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A Bustle & Sew Publication Copyright Š Bustle & Sew Limited 2013 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 2013 by: Bustle & Sew Coombe Leigh Chillington Kingsbridge Devon TQ7 2LE UK www.bustleandsew.com
Visit the Bustle & Sew website to learn more www.bustleandsew.com/magazine
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Hello, And welcome to the July 2013 issue of the Bustle & Sew Magazine. This is the first of the new-style issues, including not only the usual six Bustle & Sew patterns, but also a wider range of articles making it a good read (I hope!) as well as a useful resource. This month will see the birth of the new Royal baby and, rather than the usual baby items, I thought I’d celebrate with my first-ever Bustle & Sew rag doll - the first in a new series of Moppet Dolls. This one’s Guardsman George - a great playmate for every little prince or princess whether Royal or not! You’ll also discover the Summer Days tote bag with its evocative text, and a little about typography too - I know I learned a lot whilst researching that article! There’s also my new recipe corner and lots more as well. If you’ve any comments or suggestions about the new content, then please do let me know, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Next month’s issue will have a definite coastal theme and is published on Thursday 25 July. Meanwhile, have a wonderful (and hopefully warm and sunny!) month.
Notes from a Devon Village
Page 4
Embroidered Daisies Cushion
Page 6
Preserving Summer’s Beauty
Page 13
A Taste of Summer Applique
Page 17
The Colour Red
Page 23
Flying Pigs
Page 26
Talking About Typography
Page 30
Summer Days Tote Bag
Page 33
Vintage Roses Sampler
Page 40
About Bunnies Vintage Images
Page 44
Life in the Slow Lane: Simple Stitchery
Page 45
Recipe Corner
Page 49
Paper Dolls
Page 51
Guardsman George
Page 52
Herb Garden in Summer
Page 57
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Notes from a Devon Village
As June gives way to July we all begin to cross our fingers and take great notice of the weather forecast, for the first Saturday of July sees the highlight of our village events calendar - our PARISH FETE! Last year the heavens opened and we were forced to take refuge in the school hall, but everyone is very optimistic that this year will be better. One particular canine is especially hoping for good weather this year as he is at last being allowed to follow in Amy’s rather large paw prints and be a competition at the fete. Yes, Ben is going to be the“Guess the Weight of the Dog”competition. Since this was decided his demands for titbits have been even louder - I think he is determined to be as fat as possible on his big day. (who am I kidding?! He is PERMANENTLY determined to be as fat as possible, greedy animal!).
The ice cream stall in 2011 (when the sun shone!) Always one of the most popular!
I’m writing this at the end of June so don’t have any photos of this year’s fete to show you yet, but will post them on my blog after the big day. Meanwhile, here’s a picture of Amy just before she set off for her moment of glory as a competition five years ago. (Ben was just a silly puppy then, rather as Daisy is now, and had to stay behind at home). 4
Embroidered Daisies Cushion I love daisies - I know many people don’t like having them in their lawns, but I adore their sunny little faces and to me a sprinkling scattered across my lawn is for me one of the joys of summer. After all, who doesn’t remember making daisy chains during those long, hot childhood summers?
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… As lovers of floss, thread and fabric we love to save our memories of summer’s beautiful flowers by stitching them into our favourite pieces of work whether applique, embroidery or perhaps crochet, cross-stitch or tapestry. But it’s fun too, to save the “real thing” by preserving the flowers we see all around us at this time of year to enjoy in our homes over the dark winter months until the days lengthen and summer returns once again.
