zaterdag 23 juni 2018

De tuin aan het begin van de zomer

Deze namiddag voelde ik me iets beter (afgelopen dagen was ik echt een vod, één of ander virusje) en dat heb ik gevierd met een wandeling door de tuin, met de camera in de hand.
Nadien heb ik ook nog een beetje "gewerkt": een beetje onkruid uitgetrokken, zaailingen en potplanten gegoten, en het paadje in de moestuin geveegd.
En ik heb afgewassen, én nog klarinet gespeeld met Marieke, dus ik ben écht aan de beterhand!

De regenboog-potten zijn er weer, gevuld met regenboogbloemen!

Poging tot "discopepertjes". Ik nam vorige zomer zaad van een plant waar gele, rode en paarse pepertjes op stonden. Misschien was het een hybride, want hier komen voorlopig enkel paarse pepertjes aan, en er zijn zusterplanten die duidelijk anders groeien (meer rechtop) en waar bijna geen vruchtjes aan komen. Dit is in ieder geval ook mooi.

Hang-fuschia, niet echt tevreden in de hangmanden, maar wel heel mooi.

De knoppen zijn ook mooi. Ik ga hem stekken eind deze zomer, en dan volgend jaar gewoon in een pot op het terras zetten.

Verkleurend rabarberblad

Verbena bonariensis, mooi tegen de goudsbloemen.

Dahlia "Twilight Time"

Mijn lievelingsbloem, die kleur is een natuurlijk antidepressivum.

Viperine, prachtig blauw en een feest voor de bijtjes.

De snijbiet komt op gang in de moestuin.

Mooi toch, de knoppen van de Japanse wijnbes tegen het blauw van de slangenplant.

Bibiche houdt wel van een blaadje snijbiet. We moeten eens wat nieuwe zussen voor haar kopen...

Die insecten-hotels, dat werkt dus echt, jaar na jaar zijn ze bezet.

Dit wordt ook traditie: blauwe lobelia (zelf uit zaad gekweekt) in de pot aan mijn rood tuinkot.

De laatste vingerhoedskruid.

Mijn vetplantjes tuin.

Een wereld op zich.

Leuk om af en toe op de hurken te gaan zitten.

Om goed alle details te kunnen zien.
Zo, dat was mijn ronde van de tuin. Hier kom ik dan in de winter eens kijken, als ik weer denk "waarom hebben we een tuin? een appartement zou toch veel praktischer en minder modderig zijn?".

vrijdag 22 juni 2018

Marieke's Tracht Rock and Gypsy Shirt

Since Marieke felt she was short on summer skirts and dresses we went shopping for fabric. What she really wanted was a dolphin dress, but of course we couldn't find any pretty dolphin fabric. Then she saw some sequinned fabric, and she wanted that, but I vetoed! Finally we found a light teal with delicate silver stars, which we could both approve of. But I felt that a whole dress in that fabric would be a bit too "Sunday", so I suggested a skirt in the star fabric, combined with a plain top. Luckily we found
Image result for sequin fabric
My daughter's idea of style!



 a pretty teal that would be perfect. And then I spotted another fabric, a ditsy floral in just the right colors. I fell in love and had to have it, so we decided to make two skirts and a blouse.

Had to have this, I actually went back two days later to buy more, to make myself a skirt too!

Enough glitter to please Marieke, and not too much for mom.

Perfect combination (I don't know why the starry fabric turned gray on camera)
We bought piping cord in pink, blind zippers, matching thread and pretty pink buttons with stars, I dug up some pretty lace and old elastic I had lying around and I set to sewing.

