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A New Color - Yellow/Green Seersucker Bowtie

OK, It seems that This Place has turned into a bit of a bowtie explosion, but I promise I will try to make and blog about other things- BUT I had to share the newest color.  A very nice gentleman asked if I could do a Yellow/Green reversible and I just couldn't say no.  So Here's his tie.

Bowties can be purchased by clicking THIS LINK- or e-mailing me at ellielaveer@gmail.com to place your special order.  I now have gentlemen in Ohio, New Jersey, Virginia, Vermont, Mississippi, South Carolina, Connecticut and North Carolina wearing my ties.  A professor at an distinguished southern university said this when he recieved his tie in the mail today.

The bow tie I bought from you arrived today. It's lovely! I'll have to get use out of it here in the South before I move out to Berkeley, where I'll wear it anyways, so as to antagonize hippies. Their pony-tails will spin!

Now I just have two more things to say...

1- It seems that my sewing machine is going to have to be permanently out and ready for sewing so I'll have to set up a studio in my house.  Does anyone in the Rock Hill area have a desk they would be willing to give me or sell to me (for cheap) so that I can use it to hold my sewing machine and sewing supplies?

2- I love my husband.  He has been such a patient, supportive dear through all this.  He tries on many of the ties so that I can make sure they look just right.  He models for me.  He doesn't get mad at me even though the dining room looks like seersucker vomit.  And when I'm not looking, he corrects all my grammatical errors on my blog.  Thank-you, honey.  You're the best.

[Edit - thanks, Ellie ;-) ]

Vintage Pillowcase Apron

My friends over at Clever Nesting have been making vintage pillowcase aprons following this tutorial from Glitter, Vinyl and Thread.  It looked fun and I really need another apron, just ask my husband (HA HA HA).  

I used a pillow case that I bought today at the thrift store for 50 cents.  It's really fun.  I'm collecting the names of ladies that have shared that they want to start sewing and I'm thinking of showing them how to make this apron.  It's a great place to begin if you're new to sewing and really, the investment is minimal if anything at all.  

Sorry for all the lo-fi pics lately.  I'm only using my webcam to take pictures.  I'm hoping to have the Canon back from the hospital in a week or so.  I can't wait!

Little Boy's ribbon belt and diamond point seersucker tie

I found some adorable fabric at Ashville Cotton Company yesterday.  I didn't even know what I was going to do with it, but today, I decided to use a little bit to make a ribbon belt for my 3 year old.  Sorry, as all crafting happens while children are sleeping, I don't have a picture of him wearing it.  But I was so excited to show it off I just had to post it tonight.  

I'm also quite fond of my first ever diamond seersucker tie which someone ordered by special request.  It looks really huge on me, but on a man with a dress shirt it would (obviously) look a bit more appropriate.  I just didn't have Andy around to model for me.

I'm pretty sure I tied it wrong, but you get the idea.  I bet Andy's going to want me to make him a diamond point tie now.  They are really neat.

Handmade Seersucker Bowtie

I know my northern readers won't understand at all, but as the wife of a Presbyterian Minister, church clothes get lots of use at our house.  I bought a couple of yards of seersucker fabric to make a couple of rompers like these for the boys.  I know this is the last summer I'll be able to get away with dressing Deacon like this, so I have to seize the moment right?

I'll post pictures of the romper later on today hopefully once Deacon wakes up.

HOWEVER, Andy who is usually never the benefactor of my sewing projects got a very special southern style bowtie. Isn't it fun?

I'm seriously considering making a few of these to sell.  What do you think?

Project number 2- Fabric Cabinet liner.

So every time I to go a thrift store, I scour the wallpaper stash for some beautiful vintage wallpaper, but most of them are just ugly.  I knew I wanted to line this cabinet ever since I took the doors off, but just hadn't found the right liner.  Till now.  

When I was scouring the red tag fabrics, I came accross this lovely fabric and I thought...this is perfect.  It was so easy to install.  I just cut the fabric 1 inch longer than it needed to be (height wise) and folded it over and placed it in with thumbtacks.  It makes me happy every time I look at it.  I still have quite a bit of fabric left.  I'm thinking of lining another cabinet and maybe making placemats?  Or even a string of yo-yo's to hang in the window.

