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A Bustle & Sew Publication Copyright Š Bustle & Sew Limited 2019 The right of Helen Challenor to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form, or by any means, without the prior written permission of the author, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. Every effort has been made to ensure that all the information in this book is accurate. However, due to differing conditions, tools and individual skills, the publisher cannot be responsible for any injuries, losses and other damages that may result from the use of the information in this book.
First published 2019 by: Bustle & Sew Station House West Cranmore Shepton Mallet BA4 4QP Somerset www.bustleandsew.com
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Welcome to the December Magazine Hello everyone! And here we are again at the end of another year! And what a year it’s been here at Bustle & Sew HQ. We’ve welcomed two new team members - little Florence, my baby granddaughter arrived in June, a sister for Freddie whom, I can hardly believe, will be celebrating his fourth birthday on Boxing Day! Then Rufus, the labrador puppy joined us in August - spending some time in our temporary home high up on the Mendip Hills before moving into our new HQ here at Station House, where we will be enjoying the excited squeals of happy children this month as the Santa Specials steam up and down the line. And finally, the Engineer and I became engaged in the summer and we’re marrying at the village church in April next year - the excitement goes on and on! There’s lots between this month’s covers to enjoy - we have four new Christmas projects, none of which are too time-consuming as time is definitely at a premium as the festivities approach, as well as two non-Christmas designs, and much more besides. I do hope you’ll enjoy this issue, and if you’re a subscriber then please look out for the January Magazine. It will be arriving in your inbox a little later than usual on account of the holidays on Tuesday 31 December. And now all that remains is to wish you a very merry (and peaceful) Christmas wherever you may be. Merry Christmas everyone!
Helen xx
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Between this month’s covers … Lovely Idea: Christmas Stockings
Page 4
An Indoor Jungle
Page 50
December Almanac
Page 6
Mrs Beeton’s Christmas Cake
Page 54
Tusser’s Christmas
Page 8
The Countryside in December
Page 55
Christmas Gnomes Tea Cosy
Page 9
Lovely Idea: Reindeer Tote
Page 57
Applique Made Easy
Page 12
Your Scissors at Christmas
Page 58
A Country Diary
Page 18
Holly Limerick
Page 60
Christmas Bauble Hoop
Page 19
Embroidered Napkins
Page 61
Setting the (Christmas) Date
Page 21
Robin Redbreast
Page 63
Christmas Story: The Mill on the Floss
Page 22
Oranges and Lemons
Page 64
Handmade Giving this Christmas
Page 24
Rudolph and Friends
Page 66
Lovely Idea: Mason Jar Ornaments
Page 26
Embroidery Stitch Guide
Page 67
Mistletoe Geese Cushion
Page 27
In the Kitchen: Conversion Tables
Page 67
Sweet Chestnuts
Page 29
Templates
Page 69
Tastes of the Season: December
Page 30
Cranberries
Page 39
Night before Christmas Hoop
Page 40
The Christmas Tree by Dickens
Page 43
Finishing your Projects
Page 44
Elves Coffee
Page 46
Holly and other Winter Berries
Page 47
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December Although December brings the beginning of meteorological winter, it isn’t by any means the coldest month. This is because the seas that surround us give up the remnants of summer’s heat only slowly and are still warm enough to make a difference in December. But still the shortest day, the winter solstice, falls in December - during the course of the month daylight hours decrease by 22 minutes to their shortest at just 7 hours and 49 minutes in London and then increase by 5 minutes by the end of the month. (These differences are more marked further north of course). But still, the headlong rush towards the shortest day is cheered by the prospect of the Christmas festivities. It surely can’t be a coincidence that the festive season in Britain and much of the temperate northern hemisphere comes at this time, when the natural world is at its lowest ebb, waiting for the year to turn. The
bare trees and lack of birdsong signal that Nature herself is marking time. With the old year nearly over, and a new one on the
“So now is come our joyful feast; Let every man be jolly. Each room with ivy leaves is dressed, And every post with holly. Without the door, let sorrow lie; And, if for cold, it hap to die, We’ll bury it in a Christmas pie And evermore be merry.”
horizon, now is a good time for taking stock, reflecting on the past and planning for the future. It’s a time for good old-fashioned
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nostalgia resolutions.
