Cupcakes for my favourite little lady

Aw, c'mon - a birthday isn't a birthday unless Mum delivers cupcakes for the whole class to devour!

Happy 7th birthday, oh darling Grumbles of mine. You are, as always, my favourite and my best.

A ticket off Sleeve Island

Jorth was wandering the sandy beaches of Sleeve Island, and was in quite a despondant mood when she suddenly stubbed her toe. "For the love of garter stitch!" she growled. "It's bad enough that I'm stuck here, getting more freckly by the day, and with no balls of black yarn in sight with which to finish my striped sleeve, and now I have to go and injure myself. Grrrrrrrrr!"

She bent down with the intention of finding the offending object and hurling it out as far to sea as she could. But to her great surprise she discovered as she dug around in the sand that instead of being a mere rock or stick, it was actually a treasure chest. Jorth carefully prised open the lid, and instantly recognised the bag within. It was her old canvas knitting bag, and inside was the completed body and sleeve of a Yoga Wrap she had begun back in 2009. But best of all were the knitting needles, and two lovely big balls of alpaca yarn.

Jorth began to do the most uncoordinated happy dance you ever would see on the sand. She cared not that her fingers were likely to sweat knitting up the alpaca in the heat. She cared not that her knitting would probably be covered in gritty sand from knitting on the beach. She certainly didn't care that the knitting smelt rather dusty from being hidden away as a wip for so long. All she cared about was Monday, when the Sleeve Island Service would once more be arriving, for she would be standing there on the jetty with two finished yoga wrap sleeves to present as her ticket off the cursed place, and the unfinished striped jumper sleeves carefully hidden away under her shirt.

******************************************************************************************

PS! Don't forget to enter the marvellous Seam Allowance Guide Giveaway!

Seam Allowance Guide Review and Giveaway

A couple of weeks ago I was contact by Hollie, who has made a new tool called a Seam Allowance Guide, which is a nifty tool you attach to your scissors when cutting out a pattern that requires a seam allowance. Hollie was interested in knowing if I would be eager to try it out. My answer? Boy, would I!

It arrived in the post yesterday, and today I tested it out. The theory behind it is that instead of laboriously measuring out the seam allowances on a traced out pattern (i.e. Burda Magazine, Ottobre Design Magazine, Japanese pattern books) you attach the tool to your scissors, and use the guide to cut around your pattern, creating the seam allowance as you go.

I am here to tell you that it worked a treat! My first attempt was ever so slightly wonky, but my second was perfect, so it's not at all tricky to get the hang of. And let me tell you, I'm not the most coordinated seamstress on the planet! You can move the black ring on the guide along to create different sized seam allowances, which means that you could use it to make a seam allowance, a hem allowance etc.

Now, I'm not the sort of sewer who has every sewing gadget under the sun. In fact, I like to keep my tool box pretty spare, and only use the essentials. But this has definitely earned its place in the kit. As somebody who does trace out a lot of patterns, I can see that this tool will be indispensable. Not only will it save me time, but it will also make it much easier to make pattern alterations, which I always seem to do (ahem!).

The kit contains two guides - one to use on scissors with straight blades, and another to use on blades that slope. Seriously, the girl has thought of everything. There's also an instructions card, and if you need extra help Hollie has put a tutorial up on her website.

But the best news is that I have 5 Seam Allowance Guide packs to give away. Yes! So leave a comment in the box - I'll draw the winners randomly on Wednesday 29th June. Please leave your contact email address so I can contact you if you win.

Update: Happy to post both Australia wide and overseas. So don't be shy - enter! Oh, and if you wanted to be a follower of my blog, that would be nice too ;)

Best of luck!

Birthday dolls

There are several very nifty things about the dolls I've just made for Grumble's birthday:

1 - They are all made from scraps or recycled materials (excluding the stuffing). Even the buttons, which came from a box of used buttons I bought on eBay aaaaaaages ago. Austerity crafting at its best!

