Garden Makeover Update

I posted a few weeks ago about the bottom of my back garden which was in need of some attention.  We had bought the garden seat and my husband had made another piece of seating to go around the tree.  The final job was to sort the fencing and remove the middle fence that divided the top of the garden in half in that area.  We used the fence panel that came on the back of the seat we bought, (it was supposed to be fixed to it but we used it as a fence panel) to match up the fence at the bottom and just painted with stain we already had. My husband used random large rocks we had to make a little wall in front and to make a step down, this was because it was too high to level.

This is how it looks now

This is what the tree seat area looked like at first with the old fence around it on both sides.

This is it now and I would say we are finished. We have lived here for 7 years and everything we have done to the garden has happened a bit at a time.  We have saved up and done each bit when we could.  The fences on the right got replaced a few years ago when the original ones blew down in the wind, decking has been done in different areas over the years and is maintained by my husband, when he sees the stain on offer he buys it and puts it away for when it is needed. Like I said yesterday pots have accumulated over time.

We do not know a lot about gardening but fortunately my husband is good at woodwork and if I have an idea for what would look nice he can usually make something and we try to do it on a budget (remember the tree seat materials were free)

We will spend a lot of time in the garden over the coming months so I think it is worth the time and money.

Gardening and Aldi Planters

It has been so lovely today, some might think too hot but I love the summer and the chance to spend more time outside.  We went to the local Nursery to get some plants and we were really pleased with what we bought.  We had a look in B&Q a couple of weeks ago but they didn't have much on offer that we were prepared to pay their prices for, the Nursery near us was much more reasonable.  We use the same pots every year occasionally adding a new one or if we need to buy a particularly large one to re-pot something.  We also had to wooden planters that my husband spotted in the Aldi the other day, they were reduced from £10 to £5 each and he bought two to go outside the front door.  We also had some bright pink wood stain that we picked up reduced in Asda a few weeks ago so here's  what we did. (Or he did)
My husband assembled the planters which looked good as they were but we wanted them to stand out a bit.

He then painted each one in the shocking pink stain, he said it actually smelled like bubble gum, now I couldn't smell that so I wonder if his mind was playing tricks because it looked like bubble gum?

Next attach the inner bags that line the planters and pot up with two pink Dahlias.

We positioned one each side of the front door to brighten the place up a bit.

The other plants we bought I potted up and positioned them on the back garden. We don't spend on plants a lot, we tend to find each year we will get a couple of things that come back year after year and a few cheap bits for instant colour.  We bought three Dahlias at £2.49 each, a cordiline £11 ( the most extravagant thing but much cheaper than anywhere else).  Also a couple of purple leafy things (ha! I can't remember what they are called) and 6 pertunias for £6.   

We have different areas of purple slate and pebbles on our garden so most of what we plant does go in pots  the reason for this is that we have dogs and found that they wore a race track around the lawn when we had one so that did not look good, also dog wee kills grass. I like the way it looks and we have hedges all the way around us and trees so there is no shortage of greenery.  

Frugal Sewing, New Dress

I sat down this afternoon to get on with a dress I have been intending to make. I bought the fabric a while ago and I must admit that when I bought it I just liked the purple colour and didn't give the actual fabric as much thought as I usually do.  The thing is it has far too much lycra in it.  Some people might like working with this but I don't!  Some people work with tricky fabrics and think I'm going to beat you and see it as a challenge, again I don't. Life is too short,I want to sit down at my table and enjoy the process, not be at war with the fabric!  When my over locker was working properly this made these fabrics easier to work with, this fabric today had far too much bounce.  I made a skater style type of dress that I have made many times before pattern free and the initial making up of the dress didn't take that long.   I used my mannequin ( I also had a battle with that) to hang it on to start, but then decided I'd better try it on as she is larger than me.  It looked nice after all the bouncing around while sewing (ball point needle I know) but the neck gaped because of the give in the fabric.  So I took up the shoulders, still gaping so I decided to put a little tuck at the front to bring in some of the fullness, then I didn't like that but had stitch marks so it would have to stay.  So I must have spent the next hour just staring at it and trying things out, flowers, placket, pleat all to try and hide this mistake at the neck!  I have to admit I was getting very annoyed with it by now also it wouldn't just slide on the mannequin like it does on me because of the fabric it is covered in, it sticks, also she is a little larger and quite wide shouldered I have realised.  So I finally decided on a mock placket with two buttons and I battled it back onto the mannequin.

My husband said he liked the dress but then he was not so sure about me putting the placket on,  well I had to do something or I would have sat staring at it all night.  It looks snug on her but fits me well, when I bought the mannequin my husband did say send it back if you are not sure and get the smaller one, I should have done that.  I may have to go back to taking photos in the mirror as when I was battling the dress on her to take the photo she split some stitches and I had to redo it. She needs a diet!

  

I am wondering weather I should carry on the purple top stitching onto the placket so it looks more finished any body any ideas? Still after all the drama that is another dress for the summer.  I usually find it more relaxing than I did today though.

I have some more jersey left and I have checked it feels normal, not overly bouncy so that will be next.  I will be trying it straight onto my body next time though to save fitting issues with the mannequin. I was so excited when she arrived as well, maybe I need to reserve her for looser garments.