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First published 2025 by: Bustle & Sew Station House West Cranmore Shepton Mallet BA4 4QP
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WelcometotheJuneMagazine
June is the month of long twilight evenings, of blue skies and sunshine (we hope!), oodles of fresh laid eggs from the chickens, the garden full of flowers, and especially the month of the rose. There are lots of blooms for you to enjoy in this month’s edition which is full of the summer’s sunshine.
As well as roses, there’s the Fernery Cushion pattern - perfect for some stitching in the garden - I think this is the most relaxing project I’ve worked on for some time. Then there are chickens, daisies, jungle cats and a party budgie(!), a look at the romance of the rose, a forgotten horticulturalist and some stitching from a Victorian asylum. So something for everyone I hope!
I do hope you’ll enjoy this month’s magazine and the July edition will be published on Thursday 26 June, in four weeks time. Until then…
Very best wishes
June
The hedgerows are lush with wild roses, elderflowers, honey suckle and guelder rose, and along the banks countless wild plants are in full flower; clover, vetches, moon daisies and hedge woundwort, as well as exquisite grasses of all kinds, meadowsweet with its heady scent - all creating a bonanza for the hardworking bees who are busy collecting pollen and nectar.
June, for me though, is the month of the rose, which is now at its most prolific and beautiful. The red rose is the symbol of love, of England and St George, of Lancashire and of the British Labour party.
In some parts of the country, notably in the south-west, people used to believe that a rose plucked by a young woman at midnight on Midsummer Eve (23 June) and wrapped in paper would remain fresh until Christmas Day. If she then wore it on her dress it would be snatched away by the young man who was destined to become her husband.
June is a month of festivals: the feast days of the Trinity and of Corpus Christi both fall in June, and the eleventh is St Barnabas’ Day, said to be the time for the start of the hay making. Folklore has another tip for the farmer - if the cuckoo sings after St John’s Day, the twenty-fourth, then the harvest will be late.
The major pagan festival of the year falls on St John’s Eve, the twenty-third, which is usually called Midsummer Eve - although the summer solstice, the longest day - falls two days earlier. As well as being one of the Quarter Days in England, when rents are due, it is a highly magical night whose traditional ceremonies probably date back to the time of the Druids. All over the land bonfires were lit at nightfall and kept burning until after midnight, as a symbolic attempt to boost the power of the sun as it started to ebb.
As the flames dwindled, people would leap over the fires in the belief that it would bring them good luck and protect them from witchcraft and evil spirits. A gentler ritual aimed at protection from spells and lightning was the gathering of St John’s Wort on Midsummer Eve for hanging over the doors and windows of houses and cottages.
Edward, Duke of Windsor (18941972), formerly Edward VIII, married Mrs Wallis Simpson on June 3 1937. Edward had abdicated in December 1936, after less than a year on the throne, because of his desire the twice-divorced US socialite, who was considered unacceptable as a British Queen Consort.
“I have found it impossible to carry the heavy burden of responsibility, and to discharge my duties as King as I would wish, without the help and support of the woman I love”
King Edward VIII, radio broadcast to the nation 11 December 1936.
On 6 June, 1944, more than 150,000 British, US and Canadian troops landed on the beaches of Normandy in northern France in Operation Overlord, better known as D-Day. This was the beginning
of the Allied invasion of Europe that would ultimately lead to victory in WW2. The D of D-Day, popularly thought to be short for “Debarkation” or “Disembarkation” simply stands for “Day;” this is the military method of referring to the unnamed date of a secretly planned offensive. In France it is called JourJ for the same reason.
More than four centuries earlier, but also in France, the ceremonial Field of the Cloth of God meeting between Henry VIII of England and Francis I of France took place on 6 June 1520 in Picardy.
The ninth brings the feast day of St Columba, the sixth-century Irish missionary who founded a monastery on the Scottish island of Iona. He is credited with numerous miracles, such as driving away a monster that lurked in the waters of Loch Ness by making the sign of the cross, thereby securing the conversion of the Picts.
Just as yellow, white and blue were the predominant colours of April and May, now in June our lanes and roads are fringed with a floral border of white, pink and red.
Along every country lane, as cars rush past, the lacy white massed
flowers of cow parsley foam and sway like breakers on the shore. But of all the white-petalled flowers of June, it is the ox-eye or moon daisy that is the most eye-catching. With its wide solitary bloom and dazzling centre of vivid yellow, this giant daisy frequently graces roadside verges wherever it is given a chance. Beyond the roadside and hedgerow, many of our most beautiful wild orchids are reaching their prime. Fragrant, bee and man orchids are spread across much of southern Britain, whilst the much rarer monkey and lady orchids are confined to Kent.
