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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 our brand new Spring Collection for 2017! Spring is such a beautiful time of year as all around us the countryside quite literally blossoms, released from the cold grip of winter days with the promise of summer days just around the corner - bliss! Within this book you’ll find 20 carefully chosen projects from past issues of the Bustle & Sew Magazine divided into three groups according to technique to help you enjoy delightful Spring stitching as the days grow longer. Scattered through the book I’ve also included some extra seasonal reading that I hope you’ll enjoy too. Love from us all here at Bustle & Sew HQ!
Helen xx
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Tips for Stitchers Cross stitch is probably one of the easiest stitches of all. It may be worked separately, as an open “scattering” or close together to fill an area. It is a geometric stitch and looks best (and neatest) if all the stitches are placed evenly on the background fabric which is why it’s most often worked on even weave fabric. Some of the oldest embroideries in the world have been discovered in the Greek Islands. These are very frequently worked in cross stitch. Cross stitch should be worked so that the second stitch, which forms the X shape is always slanted in the same direction. This makes the stitch very smooth and even.
Leaping Rabbit pattern available instore
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Embroidery
Caring for your Sewing Machine
Page 53
Some Bunny Loves You
Page 54
Tips for Stitchers
Page 57
Pin the Tail on the Bunny
Page 58
Tips for Stitchers
Page 60
Spring is in the Air
Page 7
Making Your Own Butter
Page 10
Small Beginnings Hoop
Page 11
Easy Rhubarb Jam
Page 14
Leaping Rabbit Cushion
Page 15
Leaping Rabbit Cross Stitch
Page 21
Softies
Tips for Stitchers
Page 23
Pea Pod Pincushion
Page 62
Believe in the Future
Page 24
Wind in the Willows
Page 64
Tips for Stitchers
Page 29
Badger Softie
Page 65
Love is Patient Hoop
Page 30
Poetry Corner
Page 68
Poetry Corner
Page 34
Toad Softie
Page 69
Leaping Fox
Page 35
Pegging out the Washing
Page 71
Mole Softie
Page 72
Ratty Softie
Page 74
Lovely Idea: Spring Birthday Cake
Page 77
French Hen Softie
Page 78
Growing Cress Indoors
Page 80
Unicorn Trophy Head
Page 81
Templates
Page 83
Applique Butterflies Cushion
Page 39
Dutch Bunny Doorstop
Page 42
Easter Egg Hunt
Page 45
Woodland Animals Cushions
Page 46
Poetry Corner
Page 49
Sewing Machine Cover
Page 50
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Easy Rhubarb Jam Spring rhubarb makes a delicious jam. Wash 2 lbs (900 g) rhubarb and cut it into 1” (2.5 cm) pieces. Place into a preserving pan or other wide, heavy bottomed saucepan and sprinkle with the same quantity of granulated sugar. Cover and leave overnight. The following day add the juice of two lemons, then place the pan over a low heat and stir the contents regularly until the sugar has dissolved. When you’re stirring be gentle so that you don’t squash the rhubarb. Once the sugar is all dissolved (you won’t be able to feel it on the bottom of the pan with your spoon) then turn the heat up and bring the jam to the boil. Boil for a few minutes, stirring continuously. Remove any scum from the surface. When setting point (105 C 220 F) has been reached pour your jam into sterilised jars, place a waxed disc on top and seal. Leave to cool. Once opened your jam will keep for several weeks stored in a cool dry place. If you don’t have a jam thermometer, it’s easy to test for setting point. Place a spoonful of jam on a refrigerated saucer for a few seconds then gently push it with a teaspoon. If it has formed a skin that crinkles when pushed it’s ready. If it hasn’t continue boiling and test again in a few minutes.
