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A Bustle & Sew Publication Copyright Š Bustle & Sew Limited 2014 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. ISBN-13: 978-1499620924 ISBN-10: 1499620926
First published 2014 by: Bustle & Sew Coombe Leigh Chillington Kingsbridge Devon TQ7 2LE UK www.bustleandsew.com
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Hello, and welcome to the June issue of the Bustle & Sew Magazine. This month we’re feeling all dreamy and romantic with weddings, roses and general summer loveliness. I hope you’ll enjoy the following pages of creative ideas and that you’re having a blooming good summer, wherever you may be! Best wishes
Helen xx Contents June Almanac
Page 4
Bullion Stitch
Page 32
Bluebird Embroidered Clock
Page 5
Simple Borders
Page 34
June - a World of Roses
Page 9
Bloom & Grow Stitchery
Page 39
Rosie Posie Journal Cover
Page 13 Making Money from Making
Page 41
Back to Basics: The Hoop
Page 16
Mr & Mrs Cushion Covers
Page 19
Summertime Picnic Blanket
Page 45
Summer Evening Poem
Page 48
Templates
Page 49
Vintage Fiction: Wedding Morning
Page 24
Mouse Wedding Party
Page 27
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triple Hecate’s team, from the presence of the sun, following darkness like a dream…”
The celebration of the summer solstice may be June 21, the longest day of the year, or June 24, the official calendar Midsummer’s Day and the feast of St John the Baptist. The hours of daylight are now at their longest and in northernmost parts of Europe and north America there is very little darkness in the latter half of the month, the fabled Russian “white nights.”
The rose is at its most prolific and beautiful in June. In some parts of the UK, notably Devon and Cornwall there is an old folk tradition 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. In the USA, 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 constituted the country at the time. As the numbers of states increased it became impossible to incorporate sufficient stripes for all. In 1818 therefore, it was decreed that the number of stripes would be reduced to 13, symbolizing the original 13 colonies and that the total number of states would be represented by the stars alone.
Ancient folk, watching the sun reach its highest point at this time, lit evening bonfires to encourage it to shine and ripen their crops. For many people the day is associated with fairies, as immortalised by Shakespeare in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” In the play Puck speaks of “…. We fairies that do run, by the
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Bluebird Clock “The only time housework comes before stitching is in the dictionary” I love this old quote - so true! This bluebird clock will help you keep track of the time whatever you’re doing. Easy embroidery incorporating vintage transfers mounted in a 10” hoop.
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June, and the World smells of Roses Romance and roses - made for one another - and here in England in June our gardens are smothered in these beautiful blooms‌.. .Roses have a long history since, according to fossil evidence, they could be about 35 million years old. There are about 125 species occurring naturally throughout the Northern
where all five senses were used. The sounds of water and birdsong provided a calming atmosphere, fruit was grown to satisfy the sense of taste, fragrant herbs were there to be touched an their leaves brushed through the hand to release their scent.
Fragrant plants such as roses and jasmines Hemisphere from the Arctic to the Tropics were carefully placed near benches planted with well over 30,000 domesticated varieties. out with chamomile or turf to provide a soft, scented cushion for ladies to be seated on Wild roses were used in the Middle East to while listening to music, sewing or reading, prepare rosewater, scented oils and other all within the security of a garden hidden fragrances long before they were brought into behind high walls or hedges for total privacy. cultivation. The Chinese were cultivating roses as long ago as 500BC, whilst the Romans and other early European civilisations also grew large quantities for commercial use. Some Roman emperors filled their swimming baths and fountains with rosewater, and sat on carpets of rose petals for their feasts and orgies. Roses were used as confetti for celebrations, for medicinal purposes, and also for their perfume. One Roman emperor used to enjoy showering his guests with rose petals which tumbled down from the ceiling during festivities. A thousand years later, the gardens of the well-off during Medieval times would have had roses in abundance. Medieval Pleasure Gardens were designed as a Paradise Garden,
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Emilia in the Rose Garden by Boccacio Anjou 1460
The association of roses with romance goes back hundreds of years.
