Have any of you seen this? It caught my eye over at whip-up the other day and I find it rather alluring.
They’re holding a quilt contest despite the fact that I have two other quilts and a multitude of Christmas presents to put together before December 25th.
The audacity.
All done! And I am really pleased with how it turned out. There were a couple firsts for me in this cloak.
First buttonhole. I added two buttonholes at the neckline, one on each side, to feed a tie through (I used my trusty Janome to create the buttonholes–so easy! I see more in my future). I originally wanted to buy some black ribbon to use around the neckline, but the last two nights I was at the fabric store the place was a madhouse, so I opted to come straight home after work and make my own! I pulled some black, non-stretchy fabric out of my stash and sewed up a strip, fed it through the buttonholes, and tied off the ends.
Man, that flannel really picks up the cat hair! I need to find my sticky roller…
Another first was the lining! I did a bagged lining and am no longer intimidated. After doing this cloak, I seriously think I could do a coat.
There were two bags leftover, so I used one to create an inside pocket. I left it completely intact and left the drawstrings at the top so he can pull it closed.
I created the whole cloak in a way to keep the sewn together bags and the lining in a rectangle, so if he wants, I can pull it all apart and create a quilt or a blanket out of it.
Feeling pretty proud of this one :)
The Crown Royal cloak is coming along very nicely! J emailed our friend pics of the progress and he was pretty stoked. He said it looked “pimpin” and “awesome”, so I must be doing something right :) I just have to finish up a bit of the edging and the lining and then I’ll take pics to show off.
And check out this dress and this quilt and this other quilt I found made of the Crown Royal bags! Funny :)
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- Wow I’d never have the patience to make this Scrabble Afghan, but it is pretty cool!
- Interesting washer necklace tutorial
- Discovered a yummy blog, La Fuji Mama! She share some interesting recipes. My faves I want to try: Green Onion Pancakes, Nutella Pocket Cookies, Cardamom Honey Grapefruit Galettes, and Anise Herbal Tea!
I’ll be back later with pics of the cloak so stay tuned!
~ Erin
A few months ago, we were visiting a bartender friend of ours and one of us happened to mention that I like to sew. Our friend got really excited and asked me if I’d be willing to make his Halloween costume for him this year.
He had been saving all the bags that the Crown Royal whiskey bottles come in and he had about 50 saved up with the intention of turning them into a cloak. He had been wondering how he was going to have it made, so it was fortunate for him that I had the skill! And he was willing to pay me for my time :)
These are the bags. I cut off the bottoms, then straight up the back, and cut off the drawstring top. Then I ironed them as flat as possible and cut them into rectangles, and sewed them into columns ten rectangles long. J is the same size, so it will be easy to fit as I sew.
I won’t have enough bags to make a complete cloak, so I’m going to swing by the fabric store tonight and pick up a couple yards of black felt and maybe some shiny gold material for accent. I’m putting it together as I go and have a general idea of how I want it to look, so we’ll see how it turns out!
Plate Bowl Basket by Kimmy Kin - via spotd.it
- Sometimes I’m just amazed how people can think up this stuff! This is double-faced fabric, accordian pleated, and secured at each end with a standard metal pin transformed into a bowl or a plate or just hang it up on the wall as decorative art. See the full article with more pictures here at spotd.it.
- Another clever idea: Button-and-Wire brooches that are so cute (how-to included)!
- Something I’ve been wanting to try but I’m unsure I have the dexterity for: thread-sketching.
- And because I like all things French: silly French slang!
Have a great weekend!
~ Erin
A few weekends ago we had a beautiful day for a little fishing trip.
Hubs has been working on restoring a boat he found on craigslist for free and with an electric motor strapped to the back, it’s the perfect fishing boat for our community lake. Much more comfortable than a canoe!
And it gives us a little extra room for a couple more fishing companions…
We keep Riddick and Ofelia inside the house for their safety (because of our area, outdoor cats don’t last too long), so we like to bring them outside with us as much as possible to help feed their wild, curious side.
Unfortunately, we didn’t catch any fish. We’d see one jump every once in a while, so we knew they were there–just no bites.
Maybe they knew who ELSE was in the boat…
Heeeerrrreee, fishy fishy fishy!
I had the best intentions to post the outfit that I wore yesterday (and Saturday), but the hubs absconded with the camera and didn’t return with it until after I’d changed into my pj’s. So I’ll have to settle for today’s outfit to showcase my new boots!
