The Messenger Bag

My friend Kristy told me about a fabric store she read about on another blog.  It's called Maisonnette in Oceanside,  California.  I live about an hour from Oceanside at the opposite end of San Diego County, so it's not a shop I can just pop into.  I made a stop awhile back with Casey on our way home from Anaheim.  I have spent the last six months up there just about every other weekend for my volleyball team's tournaments or Casey's team tournaments.  

The shop is an old beach cottage that the owners, a mom and her two daughters have turned into a fabric, photography, and art studio.

Here they are modeling their hand made Mission Maxi dresses. 

To read their blog and find out about the pattern used for these dresses click here.

So Pretty!

The shop is adorable.

Casey and I thought it would be fun for her best friend's birthday (Maddie) to get fabric and a pattern they could make together.  There was a girl in the shop making a messenger bag and it looked like the  perfect project for the girls. 

Casey picked out some cool Japanese fabric for Maddie and her to use.

Here's Maddie

She is such a great friend to Casey!

Casey has had virtually no sewing experience. I thought this project would be easier than it was for a beginner.  I have been sewing for so long I forget how frustrating sewing can be when you're first learning. 

It took many hours to get to this point.  The girls got tired.  The moms got tired too.  So We took a break and I finished Casey's for her while she was at school. 

She gave it a great effort, but it was little too ambitious for a "newbie" sewing project. 

 

Here is the picture of the finished product.  Casey used it as a book bag for school.  Since the girls didn't finish their bags together, I didn't get a picture of Maddie with her bag.  Casey doesn't like when I take pictures of her so she's making her "fake smile face."  It's perfect for school. Casey loves it.

  Definitely make a trip to Maisonette if you are in North San Diego County. 

It's worth the trip.  I can't wait to go again!

Thanks for checking it out.

Happy Pants

I always hear designers talk about how your house should reflect "who you are." Well I'm not really doing that judging by my wardrobe choices? My house is mostly neutrals, soft grays, greens, beige, black, pale blues, and browns. It's a very calm and soothing pallet. I like it that way. It makes me slow down and breathe if that's possible for a house to do? My wardrobe is anything but neutral. OK, I still LOVE to wear a lot of black, white, and gray,
but I also wear bold, graphic prints, and vivid color.


My house looks like this.

A small sample of my wardrobe looks like this.

My home decor and my wardrobe are at opposite ends of the design spectrum? I got to thinking about how this happened? Does my home reflect who I really am or does my wardrobe tell the real story? Did I design my house in neutrals so it wouldn't clash with whatever bold pattern or color I'm wearing that day?
Hmmm?

Here's what I'm talking about. I call these my "Happy Pants" because it's impossible to feel down when I put a pair of these on. First of all, they are incredibly comfortable. They feel like you have sweat pants on only I seem to walk a little taller and little peppier when I'm wearing them.
Here's what I currently have in my closet (this isn't my closet, I hung them up outside to take the picture). Notice there are two black and white prints in this batch. I can't get away from black and white. I also have velvet and velour pants (not pictured) that I wear when it's cold out. They aren't quite as colorful, but still super yummy and comfy.

I used to make them and sell them when I played in beach volleyball tournaments. I'm tall and I've spent the better part of my life not being able to find pants that were long enough. I can't count how many pieces of clothing I've ruined by accidentally throwing them in the dryer and shrinking them too short. I play volleyball with friends that are taller than me, some over six feet with the same problem.

Solution....make my own pants.

I wear my Happy Pants to work out, to go to soccer games, to slip on after I play volleyball, to run errands, to coach in, to lounge in, pretty much anywhere. I have to warn you. You can't be shy if you wear bold color like this. Strangers do a double take (my friends are used to me) because these pants stand out in a sea of blue jeans and mostly neutral fashion.

Was that a Humming Bird that just dive bombed me?

Hey up there. I want in on the photo shoot, pick me up.


Roscoe is much more photogenic than I am. She's a diva doggy.




I rarely travel outside of California anymore, but my pant fabric choices are globally inspired, and always made with stretchy fabric.
I love Asian motifs, although I don't have any in my house. Here is a pair I added some left over fabric to make a coordinating cuff at the bottom of the pant legs. I have a pair made with the cuff fabric too (more black and white).

Paisley from Persia.

Indian flavor.

Japanese umbrellas put a smile on my face.

Graphic black and white polka dots put a spring in my step.

I typically don't wear a leash, but is this print Dalmatian inspired?


Fun Fact, Dalmatians originated in Yugoslavia.

I came up with my own pattern. Some I make with a draw string top.

Some I make with a fold over yoga style top.

I got burned out on sewing when I made my couch slipcover, ottoman covers, and pillows, but I'm getting the sewing itch to make a new batch of pants for spring and summer. Maybe I'll make some tunics too? Not to wear together. Come on I know you were wondering about that?

Does your wardrobe or your home reflect your personal style?


Thanks for checking in.

New Pillows

The ottomans are done.

The couch is done.

On to the pillows.

I fell in love with this jute welting. It's usually used on the underside of upholstered furniture to tie it together. I saw it used as pillow trim at We-Are-Fabrics in Solana Beach while on my fabric search. At $2 a yard it's in my budget too.

