What I {DIYd} Today

Hello, my name is Rachel and I am a purseaholic.

I know I'm not alone.

I'm too embarrassed to admit how many different bags, purses, and wallets I own.

But I just cant stop lusting after something new!

Working at a luggage store for three years was no help.  It was just fueling my addiction while also giving me an unnecessary understanding and appreciation for a good YKK zipper ifyaknowhaddamean.  

Part of my addiction is that I have to have good the shiz.  In the beginning I didn't have much taste. I went for quantity of cheap trends rather than everlasting quality.  Unfortunately I got to know what a good quality leather looks and feels like and I couldn't look back.  

Sadly I don't have the budge for this type of luxury.  

So what's a girl to do?

Lately I have been seeing lovely leather clutches all over the interwebs.

Par exemple:

Le sigh...Celine. Waaaaay too pricey

Oooh Claire Vivier...Slightly more reasonable in price, but c'mon.  I'm in grad school people!

On several of the blogs I read people were like "oohh hurray we found a solution!"

American Apparel

It's $50.00.

It's real leather.

But for some reason I'm always kinda "meh" about AA.  Plus I'm too lazy to drive out to the store and I hate paying for shipping.  I just hate it.

So I decided to take matters into my own hands!

I googled that shit.

With the help of this tutorial.  I made my very own custom pouch.

And you can too!

Ready? M'kay.

Step 1: Buy Supplies

I went to Joann's and rummaged through the clearance area and found this light grey pebbled "leather" its not leather at all.  It's vinyl.  But it looks and feels pretty good to me!

It was $3/yd I got a half yd but thats way more than you'll need.  But I figured I'll have extra if I screw up or extra to make some gifts if I succeed!

Then I got a half yd of cotton fabric in a nice neon green for my lining.  I'm really into neon.  You will be too.  It's going to be all the rage this summer.  Promise.

   

Grab some matching or contrasting thread

and a 14in zipper.  I like the exposed metal zippers.  I was hoping for a bright blue but they didn't have one.  They had grey but I wanted the contrast again.  I thought about red but it kinda clashed. So I went black. I spend a lot of time in fabric stores.

Step 2: Sew it

The dimensions provided on the AA website for their version is 9 1/4in x 14in

So go ahead and cut two pieces of each of your fabrics 9 1/2 x 15 (duh the extra is for your seam allowance).

Now we make the sandwich.  

Pin and Sew. 

Please refer to the tutorial I mentioned above.  It really lays everything out waaay better than I ever could.

Also, please learn how to use your zipper foot.  I broke a needle. Which makes your machine make a horrific sound.  Soooo I recommend you don't do that. 

But other than that it was suuper easy.

Sew all the way around making sure to leave a hole in your lining. Clip the corners!

Turn it out.

Sew the lining closed

Tadaaaaaaaa!

I wanted my neon thread to show so I did a top stitch on either side of the zipper. 

It gives it a polished look and makes everything lay nice and flat.

Then I played around with some scraps and made a nice little zipper pull.  It's kinda sloppy so I might cut it off and try again.

Next time I would try to add the fabric at each end to cover the zipper ends and give it a cleaner look. But other than that It came out exactly as I imagined.

Step 3: Use it

And there you go!  Now you too can have your fashiony clutch for a FRACTION of the price.

No joke.

I spent $13.00.

That's it!

Plus I have material to make more! The zippers are really the most expensive part.

Should I really just stop there?  I really like this look

The Celine bag I mentioned earlier has a similar style.

As I was googling that shit I came across this tutorial:

She painted one of the $50 leather ones!

Brave girl.

But mine is pleather... I wouldn't feel so bad if I screwed it up... I could always make another...hmmm... 

Maybe I'll go pick up some neon green paint...

So will you make one? 

What I {NEEEEEEED} Today

Seeing this coat made my tummy dizzy.

The Pollyanna Coat from Spotted Moth

Gasp.

I NEEEED this coat! 

Is it too much?

Could I pull off the color?

The collar is removable so that makes it practical.

I can justify this need right?

Speaking of needs...

I think each of you need to taste one of these. 

{Recipe}

You should totally come over and have one!

Call me. 

What I {Am Excited About} Today

Sooo...

It's official.

racheldid is going to be in a craft show!