This project got me so excited, I decided to hang some things on our bare wall in the kitchen.  I also moved the tables around in the house too.  This small table used to be our main table for dining.  When we moved here, the family left a patio table in the kitchen.  We used that for a while, but when the weather started getting nice I pulled the table outside leaving a vacant spot in our kitchen.  It will be a while before we can afford a proper kitchen table, so these two small ones will have to do for now.  We can eat family dinners in the dining room and casual dinners in here.  The kids think the little table is fun.  Andy painted the kids table with chalkboard spray paint.

It's starting to feel like home.  We really want to redo our kitchen floors and countertops though.  Anyone know anything about cork floors?  I'm starting to think it may be the way to go.

The Chair is Recovered

It took a lot of strength.  My back is actually sore today from all the tugging and pulling it takes to recover a chair.  But it is done and was very much worth it.  The fabric I bought was from Hancock Fabrics and it really wasn't cheap- even though it was 50% off.  I bought two yards and that was just about perfect.  I have enough leftover to use to make a small accent pillow for the couch but that's it.  

Photo credit- Hancock Fabrics.

The fabric is called Zanzibar Odessa Mist Decorator Fabric and I just loved the softness of both the look and feel of it.  It has a lovely design but it isn't overpowering and coordinates well with other things we have.  

Total money invested was $10 for the chair and $25 for the fabric.  If you're more savvy, you can easily find much cheaper fabric, I just fell in love with this one and couldn't be swayed.  Now I'm thinking of asking the lady with the peacock farm from our church to share her feathers with me so I can use them to accent this chair.  

I have another home decor project involving fabric planned for today.  I'm excited about it.  Stay tuned.

Four days, four projects

OK, I've got only 4 days to create a giant mess and clean it all up before my husband gets home.  I have a couple of bigger projects in mind and a couple of little projects in mind as well.  We'll see how productive I can be while caring for the little ones by myself this week.  

First order of business: Recover this chair.  I purchased it at goodwill for $10 yesterday.  Today I hope to cover it with beautiful fabric.  Bring out the staple gun!

I'm learning to knit

Sometimes I like to think of myself as being more like the Proverbs 31 model of a noble character by keeping my hands busy on sewing and knitting.  But let's be honest, I don't think that the Proverbs 31 woman was knitting cable knit clutch for herself while she was sitting on the couch watching DVDs of 24.  No, I am a far cry from the Proverbs 31 woman.  My house will testify.  I've been making myself so tired by playing outside in the dirt that I come in and want to sit.  Knitting is a great sitting craft.

But don't expect me to make a blanket or scarf.  I don't have enough patience to make something like that.  I hope this will be done within a week.  Otherwise it will go into a bag to be forgotten about like many other yarned things I've begun but never finished.

If you're thinking of sitting...I mean knitting, I recommend these videos that helped me lots:

Long Tail Cast On 

Basic Knit Stitch 

Purl Stitch 

Cable Knit Stitch 

Once I've completed my clutch, I'll share the pattern with you.  

Lucky Me

I received these earrings in the mail thanks to a fabulous giveaway from Snug-N-Luv Handmade.  These Earrings were made by Daisy's Petals.  Please check out all of her handmade Jewelry which is very reasonably priced.  I think every decent man should have a relationship to some degree with someone who makes jewelry so he can surprise and impress his loved one or mother or sister while also supporting an independent artist.  It was the best surprise to find out that I had won such a lovely item.  Owen REALLY loves them too.  I have to make sure his grabby hands are not too close when I wear them.  

I understand, little Owen.  When I see a lady wearing earrings this beautiful, I want to rip them out of her ears and take them for myself too.

Accessorize with flowers

Here's a bit of a triple flower threat.  I picked these glasses mostly because of the flowers on the sides.  The earrings were a gift from my wonderful husband for my birthday.  They actually have real flowers in them.  I also have a necklace to match.  The headband was made with this pattern I found.  I haven't crocheted in years, but I thought it would be fun to pick up again since I'm away from home right now and it's a nice portable craft.