In love with the Queen of Dahlias: Cafe au lait in pink and beige

Cafe au Lait featured with Coorabell Moonglow, Boundary Snowflake and Bracken Glenda (in a favourite Omaggio vase by Kahler)

Often referred to as the Queen of Dahlias and wildly popular since it was bred in the 1960s, I wondered if Cafe au Lait would stand up to its reputation once the blooms began to appear. Noting that the bloom was often photographed in an array of hues, I decided to actually purchase tubers from several different suppliers and as lover of variety, I am glad that I did. So far I have hues of cream, beige and pink, some with the often coverted swirly centres and others without. Frankly, I love them all and intend to keep growing them over the next few years…. wild global weather permitting!

The realm of the super pretty: two different shade of Cafe au Lait in the hands of Miss 7.

Ice-cream hued perfection: what is not to love?

I love dahlias – midsummer flower patch photos including Cafe au Lait

Coorabell Moonglow: I have found these to be gorgeous for cutting, the pinks turn to a light toffee over time and the yellow becomes pronounced.

As a first time grower, I have been floored by the loveliness of each dahlia as it has emerged. Usually I pop out of bed in the mornings, sometimes armed with a coffee to see how the patch has evolved. Now we are in midsummer, the plants are taking strides and new varieties are appearing every other day. Still many dahlias with buds yet to bloom. It has been strange weather incidentally and we were lucky to avoid damage following (another) recent hailstorm that left thousands without power for days…

Enjoy the photos. I have tried to include a few that include comparison of bloom sizes for anyone who is planning a dahlia bed… I know when I was planning our flower cutting patch, I was scouring the internet so possibly this may help others…

This morning, my first Cafe au Lait had almost completely unfurled. Yesterday’s ramble revealed Bracken Glenda with its delicate peachy and yellow hues which definitely has to be one of my favourites so far. I am enjoying arranging dahlias in different heights together, but especially love mixing them with zinnias which are also blooming now in the garden.

Florelie Strawberry Shortcake arranged with sweetpea

Boundary Snowflake, Coorabell Moonglow and Carlos Watermelon (Buckajo Watermelon)

Boundary Snowflake (left), zinnas an Coorabell Moonglow (right)

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  Bracken Glenda… glowing and gorgeous. Colouring reminds me of a Hawaiian sunset. Definitely in my top 3…

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  Bracken Glenda set against a vase of Boundary Snowflake

SUNDAY EYE CANDY FOR DRESSMAKERS

Sunday eye candy… From Mabel Erwin’s tome….

…’Practical Dress Design’

Naive art, awesome vintage fabric prints, thrifty couture

Super vintage fabric find, butter soft cotton for some cute tshirts…  Anybody else adore this kind of print? Love the colour palette and the imagery. 1 metre scored for a humble dollar!!!! Love.

Finally finished- the 1940s cherry delight dress!

Made partially on my Singer 99 and partially on my Singer 221 featherweight, this dress is finally finished and I have to confess, it is one of my favourites so far… a classic style full of sweetness! It feels like this took ages to do, but I had to do it incrementally as with all my sewing projects.

Vintage sewing machine lovers note: the buttons were done with my SINGER buttonholer attachment (I love love love this gadget)! With my elna SU, I had to do “manual” buttonholes, the sewing machine attachment makes it all so fast! I mean, really, really fast!

The fabric was purchased at Spotlight when I was pregnant with my little girl (she is two in October, so I am pretty sure they wouldn’t stock it anymore). The pattern is 1940s, Simplicity. Whenever I come across those vintage/ retro hangers )(which I recollect well enough from my own childhood) I snap them up… so fun!

Hope everyone else is sewing up a storm also!

My sewing week in pictures

With the arrival of my “new” Singer buttonholer from the Us (coolest sewing gadget ever)? I have been making lots of progress!

Inspiration can always be found in my vintage Montgomery Ward catalogues!

Enough leftover Hawaiian fabric is going into a shirt for my son… Will be a fun one for the beach in a few weeks!

To tuck or not to tuck…

Trying to figure out your Singer tucker attachment? These extracts from “Machine Sewing” a manual for home economics teachers (1930) might help… (is anyone else there as smitten with old school sewing attachments)?

I am actually longing to make this tailored dress…. Sewing machine attachments like tuckers are novel time savers!

For SINGER sewing machine enthusiasts I am also posting this attachment list from the book, in case you are hunting down accessories for your machine.

Happy sewing!

Singer 221 featherweight love and 30s boys fashion

Just made thus 30s pattern up for my son.  Last steps: buttons and buttonholes… What type of buttons for you think????

Surprisingly quick to make up, and I really like the topstitching details. finish on the inside of the yoke… Lovely and clean with flat fell seams. My son chose the fabric, a very happy design!

Loving my bias binder

Bebarfald Bluebird sewing machine… Sewing Efficiency

A few pages on attachments for Bebarfald Bluebird fans… Sewing Efficiency is actually useful for anyone interested in sewing machine attachments, the application is essentially the same… Let me warn you some of the seam binding techniques are not that easy (on my Singer at least). Anybody use a Bluebird? Do you love it? What’s your favourite accessory?

So pretty!

Love love the image above..  I want to do that!

Love love ruffles… Best attachment ever! This is my Greist ruffler attachment for low shank machines… Works great on the Elna Su but probably not the best fit for my Singer 99…

These are my feet for the Singer 99 at present. The adjustable hemmer seen on the bottom left is my favourite gadget at the moment.

It’s super easy to use when you get the hang of it…

I will move into singer featherweight Territory soon… I have just found one…. My birthday is later in the year but it will make a great pressies from hubbie.

Happy sewing!