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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 January Magazine January is traditionally the time to hunker down and sit out the winter months. Although the days are growing longer again at last, spring is still a long way off, though if you look carefully, especially during a mild winter, there are already the first signs appearing in the hedgerows. This month brings the 84th issue of the Bustle & Sew Magazine - I can hardly believe that it was SEVEN YEARS ago that I sat down at my (then brand new) laptop and began to put the first issue together. Things have come a long way since then and I do hope you’ll enjoy all that this month’s issue contains, and if you’re thinking of starting your own craft business in the new year then please do look out for our new series “From Passion to Profit” that begins this month. I think that’s enough from me - just a quick reminder that the February issue will be published, as always, on the last Thursday of the month - in this case Thursday 25 January. So if you’re a subscriber watch out for it arriving in your inbox then! Until then, have a very Happy New Year!
Helen xx
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Tips for Stitchers Sometimes a pattern asks you to work large areas of satin stitch - a stitch that seems easy but can be deceptively hard to work properly. It’s important that you separate your strands of floss carefully before beginning to work, ensuring that they lie together in your needle. Some stitchers iron their floss, and I can definitely see that this would make your stitching extra-neat, though it’s not something I have the patience to do. My main problem when working large areas of satin stitch is to keep the angle of my stitches constant - they have a tendency to drift off course. I get around this by drawing lines at regular intervals across the area to be covered. This helps me keep my stitches lined up properly. These lines will be dissolved away with the Sulky Sticky Fabri Solvy, or alternatively covered by my stitching when the project is finished.
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Between this month’s covers … Tips for Stitchers
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Seasonal Ingredient: Leeks
Page 36
January Almanac
Page 6
A Very Little Guide to the Flame Test
Page 37
Enjoy the Little Things Hoop
Page 8
Instagram Favourites
Page 38
Lovely Idea: Mason Jar Terrarium
Page 10
Macrame Succulent Hoop
Page 39
Meet the Maker: Laura Brown
Page 11
Winter Hyacinths
Page 43
Country Diary
Page 15
The Countryside in January
Page 45
A Little Look at Linen
Page 16
Your Indoor Plants
Page 47
Felt Rhino Trophy Head
Page 18
Lovely Idea: Fox Pot
Page 48
Farewell to Christmas
Page 20
Wilderness Bunting
Page 49
Nature Notes: Rainbows
Page 22
From Passion to Profit Part One
Page 52
A (very little) History of Honiton Lace
Page 23
The Thimble - Love or Hate it?
Page 55
Animal Friends Cache Pots
Page 27
Llama Sewing Machine Cover
Page 56
Poetry Corner: Milk for the Cat
Page 30
Home Comforts: Sage Tea
Page 59
Seasonal Ingredient: Citrus Fruits
Page 31
In the Kitchen: Conversion Tables
Page 60
Rosie’s Recipes: Winter Warmers
Page 32
Templates
Page 61
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A Little Look at Linen ….
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Linen has been my very favourite fabric for hand embroidery for as long as I can remember. But it has a long and interesting history too - did you know that it's been around for thousands of years? It has always been an expensive fabric which is due to the way it has to be harvested, processed, and woven. Linen was heavily used in the Mediterranean in the pre-Christian age and was sometimes used as currency in ancient Egypt. Egyptian mummies were wrapped in linen because it was seen as a symbol of light and purity, and as a display of wealth. Some of these fabrics, woven from hand spun yarns, were extremely fine and the fineness of the yarns in them simply can't be reproduced today using modern methods. The flax plant, from which linen is made, is one of the oldest agricultural plants in the world. An archeological dig at the site of Neolithic lake dwellings in Switzerland revealed the charred remains of food prepared from flax seed, together with remnants of linen threads, ropes, clothes and fishing nets. A little more recently, but still more than 5000 years ago the Egyptians named flax "woven moonlight" due to what they considered to be its beauty, while a little less poetic, but perhaps more apt name, is the Latin one "linum usitatissimum" "extremely useful" plant. Flax blooms in clusters of bluish, navy-blue, and, more seldom, violet, rosy and white flowers that open up at dawn and close and fall at around noon when heat sets in. Each flower blooms for a few hours and, as an aside, bees can collect enough pollen and nectar from one hectare of flax field to produce 15 kg (well over 30 lbs) of honey. Flax for linen is grown around the world, though the quality of the crops varies greatly. It's generally considered that flax grown in Belgium and other areas of northern Europe is the best flax for making linen.
