Nautical Man Cave

The man cave is taking shape! The window coverings are up. The nautical end tables are in place. The fish is on the wall (is it ever!). Yes, the 8'2" marlin and the big cushy furniture now has a home. Still a lot of finishing touches but you start to get the idea of what it'll eventually look like. Ken's dreaming of his giant TV on the opposite wall.

Anchors Aweigh Collection

It's been super hot here in Michigan. We had visitors over the weekend and spent a lot of time on the boat/beach. But on Sunday, I elected to hide inside and enjoy the AC and finish up this project. I found this cotton ticking and matched it up with a bright red 'suede' material. I then hand-stitched these vintage anchor appliques on to the pillows. Yes, hand-stitched. No iron-on when using vintage appliques. I found the appliques online at a vintage Etsy shop.

I love the pop of red on this simple stripe.

Beach Applique Pillow

This was an experiment. I wanted to take and applique a pillow using linen letters on cotton. Making the letters wasn't an issue. I ironed on a fusible backing to give them body and keep them from unravelling. Attaching them was another story. Hand sewing them on took about 2 days. The joke on our boat was that I'd have to sell them for $1200 each in order to cover my time. Oh well, they were fun and I love how they turned out. I did put them on the Etsy Store. I'll keep working on the process to see if I can't speed it up.

Wine Bags with Driftwood Buttons

Well, here's a first couple ideas on what to make with all the driftwood I pick up on the beach! I love the driftwood buttons! Each piece of driftwood is drilled for either sewing on or knotted. Oh, Oh, now I'm using power tools! The bags are made of burlap. All the internal seams are serged for strength. But, I wanted the final look to remain 'rustic'. Visit Float on Etsy to see more.

Sewing for a reason

Sometimes you sew to sell, sometimes you sew to experiment, and sometimes you just sew for friends because you can. My friend purchased some extra material when buying new great room furniture so that some day she could make some pillows for the couch. Her 'some day' hasn't materialized yet, and, oh what the heck, I have some spare time on this rainy day.

Virginia Beach Collection

I've added a new collection of pillows to my Etsy.com store. I'm calling it the Virginia Beach Collection after Aunt Virg, who you may recall, was the Aunt that taught me to sew. She's parting with some of her fabric that she's collected over the years and I couldn't resist these two coordinating fabs with a great vintage beach style.

My New Sewing Room!

I'm so excited to share with you pictures of my new sewing room. I can stand up bolts of fabric in the tall cabinets, put all sorts of stuff in the drawers and cubbies. My new table is very sturdy. All I'm missing are the window coverings! Imagine that!