Pretty trim.
 I drafted the pattern for both the skirt and the shirt myself. For the shirt I took inspiration from a favorite of Marieke's which has become too small and flimsy from going through the wash a million times. It's a very simple gypsy shirt with elastic in the neckline and around the sleeve hems, and a draw cord in the hem. The first day she wore it, she spilled tomato juice all over the front, so I camouflaged the stain with a pretty heart applique!
Stains gone! I used the feston stitch on my new Pfaff to do the appliqué.
The pattern for the skirt is based on the Rockmacherin skirts., beautiful German folk skirts that I absolutely adore. Once I reach my target weight, I plan to buy me one. For now, I'll create my own version of the tracht Rock. It typically has a wide yoke, edged with piping, ribbon or bias tape, and under that a pleated skirt, often with a contrasting band of fabric at the hem. The closure consists of a row of buttons and fabric loops on the yoke. I left out the contrasting band and the buttons, cute as they are, but added generous pockets, trimmed with some lace. I went for gathers rather than pleats (a lot quicker) and made some horizontal pleats near the hem. This will allow me to take the pleats out one by one as Marieke grows, so she can wear the skirt for many years to come. To this end I also put in an elastic in the back, which allows for quite a few cm of growth in the waist. Now for the big reveal:

Getting ready for the photo shoot, by putting on 'matching' shoes. She has some really pretty white sandals, but there is a school run today, so she needs her running shoes, and the colors match perfectly! She will run in this outfit, with shorts underneath the skirt, because Marieke has style like that!

Strike a pose!

Big pockets are a must.

I love pretty trim!

But I love my pretty girl most (and I love making pretty things with pretty trims for my pretty girl!)
I had so much fun making this. I really like it when I can work on commission, and Marieke is always so keen to wear what I've made, it really spurs me on. I have the silver stars fabric for the second skirt cut and ready to sew, but I'm still feeling under the weather today, so we'll see when I actually get round to sewing it. And I have to draw up the pattern for my own Rockmacherin skirt, too. I'm looking forward to wearing matching outfits this summer!

donderdag 21 juni 2018

What I did in April and May

It's been a while since I wrote on this blog, but that's not because I've not been creating.
Here are some pictures of what I've been up to these last few months.

Tulips from the garden, my first harvest this year.

You see more details when they're up at eye level.

Lovely details.

On the home altar.

A selection of vases. The broken cup in front used to be my great-grandmother's service.

Another little bouquet, for the table.

I bought this teapot with me from Chad, more than 10 years ago.

The "twintigstippig wilgenhaantje" ate our willow, which we pollarded this spring.

Mock orange, "boerenjasmijn" or "farmer's jasmin" in Dutch, the scent is divine!

I love Foxgloves!

My first year growing Iceland poppies. Next year I plan to plant some in the border next to our porch.

The Tübinger mix I got in Delft last year is performing very well: the bees are having a feast.

They also love these beauties. When I walk nearby I can hear them buzzing as they wallow in the nectar. I think the shape of the poppies acts as an amplifier.

My veg and cut flower patch is getting going for the season.

The Viperine is a also well loved by the bees, and the true blue is so vibrant!
That's not all I've been doing. I've been working on machine quilting my Acorn Trail and Lone Star quilts, slowly but surely. I've been neglecting my Splendid Sampler :-), but I think I need to finish those other two quilts first. I feel like for the Lone Star I have started overquilting, meaning a lot of work and a stiff quilt. So I've decided to give the remaining background area (I've only done a tiny bit) a much loser treatment. That way I'll 1. get it done and 2. keep the cuddly softness of the old fabrics. I hope some of the softness returns when washing and drying.

I also should really post a picture of my Liberty wool dress I made this winter. I've lost a bit of weight recently, so the fit is becoming loose, so I should get a picture before it just doesn't fit anymore. Luckily I have enough fabric left to make the dress again, in a smaller size, because it's really lovely, even if I do say so myself.

I also made Marieke and outfit last week: a skirt and top. We went fabric shopping together and I drafted the pattern for both myself, starting from a few of her favorite garments which are getting small.

And last but not least, I did a lot of patch jobs yesterday and today. I've been feeling ill (light fever and muscle aches, but mostly fatigue, palpitations, slow heart rate and hypotension) so I'm in no mood for creative endeavours, and doing mindless patch jobs was just the thing to make me feel a bit better about myself!