some super inspiring panels that really got me thinking and itching to create. The panel on High Tech Craft was somewhat interesting, though I would have been much more interested in hearing about how crafters are connecting and innovating online than about crafting with high-tech components. Or why there is this crossover between tech and craft/making. Perhaps that means I need to do my own panel next time.

Check out this rainbow of vintage dresses, all $5 or less! I picked up a handmade bright emerald green silk number from this rack.

{the rest of my photos of Austin on Flickr}