posted by Lily on sewing

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Hmm … vegies could seem to be a slightly odd thing with which to embellish a nightgown :-)  But these ones are very sweet – from Ikea actually.  The fabric came on a roll – I think there was around 4 metres?  And the pattern is printed in a panel style.  Probably Ikea weren’t thinking nightgowns.  Nah … I’m sure they were picturing curtains and quilt covers.  So unimaginative!

Besides, I think vegies are very beautiful.  Whenever I present a snowy white, perfectly formed cauliflower to the young folk at the checkouts of our fruit and veg store, I always feel compelled to point out its prettiness.  They look at it curiously, wondering what this woman could possibly be referring to.  It’s just a cauliflower!  As for artichokes and aubergines!  Well, I couldn’t say either are my favourite vegie and yet I buy them every week simply because they are so beautiful.  The glossy, glossy purply black of the aubergine’s shiny taut skin.  The incredible detail and rigidity of the artichoke – it’s a Georgian masterpiece.  Impossible to resist.

Makes me think of Kaffe Fasset.  I once read that very early in his career, he was commissioned to paint a mural on the wall of a grand English country house.  Along the bottom of the idyllic garden scene, he included a border of cabbages.  The owner of the house was so incensed by the inclusion of such a common vegetable, they painted over it!  Oy!  Hopefully they regret that now!  I actually have a Kaffe needlepoint of cabbages I have been working on for years.  It’s one of those patterns that is over 300 stitches square with at least 20 shades of green and the pattern is depicted in small coloured squares.  Oh my.  The potential for mistakes is phenomenal and it truly requires that I be completely “in the zone”.  Even then, it’s only possible to work on it for a few weeks before, for sanity’s sake, I have to put it away again for a while.  One day it will be finished and then I shall stitch it up into a beautiful, velvet backed cushion and the unsuspecting will murmur to each other … does Lily really have cabbages on her sofa? :-)

For now – we’ll settle for the vegie nightgown.  ”Another nightgown!” you say, shaking your head.  I know.  I just love making them.  I blame Anne of Green of Gables – all those descriptions of the beautiful dresses Anne wore and nightgowns are the closest I get to them.  I was clearly meant to be living on Prince Edward Island, 120 years ago.  Its flounced hem of green and white stripe sweeps the floor – all the better for tucking the knees under.  The bodice has the biggest buttons I have ever owned – they look enticing enough to eat.  And the bodice and cuffs are trimmed with a narrow, orange, cotton lace. Delicious.

The upside of being an addicted nightgown sewist is that I can now do them with my eyes closed.  Well almost.  They come together lovely and quick and there are so many extra fancies and tweaks you can add.  Thank goodness Abby shares my enthusiasm.