2 - Each fabric, being a scrap from another project, has a memory. The pink doll, for example, features fabrics left over from the pjs Grumbles and I made. I really like that about these dolls.

3 - They are so darn huggable! Especially the pink flannel one. Which is good, because her arms are kinda permanently in hug-mode, due to my wonky sewing. Um, design feature?

4 - The pattern, from the amazingly talented Nic of 60 piggies, is free, so you can made some for yourself. Give Nic a virtual internet high five, ok?

5 - When Grumbles wakes up on her birthday morning and sees these two perched on the end of her bed, she's going to LOVE them (I hope!)

Marooned!

Jorth stood at the edge of the jetty, shielding her eyes from the sun sparkling off the waves, and watched the boat motor in. The captain brought his vessel in close to the jetty edge, and after securing the ropes he put down the plank. Jorth picked up her knitting bag, and was all set to climb aboard when the captain said "Welcome, passengers, to the Sleeve Island Service. Please show your tickets before boarding the boat."

"Oh!" said Jorth in a panic. "I don't have a ticket!"

The lady with the purple rinse perm who had been waiting in line behind Jorth chuckled and said in a kindly tone "Of course you do, my dear!", then fished into her own knitting bag and presented two finished knitted sleeves to the captain, who tipped his cap and helped her onto the boat.

"Goshdarnit!" thought Jorth. "Finished sleeves are the ticket." She looked imploringly at the captain, and began to explain how she had run out of black yarn, and so only had one finished sleeve to show. Would that do the trick?

"Sorry, lady" said the captain. "No sleeves, no boat ride. You're just gonna have to stay on Sleeve Island until both - and I mean both - sleeves are done."

"If you're quite done, now?" inquired a burly man sporting a ginormous walrus moustache and clutching two intricately coloured Fair Isle sleeves which the captain smiled appreciatively at. He was followed by a horde of knitters, all anxious to depart from Sleeve Island and make their way to Blocking Central. Once the last sleeve-toting passenger was safely on board, the captain removed the plank and set sail.

Jorth slumped down on the jetty, and watched until the boat was a tiny speck in the distance. As it was swallowed by the big, blue horizon Jorth wondered how she could have miscalculated her yarn requirements so badly, and how long it would take to deliver a single ball of black yarn to her place of maroonment.

Jelly Roll Party Bags - with a tutorial!

I love jelly rolls - those brightly coloured strips of fabric kindly put together by quilting fabric lines to give you a taste of each fabric in a particular collection. I bought a jelly roll from Moda Fabrics recently when I was putting together this quilt for Grumbles (and yikes, I still haven't finished that. Bad me!) and then was left with a whole bunch of strips which didn't fit in with my quilt plan.

Then yesterday when I began to draft a pattern for Grumble's party bags, I struck inspiration - why not make calico and jelly roll strip bags? Brilliant, eh? After all, I do have a roll of calico sitting in the cupboard, and heavens knows I have enough scraps to sink? build? decorate? a ship. After patting myself on the back for my amazing stash busting (yes, yes, so it's one strip at a time, but who's counting?) I got to work and made these bags for all of Grumble's friends to take home. I quite like the thought of a more permanent keepsake, and am holding tight to the hope that her friends will love these bags, and merrily fill them with all their treasures. Please humour me on that one.

So I hereby present the Jorth Jelly Roll Party Bag Tutorial.

Step one:
For each bag cut out 2 pieces of calico measuring 22cm/8.75inches by 25cm/10inches.
Cut two pieces of jelly roll strip into 22cm/8.75 inches by 6.5cm/2.5 inches. These will be placed onto the bottom of each calico piece.

Step two:
Sew your jelly roll strip onto the bottom of the calico pieces. Press the seam down towards the jelly roll strip, then topstitch along the seam line. These make the front and back bag pieces. If you like, finish all your edges now.



