A skirt with a Liberty surprise...

Even though I was supposed to be working on the uber down-low sewing project (that is oh-so-close to being done) I needed to take my mind off of it for a few hours. I had a little scrap of this beautiful burnt orange cotton crepe fabric and decided to make a skirt with it. When I was in London over New Years, I picked up some incredibly colorful and silky Liberty cotton fabric on sale (the only way commoners can afford it), and have been ever since saving it for, well, something. Since I hadn't anything in mind for the colorful cloth, I chose to line the skirt with it and make pockets as well.

My pattern was a favorite skirt in my closet (called the Anna skirt from Anthro) and I tried to replicate it as close as possible, with the half-elastic waistband, pockets, and lining. The whole project took about five hours and came out quite well, I have to say.

I had the most trouble learning how to sew the gathered waistband. Definitely a mission. Pockets are getting easier, but there's still so much to learn!

[up next: the Parents come to Rotterdam for a visit!]

A pledge...

It's come to my attention that although I've been doing a good job of documenting the "playing in Europe" portion of my blog's subtitle, I haven't necessarily attended to the "living in Holland" part as much I like. Living in Holland is, obviously, a large part of my life and the occasional jaunt to a neighboring country is the, well, occasional part of my life.

So here goes. Hither to forth is my pledge to write more about life in Holland.

For the past 78 days it's been raining nonstop here in the Low Lands. Ok, fine, only 6 days (and it won't let up anytime soon) but it sure feels like 78. Today was actually sunny when I awoke and then turned overcast by the time Elliot made me coffee. Because it's so awful and cold and rainy and windy, there's really nothing else to do but stay inside and sew and blog and read and cook. [By the way, Hunger Games is one of the most exhilarating books I've read this year...could. not. put. it. down.] And I'd love to share my current sewing project, but it's on the uber down-low and I'll be able to reveal it in about a month. Since I can't do that, I thought I'd give you a detailed run-down of my Sunday, in a photo diary.

So was that too boring? Well, dinner was fantastic I'll tell you that. The weather really made me want something warm and hearty. My thought exactly -- chili was definitely the answer. I found a great recipe from Jamie, added a bit more heat and a few more veggies, et voilà! I topped it with some creme fraiche, diced tomatoes, and fresh coriander. Yum. Totally hit the spot.

Oui, oui! Une baguette, s'il vous plait!

My parents graciously offered to take me on part of their European adventure through the northern coast of France for the week on one condition: I speak French when needed. DONE! So last Sunday, I met them at their adorable B&B in Brussels, we got a quick café et sandwich, finally found the rental car place, and headed to Rouen, in Normandy, our first stop. 

We started in Rouen and made our way west and then south, with our final stop in Rennes.