Adventures in sewing, vegetable dreams

Franklin's winter coat is finished! Photos to follow. I found a large gray women's wool/cashmere overcoat at a charity shop for £1, and cut the pattern pieces from it. I bought a large red men's shirt to use as the lining at the same shop also for £1, but ended up using one of Partner's dress shirts, dark gold, instead. Finally, again for £1, I bought a women's blazer for the eight big buttons it had. I already had the thread and interfacing at home. Total cost for this coat: £3. Total sewing time, from cutting out to finishing: 7 days.

It's not perfect, but I think I'm the only one who notices its flaws--and even I don't notice them unless I'm looking. Franklin wore it for the first time today and received several compliments. Parter said he looks like a proper little gent. It made me glow inside.

Next up for my sewing adventures, is a wool stroller cover for winter use. I've already got my wool, and you guessed it: it cost me £1. I love that shop. All the clothes there are £1; I think it's where they send all the stuff that wouldn't sell for normal prices, so a lot of it's kind of out-dated and/or ugly/slightly damaged. But that doesn't matter if you're just going to cut it up!

Partner says he's going to dig up some more lawn this winter to extend our vegetable bed. I've been calculating how much veg we'd need to grow to be self-sufficient throughout the year. For instance, we use about one head of garlic per week and about four or five onions. That's a lot! I've planted around fifty garlic cloves this autumn, in hopes they'll grow into big fat bulbs next summer. I haven't had much success with onions, but I'm going to give it another shot next spring.

We also use about one or two kilos of potatoes a week. Next year we're planning on growing most of them in those big sacks, and maybe a few in the ground. That should leave room for other vegetables to grow in the beds, like zuccini, carrots, broccoli, cabbage, and beans. Finally, my neighbor promised I could use her greenhouse next year, so if it's still available, I will pack it with tomatoes.