Step three:
With right sides together, sew the front and back bag side seams together. Sew the bottom edge of the bag (the strip part) together.

Step four:
Press down and then sew a 1cm/0.5inch hem at the top of the bag.

Step five:
Cut a 35cm/14 inch piece of ribbon, and attach the centre of the ribbon to the centre back of the bag, about 2.5cm/1 inch below the hem. Your bag is now complete - fill with party favours and then tie the bag closed with a lovely bright bow!

Tulle Hair Ties

Grumbles and Jorth were sitting at the kitchen table, intently planning her 7th birthday party. Since Grumbles was only allowed a big party every two years, this was quite an event to her almost 7 year old mind.

"So!", said Jorth, sucking hard at the end of her pencil as she looked at the list in front of her, "we're agreed on a cup cake cooking party, yeah? With Pass-the-Parcel as the game, and fairy bread to snack on."

"And party bags!" said Grumbles. "Don't forget the party bags!"

Jorth grinned at her daughter. "Of course we'll have party bags, you duffer. What do you want to put in them?"

Grumbles sat and thought hard. Finally she said "Mum, I'm not really into all the plastic junk that most people put in theirs. Can we make the party bag things?"

"Ahhh!", thought Jorth. "She's a maker, this one! And wants to be plastic free! I'm as proud as punch."

The kid wanted to make, so we did make. First cab off the rank are some super sweet fluffy tulle hair ties. I googled around for a bit, and found this tutorial from Martha Stewart. They are really very simple: basically you cut a long piece of tulle, then do a long gathering stitch down the centre (either by hand, or using a sewing machine). Gather up the tulle, then firmly attach to a hair tie. Done! Repeat 10 times so all the party girls can get one.



After making these, I am TOTALLY thinking a garland of bigger and even fluffier ones would be the height of awesomeness draped around the living room!

Queen's birthday weekend

Barossa Valley Vineyard

Dear Her Royal Majesty the Queen,

Thanks ever so much for being born! No, really - if you hadn't been born, then I, as a citizen of a country included in your commonwealth would not have had the chance to celebrate your birthday with a public holiday. Really, it's smashing of you to have, er, existed like that. Most grateful!

I suppose you'd wish to know what we did to celebrate you, eh? Well, we borrowed the mother-in-law's car and took a drive to Adelaide, named after one of your relatives. It's quite a lovely city, I'm pleased to report, but alas Grumbles took ill with a dreadful, phlegmy cough, so most of our sightseeing was confined to places we could visit in the car.

We drove all over, and saw Glenelg, Port Adelaide, the Barossa Valley and the Adelaide Hills, accompanied by a continual soundtrack of coughing and hacking. Apart from the flying spittle it was all rather splendid.

We were going to break our journey on the way home with a stopover in Horsham (they have the most spiffing aquatic centre I've ever seen!) but we decided to plough on and drove all the way home in a single day. Numb bums all around, but worth it for the lovely countryside!

There's not much else to report from my corner of Australia (we might ban live cattle exports, the Dalai Lama thought the Prime Minister was a man, we're still dragging our feet on climate change etc etc) so I'll sign off now. Once again, thanks so much for the public holiday. You're such a good egg!

Yours respectfully, and with blood flow once more restored to hind regions,
Jorth

The Three Choices

Jorth stood at the crossroads, and examined the signpost in front of her. There were three forks in the road. The one directly in front of her went straight on ahead, with no visible turns or twists as far as the road went to the horizon in front. The road was called “Go On As You Are Way”. Hmm, thought Jorth. Even though the road was very well maintained, and the path seemed like an easy walk, the way seemed shrouded with an air of dull predictability. Yearning for a bit more excitement, Jorth looked at the other options.