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Rosie Posie Journal Cover We can only enjoy roses in our gardens during the summer months of course, but this little journal cover will remind you of those balmy days the whole year through.
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Back to Basics: The Hoop
stitch tension correct (frames are possibly even better, but not always as portable and certainly more expensive). Your hoop has to hold your fabric tight and taut while you work to achieve this - but beware - not all hoops are the same, and some are (much) better than others. An embroidery hoop can be made from wood, plastic or metal - but whatever the material, it is comprised of two rings. One ring, the inner, is placed beneath your fabric, then the second, or outer, ring is To hoop, or not to hoop, that is the placed on top, then pushed down over the question‌. I know there are many stitchers inner ring and the screw tightened to hold who don't use a hoop, perhaps because they your fabric in place and nice and taut. find it awkward to hold, too much trouble to move around their work, or simply have tried My preference is to use a wooden hoop, using one but just didn't get on with it. And preferably birch (nice and smooth and lots of those stitchers produce lovely work springy with no splinters). Birch is also without one - but the majority of us find our strong and solid and I should think it would work is much neater and goes much more be almost impossible to bend a good quality smoothly when we hoop up before beginning birch hoop out of shape, though when Ben was a puppy he did find one rather good to to stitch. chew on - bad dog! Your hoop should have This is because using an embroidery hoop is good quality brass fittings that can be the easiest and handiest way to keep your tightened so that there is no gap at all We're all familiar with the basic embroidery hoop or, to give it its full name, the tambour hoop. Did you know the word "tambour" the French derivation of the Arabic word "tunbur" meaning lute or drum. Perhaps it was given this name as when fabric is stretched tightly within it, it does rather resemble a drum? I wonder if the musical instrument "tambourine" got its name from the same source? But I digress ‌..
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When you can cover seven daisies with your foot, then summer is come. Drawing by Anne Anderson
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Mr & Mrs Cushion Covers These would make a wonderfully quirky wedding gift - perhaps you know a couple they’d suit, or even make them for yourselves? To fit 20” circular cushion pad
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Wedding Morning An extract from “Little Women� by Louisa May Alcott
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about me whom I love, and to them I wish to look and be my familiar self."
he June roses over the porch were awake bright and early on that morning, rejoicing with all their hearts in the cloudless sunshine, like friendly little neighbors, as they were. Quite flushed with excitement were their ruddy faces, as they swung in the wind, whispering to one another what they had seen, for some peeped in at the dining room windows where the feast was spread, some climbed up to nod and smile at the sisters as they dressed the bride, others waved a welcome to those who came and went on various errands in garden, porch, and hall, and all, from the rosiest full-blown flower to the palest baby bud, offered their tribute of beauty and fragrance to the gentle mistress who had loved and tended them so long.
So she made her wedding gown herself, sewing into it the tender hopes and innocent romances of a girlish heart. Her sisters braided up her pretty hair, and the only ornaments she wore were the lilies of the valley, which 'her John' liked best of all the flowers that grew. "You do look just like our own dear Meg, only so very sweet and lovely that I should hug you if it wouldn't crumple your dress," cried Amy, surveying her with delight when all was done.
"Then I am satisfied. But please hug and kiss me, everyone, and don't mind my dress. I want a great many crumples of this sort put into it today," and Meg opened her arms Meg looked very like a rose herself, for all to her sisters, who clung about her with that was best and sweetest in heart and soul April faces for a minute, feeling that the seemed to bloom into her face that day, new love had not changed the old. making it fair and tender, with a charm more beautiful than beauty. Neither silk, lace, nor "Now I'm going to tie John's cravat for him, orange flowers would she have. "I don't and then to stay a few minutes with Father want a fashionable wedding, but only those quietly in the study," and Meg ran down to perform these little ceremonies, and then to follow her mother wherever she went, conscious that in spite of the smiles on the motherly face, there was a secret sorrow hid in the motherly heart at the flight of the first bird from the nest. As the younger girls stand together, giving the last touches to their simple toilet, it may be a good time to tell of a few changes which three years have wrought in their appearance, for all are looking their best just
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Mouse Wedding Party It’s June - month of roses, romance - and weddings! Two little mouselings have decided to tie the knot this summer, and baby mouse makes the perfect little bridesmaid! Adult mice measure 5 ½� tall (approx)
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Cross stitch is also known as Caterpillar or worm stitch and as well as making very effective bugs(!) it’s also great for creating lovely coiled roses, seen so often in vintage work.
