Present Perfect: Cargo Tablet Sleeve

I catch a lot of flak from my dear husband, Danny. It turns out that despite my lack of affinity for ruffles and lace, my fabric collection is well, quite girlie. I do my fair share of sewing for our home and family, but since no men go fabric shopping with me, most everything handmade in our home has a feminine touch. I'd been mulling over a more manly handmade aesthetic when I was asked to make a little something from Present Perfect: 25 Gifts to Sew and Bestow, the newest book by Betz White.

As a very techie family we have a variety of devices in our home. Some have proper homes (aka, my tablet), others not so much. For instance, my husband's Kindle goes on business trips within the not exactly protective confines of the wool hat I crocheted him last winter. Hey, I give him points for the attempt. It seemed pretty obvious after flipping through Betz's new book that I should be making Danny some proper device sleeves (and practice using some manly fabrics, too.)


I'm not usually a big craft book fan. Most times there is one pretty great project and eight other meh ones that both you and I wouldn't exactly need a book for. But after flipping through the copy of Present Perfect that the publishers sent me, I've got to tell you, that this is not the case. I had a hard time deciding which 'man' project to pick. The Cargo Tablet Sleeve was the ultimate winner, but the Gentleman's Travel Case is still calling my name. Plus, I've been having this love affair with bees all this year and bam, there's that Sweet Life Pillow just begging me to make one. And then I saw the hot pink version Melissa made and it's a must.

Present Perfect has great handmade gift ideas for everyone, really. Babies, men, your girl friends, housewarming... you name it, Betz has a great idea for you. Oh, and did I mention that the book comes with pattern pieces? Yes! Even the rectangular ones that most books just tell you what size to cut out. I don't know about you, but I usually screw those up. But not with these patterns, friends. (You can tell, I was perhaps quite excited by this.) If you know someone who has just gotten into sewing and crafting, this book would make a fabulous gift for them. The instructions and drawings are clear and easy to follow, and the photographs just make you want to keep sewing up project after project.


I used a pirate print for the lining and a milk chocolate brown cotton twill for the outside of the Cargo Tablet Sleeve. I was going to wax the twill with some beeswax I recently got a honeybee festival, but it was too soft to alter it. The flap and base of the Cargo Tablet Sleeve are cut from a chocolate brown suede jacket my sister in law gifted me for upcycling purposes. It's the first time I've ever sewn with salvaged animal hide and I was pretty pleased with the result.



The clasp is a vintage Euro swivel clip and key ring I picked up from an Army/Navy store in Provencetown, MA this summer while we were on vacation. I don't even want to tell you how inexpensive this hardware was. I'm embarrassed to say that I did not buy them all, because I so should have.

The result is a pretty sweet, man friendly, tablet bag. It's not the first fabric choices I would have chosen, but Danny approves of it's manliness and I can breath a bit easier knowing his tablet is traveling protected (and in style!) I think I'll have to make myself one with a bright vintage floral canvas...

Until then, check out Present Perfect by Betz White. She's made a short video to flip through some of the projects in this book. I can honestly say this book is worth getting, or giving. Also, you can pop into the blogs below on their tour dates to see what other makers have sewn from the book.


Happy Home:
October 6 - Sew Mama Sew – Make & Bake Apron
October 7 - Stacy Sews – Falling Leaves Appliquéd Placemats
October 8 - House on Hill Road – Hot Mitt House & Tea Towel Set
October 9 - A Happy Stitch – Sweet Life Pillow

Memorable Moments:
October 10 - Sew Sweetness – Wool Courier Bag
October 13 - Raspberry Sunshine – Gentlemen’s Travel Case
October 14 - Pink Chalk Fabrics – Pasha Pleated Clutch
October 15 - The Long Thread – Eye Candy Glasses Case
October 16 - Made with Moxie – Cargo Tablet Sleeve
October 17 - Bijou Lovely – Coffee Cash Coin Pouch

New and Little
October 20 - Flax and Twine – Forest Friends Finger Puppets
October 21 - Imagine Gnats – Bib, Rattle & Burp Baby Set

Thanks for stopping by! Don't forget tomorrow is the launch of Perfect Pattern Parcel #6! You're going to love it.

My Parachute Packers

I shared the story of Charlie Plumb and his parachute packer over at Buzzmills this morning. Jane asked me to take part in her Thankful Tour. All year round, Jane writes posts called Thankfuls. It started when she and her husband began asking their kids what they were thankful for at bed time. They would each come up with something. Usually they are tiny things, but still good things. They began to call them "thankfuls" and she borrowed the term for her own blog posts.


Today I am thankful for:

...a husband who is my sidekick in life. Who not only accepts me for who I am, but rejoices in all that I am.

...that my ex was so so wrong and you can keep that love spark alive years later.

...teeny tiny hugs and little hands that squeeze my fingers.


...a room all to myself for my sewing studio.

...fresh hot coffee in Polish pottery mugs.