The road that led off to the right went straight down into a deep gully. Jorth could feel a cold wind coming from that direction, and the road itself was strewn with rocks and potholes. The signpost declared that road was called “Never Take A Chance Street”, and underneath in smaller letters read “To Regret Avenue”. Something about the road itself gave Jorth the heebie jeebies, so she turned and looked at the last option.

This road, called “Give It A Go Lane” seemed to meander about a fair amount. There were, by the looks of things, a series of hills that rose up and then fell quite steeply. Hillwalking, thought Jorth, is pretty hard work, but the view from the top is always magnificent. Looking harder, Jorth realised that unlike the others, this road wasn’t even paved. It was more of a path, and it struck Jorth that if one didn’t keep one’s wits about them, then you could quite easily get lost.

She stood for a few moments, weighing up the options in her mind. Which life path should she choose? Regret Avenue didn’t sound like the sort of place she was keen on visiting, so it came down to the other two. She gazed hard at the sign, and thought about the difficulties each presented. “Go On As You Are Way” seemed clean and prosperous enough, but where, thought Jorth, was the sense of adventure? Would there be any feeling of achievement from walking along a dead straight road? “Give It A Go Lane”, however, seemed to present obstacles of its own. Still, thought Jorth, you’ve only got one life. You may as well do what feels right.

Hoisting her backpack on, she began to walk along the faint path in the grass. The afternoon, it must be said, was a spectacular one. Birdsong filled the warm summer air, and scent of meadow flowers wafted delightfully on the gentle breeze. "Oh!", exclaimed Jorth, "this isn’t too bad at all." She walked on for a while, and was just passing a large tree when a voice spoke out to her. “Yes, it always seems fine at the beginning, when you are full of enthusiasm and optimism, but how will you go after days and days of climbing up hills, then climbing back down hills, picking your way through when the path seems to have disappeared, all the while trying to keep dry whilst storms rage around you, hmmm?

"What the fuck?" thought Jorth in a panic. She was just beginning to open her mouth when the voice said “And PLEASE don’t say “OMG, it’s a talking tree! I expect you authors to be more original that that!”

Jorth shut her mouth stupidly, and gazed at the tree. Even though she couldn’t make out any facial features at all, tree seemed to be looking expectantly at her, so she said “What sort of tree are you, um, Mr. Tree sir?”

The tree waved its arms? branches? impressively around and said in a loud booming voice “I am the tree born of the Seed of Doubt!

"Oh. Hello." said Jorth. “How did you know I wished to become an author?

“Part of my job description”, said the tree "is to know the true desires of the heart of all who pass by." Eyeing her shrewdly, the tree said “The other part of the job description is to warn you – go past me and there is no turning back. The way ahead can be littered with many dangers to aspiring authors like yourself. The path may become faint, or disappear all together. There are rocks and branches that may trip you up, and no helping hands to pick you up again and dust you off. There will even, I dare say, be rejection letters!”

Jorth looked at the path in front. She could see that the journey may indeed be hard, but for all that she felt compelled to continue on. She was just about to open her mouth to speak, when the tree said “But you’ll go on regardless, won’t you? Very well. Use your courage, dear author, when the writing seems hard. Use your imagination, when the words won’t flow. Use your ingenuity to come up with the most incredible plot devices. Use your gift wisely to produce only your best, and let it touch the hearts, the minds, the souls of those who grant you the privilege of reading the words you write. But most of all, I implore you – use recycled paper, won’t you? There’s a dear."

With one last flutter of the branch waving her onwards, the tree fell silent one more. And with nary a backwards glance, Jorth walked on.

**********************************************************************************
The little tale above is, I suppose, a roundabout way of telling you all that I've been accepted into a professional writing and editing course. So I'll be leaving my job at Tessuti Fabrics and focusing on become a writer. Wooooo! Exciting times ahead! But fear not - there shall still be plenty of crafting and sewing around these parts. In fact, since I figure that I'll need to exercise my writing muscles, I plan to post here on a daily basis (fingers crossed!)
 
