What My Vegetable Garden Is Not

We’ve been promised a slight break in the heat for the next few days, so my timing is good to get outside and take a look at the devastation that used to be my vegetable garden.



This is not my vegetable garden.
(Martha Stewart's Bedford, NY garden source)

In June, I shared my hopes that I could maintain one or two tomato plants in hibernation through the worst of the summer heat, along with peppers, okra, squash and the heat-loving Mediterranean herbs.

In fact, I lost everything except for the three-year-old basil plants (no one has told them they are supposed to be biennials). Even the oregano and thyme, strong woody plants that have endured the heat before, succumbed this year.



This is also not my vegetable garden.
(Fairchild Tropical Botanical Gardens, Florida source)

It wasn’t all due to the heat, though. After I pulled up the dead squash plants, I found squash bugs everywhere. They were running around, desperately looking for a new home/food source. In an instant, I went from a completely blissful ignorance of squash bugs to the certain knowledge that they were responsible for the death of at least two dozen huge squash vines and the lack of fruit on any of them. This revelation canceled out any sympathy I might have had for their little bug lives, and I stomped as many of them as I could. (It wasn’t very many – they are too fast.)

This is definitely not my vegetable garden.
(kitchen garden in Oklahoma source)

I hereby make my annual vow to never again plant vegetables for the summer. Time to move on.

I see that it was on almost exactly this date last year that I was thinking of seeding the winter garden, so I’m right on schedule. This year I’ll go back to the tried and true varieties of some of our veggies: Scarlet Nantes Carrots, Detroit Dark Red Beets, Oregon Sugar Pod Snow Peas. I’ll hope to repeat my good luck with seeding cilantro, dill, and parsley, as well as several varieties of lettuce. This year I’ll try broccoli and cauliflower too!

So with visions of lush vegetable gardens dancing in my head, I’ll hope that the temperatures really do drop to a bearable level and I can at least get outside long enough to clear the weeds and turn the soil this weekend.

Katrina

 

Mauve Madness – The End!

I should have called it Mauve Month – it took me that long. I finished up with two easy projects.

First, the drapey cardigan in a reversible pink and grey waffle knit.

V8718 trousers from here 

This pattern is another of the Hot Patterns freebies at fabric.com.

Very quick to cut, sew, and finish! It’s just a back piece and the fronts that can be cut in one with the extended drapes, or cut separately and sewn together. No fancy seam finishes are required, since knits don’t fray, and even the edges can be left unfinished for a casual look, as I did with my sporty waffle knit. For a cleaner finish you could hem all the edges, or you could bind them with bias trim.

It can be worn with the front cascading down, or with a tail tossed over one shoulder, or with the ends tied together and looped around the neck. Fun!



The very last piece of the collection is another peasant-style blouse in a floral challis.

Very Prairie

A more refined look

Challis from an eBay vintage shop. The metallic gleam hints at a 1980s date.

I put a ¾ length sleeve on this one and enclosed the edges in French seams, but other than that, I followed the pattern. 

Another lovely 1970s pattern

And now ... {drum roll}...  the final review of Mauve Madness Month!

click to see larger

 

• 3 blouses
• 3 skirts
• 1 dress
• 1 cardigan
• And only 1 disaster!

I worked solely from the stash, using about 18 yards of fabric and I didn't keep track of linings. I did have to buy some buttons and thread, but all together I would say this was a good stash-busting project and a very inexpensive month's worth of entertainment. And I have a lot of new mixy-matchy clothes.

That should take care of my sewing urges for the short term at least. I suppose I should get back to the neglected chores, pay the bills, and stock up on dwindling household supplies. Back to real life!

Katrina

Mauve Madness IV (Almost Done!)

It’s been a slow sewing week. I managed to finish this dress, but only after working on it every day, bit by bit.

click photos to see larger

This print is really the only fabric in the whole collection that has “Fall” colors, since it’s darker and has some browns and greens mixed in.

Cotton voile, a good choice for Phoenix where the transition from Summer to Fall is conceptual rather than climatic.

Another 1940’s shirt dress. This one buttons all the way down the front, rather than using the side closure that many similar styles have.

Lots of inspiration on this one pattern! How about those pockets on View 1? And I would love to do something along the lines of the beautiful saddle stitching in View 2 if I thought my hand stitching was up to it.

For this fabric  I thought that the little bitty view 3 was perfect.

It’s interesting that many vintage dress patterns include the matching belt. I don’t think that’s as common in modern patterns.

I intended to make a self-fabric belt for this dress, but decided instead to go with this dark purple one I found in my closet.

A few changes to the pattern:

• I added a couple of inches to the skirt length.
• I added interfacing to the collar and front facing. 
• I lined both the bodice and skirt.

Now I just have a couple of separates to finish and the collection will be done!

Katrina

 

 

 

Mauve Madness III

If you’re already tired of mauve, bad news for you – this is going to last for at least another week!

First, a report on the iron situation. I still don’t have a new one!

Cracked base from one too many crashes onto the floor

This is my old iron, a Rowenta DM 880 at least 10 years old, maybe as much as 15. The funny thing is, even with the huge crack at the base and pieces missing, it still works! With longevity and reliability like that, my first inclination is to just get another of the same model, but as we all know, that is rendered impossible by manufacturers’ continually phasing out the old things and introducing new “improved” things.

I have several recommendations, and many thanks to those of you who gave me information. Still, I can’t make a decision. It is so stressful to look at all the different options, compare prices, functions, ratings, and still not know which is the best investment. The models that got high ratings from Consumer Reports have low ratings on Amazon and Epinions, so I’m in a quandary. I’m just glad I can press a few seams flat with the old iron while I try to make a decision.

 

Now, back to mauve. The nice part of today’s update is the skirt.

No pattern, just a simple half-circle of this uneven plaid. It did take a lot of fabric, since I like my skirts long, usually 40 to 42 inches. Since this was 60” wide I was able to do the half-circle in one piece. One seam, with back zip and a waistband – easy!

The not-so-nice part is the top.

Of all the views on B4347, I liked the neckline on view D the most.

For some reason, I focused on the gathered-collar effect and completely ignored the lower portion of the front, which essentially forms a sweater-halter. Very odd.

Here’s a prettied-up version of my top, with all the pieces pulled and pinned into place to “fit”.

I don’t think anyone would wear this.

Here’s what it actually looks like.

Two sizes too big, with floppy edges on the collar portion that sag lower and lower until I’m tempted to use them for groceries, or… 

First aid! source

 

A baby! source

 

Tiny dogs! source

 

Overall I made three mistakes with this top: a) I chose an uncomplimentary style based on a drawing, b) I selected the wrong size, and c) I used a fabric that was too loose and stretchy. If I were to do anything at all to this top (other than toss it) I would cut an entirely new front from the small amount of fabric I have left and convert it into a V-neck tee. For now it’s going into the time-out basket until I’m done being mad at it.

I happen to have an old J.C. Penney top that’s a similar color. Unfortunately it’s faded, pilled, and generally in bad condition, but I still love it, so I can’t seem to get rid of it. It got to stand in for today’s mauve outfit photo.

 

Next in line is a dress which is more on the plummy side of mauve but it’s still in the collection. Have you noticed how cleverly I’m avoiding any gardening or other work while I’m working on this project? It’s all working out very well for me.

Katrina