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Home Comforts Spring is the time to get out and about again as the days grow longer and the weather (finally!) Begins to get warmer. While you’re out and about pick some beautiful spring blooms and display in an old teapot for an instant pop of spring colour indoors
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Tips for Stitchers When beginning a thread on fabric that’s quite an open weave, use an away waste knot. This is a knot on the surface of the canvas at least 3” away from your stitching and not in the area you’ll be working on. You can cut the knot later and rethread the tail then weave it into the surrounding stitched areas to secure the end. When beginning a thread for a stitch on firm fabric, use an in-the-path or in-line waste knot. This is a knot placed directly in the path of your stitching about 1 ½” away from your starting point. Work your first stitches over the tail to secure, then cut off the knot and continue stitching as usual.
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The Egg Hunt Easter wouldn’t be the same in our family (in Rosie’s opinion at least!) without our Easter egg hunt on Easter Sunday morning. We have both chocolate and real eggs in our hunt and when Rosie was little she used to enjoy decorating the hard boiled eggs with felt tip pens or paints. But these days we feel it’s much nicer to use vegetable colour dyes to colour our eggs. Soaking the eggs in vinegar before boiling or adding a spoonful of vinegar to the coloured water does seem to make the egg shell more receptive to the colouring. Onion skins produce the most beautiful deep golden yellow, and if you deliberately wrap some eggs inside the skins you will find beautiful delicate patterns on them when they are cool. Try beetroot juice for pink, moss or birch leaves for green. If you tie a leaf or a tiny branch to an egg with cotton then its outline should remain delicately imprinted upon the egg when you remove the string after the egg has cooled. When it’s time for your hunt, choose one person to be the Easter Bunny and hide the eggs well so that they’re not too easy to find. Use both your hard boiled eggs and an assortment of sweet and chocolate ones too.
The Easter Bunny may need to get up super-early that day to make sure he or she has enough time to hide all the eggs before the family awake and spot what’s going on! Another good idea is to keep your egg shells from previous baking sessions - if you rinse them well they make great containers to keep the smaller eggs safely together. Everyone participating in the hunt will need a container - perhaps an Easter basket they’ve made beforehand, or a small wicker basket or bowl. Nobody must start looking until everyone is ready to begin at the same time. Eggs can be hidden behind bushes, nestled within clumps of daffodils or primroses, in tall glass or perhaps somewhere in an innocent-looking bush or shrub. Be sure to ban any pets from the garden while the hunt is in progress - although they may enjoy the hunt too, chocolate is poisonous to dogs. Very young children are often happy to bring their finds to a large communal basket - and I remember one year that a very clever Easter Bunny managed to secretly re-hide the eggs while the toddlers were still hunting. That was the longest egg hunt ever and do you know, those little ones never even noticed!
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Tips for Stitchers To keep thread, floss & yarn from tangling and knotting when sewing, every so often hold the tail of the medium with the needle dangling and let it unwind. Another trick to keep thread, floss & yarn from tangling and knotting when sewing is to thread it through a bit of beeswax before starting, or thread it through thick unscented and non-tinted lip balm.
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Home Thoughts from Abroad Oh, to be in England Now that April's there, And whoever wakes in England Sees, some morning, unaware, That the lowest boughs and the brushwood sheaf Round the elm-tree bole are in tiny leaf, While the chaffinch sings on the orchard bough In England-now! And after April, when May follows, And the whitethroat builds, and all the swallows! Hark, where my blossomed pear-tree in the hedge Leans to the field and scatters on the clover Blossoms and dewdrops-at the bent spray's edgeThat's the wise thrush; he sings each song twice over, Lest you should think he never could recapture The first fine careless rapture! And though the fields look rough with hoary dew, All will be gay when noontide wakes anew The buttercups, the little children's dower -Far brighter than this gaudy melon-flower!
Robert Browning 1812-1889
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“After all, the best part of a holiday is perhaps not so much to be resting yourself, as to see all the other fellows working.� Kenneth Grahame
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Look!
Turn your cake into a spring celebration with these cute little mice and their pretty cake bunting.
a lovely idea ---------------------
Celebration Cake Bunting
Image: http://bustleandsew.com/tutorials/never-trust-amouse/
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www.bustleandsew.com
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