and
brand-new
Today the winter solstice falls on or about December 22 and is followed by Christmas Day three days later. But it wasn’t always that way. When the change from the old “Julian” to the new “Gregorian” calendar was adopted in Britain in 1752, a total of 11 days were lost in order to bring the dates into line. Prior to this time Christmas had been celebrated two weeks later in the winter. People flocked to Glastonbury Tor, that rises above the Somerset Levels, not too far from my house, to see if the famous Glastonbury thorn would oblige by advancing its unique mid-winter flowering to the new date of Christmas Day. Believed to have taken root from a staff thrust into the summit of the hill by Joseph of Arimathea, this legendary landmark of early Christianity in England is actually a genetic variant of our familiar hawthorn tree, quite possibly
imported from the Middle East where it would indeed flower in their mid mid-winter. Here in Somerset it still produces some blossom and foliage at its original flowering season, and again in late April the more usual time for blossom, in the UK. For many years following the calendar change crowds continued to gather at Glastonbury, waiting for the thorn tree to give them a sign. Disappointingly, it hardly ever produced flowers before 5 January - exactly 11 days late. Today December continues to be dominated by the festival of Christmas, though I was interested to learn about St Nicholas Day on the sixth that commemorates a fourth century bishop of Myra in Turkey. Among his miracles was saving children, including the resurrection of a few boys who had been diced up and salted to be sold as pork by an unscrupulous innkeeper. Hence St Nicholas became the patron saint of children. He is also the patron saint of pawnbrokers, having allegedly saved three daughters from prostitution by providing three bags of gold - and so his patronage of pawnbrokers is signified by three golden globes, a sign that remains familiar in high streets.
St Stephen’s Day, 26 December, is better known here in England as Boxing Day which was declared under the Bank Holidays Act of 1871. The name “Boxing Day” was first recorded in the Oxford English
“If New Year’s Eve night the wind blow south, It betokeneth warmth and growth; If west, much milk and fish in the sea; If north, much cold and storms there will be; If east, the trees will bear much fruit; If north-east, flee it, man and brute”
Dictionary in 1833, but seasonal boxes occur much earlier, and the practice of making a winter cash donation to servants goes back at least to the beginning of the eighteenth century and may have originated in the 1620s with apprentices and servants collecting tips. In Victorian times gangs of “sweeps, beadles, lamplighters, watermen, dustmen, scavengers, general postmen, twopenny
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postmen and waits” would roam the streets expecting monetary hand-outs for their trouble. Holy Innocents Day or Childermas, 28 December, marked Herod’s mass infanticide in Bethlehem in an attempt to kill the baby Jesus. This was generally considered to be an unlucky day and a perilous time to start anything new or engage in anything potentially dangerous. This superstition lasted until at least the mid-nineteenth century. Ringing out the old year and ringing in the new happens on New Year’s Eve 31 December. This has only comparatively recently become a time for celebration in England, though the practice of kissing and singing to welcome in the New Year was recorded in England by the American novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1856. But we do have a general lack of New Year traditions here in England. This may be as New Year comes too soon after Christmas and carries with it a sense of time passing all too fast. New Year’s Day didn’t become an English Bank Holiday until 1974 in part to justify Scotland having an additional national holiday on 2 January. For many Scots Hogmanay was, and for some still is, more significant than Christmas.
Christmas Husbandly Fare from
Good husband and huswife, now chiefly be glad, things handsome to have, as they ought to be had. They both do provide, against Christmas do come, to welcom their neighbors, good cheer to have some. Good bread and good drinke, a good fier in the hall, brawne, pudding, and souse, and good mustard withal. Beef, mutton and Porke, and good Pies of the est, pig, veale, goose and capon, and turkey wel drest, Cheese, apples and nuttes, and good Caroles to heare, as then, in the cuntrey is counted good cheare. What cost to good husband, is any of this? good householde provision onely it is: Of other the linke, I do leave out a meny, that costeth the husband never a peny.
Thomas Tusser was an English poet and farmer, best known for his instructional poem Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandrie first published in 1557 7
Christmas Gnomes Tea Cosy We’re all familiar with the elves helping Santa in his Christmas workshop, but the unsung heroes are of course the gnomes, responsible for packing and loading the sleigh before deliveries take place on Christmas Eve! Well, maybe not, but still these jolly Christmas gnomes will make a festive addition to your Christmas tea time.
My cosy measures 10” across the bottom edge and I’ve given measurements, materials and the template to suit this size, but please see how to measure your pot to make sure your cosy is the perfect fit this Christmastime!
Materials ● Two 12” squares of medium weight cotton fabric for exterior ● One 4” x 2” rectangle printed fabric for loop ● Two 12” squares of felted wool, prequilted material or similar for the lining ● Scraps of grey, white and pink felt for the gnomes ● Scraps of red and white printed fabric for hats
● Grey, green, red, white, golden yellow and pink stranded cotton embroidery floss. ● Bondaweb
Starting to stitch: Before you begin to stitch do be sure that all your shapes are firmly ssecured in place - if you’re using Bondaweb, then you need to hold your iron over the shape for 10 seconds.
