Mum's hand-me-down vintage

All these lovelies are from Mum and Dad. Embroidered spotted blue on white gingham tablecloths, on of my favourite tea towels. The cat. My eldest sister was given the Octopus, the next sister a Peacock - I carried home Mum's embroidered, beaded and sequined pussycat. This Cheshire grin overlooks my sewing space. The cocktail tray, how I love it. But not as much as I love watching bubbly bubble up and down the hollow stems of these glorious champagne saucers, perhaps more than I enjoyed drinking soft drink in them as a child. Thanks Dad and Mum!

Thrifted vintage floral extravaganza

Latest thrift finds from local op shops. This happy navy, red and white floral is cotton based yet has distinctive lines in the fabric weave reminiscent of older times.

There was plenty of yardage in this material- so the options are limitless for the use. It has to be a bag, and then we'll see about the leftovers.

I love the colours in this pretty cotton paisley. A lucky score.

Lastly, spots and florals in polyester. I am looking forward to see what becomes of this and what other fabrics it is teamed with. The pile of fabrics keeps growing....time to sew.

Enter A $100AU Prize Draw To Win Handmade Vintage Fabric Bags And Homewares

Thanks for checking out our brand new blog page Thrift Recycle Handmade. Now is your last chance for our special offer – to enter our free eco-friendly $100 Bessie prize pack draw. Just comment below, on our Bessie website, or like/comment on the Bessie facebook page. We’ll add an extra entry for each!


We promised that for the prize we’d include a special new release handmade item – great for the environment for two reasons and you will be the first to have one. The first reason is like many of our other products, it is made of recycled and vintage fabric and notions. Secondly, if you use it – you will help save the planet. It is a set of three brand new Bessie produce bags.

What are produce bags? Perhaps you have heard it called something else. Simply, instead of your fruit and vege going into a plastic bag in the produce section of your supermarket or from the markets, you can use a lightweight, reusable fabric drawstring bag. You can even wash them every few weeks if you need to.
Sustainable living has seen us ditch our plastic bags at the checkout for reusable grocery bags. You can go one step further to reduce your plastic bag consumption with our produce bags.

If you check out recent blogs or our Bessie website you will know that we have loads of fabric to choose from and for a short time will we will custom make your orders.

Inject some flair into your shopping, and salvage some of our precious resources for our planet. Naturally, they are perfect for vintage and retro lovers.

The prize includes postage, other Bessie homewares and bags that will lift your spirits every day. We would love to hear your comments. Like or subscribe away as the more you do the more chance you have to win our $100AU prize pack.

Learn more about our selection of vintage and retro fabric available. Or have a look at our articles where you can find out all about recycling vintage fabrics and what it can do for you.

Retro fabric finds

First published April 12, 2010
Here is a sneak peak at the latest bags under construction...2 shabby chic in gorgeous salvaged vintage with grosgrain ribbon and 2 sweet princess designs in contemporary butterflies and embroidered gingham........

Plus some of our latest retro and vintage fabric finds, mostly sourced from op shops. Some are durable furnishing fabric remnants, table linen or part of someone's unwanted stash. 

We hit the beach every day last week, but did find time to update the website. It now has a direct link to our Etsy store and more detailed photos of bags.  Select like on facebook Bessievintageandretrobags page and as a join our members to the website for latest releases.

Our first Mother's Day order for a custom made bag has already come in- a personalised option to suprise your mum or mum in law this year. With school back tomorrow... we are looking forward to building up our stock again ready for Mother's day. Meanwhile, these reclaimed fabrics are ready for transformation, and hopefully you'll soon see them as bags in our store!