I just received notice that I have been accepted as a vendor in Sweet Ps Arts Festival!!!

I am SO excited!

I am SO nervous!

I have SO much stuff to make!

It will be fun though.

So this weekend I have been scavenging the thrift stores of Marietta and Alpharetta to find supplies for the show.

I have to fill a 6 foot table! I have to have a display!

Luckily I found some gems...

We first raided the women's blouses

Looking for good prints to cut up



With good buttons to steal

 

The vases will hold baby hats



"How so?" you ask.  You'll just have to come and see.

And then we stumbled upon the most random and perfect thing ever...



and best of all



There were two of them.

I plan to repaint them and replace the loops with hooks for the headbands.  I haven't worked it all out yet, but it's gonna be good.  I got a good feeling from them.

I also found this bowl type thing

I have no idea how I'll use it.  But it spoke to me.  I just couldn't walk away.



Yes, I realize I'm just a few steps from an episode of Hoarders.

I also hit up a local used book store and was excited to find some J.D. Salinger!



R.I.P. Salinger.

I only recently discovered that Roald Dahl wrote adult fiction. Hopefully Kiss Kiss will live up to The BFG (Side Note: That is my favorite children's book of all time.  If/when I have a daughter her name will be Sophie because of that book.  If you haven't read it, you should.)

 So Michelle and Jason recently purchased Kindles.  They are in LOVE with their Kindles.  I'm kinda on the fence about it.  I mean the sleekness and the convenience are huge selling points...

But I'm a sucker for a good used book.

The smell.
The yellow tinge.
The oldness.

It just does something to me.

I mean I have Larry Mason to thank for this book!

But one downside is this...



I hate dog-eared pages.

hate, hate, hate

So that is an advantage of the Kindle.  No need for dog-ears.

But then again I can't imagine a Kindle replacing books for kids.

This was purchased for Mia



Can you imagine these illustrations on a screen?



Certainly not.

Sometimes a book should just be allowed to be a book.

Que J'ai {Mangé} Aujourd'hui

For my non francophile friends out there...

What I {Ate}Today

Earlier today Michelle was sitting in traffic and looked to her right.  She saw an unassuming brick building she had never glanced at before today.  Upon further inspection she discovered that she was looking at a French Bakery. 

She called me.

I googled.

We went.

Douceur de France

It was so authentic and SO delicious!

I started with the tomato basil soup.  It was killer.

Michelle went with the caesar salad with homemade caesar dressing.  Killer as well.

Then I got the Panini Poulet.  There was chicken, tomatoes, a ton of melted brie, and this red onion spread. I cried a little it was so good.

Michelle got the Croque Madame.  It had turkey, sauce bechamel, cheddar cheese, and a fried egg on top.  I think she cried a little too.

After lunch we were dragged by some invisible force over to the bakery section.  There we purchased some goodies to bring home so we could devour them like dogs in the comfort of our own home.

Hello my loves.

These pictures could keep me from ever feeling hungry again.

Bonjour Tiramisu!

Je t'aime Strawberry Shortcake!

Zut alors! Pain au chocolat!

Oh la la...la baguette!  When we bought this it was still warm from the oven.  We flipped the baguette around in the bag trying to pretend we hadn't already ripped into it in the car.  It was so crispy on the outside, chewy and soft on the inside.  The bag smelled like France. 

ughughughughugh

Just look away.

I quickly set down the camera and Michelle and I destroyed this plate.  It was barbaric.  But so delicious.

In addition to gorging ourselves on food we went to a stationary shop and found these cool rings made from vintage buttons. We wanted them all.  We used some self control and bought three...each.  So we can share!

They were on sale! Can you really blame us?  These are the three I picked.

Please pardon my dry, un-manicured, freckled hands.

These are the three Michelle picked.

I heart them.

In unrelated news... Mia is learning to crawl!

She gets up on her hands and knees

and rocks back and forth...back and forth.  The legs know whats up.  The arms just aren't there yet.  It's a work in progress.

Apparently this baby looked super cute today.

I think it was the footwear.

Post Script : Mia is wearing a headband by Katie of blueeyedfreckle.  She makes FANTASTIC headbands for adults too. I have one. I heart it.  You should have one too. She also has a blog about all of the amazing things she makes.  She is incredibly talented so check her out!