The Crown Royal suit

About a month ago a friend of mine contacted me about making a Crown Royal suit for Halloween. My first thought was “He wants me to make him a Crown Royal bottle looking outfit”? Lucky for me he was referring to a dress suit made with the colors of a Crown Royal bag, purple and gold. Always looking to try something new, I said “sure thing!” having never made a suit before.
So my friend and I picked out the fabrics and notions I would need for the suit and construction began. The colors were a perfect match and I was pretty excited to get started. For the most part constructing the suit wasn’t difficult. There were the usual flubs though, sewing the wrong sides of the pants legs together making it look like a mermaid tail, realizing that the standard arm length in the pattern isn’t long enough AFTER you’ve hemmed it, sewing buttons onto the wrong side of the jacket opening. The usual. That’s what I get for working late at night but alas, one must use the time she has. The one aspect that gave me the most frustration was the binding for the inside of the jacket because it was made with a lining fabric that proved difficult to work with. It was nearly impossible to cut an even 1inch strip so when I ironed the edges over it made for some very skinny parts. And skinny parts only make it impossible to sew on to a seam allowance. Not gonna lie, it was a pain and I never looked forward to it. BUT the end product was very much worth is because the gold striping really made the inside of the suit look sharp. So here it is, the Crown Royal suit:

 I wish I had taken more pictures during construction. When you get into the zone it’s hard to take a break for anything haha.

the finished suit!

the jacket

these gold buttons really added to the finished product

i looove the way the lining makes the inside look! so sharp!

the back pockets came out prefect!
Tom sporting his new suit when he came for a fitting. I still had to hem the sleeves and pants.

Overall I couldn’t be more pleased with the way this suit came out! And more importantly, my friend is beyond thrilled about it! It fits great and looks great too. With a gold dress shirt and a sweet crown, this will end up being a very unique Halloween costume and I can’t wait to see whatever pictures pop up of it!

slouchy beanie

A while back a friend of mine say me working on a hat at work. His immediate words were “Can you make me one with really bright greens and blues and stuff”, and I said sure! I chose an aqua blue, bright, orange, lime green, and black yarn by Stitch Nation. I wanted some black in the hat to make it a little manlier and in hopes that it would make the brighter colors really pop. I didn’t want to make a regular ol’ striped hat so I decided to intermingle the colors throughout the hat. Little did I know what a pain in the bum this would be! Switching colors so many times in one row made for lots, and I mean LOTS, of ends to tie in. But despite that, the hat looked killer and all the work really paid off. And my friend couldn’t be more pleased. The smile on his face was payment enough for me.

Overall I’m really please with the end result of this hat. It looks super cool and different. And the fit was perfect as well. It even fit on my big noodle!

the swing of things

sorry for my absence as of late. What started as a cold a few weeks ago turned into my first migraine last week, so needless to say I was a waste of a human being. And for the record, I would be entirely alright with never experiencing a migraine again. How awful.
Besides my ailing health, these last couple weeks have been somewhat refreshing. My summer job has ended so I’ve had some resemblance of a life again. It’s been nice. I’ve had the time to sew and knit and spend time with my friends again. And more importantly, just relax. Breathe.
So now you know, I’m alive and resting. And will hopefully be posting more frequently here and at my craft blog.

TGIF!! I have weekends again!

If you’re looking for the girl…

…who loves the color pink. That always has her nails done and her hair in the perfect style; the right outfit for every occasion. The one with a size 2 waist and thin, slender legs. Who never swears and sits straight at the dinner table. That eats appropriate portions at every meal and never gets food on her face. The girl who has flawless skin and perfectly done make-up. The cheerleader. The one with a boyfriend on her arm or that turns every head when she walks through a room. The demure, polite, Audrey Hepburn-esque girl. The super model.

If you’re looking for that girl…you won’t find her here.

Instead, you’ll find the girl who owns hardly any pink. Who usually has chipped nail polish and whose hair is a mess; the t-shirt and jeans kinda girl. The one with a size 8 waist and legs that people automatically identify her with a soccer player. Who swears against her best efforts not too and has a horrible slouching habit. That loves to eat too much and always manages to get food on her face. The girl who’s skin is never flawless and barely wears make-up. The clown. The one whose only “boyfriend” is the 5yr old she nannies and that usually only turns heads for laughing too loudly in public. The outspoken, attempts to be polite, wishes she were Audrey Hepburn girl. The tom boy.

