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A Bustle & Sew Publication Copyright Š Bustle & Sew Limited 2017 The right of Helen Dickson 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 2017 by: Bustle & Sew The Cottage Oakhill Radstock BA3 5HT UK www.bustleandsew.com
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Welcome to the September Issue I hope you have a lovely month, and do look out for the October Magazine which will be published on Thursday 28 September Have a lovely month!
Helen xx
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Tips for Stitchers When choosing the right needle for your work, an easy rule of thumb is that the thickness of your needle should match the thickness of your thread. If you’re using stranded embroidery floss, then this can be split. The number of strands of floss you use will depend upon the fineness and detail of the stitching in your project. When you’re deciding how many strands of floss you need (if your pattern doesn’t tell you) then a simple rule is never to use a thread which is thinner than the thread of the material – it will look insignificant and puny against the background. My mum taught me this simple rule of thumb and it works in 99% of cases – the exception being if you’re working very fine detail in a small area of your work.
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60 Between this month’s covers … Tips for Stitchers
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Lovely Idea: Pumpkin Decoration
Page 35
September Almanac
Page 6
Christmas Bear
Page 36
Bloom & Grow Hoop
Page 8
Poetry Corner: September Song
Page 39
Michaelmas Daisies: Stars of the Season
Page 10
The Countryside in September
Page 40
Meet the Maker: Leigh Bowden
Page 11
Instagram Inspiration
Page 41
A (very) Little Guide to Fabric Types
Page 14
Flowers for Next Summer
Page 42
When Day Equals Night
Page 15
Some Things Never Change
Page 44
Festive Friends Advent Calendar
Page 16
Floral Whale Door Sign
Page 45
The Darker Side of Stitching
Page 19
A (very) Little Guide to Sewing Machine Needles
Lovely Idea: Pebble Succulents
Page 20
A Little Look at Smocks and Smocking
Page 21
Meet the Maker: Jane Carkill
Page 50
Country Diary
Page 24
Country Diary
Page 53
Four Painterly Feathers
Page 25
Pompom Book Marks
Page 54
Tastes of the Season: Blackberries
Page 28
Home Comforts
Page 57
Rosie’s Recipes: Harvest Home
Page 29
In the Kitchen: Conversion Tables
Page 58
Tastes of the Season: Marrows
Page 34
Templates
Page 59
Page 48
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September September is a month of transition and change, marking, as it does, the end of summer and the beginning of autumn. Children return to school at the end of the long summer holidays and life returns to normal. For farmers this is the climax of the grain harvest, a time of hard work followed by celebrations later in the month. Celebrating the safe gathering of the harvest is a ritual that dates back to pagan times, when people gave thanks to the corn spirit for a good crop and special ceremonies were performed to ensure a successful crop the following year. People believed that the “spirit” of the grain they were harvesting resided in the crop itself and so, to prevent its death when the last stalks were cut certain procedures had to be followed. In many places the last sheaf was decorated with ribbons, flowers and even clothing and honoured as a harvest doll or queen. It was carried with ceremony to preside over the harvest home or supper and hung in the barn to supervise threshing before spending the winter in the farmhouse. In spring the grains rubbed from the ears were either sown with the new grain or fed to the plough horse to restore the corn spirit to the land. Nature’s harvest is upon us too, and the hedgerows are laden with hips, haws and berries. Elderberries have been ripening since August, handing in dense deep purple clusters on their claret-coloured stems, bringing colour and richness to the countryside. They are particularly rich in vitamin C and make dark wines, jams and jellies - good for warding off those pesky winter sniffles. Well into late autumn, the elder bushes are a larder for all kinds of birds who also enjoy their rich, succulent berries. In London 350 years ago, however, September brought the most devastating event in the city’s history as what we now call “The Great Fire of London” began on September 2nd. Although at the time it was devastating, it did clear away the old medieval warren of streets and allowed significant improvements to be made in the structure and layout of the city, straightening streets and replacing timber with brick. Sir Christopher Wren was responsible for the rebuilding of more than 50 churches destroyed in the blaze, notably St Paul’s Cathedral, and for the construction of a Monument to the Great Fire which stands 202 ft in height and the same distance
from the site of the infamous bakery in Pudding Lane where the fire began.
