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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 October Issue October seems to have arrived super-fast this year, with all its joys and pleasures - longer walks with the Newfies now there’s no more danger of them overheating in the summer sun, crisp colourful leaves for scrunching through in wellies, and lovely shiny conkers to collect with Freddie and bring home to help protect his Mummy from the annual autumn invasion of spiders! And of course, the chance to sit inside by the log burner and enjoy some slow stitching. With this in mind I’ve included three hand embroidery designs this month, two of which include embroidering fur - surprisingly easy to do once you’ve mastered just two basic principles. Then we have a couple of Halloween patterns as well as the first part of my new Nativity set. We also feature two very talented makers, Emma who produces the loveliest candles, and Adrienne, who offers her hand embroideries in her Etsy shop. I hope you have a lovely month, and do look out for the November Magazine which will be published on Thursday 26 October. Have a lovely month!
Helen xx
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Tips for Stitchers Don't try to hurry when you’re stitching text. It’s worth taking your time to make your text as smooth and flowing as it can be and as letters are such precise shapes it really shows if your stitching isn’t too neat and tidy. If you’re at all unsure whether to make one large or two smaller stitches then I would always make the two smaller ones. It can be tempting to try to get away with larger and larger stitches if you’re rushing to start your next design - but if you want your work to look beautiful then you need to take your time over it. And finally, if it isn’t looking great - then you may need to take the plunge and unpick it. It’s a horrid thing to have to do I know, but otherwise that work will always be spoiled for you when you look at it. Other people may not notice, but you most certainly will!
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60 Between this month’s covers …
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Tips for Stitchers
Page 4
Taste of the Season: Pumpkins
Page 42
October Almanac
Page 6
Instagram Favourites
Page 43
Autumn Smile Hoop
Page 8
Spooky Spiders Placemat
Page 44
Meet the Maker: Wilton St Craft Co
Page 11
Tis Near Halloween
Page 46
A (very) little guide to Cotton Floss
Page 15
A (very) little guide to Embroidery Hoops
Page 49
Lovely Idea: Bandanna Pumpkins
Page 16
Bert the Bat Softie
Page 50
Embroidering Fur Tutorial
Page 17
The Countryside in October
Page 52
Two Sleepy Foxes Hoop
Page 22
Meet the Maker: Ellis & Ivy
Page 53
A Country Diary
Page 27
The Village Pub in Autumn
Page 55
Poetry Corner: October
Page 28
Nativity Set Part One
Page 56
Summer’s Last Blooms
Page 29
Home Comforts
Page 58
Lovely Idea: Autumn Printable
Page 30
In the Kitchen: Conversion Tables
Page 59
Merry Little Penguins Decoration
Page 31
Templates
Page 60
Taste of the Season: Plums
Page 34
Rosie’s Recipes: Autumn High Tea
Page 35
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We have limited numbers of this design available as kits including a nice quality pure cotton panel pre-printed with the design and all the floss you need. Our kits do not include the hoop as it’s difficult to source good quality hoops at an economic price and they also add to the cost of postage. 7� hoops are readily available online. To see our selection of kits please CLICK HERE
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“Transporting you through time and distance …”
Meet the Maker
Emma Darbyshire tells us a little about herself, her assistant miniature dachshund Lady, and their online business, the Wilton Street Craft Co Thanks for joining us today Emma, we’re looking forward to hearing about you and your business too. We’d love to know…
Can you tell us a little about your home and where you live? I live in Whitefield, a small town in Greater Manchester, along with my husband. Home is a Victorian terrace house with a black front door but behind that black door are rooms full of colour and quirkiness, and a miniature dachshund called Lady.
We love that your candles are eco-friendly and vegan - what inspired you to take this route? I have always been a big candle fan (read addict) but I had noticed when I burned certain candles Lady's behaviour would change dramatically which made me wonder what was in them capable of doing this. More research led me to discover all sorts of synthetic rubbish and toxins that go in to mass-
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produced candles to give the fragrance or set the wax hard. I wanted to avoid this and produce the most natural product I could so that when you light one of my candles you can just focus on relaxation and not what toxins you might be breathing in. If it says it's lavender then you know it's lavender. I've always felt the importance of doing what we can to be kind to the environment and everyone living and working around the world. Using ethically sourced ingredients and championing sustainability is key in what I do and in doing so I like to think I'm making it a little bit easier for others to live like that too. In putting all these elements together when creating our candles we produced a vegan, cruelty free product. It was a happy accident really as one of my friends (who is vegan) just happened to ask me if she would be able to burn my candles and we were both delighted when the answer was yes! Using soy
You will need: ● 10” square white linen, cotton or other non-stretch fabric suitable for hand embroidery. Don’t use anything lighter than a quilting weight cotton as it will need to support quite a lot of stitching. ● DMC stranded cotton floss in colours 310, 352, 436, 437, 640, 945, 3023, 4124
I have always loved stitching fur, though I know some people are a bit put off by a technique they consider might be difficult and/or time consuming. I won’t deny it does take a little while, but though the results are impressive, it isn’t really difficult to do. You need very few colours to make your fur look convincing - the fur on my little Bear in a Hat uses only 3 shades of brown and - a bonus for me(!) - Your stitching doesn’t need to be too neat either ! You do need to give your project some thought before you begin though, but once you’ve done that then there are only a few basic principles you need to follow. This little bear also uses a variety of embroidery stitches for his coat and hat - back stitch, blanket stitch, cross stitch, chain stitch, French knots, ghiordes (or turkey) stitch and satin stitch. If you don’t want to try your hand at stitching fur, then he’d look nearly as nice with his face and legs simply outlined in back stitch, as are his coat and hat.