Sweater and skirt: thrifted
Pashmina: Romy
Leggings: Decree
Boots: St. John’s Bay
I went to JC Penney right after work on Friday and discovered I actually had about $85 total on my gift cards! WAY more than I though I did, so I was pretty stoked. I tried on every tall black boot they had (thanks to a very patient salesman) and finally decided on these:
Totally not what I had in mind, but I ended up loving them. Throughout the process I realized that I have abnormally thick calves and the majority of the tall boots I tried on I either couldn’t pull them all the way up or they were way too tight and I started losing feeling in my feet.
These little cuties were actually the first pair I tried, but after a while I got the choices down to these or a tall pair with a buckle across the ankle (way cute), so I put one of them on my left foot and the other one on my right foot and walked over to the mirror. The shorter one was infinitly more comfortable and I immediately made my decision.
Since I had a nice sum of money left over after buying the boots, I quickly wandered around a bit more and found a new sweater and the black leggings that I wore today. I only ended up paying $10 out of my own pocket for all of it! Pretty excited about that.
by sulu-design
I’ll share all my weekend festivities later today (found some boots AND a new sweater!!), but for now just wanted to post quick about Susan’s jewelry, sulu-design. She’s having a clearance sale on a bunch of her earrings so she can use up all her fancy address labels before she moves! Clever idea ;)
All her summer earrings will be on sale for $12 a pair (marked down from $15) with free shipping. Rather than listing them in her etsy shop, she’ll be posting pics of them on her blog and if any catch your eye, you can email her for an invoice.
Go check out her blog to see what’s on sale!
Or stop by her Etsy shop to see all her other designs.
Decree® 'Clyde' Tall Scrunch Boot - JC Penney
I slipped in to work before the sun this morning so I could leave early in hopes of getting to JC Penney before the traffic becomes a nightmare. They’re having a super-clearance sale today and tomorrow and I’m hoping to get a nice pair of boots. I have two gift cards that I can use, but I don’t know how much is on either of them, so it’s pretty much up in the air right now if I can even afford them.
Husband and I have fun plans this evening. He’s going to go get his haircut and then we’re going to go see Where the Wild Things Are! I had never heard of the book until this movie came out and from what I can tell of the previews, it seems very imaginitive and compelling. It was J’s favorite book growing up–funny how I’d never heard of it and yet I went to the library everyday to bring home stacks of books. Either I did read it and didn’t find it interesting enough to remember, or it was never intriguing enough to catch my discerning 7-year-old literary eye. It think it’s directed more towards young boys, rather than girls, so that probably why I never read it. Either way, I’m looking forward to seeing the movie!
Saturday will be busy for us, too. We’re driving down south a couple hours to meet up with a bunch of people who have the same car as J (called a car meet) and we’re all going to race around together, make ape noises over each others engines, go out to dinner, and generally hang out all day. Should be fun–I’ve been thinking all week about what to wear, hehe! I think we’ll be outside quite a bit, so hopefully I can find a good pair of boots today…
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This week’s links…
- This is the most creative and fun advent calendar I’ve ever seen! I don’t have kids, but I think Hubs would love it :) And it would be a great use for all my thread spools.
- Kootoyoo shares a tutorial on creating clever corner bookmarks.
- Gorgeous quilt made from used silk dresses, beads, and TONS of thread–stunning!
Have fun this weekend! I’ll try to come back with pics from the meet (and my outfit)!
~ Erin
My 14-year-old cousin Kirstin has ventured into the jewelry-making business and is now selling her current creations!
These paperclip earrings are pretty cute and fun and could make great stocking stuffers for your favorite little girl or big girl! You could also use them as a base for more elaborate designs and attach beads or ribbons to fancy them up, or attach another paperclip and make them extra long and dangly! They come in yellow, red, white, blue, green, pink, lime, and lilac colors–one to match every outfit ;)
Priced at $3/pair plus a flat shipping rate of $0.50 for any number of pairs.
She’s hoping to raise a little extra money for buying Christmas gifts this year, so if you’d like a fun new pair of earrings and feel compelled to help her out, leave a comment below or contact me directly for ordering details:
erin.trailertreasure@gmail.com
Payments accepted by check, money order, or through Paypal (send me an email and I’ll send you an invoice).
Thanks everybody!
