NELLAND FASHION: AT SEA- COLLECTION

  When at our summer cabin, I want to wear clothes that suit the life there the best. Naturally. Both the scenery, and activities.
  The cabin is located on a tiny island right off the coast. I´ve always been fascinated by the sea, and felt at ease and at home when by it. Now I´m incredibly lucky to own a little hideaway place right in it´s arms.
  The most important thing to do, when spending time at the cabin, is to relax. Do anything that takes my thoughts off the usual everyday life at home (which I love too, but a change is always welcome). Often it includes boating, swimming of course, eating out (literally =), sitting and just adoring the scenery, some yard work I choose to do, and playing with my kids. Minimum cooking and cleaning, please!

  To be able to concentrate in all the fun, I need clothes that give me a peace of mind. Clothes that allow me to move around freely, not even noticing I´m wearing them. Clothes that look like they belong there, and add to the beauty of nature there. It took a while to understand what the ideal beauty of that place meant to me, but now it has clarified. I want to create a feeling of the old(er) times, when men and women rowed around in small wooden boats, fishing for living. Like my great-grandfather did (okay, he had a motor in his boat, but still =).

  This outfit is the first one I have made in the spirit of our marvelous getaway place, a cabin  by the sea:

A sleeveless tunic with leggings. Sleeveless because then it is easy to match with any temperature. Either wear it alone like this, or add a cardigan over it if chilly. The top is attatched to the mini skirt in order of the skirt to stay in place (I find regular skirts nice, but difficult to wear because they tend to twist around). Leggings are easy to wear, they don´t drag in the ground when I walk with flip-flops on, or flutter in the wind.

A cotton lace finishes the look in the hem. I wanted to add a bit of delicate femininity, although I don´t find there being a lot of room for it in this collection.

The top part I made from a sports fabric, which removes any excess moisture from the skin. I trimmed the neck- and sleeve holes with the reverse side of the same fabric. And buttons again, of course, add slight detail.

Pssst... don´t tell anyone, but here´s my little secret: I choose not to wear a bra when relaxing at sea. It feels so liberating! A true holiday. Also I want to comfort my fellow sisters with itsy bitsy boobs, that we are lucky not having to carry that load around with us! I know some women who even have to sleep with a bra on. I´m not sure I could tolerate that... Small boobs have never been a problem to me, on the contrary! I love the freedom they give me when moving, and in my opinion having a small chest also makes one´s overall appearance more youthful. So worry not sisters, we are beautiful regardless of our cup size!

It is breathtaking to wake up to this view.

This sailing ship cruises regularly in the waters of our cabin. It is a replica of an old ship, and was built using traditional old methods. A true pleaser to the eye. (My non-impressive-snapshot-camera couldn´t zoom in closer to it, sorry.  =)

This cute little fellow lives under the rocks at our shore.

Sunsets are always a humbling sight.

  The nature here is so strongly dominated with the presence of water, that the colors of nature don´t seem to change that much during the course of the year. Therefore the same colors in clothes go well here year-round. Blue, grey, and white. Handy!

STAY SLIM- WEEKEND GETAWAY LUNCH

  We are starting our summer cabin season this weekend! That means minimal cooking for two days, yipee. =)

  It is tempting to buy unhealthy takeaway lunches and dinners on the go, but I whipped up this easy and cheap main course in advance:

Whole grain jasim rice with a sauce made of whatever veggies I happened to have in the fridge.

This not only will keep me away from the nutrient-low takeaway foods in stores, but also keep me satisfied, and prevent weight gain. Me like!

  If there´s one thing I´ve learned from having a diabetic kid in the house is, that carbohydrates are the main source of energy for our bodies. They are used up first, and only then come protein and fat.
  I´ve never been a fan of extra protein, so I´m more than happy to shove complex carbs and veggies in me when hungry! This lunch does the trick for me.

  The recipe for the sauce:

veggies, any kind you have in handy, and in any combo you like (this time I used four tomatoes, a green onion with the white parts too, and a big bunch of dandelion leaves)
vegetable broth
soymilk
corn starch mixed with little water

+ Chop the veggies roughly, put in a kettle with the broth and simmer until soft(ish). Puré in a food processor, adding some milk. Place back in the kettle, and thicken with the starch. If too thick, add more milk.
  Enjoy!

  This is a lovely recipe because you can really use any veggies you like. Last time I made this with summer squash, green onion, and goatweed. Delicious that way too.

SNEAK PEEK TO SUMMER

  Today was the first summery day of Beltane. Now I believe summer is just around the corner!

I´m no sunbather, but after such a long winter like this past one, I couldn´t resist throwing my clothes off to get some sunlight!  I´m in my veggie garden. Since I can enjoy the weather virtually naked there, perhaps the seeds I´m going to plant this year wouldn´t freeze themselves either...Clearly time to do a little sowing shortly.

The temperature rose up to 18 Celsius, and when it wasn´t blowing, it felt like a hot summer day!

The first flowers have awoken in nature. Lovely.

It seems there is life in my strawberry patch as well. Yipee!

Rhubarb is also lifting it´s head. Shouldn´t be long before I can collect the first stalks!

