As part of my sewing journey, I am learning how to make the most out of fabric.  For this project I used a technique called piecing which combines smaller pieces of cloth to create larger. 

I adore this fabric, but it belonged to a pair of trousers that were way too small.  I also needed a new jacket, so I deconstructed the trousers and combined the fabric with cabbage (cloth left over from sewing projects) to see if I could do it.

I read about this technique on Foundations Reveled which admittedly is the reason why I'm needing to be so frugal with my fabric and clothing budget.  The paywall isn't ... well, let's just say even though it's pricy, I'm getting way more out of it than I'm paying.    It's worth spending my clothing and crafting budgets on this membership!  The resources, the people, the inspiration!  Learning about historical frugality!  Just look at the coat - I never would have made that without the articles.

The pieces of fabric are sewn together, attempting to match the flow of the pattern as there isn't enough fabric to match the pattern seamlessly.  

But you know what, it actually worked.  

I lined it with some roughspun silk fabric from my cabbage stash.  I probably should have done more to finish the edges, but it was an experiment and there were a lot of edges.  I can see this being hand-wash only, wear in to town, not mucking out the chickens kind of clothing.  
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​We have two little greenhouses; old cracked glass things just tall enough to have to stoop and a footprint of 8 foot by 10.  They are cute as buttons and really, for the amount of hot stuff we eat, it should be enough.

Some years I plant my seedlings in the soil, and they grow like stink.  Other years, like this year, I do everything right - I amend the soil with various manner, let the chickens in over winter to eat all the bugs, do all the thing - and everything fails.  This year's peppers were planted with care after the last risk of frost, on a cloudy day.  The next day the sun came out and scorched the poor little seedlings.  The day after, it was nearly frost.  

But that's the way our weather goes - hot during the day, cold during the night.  And these tropical plants (mostly hot peppers) don't seem to thrive in these conditions.  

Some years it works, but this year, it's been a dismal failure!

I want to know the best way to ship carded wool batts so that the fibres stay lofty and easy to draft.  So I did some experiments.

A batt is the result of preparing the fibre on a drum carder.  It can be a giant drum carder like they have in a fibre mill, or a tiny one like mine.  Not that I mind tiny.  To me, it's just the right amount for what I'm doing now and I'm hoping my carding adventures will earn my way towards a bigger, better, bolder machine.