Photo Journal for Saturday, June 27th 2015

7:13 am- Coffee. See a pattern?

8:08 am- Shower. Lots of soapy slivers to scrub-a-dub.

9:26 am- Show and tell with Lego dinos. T-Rex on left. Brachiosaurus on the right. 

10:13 am- Target for allergy meds and multi-vitamins... grabbed the floral notecards and notepad that Deb enabled me on. 

11:30 am- Lunch at Which Wich in Tampa. Amazingness.

12:12 pm- Impromptu canoeing expedition down the Hillsborough River.

1:05 pm- Greetings from the Johnson family and numerous alligators. 

1:50 pm- Still cruising along in the canoe. 

2:08 pm- Getting our land legs back. We took the route from Sargeant's Park to Morris Bridge Park. Four miles and 2 hours.

3:57 pm- Sewing on the big mamajama quilt I have been working on since the beginning of 2010. 

4:59 pm- Dinner break. Grilled ham and Swiss with pickles and honey mustard. It must be a sammy kinda day.

5:22 pm- More sewing then tea break. Yogi Lavender Honey tea is my obsession right now.

6:25 pm- Adult responsibility time. 

7:50 pm- Harry Potter and more quilting. 

8:20 pm- Pop in my sleepy scent: Sniff My Tarts Pink Peppermint. 

It was a beautiful Saturday that will be cherished. Guess what?! I actually have a waxy post coming in a couple days. Yee haw! 

Aftelier Bergamoss Solid Perfume

Guys. I won something. An amazing thing. A beautiful thing. And I was so excited when my name had been drawn that whooped out so loud I scared my husband. 

Mandy Aftel, of Aftelier, held two giveaways recently, one on Instagram and one via Facebook. Both giveaways were for an antique watch case filled with her new perfume solid Bergamoss. I entered both and was drawn for the Instagram contest! My beauty (valued at $265) arrived a week after the contest ended in a dazzling golden bubble mailer. Tucked inside the mailer was a glassine envelop housing a pull-drawer box.

The artwork on the front of her business card. 

The bottom of the box.

This bag. I love it. Mandy's attention to detail and high regard for craftsmanship is evident.

The treasure inside. Isn't she lovely? After tinkering around with some light research, the grouse hallmark indicates that it is Swiss made and 0.800 silver. The lack of a "Swiss Made" stamp may indicate the age between 1880-1887. I am obviously not an expert on antiques but I do appreciate their histories, stories and journeys. 

The etching makes me swoon. The little village, the flower, and cresting waves. 

Bergamoss. The hue of the glass outside the case foreshadows the perfume's depth of color within, an ancient living green.

Swirling my finger tip on the firm yet silken surface releases sparks of antiqued citrus in the air like so many dandelion wishes. Warm skin acts a catalyst, caressing out more depth, excavating nuances of spice and fruit flesh. All the while that rich golden green oakmoss sings. Bergamoss enchants me with her timeless luxury and quiet beauty. 

The antique case compliments the fragrance inside seamlessly. It looks and feels and smells like a treasure that has laid hidden in an attic for a century. A silver flash of sunlight dances on the surface, catching a little girl's eye who has been playing in the trunks of old gowns and shawls. She wanders over to the dust draped table and picks up the watch case and cradles it in her hand. Scents from lifetimes ago warming in her palm and rising to the rafters. Golden green shafts of light. 

Passport Cover Tutorial

I had to take my passport to be scanned over to the military base so I could get clearance rolling and the trip to and fro in my bag jostled and scruffed my passport up a wee bit. It got me thinking that it would be nice to have a cover to help protect it and maybe even store my ID inside of for when I need to get through customs. Thus the birth of my down and dirty quick passport cover tutorial. It is not ultra refined but it IS quirky and does the job.

Materials:

Timtex: roughly 10 by 6  inch piece

two fat quarters of coordinating fabric

mini hairband

vintage button

thread

I chose a heavier weight cotton for durability purposes. I had these two half yard cuts of Echino fabric made by Kokka, a high quality Japanese fabric brand, that I had been hoarding for several years. They have a light canvas cloth feel. Plus the buses and cars rocked... transportation... going places... passports!

Cut two rectangles of Timtex or other heavy weight interfacing: 4" by 5 1/4"

Not perfect but close enough.

Cut five total rectangles of fabric: two for the cover of the book and two for the lining and one for the pocket that the passport will slide into: 4 1/2" by 5 3/4" each. 

Next, cut out two pieces in any fabric choice to create an additional little pocket for an ID: roughly 2 1/2" by 3 1/4".

Remove plastic backing from the Timtex and adhere to the cover fabric pieces using a hot iron, as directed.

Here are my pieces all lined up and ready to go. The left are my covers with the interfacing attached. The brown buses are my lining, the single on the right of the buses is the passport pocket with a double folded and ironed edge (do this on the LEFT side of the fabric when right side up). Lastly, the tiny pocket on the far right with a corner cut off. Just eyeball it. ;-)

Ironing the edge down on the passport pocket.

Sew down the folded edge. I used a zigzag stitch for fun factor. 

Place the tiny ID pocket right sides together and sew around the short side, corner and top using a 1/4" seam allowance. See below.

After sewing along the three sides shown: clip corners, turn inside out, press and top stitch.

Place tiny ID pocket on the left lining side (as if you were holding open a book, one lining is the inside left and the other is the inside right). The tiny ID pocket can be placed either vertically tall or horizontally long, whichever is your preference. See photos at the end of the post for clarification. 

Next, make your loop for the closure by taking the tiny hairband and spearing it with a needle near one end. Take some thread and tie the end of the hairband off so it stays pinched.

Lay the hairband down along the left edge of the left lining on top of the tiny ID pocket. Stitch along the left edge of the tiny pocket and over the hairband (back and forth over the hairband to secure it) and down across the bottom, using 1/4" seam allowance.

Take the right hand lining and place the large passport pocket on top, lining up along the right hand edge. stitch in place using 1/4" seam allowance.

Place the covers and the linings right sides together, making sure the fabric is correct if directional (no upside down cars or anything, unless you want it that way). Stitch them together along the sides and top, back-stitching at the beginning and end for security. Stitch as close to the Timtex as you can without going on top of it.  Leave the bottoms open. 

Clip the corners and turn inside out. It will be tricksy with the Timtext, but you can do it! Iron down and tuck in the bottom. Top-stitch all the way around the rectangle, close to the edge. Press with the iron.

Sandwich the top and back covers and use a blanket stitch along the spine to join the two sides. I used all six strands on the embroidery floss.

Two passport covers.

Slide the last page of the passport into the large pocket on the right side. This one has the tiny ID pocket placed vertically.

This one has the tiny ID pocket placed horizontally. The cars are upside-down on this passport pocket. Totally on purpose. >bites lip<

Check out my mad cool vintage buttons. The green one is an old bakelite button from eBay. Vintage buttons are sweet. 

These really weren't too bad to whip up. 

Thanks and happy sewing!