RAGSHION: TODDLER BONNET AND MITTENS

  There were still little pieces of the old fleece jacket and pajama pants left! A little does seem to go a long way...
  But now I managed to use it all up by making my girl these little accessories:

A basic bonnet made of fleece. I left the seams on the outside for her comfort.

To tie it under the chin, I used a short strip of elastic band. I sew it on on one side, and on the other I placed a snap button. To cover up the ugly snap on, I sew a large button over it. Now the dressing on is easy, yet looking at it is still easy. =)

Since this bonnet is for a girl, it needed a girly touch. What would be better than a good old bow? This time made of leftover cotton lace, and topped off with a button.

Another angle of the bonnet, to get a better idea.

My favorite mittens! These are something I have not managed to find at stores. Fleece beats knit mittens big time! Sand and other dirt can´t get through, plus these babies keep the wind out too. To make them, I simply drew the outline of my little girl´s hand on a piece of paper, added 1cm seam allowance, and cut them out. I stitched the mittens as close to the edge as I could (not 1cm from the edge), to leave more space for hands. Voilá! Done.

There is no need to decorate the mittens in any way. They will be dirty from the first minute when in use. =) When paired with the bonnet, it makes a pretty little set. I managed to make three pairs of mittens from the leftover fleece.

  The summer is on the way (or actually started already, since it´s Beltane), but there are always those chilly days when it either rains or blows, and that´s what I had in mind when making these mittens and bonnet. Plus we will start our summer cabin season shortly, and it is always cool at sea. I expect her to need these accessories up until June.

RAGSHION: TODDLER PANTS

  After making the fleece jacket for my son, there were still some pieces of the old rags left. Especially from my old pants.
  I scratched my head a while, and then made my little girl these pants:

Like a miniatyre of my old ones, but these are cute! The fabric is of good quality, and I expect these pants to stay in good condition in her use.

I added the knee patches before they are actually needed. =)  And needed they will be, sooner or later... The fabric is a leftover piece of Tilda´s basic cotton I have had for several years. Glad I stashed it!

The back of the pants reveal that they are made of recycled rags. The extra seams give them away, but when looking at it, I think they are more stylish with the seams. They add character and detail, and make the pants more unique.

Top stitching in contrast color makes them more fun and relaxed.

  I am satisfied now. Once again a piece of clothing I didn´t have to buy from the stores, thus helping reduce consumption!
 

WILD GREENS ARE HERE!

  The time has come to enjoy new baby wild edible greens, fresh from the ground. It feels unbelievable that Mother Nature starts to nourish us with super vitamins and minerals directly after the snow has melted. Let´s take advantage of it!

Goutweed starts my harvesting season. Since it is impossible to get rid of in the garden, I might as well make it useful. And it is actually really pretty when blooming.

The power of nature is unbelievable. Here they are, sprouting vigorously from the ground, making their way through the old dry leaves from last summer. Only two weeks ago this place was still covered in snow!

So beautiful. The only thing missing is a symphony playing.

My mom taught me once to chop up herbs like this, in a mug with scissors. This is the easiest, and least messy way. Mom´s rue!

In the goutweed went. This is a regular side salad with lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumber seasoned with salt, pepper, and white vinegar. A classic I learned to love in my teens.

 From now on I will be adding minced wild greens to pretty much all of my lunches. I´d be a fool not to! It is free and doesn´t come more healthy than this.

 To our health!

RAGSHION = FROM RAGS TO FASHION

  There I was, on a walk this spring, with my thoughts flying freely, when I came up with a new word: ragshion. That´s what I would call my creations using old clothes, rags, to make new ones. An old invention but a new word for it. Or so I thought, for I had never come across it before. I was really happy and satisfied with my invention.
  When I got home, I even Googled the word to make sure it hadn´t yet been discovered. No, nothing in the means I would use it for.

  But last week I saw someone on tv being titled as "trashionista". Darn, there went my original, unique (or so I thought) new word. Nah, not quite the same, but very similar. This trashionista made new stuff from old everything, I only use old rags to make new clothes. That is the difference between those two words.
  I should have known, nothing in this world is something someone else would not have at least thought of before. There are so many of us. Oh well, despite all that I will proudly start using "my" new word.

  Under the new title, here is my first project of ragshion:

The material. Now, this is tryly an embarrasing moment to confess, that I have actually worn those ugly brown sweatpants for about seven years! Please forgive me, I only used them as pajama pants. I bought them from a market at a time when I didn´t have time to make myself sleepwear. At first they were okay, but after a few washes, they started to expand like a mushroom in rain. But now it is bye-bye ugly pants! The top is my husband´s. He got it for Christmas, and it is way too large for him. I waited until now to see if he´d wear it, but it didn´t happen. It´s time for these two pieces to make themselves useful again.

This is the main project, a fleece jacket for my son. He is so big already that his clothes take up quite a bit of fabric too, and it is not as easy to find material anymore. I cut out the pieces needed for this, and of what is left still, I will make something else later.

I wanted to take advantage of the print in the original piece. This is something I can´t do on fleece myself, and it gives the jacket a more professional look.

The back is simple, with only a few additional seams showing it is made from recycled rags.

Stitching in contrast color gives the impression of a more detailed work, and binds the two different fabrics together better. All in all, I think these two colors work well together, one cheering up, and the other toning down the whole.