Thanks to Tessuti for having me for the last two years - it's been great. But now I must enter the writing wilderness. Wish me luck!

Pink to banish the grey

It was a cold, cold day in Melbourne town. The rain was steadily drumming on the roof, and the chill was setting in. Jorth looked out at the bleak greyness, and thought to herself "What this day needs is a pop of colour, and I've just made the very thing!"

Scrutinising herself in the mirror she decided that her pink linen top just wasn't quite bright enough to banish the gloom away. She put on her new red glasses. "That's better!", she thought. "The pink and the red clash perfectly!"

And so, though it may have been rather dull and drab outside, the world was bright in Jorth land.





Project Details
Pattern: Vogue 1020 (out of print, but still available on the Vogue Patterns website if you're quick!)
Fabric: 1.4 m of Hot Pink Linen Knit from Tessuti Fabrics
Notions: 0.5cm wide length of elastic

 I've had this pattern in my stash for ages. I initially bought it because it was very similar to a top I had bought somewhere, that I wore until it fell apart. It's a great pattern - the gathering hides any bumps, it's tremendously comfortable to wear, and can be dressed up for down as required. Great for work.

Alterations made: I lengthened the sleeves (as per usual) and made a neckline band. I also ditched the side zip. Why would you put a zip into a knit top? I simply could not see the logic of that at all. Seems like a lot of fuss for no reason.

Sewing took all of 2 hours. I can see that I'll be making this top again and again, and I dare say the dress version will also feature in my future!

The linen knit is a rather interesting fabric. Even though technically it is a knit, you can't stretch it too much, so you need to be careful with it so you don't distort the shape. I find myself doing a very careful wriggle dance to get into the top! It's also rather sheer, so you need to wear something underneath to protect your modesty (or not, I suppose!)

And, of course, it's PINK! I'm right into pink this year. I'm not quite sure where this has come from, but suddenly I can't get enough of gutsy, ballsy pinks!

Feeling kinda famous!

It's excitement plus around here this morning - I've been picked by BurdaStyle to be their current Featured Member. Hoorah! So swing on by to read an interview with yours truly, and to check out some of my projects, my sewing space and last but not least, my goofy baby pic!

Blue Cowl Dress

It was just as I suspected - warm woollen stockings and a singlet did the trick, and starved off any chill that may have been felt whilst wearing my new cowl neck dress. That, and my old faithful winter coat when riding my bike - that back neck cowl really wouldn't have stood up to any winter winds!





Project Details
Pattern: McCalls 6069 - Easy 1 Hour Dress
Fabric: 1.6m viscose/polyester print jersey from Tessuti Fabrics (and a remnant piece at that - score!)
Notions: Elastic (1cm wide) for waistband.

This was a quick and easy dress to sew up, but I would never, ever have gotten it done in the one hour claimed by the pattern envelope. I would say it took about 3 hours to sew up all together, but I did take my time about it. For example, I sewed every seam on my normal machine using a stretch stitch, and then finished the edges with the overlocker. I also hemmed the cowls properly, instead of just leaving the edges raw, as I prefer a nice neat finish. If you just used an overlocker for this dress you might just get in done in an hour, but I don't think it would look as good. Besides, I'm always leery of using an overlocker instead of a machine to join seams, as I find that the overlocker can quite often stretch and splay fabric. Not a good look, and it doesn't make for a nice straight seam. Maybe it's just my overlocker that does it, but I do prefer to take my time and get a good finish.

The only alteration I made on this dress was to lengthen the sleeves. It's a funny thing about me - even though I always pull my sleeves up, I don't really like three-quarter length ones, and prefer to have longer ones to hoick up. Strange, but true.
It's very comfortable to wear, and great for cool but not really chilly days - provided I have my tights and singlet on! I'm already planning another, and you can get no better compliment than that.