The quality of the finished linen product is also dependent upon harvesting techniques. To generate the longest possible fibres, flax is either hand-harvested by pulling up the entire plant or stalks are cut very close to the root. After harvesting, the seeds are removed and the fibres are loosened from the stalk which is a long and complicated process involving several stages. Once separated, the shorter fibres are combed away, leaving behind only the long, soft fibres which can then be spun into yarns and woven or knitted into linen fabric. There are various types of linen suitable for embroidery. If, for example, you're planning a counted cross stitch project, then you'll want even weave linen, whilst ordinary surface embroidery you'll want a firmly woven, lighter weight fabric that's still strong enough to support the weight of the stitches and doesn't allow any stray threads to show through from the back. As always, cost and quality go hand in hand and if you're working on an important piece that you want to stand the test of time then you'll be concerned to choose a good quality linen. And I really do mean stand the test of time - in the British Museum are pieces of mummy linen at least 6000 years old! The final reason I love linen so much is because the more it is washed, the softer and more luminous it becomes. That luminous quality is caused by nodes on the flax fibers, which reflect light. Freshly washed linen has a naturally clean fragrance and gives you a sense of well-being. Do remember to remove your linen from the washing line while it’s still damp. If linen dries thoroughly, it becomes brittle and takes several hours to recover its natural moisture and full flexibility. (The natural moisture content of linen is between 6-8%. Linen dried beyond this point will have to re-absorb moisture from the air before it becomes soft and supple once more.)
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Farewell Christmas 20
n the past, the prudent householder couldn't be too careful when it came to taking down and disposing of their decorations. A single mistake in disposing of your Christmas greenery could result in bad luck following your family the whole year through. Holly had to be burned or buried, left to shrivel up or fed to the cattle according to local custom, and sometimes a spring was also kept for good luck. Charcoal from the Yule log was also carefully preserved as it was believed to prevent lightening from striking the house and guarded people and animals from serious diseases. Although today we are unlikely to feed the ashes from our Christmas fires to our animals to encourage fertility, it's still a good idea to pack your decorations away carefully at the end of the festivities. Next Christmas might seem a long way off, but you'll be thanking yourself when your baubles remain unbroken and your lights aren't tangled when it comes to getting them out again in December. Putting away an artificial tree is easy, just dismantle and repack. Do be careful though to straighten out branches and lay them against the trunk as the
manufacturer intended, otherwise they may snap or become distorted over the summer months. Disposing of a real tree does take a little more effort. Firstly there's disposing of the needles. Be sure to carefully sweep or vacuum them, easy with hard floors but harder with carpet. I'm sure I can't be the only person who's experienced a nasty stab in the foot from an undiscovered pine needle in the middle of March! You can dig the needles into your borders where they'll benefit other plants. Smaller twigs and branches can be used for kindling when lighting your fire or stove, whilst the trunk can be sawn into sections to provide aromatic logs. If you chose a rooted tree, hoping to keep it for another year, you'll probably have bedded it into a suitable tub already. If so, then carry it into the garden, water well and place in a sheltered spot until the tree has had time to acclimatise. If you want to replant it into your garden then dig a hole deep enough to allow the roots plenty of room and loosen the roots if they've become cramped in the tub. Fork some peat into the earth and make sure your tree is firmly bedded in and well watered.
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Check your lights are in good working order before you put them away. Tighten the bulbs and wrap the flex carefully around a strong piece of card (no more tangles!). Put the lights in a box with a layer of sponge or cotton wool (or even some toy stuffing) on either side to protect the bulbs. To make sure your delicate baubles survive safely from year to year, wrap each one separately in soft tissue paper or kitchen roll and pack them in a strong box. If you haven't already discarded your wrapping paper, then it's worth a rummage through to check for any large pieces that can be salvaged for wrapping smaller gifts next time - or even for games of pass the parcel at children's parties through the coming year. Cut out any saveable pieces and iron on the wrong side with a warm iron. Fold carefully or wrap around a cardboard tube to store. And finally ‌. people often write changes of address on their Christmas cards, so when you take them down be sure to check through for any messages or notes. It's nice to keep the cards that appeal to you - they can be recycled into gift tags next year.
