bee creative

time flies

Most of my my non-work time recently has been spent in the garden...pulling weeds, pruning, planting, dreaming and sneezing.

I was really worried that my fig hadn't made it through the cold snap last January, but there are baby figs!

Another happy discovery...strawberries at the farmer's market!

I am pretty sure these are from a hoop house but still, this is early.  The greens are lettuce and spinach from the garden. 

I've also finished hemming the first of the sewing projects that I started last week. 

This is essentially three squares.  The neckline was cut on the fold of the larger square and the sleeves added to the sides.  Elastic was added to the ends of the sleeves. 

It's made with rayon so it has a lot of drape.  Rayon is something I try to avoid but I just loved this print and gave in during a moment of weakness.

This a pattern/layout I've been playing with for many years now but I've also been recently inspired by Christi Johnson. 

And lastly:

They still haven't grown out of the need to snuggle together and there is no box too small...

almost

I am almost ready to start sewing again.

I did a lot of sorting today. And prioritizing.  There are things to be made, mended and refashioned. 

Or it could just be a cat bed.

I also spent several hours in the garden today.

The wild currant is especially beautiful this year. 

Fritillaria affinis, chocolate lily or checkered lily.  Not the one I was hoping for (Fritillaria camschatcensis), but still very pretty.

All the fruit trees are almost in bloom. 

Enchanted April (I watched the movie again!) has begun...

revise

Yesterday's project:

Once this was a shirt-jacket kind of thing, made about 20 years ago.  One of the sleeves tore. I cut deeper arm holes and added pockets.  Now it's a vest kind of thing. The fabric is hemp and has soften through the years.  It's also shrunk and become a tighter weave.

The assistant:

Timber had his own ideas about arrangement.

The window:

I was intrigued by the window while looking at the photos.  This is unaltered, I just cropped this section of the photo from the one with Timber.

The altered version:

Grateful this morning for shelter and running water (which I don't have but will again sooner or later).

release, day forty two

Found the fish while doing some cleaning/organizing.

I will be releasing it somewhere. 

This morning I finish stitching a new neckline on a t-shirt that is a revise of another t-shirt.  The neckline was a little too loose/low for me. 

Releasing this from the mending pile.

And just 'cause:

Wishing everyone a good last day of 2023...

 

lost count of "waste not"

It was windy this morning, gusts up to 40 MPH.

The ground is covered with leaves and pine needles. 

I am calling it mulch and it will stay there.

When the hedges were planted, I didn't really consider fall color and yet it is glorious. Especially the red twig dogwood, highland cranberry (a type of viburnum and native) and the cherry and the apricot trees.

Today's lake pigment, carrot tops (along with the mullein).

Today's sewing project.  It's been sitting in the finish pile for awhile.  The top is made of two light jackets that didn't fit well.  They were cut apart and reassembled. I've hemmed the neckline and arm holes and should be able to finish the bottom this evening. 

(Yes, bare feet.  The high was 63 F.)

Much better than it was!

I've lost count of "waste not" projects.  It doesn't really matter as it's how I want to approach everything...always aiming for zero waste.

sitting in the sun

Lake pigment made with Cosmos.

summer colors

Not done yet.

This was a shirt that has been in the to-finish pile for awhile.

It went into the almost exhausted goldenrod dye bath.

After some stitching it is headed for the indigo vat. 

Another white shirt that I've been wearing for awhile went into the indigo vat.

And these...eventually I will try some of this for a dye bath or pigment.

bee at work

I don't really like the flavor of fennel but grow it for the bees and the birds.  I will be trying some as a dye/ink/something for color soon.

This morning I finished the shirt I have been working on by adding a few patches.

The pattern is "The One Yard Minimalist Top."  I am really happy with this pattern and know I will be making more.  There is a lot of potential for creativity and I have a lot of ideas. 

Last time I visited with Hazel I mentioned that sometimes I get overwhelmed with ideas, there is so much I want to do.  There are definitely worse problems to have. 

I want to  make more moons for sure. I am thinking of these soft ones as "children's moons."

Some of the fabric that recently went in to the indigo vat took another dip today.  Pretty sure this is the last dip and I will start putting the pieces together for a skirt on Sunday.  The skirt I have planned seems more of a summer wardrobe item so I want to finish it soon. 

The shirt counts as #3 for the "waste not" project, fabric reclaimed from another project. Patches were scraps.

learning from mistakes

Gibson and Widget were napping on one of the rocking chairs.

Timber was napping on top of the armoire.

I thought, here's my opportunity to cut out some fabric!

The fabric wasn't even unfolded before I had all three cats playing peek-a-boo as I shook it out.

I retreated to the front porch...

First cutting the yardage in half and then laying out my two pattern pieces.

The top is from, The Act of Sewing and the skirt is one that I self drafted. 

I rounded the curve in the arm hole a little bit as I cut the first piece. 

The first layer was used as the pattern for the second layer.

I've found that I like this top better when I use the neckline for the back on both sides.

***

This afternoon I've been listening to presentations for an online early childhood education conference.  There was discussion on the power of making mistakes. 

I thought about how many pieces of clothing its taken me to reach the point of being comfortable making clothes that I am happy with. 

To reach the point where a pattern is a suggestion and nothing else because I know what I like and what works with my body type. 

There have been a lot of things through the years that were cut up and used for something else or that are still waiting for me to imagine another use.

Thinking about how mistakes are only mistakes when we imagine a desired outcome, when we are expecting a certain result. 

***

Thinking about this:

"Our culture has beheld with suspicion unproductive time, things not utilitarian and daydreaming in general, but we live in a time when it is especially challenging to articulate the importance of experiences that don't produce anything obvious, aren't easily quantifiable, resist measurement, aren't easily named, are categorically in-between."  Ann Hamilton (found here)

And, from Neil Gaiman's book Fragile Things (which I am getting my own copy of as soon as possible!)

“600 professional dreamers would have been needed, to reveal the nature of things hidden beneath the roots of the trees and in the deepest mountain cabins and the depths of the seas for the map to be worth anything needed to contain the visible empire and the invisible.” Neil Gaiman Fragile Things Chapter 2

Professional dreamer...that's the job I want. 

 

feeling like autumn

Soup for lunch with a few last things for the season:  Onions, tomatoes, dehydrated celery leaves cooked in olive oil + a splash of vegetable broth and then a trip to the blender with a few basil leaves added. Plus cheddar cheese.

A few more quince from the garden, more visible now that leaves are falling. A hat makes a good basket in a pinch.

I need a few more shirts for work that are easy to layer. This is the top from Sonya Philip's book The Act of Sewing. I really love this pattern.  Linen fabric from the stash, hand stitched using the Mantua-makers seam...so much fun to do!