For hand applique I like to use two strands of matching embroidery floss (or you could use a different thread if you prefer) and work small stitches at right angles to the edges of the shape. Blanket stitch is also a great choice. Hand stitching gives quite a different feel to your piece - the little badger and fox above are hand stitched - I think it
gives a softer-looking, less defined finish. Machine stitching on the other hand clearly defines the edges of your shapes and is also extremely hard-wearing - in my experience the fabric is more likely to tear or wear than the stitches to come loose!
SETTING THE DATE Although you might think that Christmas Day has been celebrated on the same day forever this certainly isn’t the case and wee haven’t always celebrated Christmas on 25 December. During Christianity’s earliest days no date was set for Jesus’ birth and the Bible certainly didn’t offer any clues. Indeed back then many senior priests disagreed with any idea of celebrating this anniversary, believing this to be pagan nonsense and that it was the date of martyrdom that should be remembered. But over the centuries views changed and various possible dates for Christ’s birth were proposed, with many religious scholars believing it to be in the spring, suggesting 21 March, 15 or 21 April and 20 May as possibilities.
the idea of converting to Christianity if they were still allowed to feast and party at the darkest point of the year. The other possibility is connected to the Jewish festival of Passover. It was once believed that Jesus had died on the anniversary of his conception. As the date for Passover was set for 25 March, then simply counting ahead by nine months gave a birth date of 25 December. Ultimately of course we don’t know for sure why Christmas is now celebrated on 25 December - and we certainly don’t have any idea whatsoever which day of the year is Jesus’ real birthday. It will almost certainly remain as an unsolved mystery.
By the fourth century though only two possible dates were under consideration although neither had featured in earlier discussions. Christians in the western Roman Empire decided to celebrate Christ’s birth on 25 December, while Christians in the eastern Roman Empire preferred 6 January. The time between these two dates spans what is now known as the Twelve Days of Christmas, beginning with what is considered to be Christmas Day in most of the Christian world and ending with Epiphany on 6 January. But why, we might ask ourselves, did Christian scholars eventually agree to celebrate Jesus’ birth on 25 December? There are two possible reasons. Firstly, that the Christian Church wanted to make a connection between their new feast ay and the old Roman feast of (the birthday of the victorious sun). They could well have thought that people would be more open to
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Handmade Giving this Christmas Those of us who love to create also (almost universally) love to give handmade presents at Christmas, with love and care sewn into every stitch. And whilst it’s true that “it’s the thought that counts”, nonetheless we hope that the lucky recipients will appreciate our gifts, and understand the hard work that goes into making them. One of the loveliest things about making gifts for others is that they’re individual, unique and personalised just for the recipient. I remember a very young Rosie asking me once for a cardigan featuring dancing mice and sparkly buttons. No such garment was available in any shops, but I was able to knit and embroider her the cardigan of her dreams! This was a highly personalised gift, but something as simple as adding the recipient’s initials or using their favourite colours shows them how much you care - and hopefully will ensure they love their handmade gift. It’s a nice idea to try to make your handmade gifts seasonal - anything warm, fuzzy or fluffy is sure to be a hit at this most chilly time of year! Think mittens, scarves, pillows and cosies or even quilts and blankets if you’re thinking big!
If you have a lot of gifts to make then you’ll need to get organised! It’s a great idea to make a list of the projects you have in mind and their intended recipients. Then take a deep breath and consider carefully whether or not you’ll have enough time to make all these projects and whether you’ll enjoy making them . If you’re running short of time and feeling a bit stressed about it all, then now is the time to prune your list - and promise yourself you’ll begin a bit earlier next time! A word of warning though when you’re planning your gifting - you do need to choose your recipients carefully if you want your handmade Christmas gifts to be a success. Some people will totally understand the time, effort and love that goes into making an item, but others almost certainly won’t. Steer clear of those who may say “but you could buy this for a couple of pounds” about your homemade item. They just don’t get it! But your grandma or auntie who’s been knitting or quilting herself for years will definitely give your handmade item a loving home. Your time is precious - be selective and gift accordingly!too!
