Seedlings. More Red Wethersfield Onions, Echinacea. 2.1.22

That second planting of Red Wethersfield onion seedlings germinated nicely.  Looks like there will be all I can plant.  Echinacea germinated sporadically without stratification.  I only want about a dozen plants, so I'm happy with that.  There are more stratifying in the fridge.  I can plant those March 1.

Red Wethersfield Onion Seedlings.  I hope they are good onions.  

 Echinacea seedlings.

 Also the micro-mini tomato seeds germinated.  Micro Tom and Red Robin.

I'm still hopeful there will be Tabascos and Thai peppers.   The current Tabasco pepper seedlings are really puny, and one tiny Thai seedling has emerged.  The second batch needs more time.

Improved Cadet Caps from Upcycled Fabric. 2.1.22

Cadet caps are far superior to baseball caps, due to the lack of a hard rivet or button on the top, more comfortable, and better general fit for me.  They are also easier to make, for an amateur tailor such as me.  I like these because:  I make them with a liner, so the inside is soft and comfortable.  With a liner, there are no exposed edges to fray.  The fabric is upcycled, with an outer shell that's more durable and lining that's softer and more comfortable.  The upcycled fabric has been softened with repeated washings.  The brim is a heavy interfacing but not the hard edge, rigid plastic that's usually used, so the cap will last much longer.  The fabric is all machine wash and dry, same as any other clothing.  I'm accident prone and somehow hit my head a lot, resulting in scalp divots and gross scabs.  I make the liner with a quilted top, which is comfortable and protective (outer layer plus two fabric layers sandwiched around a layer of  cotton quilt batting).  

The fit has been a challenge.  I made new templates for the sides, giving them a half inch more height and a quarter inch to each end of the side panels, and this result was (nearly) perfect.  It shrinks slightly out of the washer and then is snug.

The best shell fabrics are lighter than denim but heavier than quilting cotton.  For upcycle, men's pants made from 100% cotton, such as chinos or Dockers, are perfect.  Heavy denim is too stiff and heavy to sew on my machine.  For the liner, a soft shirt fabric or flannel is good.  

I found an old canvas Trader Joe's grocery tote that had shrunk too much when washed, to hold much groceries.  That is the outer shell.  The liner is a soft cotton shirt.  I used the old (late '50s / early 60's) Morse (Toyota?) sewing machine to see if I can sew with it.  It works nicely but takes some practice.  Unlike the newest sewing machine, it doesn't skip stitches when encountering a thick seam or hem.  However, the stitches look a little less tight.

Inside

That was a practice run, but it's a good result and I'm happy wearing it for garden work.  The cap that I used for the pattern had an outside hat band and inside sweat band.  I don't think the hat band was all that functional.  I could add a sweat band but I think the added liner has that function.

Here are the templates using some chinos remnants.  I didn't have blue thread sitting around, so set those aside and used a Docker's remnant instead.  It takes some rearranging to have enough for a nice hat with no wear or tear.  The top and brim are from the original cap.

 

Here is the cap when finished.  I'll make the blue one later.

Here, along with the tote made from the same fabric.

The liner is soft cotton corduroy, same shirt that I used to make Rufus's rain jacket liner.  

This cap turned out almost exactly what I like.  The fit is  very nice.  What I especially like is that I have a cap that fits my needs exactly, can be washed and dried with the laundry whenever I like, is comfortable and protective  I know that my sewing is not as precise and uniform as something from a factory, but that's OK.  

Forsythia Flowers. 1.30.22

 I cut these a couple weeks ago to bloom indoors.  It's a welcome preview of Spring.

After they bloom, I'll keep them in water to see if they grow roots, as in last year's project.  If they do, they can be planted to extend the forsythia hedge I started then.

The flowers are a little sparse at this point, but should fill in.  There are lots of unopened buds.

Pruning Blackberries and Raspberries. 1.27.22

 Pruning continued today.  I cut out all of last year's fruiting blackberry and raspberry canes, so all that remains is new growth.  I shortened the canes, raspberries to 5 feet and blackberries to about a foot of secondary growth on the 6 foot primary growth.  I dug out all of the useless varieties of blackberries - Prime Ark Freedom and Arapaho, just keeping Triple Crown.  I made the blackberry bed smaller now that there is only one cluster.  There is room for another if I add it.

It seems like kind of extreme pruning.  However, I think it's not that different from the recommendations,  This years' crop will tell me if I did OK.

Cherry Pie. 1.27.22

 I knew there was a reason I pitted all of those pie cherries!

When I pitted them, I premade the filling and froze it.  That way all I needed to make was the crust.