Poland however, Chamberlain’s “peace” was in tatters and the British nation was at war.
September 3rd wasn’t a good day either - at least in 1939 as it marked the beginning of the Second World
Holy Cross Day, which falls on the fourteenth, is one of two days also known as “Devil’s Nutting Day”, the other being St Matthew’s Day on the 21st. It was said that those who went nutting (gathering hazelnuts) on this day would meet the Devil engaged in the same task.
“In London, on the evening of 2nd September 1666 a fire commenced by which about two thirds of the city burned down, including the cathedral, the Royal Exchange, about a hundred parish churches and a vast number of other public buildings. The conflagration commenced in the house of a baker named Farryner at Pudding Lane, near the Tower, and, being favoured by a high wind, it continued for three nights and days, spreading gradually eastward, till it ended at a spot called Pye Corner in Giltspur Street.”
War. The UK had originally followed a policy of appeasement, and in September 1938 the then Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, brought home the Munich Agreement - an event famously described by him as achieving “peace for our time.” After the invasion of
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Three days later, across the “pond” in the US, people will be celebrating Constitution Day, that commemorates the signing of the US constitution in 1787. It was adopted in 1789 and since then amendments have been added over the years including the thirteenth which in 1865 abolished slavery and the nineteenth amendment in 1920 that introduced national women’s suffrage. As the month progresses and the weather becomes cooler and damper, wild fungi begin to appear in fields and woodlands. They come in an amazing and fascinating variety of forms and colours, such as the blue shaggy inkcap and the image from a thousand fairytales - the scarlet fly agaric, with it’s white spots the toadstool with which pixies, fairies, hedgehogs and other characters are invariably depicted. Although it features in so many of our childhood stories, do beware of approaching it in the wild, as it is highly poisonous and best left alone. September 22, 23 or 24 (it varies from year to year) brings the autumnal equinox, after which the daylight hours are shorter than those of darkness. The word and its use “autumn” comes from the Latin in English dates back to the fourteenth century. In the US however, the term “fall” is preferred. Both terms were used interchangeably in British English at one time and the latter appears in sixteenth century texts in the longer phrase “fall of the leaf,” but a hundred years later the shorter term “fall” was definitely in use. The feast day of St Michael or Michaelmas falls on the penultimate day of the month. It is the anniversary of the dedication of a church in his honour, the Basilica of St Michael, near Rome. Michaelmas is one of the four days on which quarterly rents are paid. The tradition of serving goose for dinner on this day may stem from the custom of giving one’s landlord such a bird as a gift. It was also thought that eating goose on Michaelmas Day would bring financial prosperity in the year to come. The geese were fattened for the table by allowing them to glean fallen grain on the stubble fields after the harvest.
Michaelmas Daisies: Stars of the Season Michaelmas Daisies are named for the Festival of St Michael the Archangel, or Michaelmas that falls on 29 September. These cheerful, star-shaped flowers with purple, white or pink petals and bronze-yellow centres provide valuable autumn colour in the garden from September right through until the beginning of the winter months. Gardeners know them as asters, from astrum, the Latin word for “star”. They arrived in Britain from their native North America in the 1600’s and today are firm favourites across the country. There are dozens of varieities, both single and double, ranging in height from 12” to 70” (over a metre) tall. They are great to pick and bring indoors too, lasting well in water to create a colourful seasonal display in your home.
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If you love Leigh’s work and would like to see more, then please do visit her online ‌.
www.leighlalovesyou.com instagram.com/leighlalovesyou/ facebook.com/Leighlalovesyou/
A (very) Little Guide to Fabric Types Fabrics can be made from different types of fibres, both man made and natural which gives them their properties and determines how they will behave. Fabrics can be woven (the most common type think of quilting cottons, linens and more besides), non-woven - such as felt and knitted too - all of which will affect their weight, stretchiness and how they behave generally.
such as acrylic and polyester come from petroleum oil.