In the US, June 14 is Flag Day, commemorating the adoption of the Stars and Stripes as the national flag on this day in 1777. The original flag had one stripe and one star for each of the 13 states that made up the country at that time. These increased to 15 when Vermont and Kentucky joined the Union, but as others followed, it became impossible to incorporate sufficient stripes for all. In 1818 therefore, it was decided that the number of stripes would be reduced to 13 for the original 13 colonies, and that the total number of states would be represented by the stars alone.
Father’s Day falls on the third Sunday of the month. It was first suggested by Sonora Dodd of Washing, in appreciation of her own father, and in direct imitation of the new Mother’s Day, which was beginning to increase in popularity at the time. It took longer to become accepted than Mother’s Day, especially here in the UK where many still regard it as a “card-day” too far.
A rather attractive-sounding traditional midsummer custom, that had sadly died out by the middle of the nineteenth century, was the making and displaying of Midsummer cushions as recorded here by a nineteenth century historian:
“The young lads and lasses of the town or village having procured a cushion .. And covered it with calico or silk of showy and attractive colour, proceeded to bedeck it with every variety of flower which they could procure out of their parents’ and more wealthy neighbours’ gardens, displaying them in such a manner as to give it a most beautiful appearance. All this done, they placed themselves, with their cushion of Flora’s choicest gems, in the most public place they conveniently could, soliciting of every passerby a trifling present of pence, which in numerous cases was liberally and cheerfully bestowed.”
Later in the month it is said that June 26 is the anniversary of the day in 1284 when 130 children were allegedly led out of the town of Hamelin in northern Germany by the Pied Piper, a handsome young man wearing colourful clothing and playing an irresistible tune on his pipe. According to a later version of the legend, the Pied Piper had rid the town of rats but hadn’t been paid his agreed fee so in revenge he lured the children away from the town. The children disappeared into a nearby hill and were never seen by their parents again.
Out and about in the countryside again, you may notice that fruit is beginning to ripen on wild cherry trees around now and you’ll be able to spot a variety of different birds including pigeons, blackbirds and thrushes feasting on it. Small green sloes will also be appearing on blackthorn - a promise of sloe gin later in the year if you’re so inclined - and the hedgerows are now at their most glorious, garlanded with creamy flowers of travellers’ joy twined through with pale pink dog roses and wild honeysuckle - sheer perfection!
Lines from Spenser’s epic poem, the Faerie Queen published in 1590 - the longest poem in English Literature it takes up 12 books that glorify a fairy queen in abstract, and the Tudor monarch Queen Elizabeth I in particular..
One of the earliest English books to be be published about the language of flowers was 1825 ‘Floral Emblems, or A Guide to the language of flowers’ by British botanist, horticultural writer and gardener Henry Phillips. Phillips drew on classical literature, Shakespearian associations, earlier French floriographies and his own imagination to give meanings to different breeds and colours of flowers. Many other writers followed him, and the list of supposed meanings grew over the century.
Queen Victoria on her wedding day
The rose that grows in many different forms in gardens all over the world today is an evolution of rose-like plants that lived in the northern hemisphere between 33 million and 23 million years ago. The climate in those times was largely temperate with plentiful insect life, conditions that are still favoured by roses today. Fivepetaled flowers, distinctive oval serrated leaves and colourful hips – characteristics that can be found in wild rose species today – differentiated them from other plant remains when the fossils were examined.
Despite the popularity of the books and the use of the language of flowers in literature, there’s no real evidence that people actually designed bouquets to deliver specific messages – rather, it’s thought that it was more of a parlour game for genteel women. But there is evidence Queen Victoria and Albert used flowers to prove their love for each other and giving flowers, especially roses, has been an expression of love for centuries.
