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.

FREEDOM COLLECTION: HANDY LITTLE HANDBAG

  Finally I took the time to make this:

A small handbag that fits the most important stuff in it: keys, wallet, phone, lipbalm, and a couple of cloth shopping bags (which I always take to the grocery store with me). Until now I´ve dragged along my big backpack everywhere. But now I can leave it in the car while I hop into the shop. And life is so much lighter!

This is the first one I have made, ever. Because it belongs to the Freedom Collection, I kept it very simple. I want the bag to remain an accessory, not become the center piece of the outfit.

The lining is actually the only decorative part. I used my last piece of Tilda´s crafty cotton I bought about four years ago. Even the smallest bits are useful, and worth saving for the future. Originally I thought about making the whole lining from the same fabric, but I didn´t have enough! So I figured using the same denim on the inside, as on the outside, would be the second best choise. And now, when finished, I can say that it looks more interesting this way!

This denim fabric came from my husband´s old jeans. He donates his old clothes to me, and I try to turn them into something else useful.

Simple and practical - like the Freedom wear overall - two snap buttons keep the bag closed. Minimalistic and a tad modern even, to my standards anyway...

  I was fooled by the supposedly small size of this bag at first. But when on a day-long trip with my son´s class last week, I noticed just how much stuff can actually fit in it! I had the usual: keys, phone, lipbalm, and wallet, plus extras: a banana, packet of tissues, makeup, camera, a brochure of a science park, and more keys. It was quite hard to find what I needed among all the clutter in the end!
  A handy little thing!

FREEDOM COLLECTION: MOCK CARDIGAN

  We hit the road (went to a Children´s Fair) with these mock cardigans on last weekend, me and my little girl:

Paired with basic blue jeans, these cardigans look simply neat, warm, and comfortable. The color is once again subtle, giving room to the face with only a touch of nude makeup.

The knit fabric just screamed to be turned into a cardigan. For my girl´s version I only sew the buttons on down the center line of the front. No extra folds or anything, for her comfort. She likes to take naps sleeping on her stomach, and I wanted to leave the front as flat as possible.

For my own cardigan I made a fake folding line, and sew the buttons on it directly. Why bother with button holes if not necessary? This piece is so stretchy, that it slips on easily without opening the front anyway. For the buttons I chose a subtle color scheme, but wanted them to have some color. Nude and watery was the theme. Nothing too flashy, keeping the focus on the wearer´s face.

  The "boys" in our family came along to the fair too. My husband and our eight-year-old little gentleman wore matching vests too.
   Wearing matching clothes brought smiles on people´s faces, and we got positive feedback from complete strangers. It was delightful to see a sparkle in the other person´s eyes, when they noticed the little trick we were pulling. A simple way to make my surrounding life more positive and happy, which in return makes me more so too!
 

VIOLETS AND RUST

  Yipee, snow has finally melted off (nearly all of it)! This weekend, at last, the snow gave way to a treasure of mine I got for Christmas; an old bicycle. I have waited for months to get it out of the garage, and place it leaning against a young oak tree in front of our house.

I´m told this bicycle dates back to the thirties. Little do I know, or care really  for the age that much, because all I care about is the beauty it holds. Holds and spreads to it´s surroundings, and it makes me happy.  =)

It took quite a long while before I could decide what kind of case to place in the back of the bike to put the flowers in. I ended up with this woven willow basket. A wooden old box would have been a classic, but it looked too masculine, and, frankly, gave me the impression of an old drunk, who would have carried his liquor bottles in the back of his bike... This basket full of violets is much prettier and more fresh-looking.

Nature is just now exposed from the snow, which staid on the ground for six months this winter. Too long, I say. But now, these violets bring us the promise of the upcoming summer, and just the thought of it makes me smile.

It feels like the bike is staring back at me...

More violets landed to sweeten our yard. Against the barren land and this rusty old pot, the flowers look exaggeratedly sweet and delicate.

Welcome Beltane!

EATING PLAN FOR BELTANE - KID STYLE

  Now this is fun! And new for me. My eight-year-old son made a list of all the mom-made foods he likes (and let me tell you, the list is troublingly short! He doesn´t like veggies at all, and now I´m trying to learn to compromise...  =). I will fulfill his wishes by cooking the foods on his darling little list for this Beltane. Maybe I´ll learn to enjoy new foods too!
  Truth be told, I´m very bad at always terrorizing meals with healthier ingredients than what the average recipe calls for. That I´m guilty of this time also, but he doesn´t need to know! For example, if he doesn´t realize I´ve grated a ton of carrots in the pancakes, it will not hurt him... =)

Home made whole grain spelt bread, my favorite. The recipe: 5 dl warm water, 11g/one bag dried yeast, whole grain spelt flour, 1 tsp seasalt, 2 Tbsp raw cane sugar, 1/2 dl olive oil. + Mix the yeast with some of the flour. Pour in the water, which should be slightly over lukewarm to assure the yeast will start working. Stir and add the salt and sugar. As you mix/knead, add flour until a good ball of dough is formed. I like the dough rather soft. Finally add the oil and mix thoroughly. Throw the dough into a bread loaf pan, let rise about 25 min, and bake in a 200 Celsius oven for about 30 min. (Slicing the bread is easier after it has cooled down some.) This is a guilt-free pleasure!

 Breakfast:

 1/2 liter green tea, plain
1 slice whole grain bread (preferrably home made) + 1tsp coconut butter
plain soy yogurt with honey

Lunch:
1/2 liter green tea, plain
Rotating the following, making the next after the previous is all gone:
1. whole grain pasta + minced soy "meat" + any veggie I happen to have + a splash of vegan cooking cream
2. whole grain semi-sweet cinnamon buns + berries
3. whole grain rice (often jasmin) with soy sauce and vegan butter + cucumber (the only veggie my son will eat raw)
4. soup made of potatoes, corn, onion, carrot, and vegan weenies
5. whole grain bread + vegan margarine + cucumber + vegan "salami"
6. pancakes (with of finely grated veggies in the batter) with honey
7. mashed potatoes with finely chopped wild edible greens in it + smoked tofu

Dinner:
1/2 liter herbal tea, plain
2 slices whole grain bread (home made) + 2 tsp coconut butter
kissel (a kind of a cold berry/fruit "soup")

Supper/dessert:
1/2 liter hot chocolate (made with 1/2 water, 1/2 soymilk)
(oat porridge with soymilk and honey, if I´m hungry)

  My stomach likes steady mealtimes, to which I try to hold:
8-9 am breakfast
1-2 pm lunch
5 pm dinner
8 pm supper

  This eating plan is supposed to keep me in my current weight, or that is the goal anyway... The main/heaviest meal of the day is consumed at lunch, making sure the calories from it will be used up before bedtime. For lunch I eat as much as I want, but the other meals need to have an approximate idea of quantity beforehand to prevent getting fat. Getting fat happens slowly, unnoticed even, if not paid attention to actively. Our world is laden with highly processed quick treats lurking at every corner of our way, trying to lure us into grabbing "just this one, once". I find that having a proper set of mind beforehand, in form of an eating plan, helps keep my mind focused on the big picture during the day. It has worked so far - I´m still the same size I was in 20 years ago in my teens. =)

  Bon Appetít!