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Taste of Summer Applique To me there is no taste more evocative of lazy summer afternoons than that of freshly picked strawberries - preferably topped with some delicious clotted cream! Remember that summer feeling year-round with this easy applique design. Mounted on A4 artist’s canvas block (approx 8 ½ “ x 11 ½”)
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Over the next few months I’d like to invite you to join me in my armchair travels around the world seeking out the historical dyes once used to transform all our textiles from dull, neutral colours into vibrant fabrics in all the colours of the rainbow. For many hundreds of years natural dyes were the only choice for dying textiles, since synthetic colours didn’t appear until the 19th century. So let’s take a look back at some of the amazing and inventive ways humans learned to colour clothes before that time, as well as discovering some interesting and little known facts about colour history. Working my way through all the colours of the rainbow, I’m starting this month with red. To produce the red dye the bugs are killed by immersion in hot water, after which they are dried and pulverised. But this dried beetle blood alone wouldn’t pass any colour fastness tests - without additives to fix the dye the colour would fade with the first wash.
The history of the colour red begins in pre-colonial America with a tiny creature that once formed the basis of a large industry - the cochineal beetle. These beetles were farmed by the ancient Incas and the practice still continues in South America today. The picture on the left dates to 1777 and shows cochineal bugs being collected. They live on prickly pear plants and infest them so thickly that it looks as though the plants have been coated in white flour.
The cochineal dye, although a deep, intensely coloured and very beautiful red is never used for Buddhist robes as there is too much death associated with it. You can find cochineal (otherwise known as colour additive E120) in all kinds of substances check your makeup - it’s entirely possible you’re coating your lips or cheeks with dried insect blood indeed in the USA it’s one of the few permitted red The insects are collected at constituents of eyeshadow. about 90 days old - a very labour-intensive process as they have to be knocked Returning to red dyes though, to make the colour fix or brushed from the plants by hand and placed into the ancient Meso-Americans used to mix it either with tin or with alum. Today alum is very cheap and bags. is such a specialist substance in industry that hardly The plantation manager has to gauge the time any attention is paid to it. But at one time this now carefully - if the insects are left too long to their own almost unheard of substance was one of the most devices they will kill the plants so the manager must important chemicals in the world. Without alum you strike a balance between letting the cochineals grow couldn’t fix any dyes onto clothes - you would have to their maximum size and keeping the cactuses alive. had to dress in natural, drab colours - not the After each “harvest” the plants have two to three preference of most people. Alum is what is called a months rest before they are re-infested with cochineal “mordant” as it is so astringent it “bites” onto the colour and makes it stick to the textile with its bugs to begin the process again. metallic teeth. 8
Flying Pig Softies These little pigs look far too solid to be real flyng igs ‌. more as though they have rummaged around in their dressing-up box and found some wings to attach to their plump little bodies. They are really easy to make – most of the sewing is done by hand, apart from the wings which I have sewn by machine, though you could hand stitch these if you wanted.
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Talking about Typography I hope you’ll enjoy stitching my “Summer Days” tote bag, with its evocative summer text in different typefaces. At the moment art incorporating text – typography - is very popular, and I thought it would be fun to take a little look at how our alphabet, fonts and typefaces evolved. The English language uses the Roman alphabet, though you might be surprised to learn that there are hundreds of others used around the world, though many are dying out of use with the rise of IT and global communication. Some of the best-known alphabets are Cyrillic (Russian), Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, Hebrew and Greek. Indeed the word “alphabet” is derived from the names of the first two letters in the Greek alphabet – alpha and beta. The concept of using symbols to represent the individual sounds made by the human voice, rather than pictograms representing whole words or ideas seems to have evolved in many places independently. Even the best known pictogram writing – Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics – also uses characters that can represent sounds rather than words and has an alphabetic element. Our own alphabet evolved from ancient symbols first used in the Middle East about 3,000 years ago. These symbols would have begun as pictograms, and then over time come to represent the sounds associated with those words. Eventually, distorted out of shape by the various writing methods used until they became the shapes we use today. Of course this process of evolution hasn’t stopped – our alphabet is still changing. We are familiar with letter shapes that would be unrecognisable to readers a hundred or even possibly fifty years ago. 10
Summer Days Tote Bag Dreamy summer afternoons …. Sunshine and flowers … time in the garden - this tote bag is so evocative of summer pleasures and will keep you smiling all through the darkest of winter days. Just two embroidery stitches and some simple machine applique. Finished tote measures 16” x 3” x 14” (approx)
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Vintage Roses Sampler A cross-stitch sampler is one of the more traditional ways to bring typography into our stitching, and I thought you might enjoy this pretty vintage design. It’s a pretty combination of letters, numbers, borders and motifs and for a quick project you could choose just part of the design and work it as an individual motif on a smaller item, such as the bookmark suggested on the next page. It’s worked on even weave fabric - made up of countable, evenly spaced threads that form a regular grid, ensuring that your stitches are even and easy to count when working the sampler.