Method ● First transfer the bear design to the centre of your fabric. It is full size and also provided both the right way round and reversed to suit your preferred method of transfer. ● Use two strands of floss throughout and use colours according to the diagram below.
● Hoop up and take a good look at your soon-to-be furry bear. If you have a pet, then take a look at him or her too. - always away from the nose.
● Take notice also of how your pet’s fur overlaps so that the fur nearest the nose lies on top of that further down the body.
The first principle of realistic fur is getting the DIRECTION of your stitching correct. ● Below is another picture of the bear with arrows indicating the direction in which you should angle your stitches.
● You can see how the fur on our bear (above) is all directed away from the nose. Imagine smoothing him - you never smooth an animal from tail to nose as that would ruffle their fur the wrong way - always nose to tail. ● The only variation on the “away from the nose” rule is around the eye. Fur radiates away from the eye so you will need to blend the directions of your stitches together to take account of this. Don’t be tempted to simply stitch around the eye in circles - fur doesn’t grow like this at all.
● The second important thing to think about before you even thread your needle is shading. Below is the original watercolour of our little bear:
The second principle of realistic fur is getting the SHADING correct. ● We will be using three shades of warm brown floss for the bear’s fur. 436 (dark), 437 (medium) and 945 (light). From now on I will refer to them as dark, medium and light rather than by their numbers. ● Abandon any thought of stitching along the outline (as you will do for the coat and hat). Our bear is fluffy, not hard or smooth. Outline stitching is for hard or smooth edges (generally). Work your stitches at a slight angle to his limbs as though the fur was falling softly. ● Begin with the dark brown and work the shading around the tops of his legs where the coat casts a shadow and along the bottoms of his rounded feet. Fill the shape completely with dark where the shading is most intense, but leave gradually increasing gaps between the stitches so you can blend in the medium brown as the colour gradually becomes lighter.
● Ignoring his coat and hat and looking simply at his fur you can see that the shading gives his fur substance and shape. It’s darker where there are shadows or the limb is further away and lighter where the body catches the light, for example on the top of his head. ● This is the effect you are aiming to achieve with your needle and thread. You’ll work darker stitches where the fur is in shadow and, blending as you go, work towards lighter stitches where there are highlights
● You also need to have a fairly solid line of dark fur (again remember the direction of your stitches) between the legs so you can tell the bear has two legs, not one very large one! Be sure to alter the lengths of your stitches slightly too - again natural fur is not completely even.
the effect you’re achieving - this will simply add to the texture and richness of your fur (up to a point that is!) ● Next stitch his face. I find it easiest to work the black parts of the eye and nose first (adding the highlights later) as this means I can work right up to them with confidence.
● As you stitch it’s a good idea to keep a picture of the finished bear - or the watercolour original - close to you as it’s easy to lose track of the effect you’re trying to achieve. ● Continue in this way until the legs are finished, gradually shading from darkest unmixed brown to the palest colour. Be sure to mix your stitches well on the boundaries between colours, and again no hard straight lines. Try not to leave any gaps at all between your stitches, you can overstitch quite a lot if you’re unhappy with
● Work the face in exactly the same manner as the legs, beginning with the darkest brown around the neck area and shading upwards, working in the pink cheek (I used the pink part of the variegated floss 4124 for this to save adding another colour to the list). I also think using too many colours can make your work appear a little “bitty” so I try to keep to the minimum as much as I can. ● Remember to direct your stitches away from the nose, and blend in the radiating stitches around the eye. ● The final part is to add a shine to his nose and a tiny white stitch to give his eye a little sparkle.
Taste of the Season: Plums Plums are at their best at the beginning of the month, juicy and luscious with a beautiful bloom to their skins. Both plums and their smaller cousins, damsons, are such a flavourful and versatile fruit, lending themselves to both savoury and sweet dishes (though with damsons you do have to watch out for seemingly hundreds of tiny stones!). Plums, although not damsons which are a little tart, can be eaten raw though personally I love them baked very simply, sprinkled with brown sugar. To do this just halve and stone your plums, then place cut side up on a lightly greased dish. Sprinkle with the brown sugar, then bake at a low heat until they are tender and soft. Serve warm with cream or ice cream - the taste of autumn in a bowl!
