Look at these amazingly beautiful prints by the Swiss company Jacob Schlaepfer. Of course, the fabrics are bound to be WAY out of my price league, but a girl can dream.
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Fabric love
Recently I've been browsing fabric a lot, and I've fallen in love.
Look at these amazingly beautiful prints by the Swiss company Jacob Schlaepfer. Of course, the fabrics are bound to be WAY out of my price league, but a girl can dream.
Look at these amazingly beautiful prints by the Swiss company Jacob Schlaepfer. Of course, the fabrics are bound to be WAY out of my price league, but a girl can dream.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
A mobile for Lily
In August a dear friend of mine had a baby girl, and in September she asked me to be a non-God Godmother. I felt honoured to be asked, and hope to be able to have a wonderful relationship with baby Lily as she grows up.
Lily's first Christmas is coming up and I wanted to make something for her rather than buying something - I felt that I wanted to put time and effort into the gift. I decided that a mobile to hang over her cot would be a nice first Christmas gift, so I got out my felt, embroidery thread, glue, and ribbons and started crafting. It took a little while to complete, but I'm pleased with the results:
I figured that unless Lily is precociously advanced it was safe to post this - its unlikely to ruin her surprise!
I took the templates for the felt items from my marvellous craft book Everything Alice.
An update: It seems Lily likes her present!
Lily's first Christmas is coming up and I wanted to make something for her rather than buying something - I felt that I wanted to put time and effort into the gift. I decided that a mobile to hang over her cot would be a nice first Christmas gift, so I got out my felt, embroidery thread, glue, and ribbons and started crafting. It took a little while to complete, but I'm pleased with the results:
I figured that unless Lily is precociously advanced it was safe to post this - its unlikely to ruin her surprise!
I took the templates for the felt items from my marvellous craft book Everything Alice.
An update: It seems Lily likes her present!
Monday, November 21, 2011
an origami-esque jacket
I have a guilt box at home. Its my box of started but unfinished sewing projects.
Some items have been in there for literally years, which is shameful.
Now that I finally have my sewing machine out regularly again, and have started on yet more new items, I have resolved to work my way through some of the pile of incomplete items.
The first to be ticked off was the polka dot shift dress I posted about a few weeks ago. This time it was the turn of a kimono-style jacket. The pattern for this was a web download - it had been back-engineered from a McQueen jacket. The instructions weren't super-clear, and some of the markings on the pattern didn't appear to be needed, but it was an intriguing project.
I'm pretty pleased with myself for finishing this and ending up with something that can be worn. I know I've gone wrong in a few places, and I'm not keen on the way that the folding of the fabric makes the jacket quite thick in places, but I do love the origami pleating all over the back.
I might try this pattern again once I'm a more confident seamstress. It would be interesting to approach it again with a more expert eye and see if I can resolve the areas I found confusing this time.
If you fancy having a go you can find the download here.
Some items have been in there for literally years, which is shameful.
Now that I finally have my sewing machine out regularly again, and have started on yet more new items, I have resolved to work my way through some of the pile of incomplete items.
The first to be ticked off was the polka dot shift dress I posted about a few weeks ago. This time it was the turn of a kimono-style jacket. The pattern for this was a web download - it had been back-engineered from a McQueen jacket. The instructions weren't super-clear, and some of the markings on the pattern didn't appear to be needed, but it was an intriguing project.
I'm pretty pleased with myself for finishing this and ending up with something that can be worn. I know I've gone wrong in a few places, and I'm not keen on the way that the folding of the fabric makes the jacket quite thick in places, but I do love the origami pleating all over the back.
I might try this pattern again once I'm a more confident seamstress. It would be interesting to approach it again with a more expert eye and see if I can resolve the areas I found confusing this time.
Friday, November 18, 2011
Baking
Today we had a bake sale at work. Its Children in Need, and although I do tend to feel a bit 'bah humbug' about charity events which feel compulsory, I like my work colleagues so I wanted to be helpful and muck in.
I made a batch of Caraway Shortbread biscuits from Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall's River Cottage Every Day book. I really liked them - they were fragrant from the seeds, crips and buttery. Sweet enough to be a treat, but not so much they're sickly. Yummy.
Sadly (for charitable fundraising) it would appear that most people don't want to risk something new, so I had to take some home again at the end of the day.
This wasn't so sad for me and Dan though - biscuits for the weekend. Marvellous!
PS Kris - I haven't forgotten your baked goods, but these wouldn't survive a trip to New York.