Brown sugar apples

The quince season had come to an end, and the fridge was devoid of any fruity goodness to ladle over the morning porridge. The natives were not only restless, but also exceedingly grumpy. Their chant of 'Compote! Compote! Compote!' as they sat in front of their naked oats boomed through the house like the beat of a jungle drum, and only intensified when Jorth, stupidly, suggested that perhaps some sliced banana would do the trick. The glares on their faces told her in no uncertain terms that it would not.

Once the natives had trundled off to school and work, Jorth looked around the house in a panic. "Crumbs!", she thought. "I've no time to do any shopping today, and the fruit bowl is looking awfully bare. Just a few sad apples..." She eyed them speculatively, then headed to the cupboard and fridge and began to rummage around.

Half an hour later, Jorth sat down to a small bowl of brown sugar apples. "Man!" she said, "this is so good that I could eat the whole darn pan!" However, once she realised what the natives would do if they discovered she had, she wisely decided to put the rest away in fridge, ready to appease Grumbles and Galumph with in the morning.



Brown Sugar Apples

5 apples, peeled and cut into 1cm pieces (I used Fuji, but any cooking apple would be good)
50g butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sultanas
2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 - Melt butter over a medium heat in a saucepan. Add the sugar, then the apples and stir to coat.
2 - Once coated, add the water and sultanas. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 7 minutes or so, until the apples are nice and soft, but still holding their shape.
3 - Add the cinnamon, then serve.

It's great by itself, or on porridge (so the oat eaters tell me, I'm more of a toast girl myself) and could also be used to make apple puffs or pies. Yum!

Blast!

"Blast!" said Jorth, standing at the window and shaking her fist at the fat grey clouds blanketing the sky. "Literally! Curse you, stupid Arctic blast that is heading our way - I wanted to wear my new dress tomorrow, but I don't think viscose knit will stand up to your icy winds, and probable hail. Grrrrrr!"

Suddenly Jorth was struck by a thought. Winter, in Melbourne, was all about the layering, was it not? Yes, admittedly, with that deep scoop neckline on both the front and back the wearing of a spencer underneath wasn't an option, but a singlet was. As were thick woollen stockings. Feeling much chirpier, she strode off into the bedroom to rummage around in her smalls drawer. The dress, left alone on the ancient mannequin, gazed out the window and began to quietly chant to herself "Please let me be worn tomorrow! Please let me be worn tomorrow! Please let me be worn..."

Meanwhile, outside, the clouds kept their own counsel, and remained as heavy and threatening as before.

Sleeve Island

There was once a wonderful knitter called Becky, who ran a blog called Skinny Rabbit. Despite producing a prodigious amount of knitting, she would often lament that fact that she was stuck on Sleeve Island.

Well, folks, give me a moment to pull off my boots and tip out the sand, for it seems that I have had an extended stay at Sleeve Island myself.

If this is the part where you begin to scratch you head and wonder "What the heck is Jorth going on about now?!", then sit tight and let me explain:

You find a new knitting project. The need to begin practically consumes you, so you rush out and buy all your yarn and supplies. Coming home, you settle yourself in your favourite knitting spot, steaming hot beverage of choice at your side, and begin to knit. You remain like this for the next week or so. Children may come in demanding your attention, dishes may remain unwashed, dinner will probably go uncooked, but nothing can distract you from your knitting. It's your favourite project ever!

Until one day you wake up, and just can't be bothered with your favourite project. You've begun the sleeve, having completed the front and back, but what yesterday was exciting is now decidedly ho-hum. I mean, really, how excited can one get over a sleeve? Particularly when there are two of the darn things to knit. Boooooooring! Life once more begins to take over, and the knitting is put aside. Whilst you are busy listening to your previously neglected children, cooking those dinners and washing the grotty dishes, somebody dumps a pile of stuff on top of the knitting, and before you know it you've forgotton all about it. Which is convenient, as sleeves are dull. And when you do remember it, it is with a guilty twinge, and no intention to seek it out again.