Nature Notes: Rainbows A rainbow is, without doubt, a beautiful thing. But did you know that rainbows aren’t just pretty, they can also be a useful source of information? A rainbow will only form when the rain is in front of you and the sun is fairly low in the sky and behind you. Here in the UK most of our weather comes from the west, so rainbows in the morning mean that rain’s on the way (the sun is in the east in the morning of course, so the rain is approaching from the west), whilst rainbows in the afternoon mean that the rain is travelling away and the weather is probably about to improve. The colours in the rainbow are also a clue to the type of raindrops about to fall. Quite simply, the more red you see at the top of the rainbow, the bigger the raindrops.
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A (very little) history of Honiton Lace
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The often gloomy month of January is brightened by fragrant winter flowering Hyacinths reassuring us that spring arrive again this year
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From Passion to Profit
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It’s wonderful when you discover that it’s actually possible to earn some money by doing something you love - like sewing! Over the next few issues I’m going to be offering you some hints and tips on successfully selling the items you love to make … before you begin creating - or you might be stuck with a large number of purple velvet frogs that cost you time and money to make, but that nobody wants to purchase. You can market research both on and off-line - in fact the more methods you use to gather this information, the better!
As you probably know, I'm more than happy for you, as an individual stitcher and craftsperson, to use my patterns to make items for sale, as long as you credit Bustle & Sew with the design. After all, I don't usually make items for sale myself, and so it's lovely to think that others are using my patterns to bring pleasure to others. So, as we begin to think about next year’s bazaar, fete and fair season and crafters begin planning product lines for the summer, if you're considering starting selling your makes, or even if you already do so, I thought you might enjoy my tips for a creating or perhaps growing your own successful hobby-based enterprise.
Good ways to do this online are to visit websites already selling similar items to the ones you're thinking about making to sell. Browse around sites such as Etsy, Folksy and Not on the High Street and you'll soon begin to discover popular items and identify trends. This isn't copying others, a definite big fat NO, it's simply getting a feel for what's on-trend at the moment.
What shall I make?
Visit social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter to find out what's out there and what people are commenting about them. You can even purchase from existing sites to see how their products compare to yours and get an idea of what they're doing well (Are their postage costs reasonable? Products nicely packaged? etc) and also not so well (Poor communication?). Then, if you decide to sell your makes online you'll have some ideas about what you like - and also dislike!
I guess my first tip would be sure to choose to make something you love - in fact I'm sure if you're reading this, then you're probably already sewing and making things that you're both good at and enjoy doing. But if you're serious about turning your hobby into even a very small business then you need to be really passionate about it, and have the enthusiasm to keep creating. If your business takes off, then you might find yourself needing to create 10, 20 or more of the same item, perhaps with just minor variations. If you are the sort of person that constantly likes to move onto new things, then you may want to consider offering limited editions so you don't find yourself stitching your 45th pink felt chicken at midnight to fulfil demand!
It's also a good idea to read homes and interiors magazines as again you'll quickly spot the latest trends and become aware of what everyone will be wanting for their homes this season. The good thing about being a small business is that you can respond to the market quickly, so if you spot that something's trending then you can offer items that satisfy current demand. Try and go to craft and other handmade fairs, department stores and even just walk down the High Street studying shop window displays. Take a notebook around with you to jot down ideas copying existing items is obviously totally wrong (and you could find yourself on the wrong side of copyright laws), but if you notice that, for
And thinking about chickens …. it's absolutely vital that you research your market, and find out what your customers really want. You may love making purple velvet frogs, but find that they have a very limited market and that those pink felt chickens appeal to a much wider audience. Be sure to get some idea of what's popular
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Home Comforts Now is the time of year that coughs and colds take hold, and often seem to linger far too long. Sage infusions are very effective for treating sore throats and mouth and gum inflammation due to the symptoms of a cold. If you’ve never tried a sage infusion before, you’ll love this - not only does it soothe your throat, it tastes good too. Bring some water to the boil in a small saucepan. Put a teaspoon (3-4 leaves) of sage leaves in a cup and pour the water over them. Leave to infuse for 10 minutes then strain and drink. The word “sage” derives from the Latin “salvare” which means healing. The essential oils contained in sage leaves are anti-inflammatory and antibacterial which is why they are so effective.
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