30 October 2009

177. Studded Capelet from Men's Jeans

Whew, it's been a while since I've checked into ye olde blog. Usually October-December is the busiest time for my training work, so I'm on the road a bunch, and when I'm not, I'm preparing for training -- freshening up the content, making travel arrangements, ironing out contract details, etc. etc. Sewing fits in the spaces in between.


This denim capelet is made from repurposed men's jeans, and the studs are from www.studsandspikes.com (which shipped really quickly and has great customer service, BTW. Highly recommend). I'd like to make the capelet to order in the Vocabulary shop but won't list it until November, when I have any hope of filling orders.

I sketched this capelet back in the summer, but wasn't inspired enough to get sewing until the weather started cooling down. I finished the construction of the capelet end of Sept or early Oct, but had a doozy of a time putting those stinkin' snaps in! Dritz makes a killing with their $6 packages of 7 jumbo snaps. It takes three failed attempts for me to get one snap installed correctly, and you can't re-use these things after they've been messed up! I made the mistake of buying the Dritz "convertible" snap pliers. It absolutely did not work for the jumbo snaps. Here are the pliers to avoid -- the "convertible" ones with all their unhelpful attachments:


And the pliers that work -- the "heavy duty jumbo snap" pliers (BTW, the hand belongs to the checkout gal at the craft store. My skin has more pigment, hahaha):
It took me a couple of weeks after the snaps went on the capelet to dress up and take photos. We had rain for a few days so lighting wasn't conducive, and then it got so hot that I was wearing short dresses for a few days (not dark mystery studded capelet kind of weather, you know), and the day I finally took pics I saw that Tina had just posted a capelet on her glam.spoon blog! We had never even uttered the word "capelet" to each other and there we were, with our individual interpretations that looked so different! We traded messaged about it, and she commented that my capelet was like the tomboyish little sister to her luxe cashmere version. And it probably echoes who we would be in person with each other! So fun. Love ya, girl.

I happened to catch America's Next Top Model last night in my hotel room, and noticed that all the models were 5'7" or shorter! I missed my chance to become America's Next Top Model! :p


The funny thing is that I tweeted a hilarious quote about Tibet from one of the contestants, and today The Tyra Banks Show started following my tweets! I totally need some modeling lessons, so maybe Tyra will take up this lost cause I am and bestow upon me some personalized supermodel tips. Ha!

I'm up much later than I should be. I decided to indulge in an episode of my beloved Law & Order: Criminal Intent at 9. As I snuggled under the covers near the end of the episode, I decided it was cool in the room and maybe it would get cold tonight. So I turned on the heater. Little did I know that, this being San Antonio, the heater probably had not been turned on in at least a year. It roared to life and gave off burning fumes! It took me about 5 seconds to turn the heater off, but the smoke alarm in my room had already been set off. You should have seen me, jumping on the second queen bed in the room, frantically waving my Art Issue of W toward the ceiling to shoo the smoke away from the alarm. I was already in my PJ's and preferred not to run into the hallway for a full-on fire drill. After the smoke alarm stopped sounding, I was so worked up I didn't feel tired. And the room still smells like smoke, and the safety latch on the windows won't let me prop it open to air out the room. And I'm close to the elevator and prefer not to keep the door open. So here I sit, in my dark, smoky room, praying that nothing catches on fire overnight, and hoping I get enough rest for the second day of my class tomorrow, and catching up on my blogging. Obviously. :D

20 comments:

  1. *grin* I can really see you jumping on the bed, waving with the magazine, in your pj's. Funny!

    I hope the smoke disappeared and that you were able to get some sleep later on.

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  2. I love how structured and tailored this is! It would be really fun to play with layering it over other outfits.

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  3. Oh, that is cute! I love that punkish military vibe it gives your outfit.

    That's scary about the heater--I hope it's worked out its issues now!

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  4. I love it. So perfectly you.

    Whoa. That's a bit of a freak-out to almost set the hotel room on fire! Hmmm...makes you wonder about the alarm system if nobody showed up to see what was going on! Hope the rest of your stay was uneventful and that you make it safely home.

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  5. Nothing like a little excitement! Hope you got some sleep.

    You look great in a capelet! It adds some fun to an all black outfit. I think that you are on to something!

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  6. What a stylish fashion forward number!

    You could give the ANTM models some hints on dressing like a model .. Tyra has a real bee in her bonnet about that .. "you just don't look like a model," is one of her favourite comments.

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  7. That capelet totally suits you! Glad you didn't end up standing out on the pavement in your jammies while the hotel went up in flames

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  8. I remember that first hear of the winter... my house always smelled like hot dust, but I don't remember setting off the fire alarm. =) The capelet is adorable!!

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  9. what an ordeal! glad you survived the night. I do love your capelet - and thanks for the tool tips! I've been wanting to try some snaps. :)

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  10. Thanks for the laugh! That must have been one sensitive smoke alarm!!! Hope you got enough sleep!!! Training on no sleep is no fun at all!

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  11. @Karin - Unlike previous near-catastrophes, this time I did appreciate the situation for its humorous appeal WHILE it was happening. ;)

    @mjb - I took photos of the capelet over a strapless black dress, but the lighting that day was pretty bad. Thanks for mentioning -- I will try again and see if I can post more pics.

    @Becky - Thanks! The studs are literally "English 77" studs, which I guess are the exact style from the late 70's punk movement. 'Cause there are about a zillion styles of studs!

    @angelapea - My husband made the same comment about no one coming to check on me! The next morning, I told the front desk guy about the incident, and he sort of laughed sheepishly and said, "Yeah, that happens sometimes. The heaters don't get used much and the dust burns off them the first time you use it in the winter." Maybe they could clean out the dust in late summer next year. Just sayin'....

    @Cindy - I did sleep, for only 6 hours. I was ready to pass out by 6 the next evening. :) Thanks.

    @Faye - Thank you!

    @Mary Nanna - I've seen the first 2 or 3 cycles of ANTM and remember Tyra making that critique. I think much of it has to do with wearing heels, in her estimation. That is something to think about...

    @Violet - LOL No, I avoided the sidewalk scene entirely, thank goodness!

    @JoanneM - Thanks!

    @Christy - See? You knew right off what that smell was. I thought it must be burning wire. Silly me.

    @glam.spoon - Snaps rule if you can get them installed right!

    @Kyle - I don't think there was any visible smoke, so I suspect you're right that it was very sensitive. Then part of me wonders if the alarm has limited use if no one else responds but the person in the room...?

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  12. Thank you so dang much for the snap setting confessions--I thought it was just me and some sort of sign that I'm not meant to use snaps. Like a bad snap omen or something. I'm always glad to hear what people can't do. And yes, I also think the capelet is really nifty. Makes me want to make one out of vintage polyester.

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  13. Antoinette - you are really showing your creativity and style with this one. I love it.

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  14. Love the capelet! I'm glad you didn't get hurt or had people come banging on your door about the smoke and alarm.

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  15. @ginger - I believe it is mechanically IMPOSSIBLE to properly set a jumbo snap using the attachment included in the "convertible" Dritz pliers. And I even find the "right" Dritz pliers to be counter-intuitive!

    @Gail - Thank you -- that really means a lot to me!

    @NGLaLaLa - Thanks, and I'm glad, too! I did have to evacuate once from the 26th floor of a Canadian hotel at 5:30 a.m. So grateful this one didn't turn out the same.

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  16. Oh my. How I love this. Would adore a tutorial--so tough and stylish!

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  17. i. want. one. that is the coolest capelet i've ever seen. it changes up your outfit entirely!

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  18. totally awesome! Your blog is really inspiring!

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