That, my friends, is called being stuck on Sleeve Island. However, the guilt has finally gotten the better of me. I've found my way off the island, am back of dry land and yesterday not only finished sleeve no. #1, but also completed the ribbing for sleeve no. #2.

Let's just hope that I don't get stuck on Seaming Island. It's a dreadful place, surrounded by the treacherous Ocean of Mattress Stitch. Now, there's a place I don't want to go! (Just grit teeth, Jorthy, and get stuck into it)

Sneak peek

Shoulder pleats AND a cowl? Man, this is going to be one snazzy dress!

Slow Poached Quinces

Walking Grumbles into the school yard this morning, she greeted the principal with a cheery "Hello, Principal!"

"Well, hello there Grumbles!", he answered back. Regarding her fondly, he said "You are full of beans this morning - did you eat them for breakfast?"

"Oh no", said Grumbles. "I had porridge with quinces!"

"Porridge, hey?" said the principal. "Yes, porridge is rather good--- hang on a sec. Did you say quinces? My gee, I've heard of porridge for breakfast before, but never with quinces." Giving me a hard look, he said "Did you do the quinces yourself?"

Before I could answer Grumbles butted in. "Yep! Mum does them for us all autumn! Dad and I looooooove quinces."

Throwing me an admiring look, the principal said "By gee, you're good!" before sauntering off to (presumably) find out what some other child ate for breakfast.

As I walked home, blush slowly fading from my face, I pondered the fact that many people consider quinces to be a difficult thing to cook. Let me debunk this right now - they are as easy (in fact, easier) as pie. The only essential ingredient is time. So stick with me, and you too could be ladling glorious, fragrant, syrupy quinces on your porridge in no time, too!

Jorth's Master Slow Poached Quince Recipe

4 (or more) quinces, peeled and cut into small pieces
1 cup of firmly packed brown sugar
5 cups of water

Spices
Traditional: 1 vanilla bean and 1 cinnamon stick
Indian: 1 vanilla bean, 4 crushed cardamon pods and 1 star anise (take this out after the first hour, so the quinces don't taste too liquoricey)

1 - Preheat oven to 155 C/310 F
2  - To make the brown sugar syrup, place the sugar and water into a saucepan, and bring to the boil, stirring regularly to make sure the sugar doesn't stick to the bottom. Once the sugar is dissolved, set aside.
3 - Place the cut up quinces into an oven-proof casserole dish. I use my Le Crueset for this, and it works a treat, but previously have done it in a ceramic dish with foil on top. Add your spices of choice, then pour in the sugar syrup.
4 - Place dish in oven, and cook for at least four hours, or until the quinces are a lovely deep maroon colour. Serve on porridge (heehee!) or for dessert with a sharp, tangy yoghurt.

A quick note on cooking time: I always do my quinces on a day I know that I'm generally going to be home. I start them off first thing in the morning, and then when I go out to do my errands, I simply turn the oven off and let them cook in the residual heat. Then when I get back home I turn the oven on again, until next time I go out and so forth. So mine tend to be in the oven all day, which makes the house toasty warm, and filled with an incredible scent.

Colour therapy

Ever feel that life has got you down? That you got out of the wrong side of bed? That the grey clouds are not only sitting heavy and leaden in the skies, but also in your heart?

Then maybe you need some colour therapy. Seriously - that, a cup of tea and some choc-chip biscuits work a treat as far as Grumbles and I are concerned!



There's something so lovely about sitting and nattering to Grumbles about, oh, any old thing as we wield our sticks of colour. It certainly has the power to drive away the mean reds (emotions, not the pencils. I would never banish the actual colour red. As far am I am concerned, to live without red would be to die! Actually, that reminds me - I must show you all a picture of my new glasses. They're, um, red. Really red!)

The colouring book we are are using (and very much loving) is The Usborne Book of Drawing, Doodling and Colouring. This book has been such a hit in our house. Now, if only the darn textas didn't keep running out...

