Oi. *Sigh*

I went back to the craft store at lunch today. I gave my hubby fair warning. I had to go. I simply had to.
We are taking a motorcycle safety course in the begining of august and we need jackets (per the instructions in the course description). Have you ever bought or priced out biker jackets? Oi. We went a few weeks ago to see what options/sizes/types/materials there were in the motorcycle jacket market. Boy, what variety! Even on craigslist it's hard to find an affordable jacket, so I thought - what about my hubby's old carhardt? Actually, he's worn through two of them. I keep them around to use to patch up heavy duty items like car seat covers, jean patches, etc. But even the older one I've only torn the pocket off, so it's structurally sound.
No, I'm not going to make my hubby show up to class in a torn up winter jacket in the middle of the summer. My plan is to wash it with soda ash then dye it, hopefully making the patch of never-before-seen-and-so-pristene carhardt material less noticable! I also plan to take out the insulation and liner and add a new liner out of more breathable fabric. The whole reason he stopped using the coat is because the zipper broke, so I'm going to rip off the velcro patches that no longer stick and put on heavy duty snaps.
Which leads me back to the craft store. Heavy duty snaps and a snap plier tool.
Then I found button covers, remembered I needed beading needles (don't know where my needles went!!!), saw the prettiest filigree clasp, and three different color collections of large glass beads. Wow. What a find!
$58.20 later I slinked out of the store shaking my head. Problem. Really. *sigh*
Then I got back to work and thought - what if I could make it from scratch? What if I could find the polyester mesh and neoprene and kevlar materials they use for the summer-type jackets that breathe really well? Why not? So I may have made that trip for nothing! (But it will ALL be put to good use!)
At least I didn't buy more fabric!
I'm not posting pictures for today's lunchcapades because I left my memory card in my laptop at home again. Oi.