The first domesticated roses may have been deliberately cultivated as early as 3,000 BCE in China. They were used in the making of rosewater and in perfumed oils, for medicinal purposes and as confetti for celebrations. The philosopher Confucius recorded that roses were growing in the gardens of the Imperial Palace in 500 BCE and the Chinese emperor's library contained a large number of books on the subject. China was the origin of yellow roses and all their present-day descendants, as there are no yellow wild roses in
Taken from “The Artistic Language of Flowers” published 1890
IdentifyingUnknownFibres (usingtheFlameTest)
If you’ve purchased vintage fabric – whether in the form of clothing, or as a bolt of cloth – that doesn’t have a label identifying the fibres it contains, then probably the easiest way to find out is through a simple flame test. Cut a small piece about an inch (2.5cm) square from your fabric and hold it with tweezers (not plastic ones!). Ignite the fabric over a non-flammable surface in a well-ventilated room, or outside if your smoke alarm is quite sensitive. The way that your fabric reacts when you set fire to it will help you to identify its fibre content.
Wool and Cashmere will smoulder rather than burn brightly. You will experience a strong smell of burning hair or feathers and the flame will go out by itself. The ash is blackish and turns to powder when crushed.
Silk is another natural fibre so also burns slowly with a pungent smell of hair or feathers. Again, the flame will go out by itself. The ash is greyish and turns to powder when crushed.
Linen and Cotton both smell of burning paper and produce a grey ash filament. They burn slowly and linen takes longer than cotton to ignite.
Rayon burns in a similar way to linen and cotton, but will continue to burn after the flame is removed. Unlike cotton it does not have an afterglow.
Polyester has a sweetish smell when burning. It produces black smoke and rolls up into a hard, shiny black ball.
Acrylic gives off a pungent, acrid smell. It continues to burn even after the source of the flame has been removed and it melts to a hard black lump.
Additional test: If you unravel a clump of threads from a small piece of linen or cotton fabric and slowly move a flame towards them you will see that they ignite as the flames draw near. Synthetic fibres will curl back from the heat and tend to melt rather than ignite and burn.
FannyWilkinson: Lostintime -A Forgotten Horticulturist
Let’stalkabout fabric…
Choosing the right fabric is possibly the most important part of your project, since if you don’t get this right, then nothing else will work out properly. That’s why it’s essential to understand the terms used to describe the make up of a piece of fabric especially if you’re ordering online.
The selvedge (or selvage) is the finished edge of the piece of fabric. It’s very tightly woven and won’t fray. It may be printed with the same design as the fabric itself or it may be a solid background colour with dots or squares of the colours used in the design spaced along it. (These are very handy for matching different fabrics together). It may also feature an arrow pointing towards the top if the fabric has a directional design.
The threads that run parallel to the selvedge, ie lengthwise, are the warp threads. Those which run across the fabric at right angles to the warp threads are the weft threads.
The right side of a piece of fabric is the outside or finished side - the side that you want to be visible when your project is finished. It’s very easy to tell which side is the right side on a printed fabric, though can be harder on a plain fabric. It’s pretty obvious then, that the wrong side must be the inside or unprinted side of the fabricthe side that shouldn’t be visible when your project is complete.
And finally, if you imagine a line drawn across your fabric at 45 degrees to the selvedge, then this is the bias. A woven fabric will have some stretch when it’s cut in the direction of or “on” the bias, which is why bias binding is so good for fitting around curves.
Free from First Day of Home: Pressed Flower Lanterns
GoldenSummer Days…
WatercressSoup withGoat’sCheese
Ingredients
● 300g frozen peas
● 3 tbsp olive oil
● handful mint leaves
● 2 eggs
● 284ml pot double cream
● 4 spring onions finely sliced
● 200g mild goat's cheese crumbled
● Ready-made shortcrust pastry case (or make your own of course, but I was a bit rushed for time!) If you make your own then you will need to blind bake it before filling.
● Method
● Cook the peas in boiling water for 3 mins, then drain and refresh under cold water. Use a hand blender to purée the peas with the olive oil, then stir in the chopped mint and season.
● Beat the eggs in a large bowl. Gradually add the cream and season.
● Spoon and spread the peas over the base (see inset image on right) and scatter over the spring onions.
● Ppour over the egg mix, then finally scatter over the goat’s cheese.
● Bake for 20-25 mins until set and golden brown. Leave to cool in the case, trim the edges of the pastry, then remove and serve in slices.
Spreading the peas on the base creates two separate layers, which looks attractive and adds an element of surprise when you cut it. This is a lovely light summery quiche that would work well as a savoury element of your afternoon tea.
From “The Tale of Peter Rabbit”, 1901: Beatrix Potter (1866-1943)
MadaboutStitching: ThesadstoryofLorinaBulwer
Choosingandusing yourthread
Choosing your thread, positioning your first stitch and starting and finishing your thread aren’t often discussed but are fundamentally important to the success of your work.