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Rosie’s Recipes: Autumn High Tea
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Taste of the Season: Pumpkins Later this month supermarket and greengrocers’ shelves will be piled high with orange globes ready for Halloween carving. But too often the pumpkin flesh is simply thrown away when it can be used to make a variety of different, and equally delicious, dishes. Whether you eat the insides of your pumpkin or not, they are amazing to grow if you have the space with their dramatic foliage, large yellow trumpet-shaped flowers as well as their wonderful fruits. If growing to eat, then choose your variety carefully - whether your choice is the classic American pumpkin pie, pumpkin soup like the mildly curried version my Dad used to make, or even simply roasted in the oven. When you harvest your pumpkins leave the stalks on as long as possible as this is where the first signs of rot will appear. If , like me, you love to display before carving and/or eating them, keep them on your windowsill, or another cool dry place.
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Inspiration
inspiration
A closer look at some of the accounts we love…
@brynnandcoshop
@penandpaperpatterns
Based in Queensland on the Sunshine Coast, Amanda creates modern handmade hoopart. She describes herself as a ‘wife, mama & maker and lover of beautiful things’.
Lindsey is a pattern designer and mama of 3 based in Arizona. Her feed is full of the beautiful quilts she makes and you can find her patterns on Craftsy.
@fuzzyandflora
@crochetroad
Becky creates one of a kind needle felted wool animals and embroidery hoop art. We absolutely adore her little llamas - they’re just so sweet!
Joy is a crochet designer based on the Gold Coast, Australia. She makes wonderful crochet flowers, colourful granny squares and runs fab workshops too!
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The Countryside in October Lovely October of the half-way days, the wayward pause between the certainties of summer and winter - the one is well over, the other not yet begun. For the countryman everywhere this is the month of the great tidying up - the sweeping, the burning, the cleaning and digging. The fields were ploughed, the seed was scattered and another summer has passed by to end in the dust and gold and busy thunder of harvest. Still in October around the margins of the ploughed fields, or in the stubble where it has yet to be turned shine small wild flowers still. October is a month of magic - the last fireworks of dahlias and yellow sunflowers against cottage walls, the last hum of insects about yew berries and ivy bloom, the smoke of bonfires rising blue from cottage gardens; the birch brooms are busy with the falling leaves, and the apple harvest …. The whole orchard is alive with the wings of late butterflies and dewy cobwebs festoon the last flowers of autumn. The sound fruit is taken away whilst the windfalls may be left to fertilise the orchard floor, or heaped at a penny a pound in boxes by the gate. October, and the amber-bright disc of the full “Hunter’s Moon” shining huge over the valley horizon above the evening mist; and later in the night the “hoohooing” of the hunting owls over the bright fields, the yapping of a dog-fox up in the spinney. We feel thankful in the still of these autumn nights, that for all the pressures of the modern age, the countryside itself is still quiet and wild and very very old, and very much itself.
C Gordon-Glover Book of the Countryside
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“Take some time to try new things…”
Meet the Maker
Adrienne tells us a little about herself, and her online embroidery enterprise, Ellis & Ivy How did you choose always use DMC the name for your threads. business, and how did And do you have any Where in the world it begin? tips you can pass on to are you? I started my business in I'm in Seattle, in the hand 2014 to help raise other USA. money for our youngest embroiderers? Hi Adrienne, it’s lovely to meet you ….
Can you tell us a little about your home, neighbourhood and family? I live in a 1960 split level which has been tricky to organize, but my neighbourhood is quiet with lots of kids for my little boys (5 and 2 years old) to play with.
son’s adoption costs. We brought him home in March of 2015, and now that our adoption costs are paid off, I donate a portion of my sales to other adopting families and host fundraisers through my Etsy shop.
Take some time to try new things! It can be easy to get stuck using one or two kinds of stitches, but trying new ones can give you new inspiration!
What is the best thing about having your own Where do you find business? Meeting other people your creative who have their own How did you learn to inspiration? small businesses and I’m inspired by nature collaborating with stitch, and how long and the outdoors. I’ve them. ago was that? always loved plants I learned to sew when I was 5 and have always had a sewing project going on. I even took my sewing machine to college with me.
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and stitching them.
How do you keep yourself motivated What are your and interested in your favourite fabrics and work? flosses to work with? Trying new ideas and My favourite fabric to stitch on is linen, and I
creating new designs.
Home Comforts Fruit is available in abundance at this time of year - so why not consider using apples, pumpkins or other varieties to make attractive seasonal candleholders? These look (almost) good enough to eat and are really easy to make. Push your candle a little way into the top of your apple (or draw around the base onto the skin if using a pumpkin or other squash with a tough outer layer). This will give you a guide for cutting out. Use a small sharp knife to remove enough fruit so that the base sits far enough down inside to be secure. If your fruit doesn’t sit firmly on its base, then trim the bottom flat with a sharp knife. You can decorate the top of your fruit with moss, leaves and berries as shown in the photo above.
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