I want nothing more than to continue this blog in English, but for now I can't seem to combine it all (my Dutch blog, my English blog and my project which I will reveal later) - maybe later I will pick up where I leave it now.
Nevertheless, you can still follow my Dutch blog. Quite a few of the patterns are understandable even if you don't speak Dutch. And in case you have questions about them, you can always ask them.

Easy skirts

I'm quite lazy at sewing. If I can save time, I will. This skirt for instance doesn't have a zipper. It has a lowered waist line and I can pull it over my head to put it on - at least when I'm not wearing a push-up bra.
It's not always that elegant putting on your skirt this way, and it has happened more than once that I had to be helped out of a skirt that was just a little too small. But hey, this skirt took me only 20 minutes to sew (which would have been at least 6 minutes more if I had used a zipper).
For the same reason I also switched to white wine in bottles with a screw top. There you go, another 2,45 minutes saved!

I used a fabulous fabric for my skirt, but a tiny bit too thin not to use lining. So I used thin, yellow cotton to cut my lining from. Exactly the same pattern but one cm shorter at the bottom to make sure that the lining doesn't show.

So, let's summarize:
1 front piece, 1 back piece. Sew the sides of the skirt together and the sides of the outer skirt. Sew the two skirts together at the top and keep your fingers crossed when you try on the skirt.
In case it doesn't fit, you can always insert a zipper - no problem.
Or you can loose weight - big problem.

Grow your own vegetables

I've been growing my own vegetables for some years now, and I grow by crop rotation, which I will elaborate on another time - in short: all vegetables are grouped by crop type and those groups are planted on another bed each year to avoid the risk of diseases and soil depletion.
Not all that easy, but I guess you gathered that.

But everything is possible with a thorough system and I just happen to be an organizing genius.

First of all, you not only want to get hold of seed,  you also have to know where and when you have to use all that seed. It won't be the first time you're standing there with your bag of fennel seed while the carrots and the onion is already popping up everywhere.
Thorough organization means everything here.

And really, you only have to think well about your system once. Once you have a plan, you can use it again every year with a small change here or there - because, honestly, those 24 beetroots have never been eaten and that leaf beet is not all that tasty, really.

After having tried several things every year, I know approximately where I should sow and how many turnips I can make my children eat before protests arise.

Beside growing my own vegetables, I have another hobby, namely: making lists, putting up schedules and colouring. And all this can be easily integrated into my vegetable garden hobby. Just have a look at the picture above.

On the right, you can see my seed box, everything neatly ordered by crop type. And because I don't want to go through that box every single time I want to know what to sow next, I created a schedule, which I will zoom into in a moment.

Every year, I then write in the notebook in the lower left corner what I sowed and where, what was a success and what wasn't. The next year, I then use that plan as a guide for the new season.
The notebook has five cards, one for each crop type (roots, fruits, legumes, cabbages and leafs). On those cards are all the seeds. And instead of turning my seed box upside down everytime, I just look at my card and check what has to be sown at that specific moment and voilà, flawless, I told you so!




On top of the card, I put the crop type. On the left, I put the different crops and next to it, I write whether or not the crop needs manuring, whether or not it needs a lot of or little manuring, whether it has to be compost or stable manure. And you then finish everything as you please, with personal abbreviations (Sow, Warm Glass or Warm, Plant Out, Harvest, etc.), with drawings, or like me:  with colours.
I also enter row and crop distance, to make things even more easy.

And on top of all that, entirely for free, I'm giving you my cards! You only have to print them and cut them out. How generous is that, ha!

Salade Liegeoise

A typical Belgian dish, tasty, easy and fast.

Ingredients:
Potatoes, peeled and cut in quarters
Fresh green beans, trimmed
Butter
Bacon, chopped
Onions, sliced into half moons
Balsamic vinegar, 1 tb sp per person
Parsley, finely chopped
salt and pepper


-Boil the potatoes in a large saucepan of salted water until they are cooked but still firm. Keep them warm when ready.
- Meanwhile cook the beans in a separate pot of water until al dente, drain en rinse with cold water so they keep their colour, add to the cooked potatoes.
-Heat the butter in a frying pan, add the bacon and fry for 5 minutes, add the onions cook the two together until the onion is cooked, but not brown.
-Put the potatoes and the beans in a large bowl, add the bacon but leave the fat in the pan.
-Add the balsamic vinegar to the frying pan and boil rapidly, scraping up any bits of bacon.
-Pour the vinegar over the salad, season with salt and pepper, and toss well.
-Sprinkle with the chopped parsley.


Serve immediately with a nice cold Belgian beer.

Boy pants

If you have sons, you are forced to learn how to sew. Boy's clothing in shops is either cheecky, childish or extremely expensive.

The advantage of homemade children's clothing is that your child looks more unique. And I think Abel will definitely look unique in these three cheerful summer pants.





Because sometimes, our sons want to be extravagant as well. It doesn't always have to be skirts and dresses!



Three times the same pants.
I've spent more time looking for 2 fitting buttons than the actual sewing. In the end, I just took two white buttons and painted them blue. You can never have enough fabric or paint.



I immediately knew which buttons had to go with this pants: the ones that Naais used for her sail boat pants.
Nice combination, right?