The Liberty Shirt

Once upon a time there was a girl (let's call her Jorth) who decided that she wanted to make a shirt. This was a decision that she made with some trepidation, for generally shirts did not suit her. A long torso combined with a skinny (elegant, her father used to say, but she knew the truth) neck did not for a happy shirt wearer make.

But this girl worked at a fabric store, which was selling lovely, sumptuous Liberty wool/cotton that was just begging to be made into a shirt. So the girl went online, and looked and looked for the perfect shirt pattern. To be truly honest, most were so... so homely that she recoiled from them in horror. But there was one which kept catching her eye. To be sure, in the pattern photograph it was no oil painting, but the need to make a shirt was beginning to consume the girl, and she decided to take a chance on it.

The shirt progressed slowly. It was labelled as "Easy to sew", but the sewing was painstaking and finicky. If an edge wasn't pressed to exactly 3mm, or a seam sewn perfectly straight then the garment would look very average indeed when finished. The kind of project, in fact, that you would inform people that you had made yourself, and they would reply "Yes... you can tell." So Jorth progressed very slowly, and took a lot of care to make the shirt as skillfully as she could.

Finally the day came. Jorth sewed the last button onto the button facing, and went into the bedroom where the full length mirror was. Pulling off her top, and slipping on the shirt she had a moment, just a moment, of quiet panic. What if it looks awful? What if the fit is all wrong? What if it sits lopsidedly? What if it just looks crap?

Looking into the mirror she saw that the shirt was none of the above. The fit was fantastic, and the shirt itself looked amazing paired with jeans and a belt. It gave her a slim, modern silhouette - exactly what she had been dreaming of. Jorth smiled, and now that the stress and worry had passed began to think that maybe, just maybe, she should make herself another!

Project Details
Pattern: Simplicity 2255, size 8, Style A
Fabric: 1.6m Liberty wool/cotton from Tessuti Fabrics
Notions: 10 buttons

My favourite part? The tabs. I'm loving those tabs!

Pyjamas for two

It started off simply enough, with the brilliant idea of bouncing on the bed for the photo shoot. What better way, after all, to show off the pyjamas that Grumbles and I had made during the school holidays? And when I say made, I mean that Grumbles made hers all by herself, with only a smidgen of help from me, and the occasional sign of the cross when she waved the super-sharp sewing scissors around like a maniac, or put her nose thisclose to the moving machine needle.

Despite my fears, the jimjams were made, all digits remained intact and now we had pictures to take. What could be more carefree than pictures of us merrily bouncing on the bed, with the sun streaming through the window and Galumph snapping away, capturing our freshly made jarmies for posterity.

What I didn't count on was the sun refusing to come out from behind the clouds, Galumph getting his usual case of parky hands, and Grumbles producing a continuous ear-splitting squeal. Granted, it was a squeal of delight (after all, how often do you get to jump on the bed with mum?) but I fear my eardrums will never be the same again.

So what began as this (Look at us jumping! Isn't this fun! Bouncy, bouncy, bounce!):



...rapidly became this (Oh lawdy, my ears! My legs! And I think we've killed the bed frame! I'm officially deaf, lame and have no place to sleep. Waaaaah!)



Project Details
Pattern: Pyjama pants for both women and children using Simplicity 5338 (out of print)
Fabric: Flannelette cotton from GJs, using 1.5m for Grumbles and 2m for me
Notions: Elastic for waistband casing.

Good, handy pattern this one. I bought this years ago, and haven't actually cut out any of the pieces. Instead, I just trace them out whenever I want to make some jimiejammies. So far I've made pjs for Galumph, myself and now Grumbles out of it, and see many more pairs in the future, as there is nothing more snug, more comfortable than pjs you have made yourself. And in regards to quality, they reign supreme over anything you can buy in the shops.