Whilst not complicated in itself, bullion stitch is perhaps one of the trickiest stitches in this book to work successfully. I would highly recommend practising on some scrap fabric first - but it is such an attractive stitch it’s well worth spending a little time to get it right. Bring your needle through your fabric at the point indicated by the arrow on the diagram above. Insert your needle back through your fabric at the required length of the stitch and bring it out exactly at the arrow again. Don’t pull your needle right through, but leave it lying in the material as in the diagram and twist your thread around it close up to the emerging point. Six or seven twists are an average number, but this can be varied according to the length of stitch you want to make. Place your left thumb upon the twists and pull your needle and thread through your fabric and also the twists as carefully as possible. Now pull your needle and thread away in the opposite direction. This movement will force your little coil of thread to lie flat in the right place. Tighten it up by pulling your working thread, then reinsert your needle at A. This should also be the end of your bullion knot if you’ve chosen the correct number of twists to fill the space. You may find it easiest to use quite a heavy needle with a small eye so that it will pass easily through your twisted thread and practise with a thicker thread before trying to use a finer one. The diagrams at B and C show bullion knots used to form petals and rosebuds - a very pretty effect! 14
Simple Borders Adding a border to a piece of work can often be the finishing touch that makes it into something really special. Here’s an extract from “The Embroidery Book” by Winifred M Clarke first published in 1949 in which she suggests some ideas. The words are Winifred’s own.
Here the stitches are so simple that they can be followed from the illustration. These borders can be used in many ways and a child’s plain frock can almost be transformed by working any of these borders around the collar and cuffs. The stitchery should be neat and even, and the colours carefully chosen.
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Bloom and Grow Forever I think the first movie I ever saw must have been “The Sound of Music” - certainly it’s the first one I remember with any clarity. All the songs were hits, think of “My Favourite Things” or “Doh-Re-Mi” but one of my favourites was always the slightly melancholy “Eidelweiss” from which this quote is taken. Shown mounted in a 10” hoop.
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Making Money from Making
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his month I was originally planning to talk about creating and running your own website - but then I had a bit of a rethink. Your own website requires a lot work to set up and maintain, as well as mastering the principles of online marketing to encourage people to visit, known as generating traffic.
contact details, and briefly describe your products. You can also talk about any other aspect of your business that is likely to appeal to other Facebook users and create interest in what you do. When you set up your FB business page, choose a name that works well for your business - you'll find Bustle & Sew's page at www.facebook.com/bustleandsew for example. Choose carefully though, once registered it's almost impossible to change your page name. Be sure you've spelt it correctly (mistakes do happen!) and check that there isn't another FB page out there with the same, or a very similar, title.
Somebody once said to me that setting up your own website wasn't at all like opening a shop on the High Street as there is NO passing trade. People don't just wander past, see something interesting and decide to pop in. You have to work really hard to generate traffic to your site, and it takes time, strong branding and excellent marketing and PR. So I thought that this month it might be To maximise traffic to your page as you make helpful to look at one or two other ways to the move online, include your FB address on your business card, flyers and other get online whilst your business is growing. marketing materials. FB makes it easy for A great way to get your business online is to you to post regular updates on your business set up a Facebook (FB) page. This is and interact with your customers through completely separate to your own personal "likes" and posting to craft-related forums. profile, should you have one, though the two But don't use Facebook to aggressively are linked through your account. Your promote your products or services as you'll Facebook page is a place where you can have much greater success if you share publicise your business name, address and information related to your business that is
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Summer Living Picnic Blanket Simple patchwork and applique combine to make these lovely summer picnic blanket - perfect for Pimms on the lawn, sandwiches on the sand, or just enjoying your garden on a sunny after noon! Finished blanket measures 40� x 50� approx
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