I made a batch of Caraway Shortbread biscuits from Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall's River Cottage Every Day book. I really liked them - they were fragrant from the seeds, crips and buttery. Sweet enough to be a treat, but not so much they're sickly. Yummy.
Sadly (for charitable fundraising) it would appear that most people don't want to risk something new, so I had to take some home again at the end of the day.
This wasn't so sad for me and Dan though - biscuits for the weekend. Marvellous!
PS Kris - I haven't forgotten your baked goods, but these wouldn't survive a trip to New York.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Alexander McQueen
I have a bit of an obsession with McQueen. The clothes are just amazing.
Here are two videos which give you a real sense of the creativity, imagination and awesome skill which goes into producing such amazing couture:
An interview with Sarah Burton can be watched here.
Backstage at the SS12 show:
Enjoy!
Here are two videos which give you a real sense of the creativity, imagination and awesome skill which goes into producing such amazing couture:
An interview with Sarah Burton can be watched here.
Backstage at the SS12 show:
Enjoy!
Monday, November 14, 2011
Daring Cooks November Challenge
First things first - an apology and excuses for lack of posting recently. Two reasons - I just ran a half marathon, so the last few weeks of training didn't leave much energy for cooking anything fancy, and also I've been sewing a lot. Nothing's finished and worth a post yet, but expect lots of sewing posts coming up.
Anyway, onto the Daring Cooks Challenge. This month's challenge was an intriguing one: cooking with tea.
I chose to make Chinese Tea Eggs - a recipe I have often flicked past in my Asian recipe book but never made. They turn out quite pretty with their marbeled whites.
The method was simple but it was quite a long process (although most of the time it doesn't really need any attention). The taste was interesting and less subtle than I had expected, but as you can see from the snap above one egg did split and that was the one I ate - so it may have been a little stronger flavoured than a perfect one would have been. Lightly flavoured with soy, tea, and star anise this was a novelty, and it was pretty good with the crab cakes and peas I paired it with. I'm not sure I'll be repeating this recipe to be honest - its an awfully long process for a hard boiled egg!
Here's the method if you fancy having a try:
Chinese Tea Eggs
2 or more eggs
30ml dark soy sauce
1/2 star anise
2 tea bags
1/2 teaspoon salt
Place the eggs in cold water, bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes. Drain, rinse in cold water and leave in cold water until cold. Roll the eggs so that the shells crack but don't break.
Add the soy, salt, tea bags, and star anise to the water. Replace the eggs and bring to the boil again, cover the pan and turn the heat down. Simmer for 1 1/2 - 2 hours then remove from the heat and allow to cool in the cooking liquid.
Shell immediately before eating, which its best to do within 24 hours.
Sarah from Simply Cooked was our November Daring Cooks’ hostess and she challenged us to create something truly unique in both taste and technique! We learned how to cook using tea with recipes from Tea Cookbook by Tonia George and The New Tea Book by Sara Perry.
Anyway, onto the Daring Cooks Challenge. This month's challenge was an intriguing one: cooking with tea.
I chose to make Chinese Tea Eggs - a recipe I have often flicked past in my Asian recipe book but never made. They turn out quite pretty with their marbeled whites.
The method was simple but it was quite a long process (although most of the time it doesn't really need any attention). The taste was interesting and less subtle than I had expected, but as you can see from the snap above one egg did split and that was the one I ate - so it may have been a little stronger flavoured than a perfect one would have been. Lightly flavoured with soy, tea, and star anise this was a novelty, and it was pretty good with the crab cakes and peas I paired it with. I'm not sure I'll be repeating this recipe to be honest - its an awfully long process for a hard boiled egg!
Here's the method if you fancy having a try:
Chinese Tea Eggs
2 or more eggs
30ml dark soy sauce
1/2 star anise
2 tea bags
1/2 teaspoon salt
Place the eggs in cold water, bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes. Drain, rinse in cold water and leave in cold water until cold. Roll the eggs so that the shells crack but don't break.
Add the soy, salt, tea bags, and star anise to the water. Replace the eggs and bring to the boil again, cover the pan and turn the heat down. Simmer for 1 1/2 - 2 hours then remove from the heat and allow to cool in the cooking liquid.
Shell immediately before eating, which its best to do within 24 hours.
Sarah from Simply Cooked was our November Daring Cooks’ hostess and she challenged us to create something truly unique in both taste and technique! We learned how to cook using tea with recipes from Tea Cookbook by Tonia George and The New Tea Book by Sara Perry.
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