That’s who I am. Who I’ll probably always be. Sure some things may change as I get older, wiser, more mature. But at the end of it all, I don’t ever see myself fitting the “typical girl” mold. I may be average in a lot of ways, but I’ll never be typical.

I’ll never be the A typical girl and I love that about me.
And if someone else doesn’t, well that’s just too bad.

yep…that’s me.

crochet fun


I feel like someday, whenever I figure out how to crochet, I should do this to a tree! Doesn’t it just look so happy and comfy and warm?! Why shouldn’t a tree have a sweater?! hahaha And a rainbow one at that!
I just couldn’t help but be amused by this and there are plenty more to see here.

perfect

When I walked out the door this morning, jacket on and tea in hand, I couldn’t help but notice how perfect the weather was. Yeah there were clouds in the sky and rain in the distance, but there was a briskness to the temperature. Not to warm, not to cold, but just right to be comfortable in my light jacket. It was so Fall.
Being in Florida for 5 years I never realized how much I missed Fall. Even though I was here last year too I don’t think I took enough time to really enjoy it. I was too busy being hurt by the situations in my life and trying to deal with them. Now, a year later, I find myself really looking around, breathing in deeply, and looking at the leaves as they change color. It’s truly beautiful. I don’t think I ever want to live in a place without Fall again, for an extended period of time at least.

yay Fall!

fall fest

Last weekend was one big fall celebration! Chautauqua Institution has it’s annual Fall Fest/Quilt Around Chautauqua which is basically a quilt show combined with a number of other vendors and food carts to be had. There was kettle corn, and pumpkins, and crafts galore! I only wish I had had more time to see everything and really enjoy it. Alas, I was working all weekend. I did however get a chance to visit some of the quilt vendors with my sister after work on Sunday. It was so nice to have a few hours with her just to be silly and enjoy each other. Here is more about the quilts I liked on my other blog.
Before I wrap things up take a look at these!

One of the girls I work with does these! Aren’t they just incredible?! I love the Jack pumpkin. The Nightmare Before Christmas is one of my favorite movies!

Quilt Around Chautauqua

This past weekend the annual Quilt Around Chautauqua/Fall Festival was held at Chautauqua Institution. Since I work there I couldn’t wait to spend the weekend surrounded by quilters and their gorgeous creations! And boy was I not disappointed. The quality and craftsmanship that was on display was like nothing I’d ever seen. And there were SO many! The Festival was spread throughout the Institute in 10 buildings, each dedicated to a guild or two. The hotel I work at fed nearly 300 people per meal and housed 250! I’ve never been around so many quilters in my life.
It was impossible NOT to feel inspired by the work I saw. The patterns and color choices and variations of different ideas; truly awesome. My sister and I literally walked from quilt to quilt doing the “oohs and ahhs” and pointing out the ones we loved (my sisters boyfriends followed along, putting his input in from time to time. such a good sport). What was even more fun was running into a lot of the ladies that we quilt with, many of whom knew our grandmother. It’s always a pleasure to chat and catch up with them. Cassie and I aren’t sure if we’ll be able to make it to the retreat this fall so we’ve already decided that if we can’t we’ll just have our own retreat and visit the ladies at the camp. It will be fun regardless.
So here are some of my favorites from the show. I hope your enjoy them and are inspired as well! 

a wall of fall!

on of my favorites! I SO want to make a Halloween something!

tooooo cute!

PUMPKINS!! yay

My Friend Kim and her friend made these!  They bought one cut of each fabric and divied them up!
these colors are to die for and I LOVE the snail trail pattern.

loans

would anyone like to pay off my school loans?? I would really like to live my life to the fullest. But instead I’m being held back by a mountain of loans that I probably won’t see the end of until I’m 50. Yes, 50. Depressing isn’t it? And somehow working 2 jobs barely covers it. How is that even possible?
So maybe when I’m 50 I’ll be able to get out there and use my degree again or maybe even move out of my parents house.

A girl can dream.

ok…vent over. thank you much.