Based off a Martha Stewart pattern for an oilcloth lunchbag and modified to be able to hold my thermos and plastic containers:

This sucker is hand-sewn with black linen bookbinding thread. The oilcloth came from St. Teresa Textile Trove, of course! They had this pattern in a half-dozen different colors. So cute!

I have a serious hatred of miniblinds. To me, nothing says "dingy college apartment" more than those horrible offwhite shades. So, even though I don't have a sewing machine and haven't made anything since I was a kid clothing my teddy bears, I became determined to make curtains for all the windows in my apartment. I found everything I'd ever want at St. Theresa Textile Trove in Cincinnati's College Hill neighborhood, where I spent $75 a few weeks ago—and that was after a 50 percent off coupon.

So far I've bought the fabric for my living room and bathroom (though the fabric I got for the bathroom would look really nice in the living room, and the living room fabric would be very pretty in my bedroom), and I just finished sewing the bathroom curtain last night. I'm doing it up pioneer style, sewing by hand by the light of my CFL bulbs. I think the first one turned out great, but it took me a week to finish just that one panel. I'm hitting up thrift stores tonight to try to find a sewing machine.

well, two weeks ago, i came back from my jaunt to san francisco and portland. thanks to skybus going out of business, i got an extra day of vacation!

i saw lots of awesome artsy things, as seen here and here, and took tons of photos:

on the oregon coast

lunch at a san francisco tea house

recognize these houses?

This is my cat, Lucille Two. She has three teeth and tiny, tiny paws. I'm going on vacation tomorrow and will be leaving her alone (with catsitters) for the first time!

I'll miss you, baby cat!

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