These are formed from two groups of threads at right angles to each other - the lengthwise warp and the widthwise weft.
can be easily divided into those of animal and plant origin. Animal derived fibres include wool, silk, alpaca and cashmere. These are wrinkle resistant and breathable too.
These are fray-resistant, won’t stretch and can easily be cut to any shape you require (which makes them great for children and beginner stitchers). They include fabrics such as felt and fleece which are created by working together woollen fibres.
There are three kinds of plant based fibres extracted from three different parts of the plant - its fruit, stems or leaves. Think of cotton and linen, coconut, jute, hemp and bamboo.
These fabrics are formed by threads that are looped around each other giving the fabric its stretch and elasticity. Double knit fabric is two of these layers combined in a single fabric giving it more thickness and strength but less elasticity. Knit fabrics are almost crease free and are very comfortable to wear.
fibres also fall into different categories. Some are “regenerated natural polymers� such as rayon and viscose are extracted from plant materials such as wood pulp. Synthetic polymers
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When Day equals Night …. September brings a moment of harmony - a time of perfect balance when day and night are of equal length - the time of the Autumnal Equinox. This moment marks the transition between summer and autumn, the time when the new season begins as we move inexorably towards the darker days and longer nights of the winter months ahead. This year the equinox falls on Friday 22 September, when the sun passes over the equator from north to south. In the summer the tilt of the earth’s axis brings the northern hemisphere closer to the sun, which makes the sun’s heat more intense and the days longer. Then as autumn progresses, the North Pole gradually begins to point away from the sun, which day on day rises ever lower in the sky. This makes the days shorter, temperatures begin to fall and autumn has arrived.
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A Country Diary Hop-picking goes on without the least interruption. Stonecurlews cry late in the evenings. The congregating flocks of on the church and tower are very beautiful & amusing! When they fly-off together from the Roof, on any alarm, they quite swarm in the air. But they soon settle in heaps, & preening their feathers & lifting up their wings to admit the sun, seem highly to enjoy the warm situation. Thus they spend the heat of the day, preparing for their emigration, &, as it were, consulting when & where they are to go. The flight about the church seems to consist chiefly of house-martins, about 400 in number, but there are other places of rendezvous about the village frequented at the same time. The swallows seem to delight more in holding their assemblies on trees.
Gilbert White (1720-93) spent most of his life as a curate in Selborne and was a pioneer of natural history.
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Rosie’s Recipes: Harvest Home
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Autumn Leaves The falling leaves drift by my window The falling leaves of red and gold I see your lips the summer kisses The sunburned hands I used to hold Since you went away the days grow long And soon I'll hear old winter's song But I miss you most of all my darling When autumn leaves start to fall Since you went away the days grow long And soon I'll hear old winter's song But I miss you most of all my darling When autumn leaves start to fall I miss you most of all my darling When autumn leaves start to fall
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Inspiration
inspiration
A closer look at some of the accounts we love‌
@gabriellevaryknitwear
@little_seed_handmade
Gabrielle creates luxury British knitwear from her studio in Sussex. Her feed is full of gorgeous colours and is sure to brighten up your day!
Sam’s feed is full of her lovely whimsical handmade creations that she sells in her Etsy shop. She loves all things vintage and is busy planning her wedding!
@helen.philipps
@quietclementine
Helen is a designer, author, illustrator & quilter. She loves to craft and blogs about the things she makes. Her feed is full of lots of crafty goodness!
Hana makes playful ceramics for colour enthusiasts. Based in Arkansas she is a one woman show, making each piece with her own two hands from start to finish!
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If you love Jane’s work and would like to see more of Lamblittle, then please do visit her online ‌.
etsy.com/uk/shop/LambLittleShop www.instagram.com/lamblittle/
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