up the garden path

There are a few things bubbling along in the background that I've been meaning to post for a while. Just a matter of making some time to get photos off the camera and sitting with the computer for a bit. My current sewing project is annoying me at the moment, so lets take a look at our recent gardening exploits instead.

In the front yard we have a new path. A huge impact on our garden's usability (and decrease in dirt being tracked around) for minimal effort. It's a really simple, cheap and rustic path made with some red-gum sleepers, chopped down into 600mm lengths and laid directly into the bare dirt, with more dirt packed in the gaps. The rain has helped to settle them down since, and we're ready to finish off the garden beds with some plants and mulch. Being as the front garden gets more light in winter than the back I'm thinking about planting some broccoli and mini cabbages out here, although I've also been daydreaming about growing some asparagas and rhubarb, and the strawberries are frantically producing runners. Whatever we do out here will need some rat proof protection though, as a couple of sightings (and much excitement for our cat) suggest that they are the critters who harvested our strawberry crop this summer.

In the backyard veggie patch, which is about one year old now, I'm starting to get into the groove of the seasonal changes, pulling things up as they get past their best (or I come to accept that they have failed) and sticking in something new. In the last couple of weeks I've pulled out the flowerless cucumbers and mystery cucurbits (Pumpkin I suspect, although it only ever produced male flowers, despite very nearly taking over the entire veggie patch) and planted snow, sugar and heirloom purple podded peas (in a few staggered plantings) and broad beans. The beetroot and carrots that I planted in February seem to be doing OK, although with the sunshine rapidly retreating I suspect we will be eating baby sized veg. The bok choy were failure, mostly on my part. I only harvested a few leaves before the cabbage moth decimated them. Clearly I wasn't paying them enough attention, but I guess I've learnt some lessons there for next time. The wire cages worked very well in protecting them the cat and birds though- I'll definitely be trying that again. I also need to put in some more time on fertilising and adding compost etc to the soil. They do say you reap what you sow...

Goodness never tasted so good

I made the very near mistake of letting C browse through a very nice cookbook when we were planning some baking activities this week. Of course, being a young child, he was immediately entranced by the beautiful photographs of sweet little delicacies. I managed to get him past the page with the chocolate puddings oozing rich chocolate sauce but he wouldn't budge past the lemon meringue cupcake perched in the small hands of another young child, it's perfect coiled spiral of white meringue towering high above the cupcake base.
 
 My first thought was along the lines of Oh dear, he's going to be really disappointed when it doesn't look anything like the picture, but I needn't have feared. The recipe was really easy, although I did omit one of the three cake components (there was supposed to be a dollop of lemon curd sitting under the meringue) and it took me two attempts to get the meringue to work (I forgot that you have to beat the egg whites stiff before you add the sugar). C was a wonderful helper. Help is the name of the game at the moment- so he held the beater a bit (he doesn't like it at high speed though), and counted eggs and tablespoons of milk and the like, and had a squeeze of the sifter too. He was also very keen to assist with licking any batter coated implements, and cried because I wouldn't let him fill the paper liners or squeeze the meringue out of the make-shift baking paper piping bag himself. But never mind, tears were long gone when he devoured one for afternoon tea.
 
Being one not to let things go to waste, I was determined to find a use for the failed meringue and accompanying four egg yolks that were left over. Lemon curd to the rescue again! It worked fine, despite the egg whites being pre-beaten into a thick white syrup, although I've just about reached the end of my frozen lemon juice and zest stash and am wondering if it's really that long until lemon season arrives here again...

The scrap mentality

I recently came across some sewing inspiration that ties in very nicely with my Green and Stingy creative sides- the idea of fashion without waste, sewing clothes that are cut in such a way that there aren't any offcuts. I love this idea, although it could mark the end of off cut coats and scrap quilts, but these are really just creative attempts at achieving the same thing- maximizing use of the raw materials, minimizing waste.

Some links found via Center for Pattern Design:
Timo Rissanen - Australian designer exploring zero waste design
Precarious pattern cutting by Holly McQuillan in New Zealand, including some instructions to download if you want to experiment with designing a zero waste garment.

Fashioning Now - Exhibition, workshops and symposium held last year (I think) but links to some of the exhibitors projects and case studies.

Yet another one pops out...

Despite what some may suggest, I don't believe my friends are popping out babies left, right and center just for the opportunity of scoring a handmade gift. However, one very good friend did make a request for a baby sling like the one I used with C (seems like so many years ago now..) for her long awaited son #2, and I was very happy to oblige. She chose the fabrics (Ikea, how I love thee!) and I threw in a bib for good measure. Although perhaps not good presence of mind when it comes to noticing the directionality of a print.... The small piece of lion and giraffe Japanese fabric came from Patchwork on Central Park, who have a delightful few baskets of tiny fat 16ths (I think?) perched near their ribbon display. At $2 a pop it was hard not to snatch a few sweeties to take home- just big enough for a baby bib with a contrasting remnant of something to finish off the strap.

And in other matters:
I've mentioned this before, but I am getting more and more annoyed by the commenting system I'm using at the moment. I'm contemplating switching to the standard Blogger system comments, but it means I will loose about 5 years of comments from my blog (although I will retain comments from this year). Not something I really want to do, but I really don't want to go on with the system I have- I feel cut off from commenters because it isn't easy to reply directly to you, and for the most part, it's not possible to find out who you are, and click through to your blog. So, I'm canvassing opinions. Let me know if you have one- leave a comment (if you can navigate the system!) or email me at clementineshoes at gmail dot com. Thanks!