...freckles all over my loves.

...a very comfortable bed.


...the beach. I miss your sounds.

...my artistic abilities and my nerdy tendencies.

...a family that I love and in-laws I'm happy to call family.

...waking up to these faces everyday.


What are you thankful for? Have you thanked your Parachute Packers today? Don't forget to head over to Buzzmills to hear The Parachute Packer Story.

Craft of Shame

I swore I wasn't going to make any gifts this holiday season. That is not true. I swore I wasn't going to make and gifts for holiday presents this year. I did make a few things this month that are gifts; they were just due months, if not years ago. (Hangs head in shame.)

I bought this fabric to make my husband a Hawaiian shirt in 2010.

This Hawaiian shirt is a gift for my friend, Mike, who took care of my mother in law when she had her heart valve replaced this June. (sigh) Yes, it took me longer to make the shirt than it did for her to recover from open heart surgery.

I am extra proud of the pockets on these shirts. And proud that as my husband was trying them on he told me "this is real professional looking stuff."

Also, I lied and did make two Christmas presents. I swore I wasn't going to do it but these his and hers Mustachioed Mug Sweaters had to be made since, despite all her craftiness, Rachael does not know how to crochet. Don't worry, despite finishing them before Christmas, I have not yet mailed them.

A special thank you to my husband for modeling for me. And for being a good (read: tolerant) crafty husband. And for taking all those packages on the kitchen table to the post office! (wink, wink)

Shorts on the Line: Uncensored

Many of you are probably popping over here to get a good look at my husband in his underwear after seeing my Shorts on the Line post on Vanessa's Blog here. She didn't feel comfortable posting pictures of his fine ass on her blog. I won't lie. It's a nice view!

Enjoy!

I know. Not as racy as you had hoped for. I'll do better next time. I did salvage his "American Apparel" pose. Some one was being a smart ass and didn't think I would take his picture.

The Big Girl Bed

Luckily, in all of her two years, my daughter has never tried to escape from her crib. She was content to play in there for hours. I never knew exactly how long Jane would nap because upon waking she would play or read until I finally went to get her. And that meant much more crafting time, so why rock the boat? Unfortunately, her little brother, Jimmy is an escape artist. Within a few months he could clear the edge of his cradle meaning it was time for him to take over the crib. My first baby was going to need a Big Girl Bed.

Twin bed frames and head boards are stupidly expensive and/or pieces of crap. I wanted a bed my kids could jump and play in without spending $750 at Pottery Barn Kids. I love my kids, but $750 can buy a lot of fabric, shoes and bags. Heck, if we're burning that kind of money I'll take a new sewing machine!

Instead, I found Ana White's blog and downloaded the free plans for her Simple Twin Bed. For less than $100 in lumber, supplies and paint, Jane's Big Girl Bed was born. Special thanks to my husband and father for helping me build it. Using power tool isn't easy with a two year old and an infant. Plus, everyone wanted to help build the princess's bed.

Warning if you are going to build your own bed or anything else from Ana's blog: read through the directions first. Ana is a homemaker and a DIYer, not a carpenter or an engineer. Her methods of making aren't "by the book." You may not be bothered by this, but your woodworker husband or jack-of-all-trades dad may be. They may re-engineer things. In any case, the bed is together (finally) and it is awesome, and her royal highness loves it.

The toy box at the foot of Jane's bed was built for her by my father. It is an exact replica of the wood chest that was my childhood toy box as well as my father's when he was a kid. Once I was older, my dad took mine ours apart to refinish it and lined it with cedar for me. He and my mother made this one for Jane's first birthday.

Next up: curtains for Jane's room.

The Big Girl Bed:
Bed design: Ana White's Simple Bed
Lumber: Pine from Home Depot (never Lowes; they don't like gay people and I'm not cool with that.)
Paint: Behr Caribe, as chosen by the Big Girl herself.


If you are looking for the Sew, Mama, Sew Giveaway, it is right here.

Attention fellow bloggers
I must say something about all the bloggers posting about how so many entrants are no-reply bloggers and they don't know it so we can't contact them thus they can't win. Yes, it is sad and frustrating. But as long as we're getting up on soap boxes here, I would like to say for the record: I am not a robot! And robots don't care to spam your giveaway or blog. Robots don't care about winning your Mendochino fabrics or learning how you make your super cute zippy pouches. But I do! Most all of our blogs aren't even big enough for anyone to want to spam them. So please, remove your comment captchas. They drive me nuts and I can not be the only one. I've not left comments blogs or entered giveaways because of captchas.

Here is a great tutorial on how to remove your comment captcha.

Special Day

Today is my husband's birthday! Happy birthday, Daniel Lee.

You are the love of my life. You make your children's eyes light up in delight. You are everything I wanted in a partner but would never have imagined it could all be in one man. You make me laugh and want to dance and holler out loud. I still can't believe you are all mine, but I intend to keep you for all my days.

Happy birthday, my love.