I found my pillow fabric at We-Are-Fabrics too. I explained in my last blog on the ottoman transformation about my hunt for fabric. I only needed a yard of each coordinating fabric to make the pillows. I bought pillows from Home Goods that I really liked, but they weren't right for the couch. They were made from French grain sacks, very nice, but I ended up returning them and making these instead.



My couch is gray, but my floor tile and granite counter top have a lot of beige and brown tones it it. I'm not changing the granite or the tile in this room. My fabric needs to link the new gray and the old beige together.

I liked this rustic animal print with the jute. I made two of these pillows.

I used pillow inserts from existing pillows that needed updating.

This fabric was $23 a yard, but since it was the end of the roll, the girl helping me gave me almost two yards for the price of one. I had enough trim and fabric left over to make a runner too.



This is a new lamp I picked up at Marshal's while on my pillow hunt. Not sure if I'm keeping it yet? The lamp shade is burlap, which I love and have used in my decor for years. The cross was my Great Aunt's. She was a nun and wore it with her traditional nun habit. I love the cross, still debating about the lamp?



I made two pillows with a yellow and lavender fabric that I also purchased at We-Are-Fabric. At $34 a yard it was a splurge. I justified it because I only needed a yard and it links the couch, ottoman, and zebra fabric together. I went to every fabric store in San Diego looking for fabric. Short of special ordering it, this was the best choice I found for the price. I used the leftover couch fabric velvet to make the welting and pillow inserts from old pillows.


Here they are all together.


Roscoe thinks the pillows are for her.

She had a hard day at the groomers and is ready for a nap.



I still need to slipcover the two brown chairs, but I need a break from sewing.


Can you see the paint swatches on the wall to the right behind the couch?

On to paint. The kids go back to school tomorrow so I will have more time.

UPDATE:  The lamp didn't stay, to see the new glass lamps I made go here.

Ottoman Transformation

When I recently slip covered my couch I knew I was going to have to re-do many other things in my family room. Here is the couch. I had a little bit of a hard time finding coordinating fabric I liked with the couch. The couch fabric is gray. What I have learned about gray is that gray has one of three undertones, purple, green, or blue. I learned this from a great blog called Colour Me Happy. To read more about gray click here.

My couch has a purple undertone. I looks great with purple, lavender, and yellow. I went to just about every fabric store in San Diego looking for coordinating fabric and struck out. I searched all the sale back rooms and remnant tables. I looked on line, but I struck out there too. Most of the fabric I found was either the wrong shade with the couch gray, or it was too girly, too old fashioned, too modern, too boring, or not practical for our lifestyle. I found what I liked, but getting it for a price I was willing to pay is the real trick. I did find some beautiful yellow and purple Ikat fabric at We-Are-Fabrics, but it was special order and ran about $53 to $100 a yard, with a two yard minimum. Not in my budget, especially when the dog might barf on it.

I found a durable inexpensive alternative at Home Goods, not an Ikat, but it looks great with the couch. I used it to tackle my next project, the dated brown ottomans. I purchased two of these ottomans, a matching couch, and two chairs from a designer sample sale about 7 years ago. They were dirt cheap and I needed furniture. We lived in this house for three years without living room furniture. I split the set up and used the two chairs and the ottomans in my family room. The couch is in the living room. I was never ecstatic about everything matching, but the furniture was well made, dog and kid proof, and cheap. All the pieces have held up very well.


The pieces have held up so well I haven't been motivated to update them.

Here is my first attempt at recovering the ottoman. Originally I just covered right over the old fabric. The new fabric is a reversible bedspread. Washable, durable, and fits in my limited budget. One side is a gray, tan, and yellow scrolly flower print and the other side is a geometric gray. I thought the scrolly side would hide dirt better, so I made the top slip cover cushion with that side of the bedspread.

I washed it in hot water and dried it on the hottest dryer setting to shrink it before I made the ottoman covers.


Not sure you can tell in these pictures?
I really didn't like how the wood looked next to the new fabric, so I started over.



On the second attempt I removed the old fabric. It had to be done because I was going to paint the wood.


Down to the foam.



On projects like these, I try to use leftover paint whenever possible. I unscrewed the bun feet from the bottom of the ottoman and painted the wood with two coats of dark gray paint. I mixed the paint using some black (leftover from the armour) and some white self priming paint I already had. I adding a touch of burnt umber Universal Tint to warm up the color

I made a glaze with the original gray color by adding more white and a little more burnt umber tint. Then I dry brushed the glaze over the gray to give the wood a more aged look. The blue drop cloth is distorting the gray color. It looks more blue in these pictures then it really is.

Nice buns!

Two coats of dark gray and one coat of dry brushed glaze.

I sanded the edges and polished the wood with some brown shoe polish to darken the exposed wood edges. I staple gunned the fabric on and added trim and nail heads. These nail heads are leftovers from my other projects like the pumpkins and the wall treatment in the bathroom and rotunda.

I added Velcro to the top and bottom of the cushion for easy cleaning. The top cushion is a slip cover that can be easily removed and thrown into the wash.

One project down, more to go.

I like it much better with the painted wood.

Next project...coordinating pillows.