Sorted.

Thanks for the nice comments and fastening suggestions- I'm pleased to say the off-cut coat is finished and C seems to like wearing it (although the hood is very snug).


I managed to pluck up the courage to use the toggle buttons I'd bought for a traditional looking duffle coat fastening. The buttons don't actually have holes through them for a cord, just a groove around the middle. I hitched some hair elastics (the metal free ones, thanks for the idea Sooz) around the groove and pulled really tight to nestle into the groove, then stitched a triangle of leather over the elastic loop end. In the process I finally got around to using the leather sewing machine needles I bought ages ago, in conjunction with some black top stitching thread, and was pleased to discover that sewing leather onto layers of wool and lining was easier than I thought it would be. I used the hair elastics for the fixing loops too, and then to keep the buttons in position I did some hand stitching over the elastic very close to the button. Close up pic of the fastenings here. This (I think) makes it easier to do the fastenings up and means the fronts don't move around as much, eliminating the need for the snaps or secondary fastenings behind the toggles. It seemed to work fine today when we undertook a family excursion to the Melbourne Museum.

It was a delight to see him running around in it, and aside from the hood, it should see us through the next year (I'm contemplating taking the hood off and trying to insert an extra piece to give him some more head room, if I still have enough scraps). Another real pleasure of the coat was the joy of working with good quality wool fabrics. They were so easy to cut and sew- easy to ease the concave and convex curves together around the yoke, and a little steam work with the iron made everything sit satisfyingly well. A nice reminder as to why you should always buy the best quality fabric you can- it really does make the process easier and the result so much better.

More pics on Flickr here.

Offcut coat

Thank you for all the wonderful feedback on the quilt. It is a huge pleasure to be able to share projects with an appreciative and supportive creative audience, and to share the inspiration around. I am plotting the next quilt, but am torn between the idea of  making one for our son's new "big" bed, or our (even bigger) bed.While I muse on that there are plenty of other projects underway or vying for attention...

The joys of making stuff from scraps and remnants is a recurring theme in the sewing room at the moment. With Autumn in full swing it won't be long before C is in need of a new coat. I was thinking something simple, but when I saw a little boy's duffle coat in Ottobre 6/2007 Winter I was smitten. I rummaged through the stash and ended up with a collection of larger remnants, leftovers from other projects that weren't enough for a garment on their own, but worked together quite well, and provided just enough fabric to eek out a coat. I felt finally rewarded for many years of carefully (some might suggest anally retentively, and they'd probably be quite right) laying out patterns to maximise the usability of the left over fabric scraps.

It is a garment that, even though it is still unfinished (the right fastenings elude me), is already laden with memories. There is the green wool flannel that I bought in Copenhagen, and used for a skirt that I made when I was living in Ripponlea (Used for front and back yokes, front facing, pockets and sleeve tabs); the lighter weight grey wool flannel that used to make a long DKNY skirt my first winter in Melbourne, when I hadn't yet acclimatised to the cold, and still wear about 15 years later, shortened a bit, and with a new waistband (Used for the sleeves and hood); the black soft cashmere blend coating that bought from Artextil and used for a Montana coat, which is still in the wardrobe although I haven't really worn it for the last couple of years (Used for the body).

Even the linings are remnants- more Kristen Doran leftovers from a shirt I made for C lines the hood, the body is lined with some really nice quality black fleece fabric (yes, such a thing does exist, though I suspect it is rare) and the sleeves have some cotton rugby knit leftover from tracksuit pants I made for S. Even the perfect shade of top stitching thread was leftover from other projects.

The fastenings are set to be the only new purchase, although as I said, they elude me at present. Toggle fastenings choices seem to be limited, and I think the toggles I bought to use with some home made leather attachments aren't going to work as I would like them to. In fear of stuffing up such a special project I'm procrastinating on the final steps and have been finishing off some more baby gifts (this time a sling, and perhaps a bib to go with it too..) while I muse on the possibilities...

*updated to add- if you're interested in seeing some more kids clothes and plenty of use of remnants and off cuts, then drop in and see what Sooz has been whipping up over Easter here, and here and here.

A quilt

Some creative friends got married this weekend. After many years already shared together they decided to formally commit to spending many more, and to share the celebration with their friends and family. I felt that something from the department store registry was too bland and anonymous, so decided a while ago to give them something handmade.

 
It took me a good while to get started, so time became a bit of a design and method constraint when I did get going. Thankfully, when the imminent deadline finally kicked me out of vaguely-thinking-about-it-procrastination-mode, and into better-put-my-head-down-and-get-on-with-it-mode, it did proved to be not only quick, but completely absorbing and compelling, and an incredibly satisfying project to undertake.


It was something I hadn’t tried before, made without too much deliberation, made with an overall design intention but without rigid expectations, experimenting, exploring the method and process, working with many scraps and special treasures from the stash, observing the overall effect rather than dwelling on small imperfections.



I referred in particular to this tied quilt tutorial and was inspired by this , that, and Denise Schmidt's work, and encouraged by talented friends.



It was made over 4 nights, a total of about 14 hours work, which was a relief given that was all the time I had, and also a nice reminder of what you can do if you can make yourself focus on the doing, rather than thinking about the doing, from time to time.

 

It’s hard to describe how much I love the result. It was hard to give it away, but I’m sure it will be appreciated and enjoyed, and if I had kept it then I wouldn't have such a convenient excuse to make another one....