Flowers and Bees

 

 

I think my garden is as it best for the last two weeks in June.  The beds are full with Aquilegias in so many shapes and colours.  I love these and every year there are new ones to look at.  I am also a big fan of Geraniums, they are particularly tolerant to a football, which I'm afraid in our small back garden is a must for any plants survival.  In our front garden however footballs are banned and I have tall foxgloves standing proud for the first time this year, sewn from seeds collected from my mum's garden.  All gardens however have to have a star plant, and at the moment I am torn between the beautiful Ceanothus, which is alive with bees or the graceful Alliums with flower heads the size of a grapefruit, no I can not decide!

On the sewing front, this week I have been dressmaking.  As part of my grand plan, I wanted to be able to find to make things for myself and those dear to me.  Dress making is in my blood, with skills passed down through the generations. My Great Nanny Halliday was a tailoress in the 1920's to private wealthy families, can you imagine the beauties that she must have made.  My Nanny Flo made clothes for her daughters (my mum and aunt) and spent many a happy hour creating an evening gown for the ballroom on a Friday night.  I remember as a little girl, looking at her pretty evening dresses and dreaming of wearing a sparky dress.  My mum has always sewed and taught me to sew when I was very young.  Mum has always made the most beautiful clothes, often out of necessity, but without a doubt I had the prettiest wardrobe whilst growing up.   When I was pregnant, I dreamed of making pretty dresses if I had a daughter, however when the daughter became a reality, I found myself so busy 'work' sewing that I have only made a couple of dresses.  This I intend to put right.

To refresh my skills, I started with a simple dress pattern by Lisette.  I chose the Diplomat pattern which I got from here.  It had very clear instructions and the sizing measured up well.  I would add however, that is extremely important to measure yourself before starting as I actually made the dress size two sizes up from what I usually wear, not at all good for the ego.  All in all  I was thrilled with result.  I made  the short version with short sleeves which I wore on Friday night with denim pedal pushers.  The fabric was a gorgeous Liberty of London cotton print from my stash.  Next up, something for Poppy I think, watch this space.

The 'Be kind and Be true' embroidery is coming along nicely and will be ready this week for the grand reveal.

Finally thank you for the lovely comments that you are leaving, it is very nice to know that I am not talking to myself!!

See you soon,