Our mountain cabin has a cozy hideaway loft. Children love it and so do I.
Often, on a cold or rainy day, I’ll climb up there to read or do hand work. With a cup of Constant Comment orange spice tea and a smocking or shadow work project, I feel so snug.
And what a place for a winter’s day nap!
I wish I could get a good picture of this sweet spot.
But IÂ don’t want to ask Bob get out that huge ladder that he uses to change the outside light bulbs, so these will have to do.
While children have referred to it as their clubhouse or tree house, it actually serves as a third sleeping area when the other bedrooms are full.  The foam flip chairs open up and make a reasonably comfortable bed, at least for young people.
To store the bedding for these flip chairs, I made two bags, one for each chair/bed.
The Ralph Lauren decorator fabric I found at an outlet store seemed perfect for the loft. It’s hunting/fishing/outdoor theme offered just the sort of decorating mood I wanted for this spot. This fabric was used for the window valance as well as the bedding bags.
In this small space, even storage bags needed to be decorative. With my
PE-Design, I used the open letter font for the text. It was stitched over a piece of camel colored ultrasuede and then trimmed close to the stitching.
What’s not to love about ultrasuede? Applique’ letters like these are so easy with this miracle fabric. It was also used it to bind the top edge of the bag, for ties and for a fringe along the muslin text panel. It also added another texture to this texture rich environment.
Ralph’s fishing license
The detail on the fabric just makes me smile. When I saw Ralph’s fishing license, I was tempted to monogram the pillowcases with RL, but monograms and the outdoor theme seemed incompatible.
I doubt any of our guests notice the details that I so enjoy adding to our vacation rental home. And it is unlikely that keeping the loft bedding in a plastic storage box would ruin a family’s vacation in the High Country. But several guests have commented on the extra sewing touches and I love stitching these little pleasures.
Sewing has given me the opportunity to lavish my grandchildren, my family  and my friends with personalized, individualized gifts. I can beautify my home  and this special place in the mountains that we so enjoy. It seems that I can apply my  love of sewing to any aspect of life.