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About Bunnies - Vintage Illustrations I love old children’s books and the illustrations in this early 20th century counting book called “About Bunnies” are delightful! Here are six naughty bunnies raiding a vegetable patch - great to use for scrapbooking or cardmaking perhaps? Hope you like them too!
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Life in the Slow Lane - Simple Stitchery This little elf and his mount are taking their time over their journey and have stopped for a rest on this bright red toadstool. Easy stitching - just straight, back and blanket stitch. Shown framed in an 8� hoop, or would be great to decorate a patch pocket perhaps?
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Last week my friend Lisa came for supper. She is a lovely friend, but as she doesn’t eat wheat, meat or dairy products, can be an absolute nightmare to cook for! So my challenge was to prepare a tasty summer supper that took into account her preferences - and these dishes were pronounced delicious, as well as healthy. So if you’re cooking for someone with dairy allergies, gluten intolerance or a vegetarian, or even if you’re not(!) I hope you’ll enjoy my tasty summer supper menu. Note: You will need a food processor and ice cream maker for these recipes. Ÿ Handful of green beans, chopped into 1” (2 ½ cm) lengths (optional)
Fish & Tomato Curry Ingredients: Ÿ 2 tablespoons vegetable oil plus two teaspoons Ÿ 2 onions, diced Ÿ 8 large tomatoes, roughly chopped Ÿ 4 garlic cloves Ÿ Thumb-sized piece of root ginger, roughly chopped.
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Guardsman George Moppet Doll The first of a brand-new collection of moppet dolls from Bustle & Sew, Guardsman George was created to mark the birth of the first child of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge - after all every little prince or princess needs a handsome soldier of their very own! George measures approximately 15� tall
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“Nor be the little space forgot
For herbs to spice the ktchen pot: Mint, pennyroyal, bergamot, Tarragon and melilot, Dill for witchcraft, prisoners’ rue, Coriander, costmary, Tansy, thyme, Sweet Cicely, Saffron, balm, and rosemary That since the Virgin threw her cloak Across it, - so say cottage folk Has changed its flowers from white to blue”
Summer in the Herb Garden Herbs have been treasured in our gardens since medieval times and even today we use them in our homes throughout the year. My favourite is Rosemary - possibly because of its historical associations - mentioned by Vita Sackville-West in her epic poem, “The Land.” I have to grow it in pots though, as our damp English west-country climate is so different to its origins along the shores of the Mediterranean where it’s dry and warm. Because Rosemary loves a dry soil and a salt-laden atmosphere
it is sometimes called the “dew of the sea.” It is evergreen, loved by bees and can be used around your home in a number of ways. In olden times it was said to “gladden the spirits” wherever its richly aromatic leaves were pressed, and several sprigs left to partially dry in a warm room will help relieve the most stubborn headache if pressed and the aroma inhaled. Distilled oil of Rosemary is still one of the main ingredients of eau-de-Cologne water, whilst the water from simmered leaves is good for adding shine to your hair, as well as a facial toner. The ancient Greeks simmered the leaves in white wine to use to beautify their faces! Traditionally placing freshly gathered Rosemary leaves beneath your pillow is an effective aid to sleep. Bancke’s Herbal, the first complete herbal written in English, tells its readers that “the leaves laid under the pillow deliver one from evil dreams” which I guess is the same thing as ensuring a good night’s sleep!
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Handstitched Christmas - a collection of seasonal designs from Bustle & Sew - now available from my website -and from Amazon too! Just click here to learn more. 18
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