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Sweet Chestnuts Sweet chestnuts abound across the English countryside throughout the autumn months - not to be confused with the inedible horse chestnuts of course - forming carpets of fresh green bristles, each case enclosing shiny dark brown chestnuts, smaller and less spherical than the horse chestnut or conker. Wild chestnuts are often overlooked here in the UK, but are popular across Europe, especially around the Mediterranean, where traditionally they were a staple food for the poor. However cultivated chestnuts - completely the opposite - were seen as a luxury food, especially those grown around Lyons in France, which are used to make marrons glaces. Chestnuts are high in starch and water, but low in protein and fat. They can be ground finely to make chestnut flour, delicious used in small quantities mixed with high-gluten flour when making bread. They can be frozen - blanch and open freeze them, and transfer to freezer bags once fully frozen. Defrost before use and add to your classic Christmas stuffing, or why not try using for soups, souffles and purees too? To roast your chestnuts on an open fire (as the song goes), slit them first to let the steam out and stop them exploding then cook on a chestnut roaster or shovel for 20-25 minutes. No open fire? Then you can roast them in the oven at 220 C or gas mark 7 for 20-25 minutes. Chestnuts work well combined with Brussels sprouts (for sprout lovers only of course, of which I am one!), Butternut squash, cabbage, chocolate, coffee, mushrooms, pears, rosemary and vanilla.
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Tastes of the Season: December
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Bubble and Squeak This is a great way of using up leftovers from the Big Day itself and in our family we’d traditionally serve it on Boxing Day along with cold meats, chutneys and salads. The traditional way to serve is to combine all the ingredients, form into cakes and then fry. We prefer to heap our bubble and squeak into a pie dish and heat in the oven until the top is brown and crispy as frying can make it a bit greasy - in our opinion that is! I’ve given the ingredients I’d use if I made it from scratch, but feel free to be creative - we put all kinds of things into ours depending on what wasn’t eaten up the day before!
Ingredients
Method
● 150 g cooked swede, chopped ● 250 g cooked cabbage or Brussels sprouts, chopped ● 150 g cooked chooped
parsnips,
● Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mash roughly to bind them all together. Season if you wish. ● Heap the mixture into an ovenproof dish. Dot the top with knobs of butter to help make a delicious brown crust.
● 1 cooked leek, chooped
● Bake at 180C for 45 mins until the mixture is piping hot (we are reheating leftovers so this is important) and the top is brown and crispy.
● 250 g mashed potato
● Serve hot. Yum!
● 50 g butter
Putting the clusters into their cases
Mushroom Soup Ingredients ● 50 g unsalted butter AND ● 25 g unsalted butter
Method ● Melt 50 g butter in a saucepan, add the onion and cook gently until softened but not brown.
● 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
● Stir in 225 g mushrooms, stock and seasoning Cover the pan and simmer for 30 minutes until the mushrooms are soft and most of the liquid has absorbed.
● 225 g large button mushrooms, chopped AND
● Meanwhile saute the remaining mushrooms in 25 g butter. Drain excess fat by tipping them onto a paper kitchen towel.
● 150 g large button mushrooms chopped
● When your soup is cooked sieve or blend, then thin to the required consistency with the milk. For cream of mushroom soup (richer, delicious and sinful!) Use half milk and half cream.
● 300 ml chicken or vegetable stock ● Salt and pepper for seasoning ● 300 - 500 ml full cream milk
● Bring to simmering point, stir in the sauted mushrooms and serve very hot.
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The Christmas Tree Charles Dickens
I have been looking on, this evening, at a merry company of children assembled round that pretty German toy, a Christmas tree. The tree was planted in the middle of a great round table, and towered high above their heads. It was brilliantly lighted by a multitude of little tapers; and everywhere sparkled and glittered with bright objects. There were rosy-cheeked dolls, hiding behind the green leaves; and there were real watches (with moveable hands, at least, and an endless capacity of being wound up) dangling from innumerable twigs; there were French-polished tables, chairs, bedsteads, wardrobes, eight-day clocks, and various other articles of domestic furniture (wonderfully made, in tin, at Wolverhampton), perched among the boughs, as if in preparation for some fairy housekeeping; there were jolly, broad-faced little men, much more agreeable in appearance than many real men - and no wonder, for their heads took off, and showed them to be full of sugar-plums; there were fiddles and drums; there were tambourines, books, work-boxes, paint-boxes, sweetmeat boxes, peep-show boxes, and all kinds of boxes; there were trinkets for the
elder girls, far brighter than any grownup gold and jewels; there were baskets and pincushions in all devices; there were guns, swords, and banners,; there were witches standing in enchanted rings of pasteboard, to tell fortunes; there were teetotums, humming-tops, needle-cases, pen-wipers, smellingbottles, conversation-cards, bouquetholders; real fruit, made artificially dazzling with gold-leaf; imitation apples, pears and walnuts, crammed with surprises; in short, as a pretty child, before me, delightedly whispered to another pretty child, her bosom friend, “There was everything, and more.�
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Your Scissors at Christmas!
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