Leather

Instead of quilting, I've been hanging out more with my hubby.  That means plenty of time on the bike.  For me, biking is all about the costume.  I have black leather pants and coat.  I also have a coat that is black with a pink stripe.  But what I wear most is the Merlot colored, alligator-embossed chaps and vest.  It's a lot of fun when I'm at biker bars and get compliments.  My reply is "Yea, I had to quit drinking tequilla because I kept seeing purple alligators ---but I made sure to bag one before I quit.

Well, there's a new bike at our house that is a lovely shade of cherry red.  Which looks terrible with Merlot.  So I matched some paint cards to the color of the bike and headed to the annual  sale at the Tandy Leather shop.

Unfortunately, there were only 3 pieces on sale that were red, and this one matches the sparkles in the paint.  They'll be a great match on a bright sunshiny day.  And it was only $40 marked down from $100.  I've never seen anyone else with red chaps.  This will be fun.

But there was this really cool snake skin print.  Even though it "reads" as pink & grey, up close there are dark red dots that perfectly match the dark tone of the paint.

Sadly, it was not included in the $40 sale :(  The 2 pieces I want would be $540!!!.  *gasp*  But it is scheduled to go on sale in May.  In response to my sad/pouty face, the manager said she'd sell it to me today for the May sale price :) *Yippeee!!* I just saved $400!  But more importantly, I can make 2 amazing pieces for the price store-bought chaps.  I know there's enough for both chaps & vest....and if I'm both lucky and clever, possibly some zip-off sleeves to make the vest a light-weight jacket.   I spend a lot of time on the back of the bike.  I've day-dreamed about this design for years.  Guess it's time to pull out some muslin and make a prototype.

So, my apologies to my quilting and applique friends.  I'll be learning, once again, how to sew leather.   But I am going on the Treasure Shop Hop next weekend, so I promise to post at least some batik fabrics next week.