Trouser progress

Having finished the pattern, I took this picture a couple of days ago, showing both the number of pieces the trouser leg consists of as well as my awesome drafting/cutting table setup. This is just our coffee table up on Ikea Finnvard adjustable table legs. It's been up at this height for so long now, that it was weird to use it as a regular coffee table with my birthday.

The trouser consists of 26 pieces in its entirety, because of the leg pieces and all the different pockets. Last year's summer coat project had about the same number of pieces and that was fully lined.
I'm making progress on sewing it all together, but the going is slow. Sewing the convex/concave lines together takes time, and the fabric frays a lot. I also forgot that the front leg lining extends to the second seamline below the knee, and I'd already sewn that seam. I've unpicked the topstitching so I can sew down the lining later on, pushing the lower edge of the lining piece under the seam allowance of the leg. It saves me the headache of having to unpick a seam that had half of its seam allowance trimmed down.

The hip pockets are done, and I'll be doing the back pocket with flap this morning, and continue with the front leg and the zipper. I'm not looking forward to sewing the inside- and outside leg seam, because then I have to match all the seams, which will be tricky. But probably not quite as tricky as binding the crotch seam in this fraying fabric...
Onwards!

Hallo Valkenswaard!

Sometimes when the mood strikes us we grab our bikes and go out exploring. The last trip we did took us by Veldhoven, Knegsel and Oerle. Today we found a little meandering road by the river Dommel and ended up cycling to Waalre, Valkenswaard and Aalst. On the way back I gasped aloud as one big bird of prey unfolded its wings and took off into the forest at our approach. It was huge! Eisirt missed it and was miffed.

There was a garden center in Valkenswaard, where they sell overpriced barbecue herbs and stuff, so we went inside to pick up a hand cream Eisirt wanted for himself, a jar of garlic butter mix and two ice creams. I also bought some campanula and lavender.
Although the pots on the railing of the balcony are doing really well this year, the two larger pots near the balcony floor are miserable. The mint plants are dying of thirst and waging war on the celery for the last of the moisture, and the only thing that came up in the other pot was thyme and chives -- the latter of which is also thriving in the largest railing-balanced pot.

The rucola I sowed this year did come up, but it isn't growing and I'm not sure what's bothering it. For all my green thumbs I'm a little stumped this year around. The courgette (zuccini) in the windowsill isn't even germinating! I feel like a bit of a gardening failure and I'm sure my father is frowning on the fact that I wasn't paying enough attention to the month of February for my first sowing.

Still, the campanula that I bought on sale last year has blossomed quite vigorously, there's strawberries filling out, and loads of chives. I've also got a little sprig of cranesbill (Geranium/Ooievaarsbek) that was absolutely miserable when I bought it on sale last year, but is now looking to gear up for a fistfight with the strawberry right next to it.
And the first of my four-leaf-clovers has just come up. The railing pots are doing majestically well this year.

All this is a very circumspect way of saying: we cycled 20 kilometers, had ice cream, and dragged home some new flowers for the balcony. For our next endeavours, we might look more to the north, as we've visited the towns closest to our home by now.