Another button problem. I couldn't find any normal yellow button in my collection, let alone nice ones. So I made another pair of buttons again, using a set of metal buttons that you can cover with fabric (always handy to have this on hand in different sizes).



And voila, ready! What would I need a daugther for?!

The patternless pleated skirt

Photo: Elza D

And here it is: the pleated skirt tutorial.

First things first: don't be alarmed by the length of this blog post. I'm just giving you an extremely thorough explanation so that literally anyone can make this - not that I'm underestimating you, ofcourse.

Let's proceed. This tutorial doesn't have a pattern, it's just a straight piece of fabric with a few folds/pleats in it. Hence the 'patternless pleated skirt'. See, even the name is easy to explain.

There is a specific distance between all those pleats, and once you have figured that out (max. 5 minutes, finding your calculator not included), you're halfway there.
So, not only is this a fabulous dress, it is also a fast and easy project. I'm telling you, this is instant success!

Okay, let's start. What do you need?
- Fabric. Use light fabric, e.g. light cotton. You will need 3 times the waist of the subject you're sewing for.
- Bias binding: 2 or 3 times the waist; you can choose the width.
- Zipper
- Calculator




Maths
1.  Measure your waist (or the girth of the part of the body where you want the skirt to begin) and add 1 or 2 cm for a comfortable fit (this is only necessary if you pulled the tape measure tightly around the waist. If you didn't measure so tightly, you don't have to add 1 or 2 cm). (A)
2. Choose the width of the pleats (e.g. the green skirt has 3 cm pleats)
3. Divide the waist (A) by the chosen pleat width. You will end up with as many pleats as the number before the comma on your calculator. Decide whether you're happy with this number of pleats. If the outcome is e.g. 20,3, you can opt for both 21 or for 20 pleats. (C)
Because of the number behind the comma, you need to adjust the pleat width. Do this by dividing the waist (A) by the number of pleats (C) and you end up with the exact pleat width (B).
4. You will need three times as much fabric as the waist + 2 cm seam allowance (D)
5. Measure the length of the skirt and add 3 cm seam allowance. (E)
The top of the skirt will be finished with bias so you don't need to add extra seam allowance there.


Cutting
- Use the calculations above (D & E) to cut your fabric.
- If you still have to iron your fabric, use this opportunity to also iron the bottom seam allowance (hem). Just fold 3 cm of the bottom edge of your fabric upwards and 1 cm downwards again.




- Starting (and ending) at 1 cm of the side seams, put marks for the pleat width (B). Count the pleats: you need three times C (every pleat consists of three layers of fabric). Look here for a detailed drawing and an example.

Stitching
- Put the short sides together (right sides together) and stitch with a 1 cm seam allowance.



- Insert the zipper, your way or mine.
The zipper starts right underneath the bias binding, so insert the zipper at 1 cm (or the width of the bias binding you're using) of the fabric end. Have a look at the drawing below if you don't see what I mean.
- Zigzag or overlock the seam underneath the zipper.


- Edgestitch the hem.



- Now start working on the pleats. You can either pin the pleats first or start stitching right away. Have a close look at the drawing to see which marks should be put on top of each other. Make sure to always put the third mark on the first. Every pleat consists of three layers.




Put your fabric right side up when stitching.

- Make sure that you stitch in the area where the biais binding will go (so the stitches won't show in the final result). Fold and stitch until you reach the other side of the zipper.



When you're ready, it should look like this on the inside.



- Measure the waist of the skirt. If you haven't stitched very accurately, it is possible that you've 'won' or 'lost' some mm. You can then either undo every pleat and restart, or you can cheat a little and undo one or two pleats, and hide your mistake in those two pleats. I won't tell anyone.



- Sew the bias binding to the skirt (using your own way, or mine), leaving 20 cm or more on both sides to tie the skirt.


Voila, the pleated skirt!



Photo: Elza D


For more inspiration, have a look at the pleated skirts on the Flickrpool and be sure to add your own!

The pleated skirt: extended prologue

Except for more or less straight stitching and using a calculator, there is one more (and final) skill you need to acquire in order to sew a pleated skirt: inserting a zipper!
Nevertheless, this doesn't have to be a problem ... when you use a few tricks.



1. Put the two pieces where the zipper should be right sides together and stitch them together at 1 cm (or the indicated seam allowance). For the pleated skirt, these two pieces are the two short sides of the fabric. Iron the seams.



2. Put the zipper right side up and put some glue next to the zipper's teeth. Glue the zipper against the wrong side of the fabric (the zipper should lay flat by putting the slider upwards). When glueing, you have to align the top side of the zipper at 1 cm distance of the fabric side. Then gently unfold the zipper downwards, with the middle of the zipper's teeth neatly aligned with the seam. Press with your fingers and let it dry for a moment. Use a pin to mark where you have to stop sewing.



3. Turn over your fabric, right side up. Change the regular foot to a zipper foot and start sewing to the right of the zipper. Go all the way down where you turn your fabric 90°, sew over the zipper, turn 90° again and finish at the top of the zipper.

If you want, you can use a chalk marker in step 1 to put a parallel line to the left and right seam to make sure you stitch in a straight line.

Gently remove the stitches of step 1 with a seam ripper.