A Crafty Christmas

So, the big day itself has been and gone, and now we're enjoying the restful gap before the New Year.  I love the few days after the craziness of the Christmas buildup.  We tend not to make many plans and spend most of the time just the four of us, going for walks, picking our favourite festive flicks from the Radio Times, and eating far too much! 

It's my birthday tomorrow so Mr Y has taken the girls shopping for a few last minute bits so I have some peace and quiet.  Rather them than me battling with the crowds of sale shoppers! 

We had a wonderful time with family this Christmas.  This year, just like last, I decided to make a homemade gift for my nearest and dearest.  And this year, again, just like last, I left things a little late, so was still finishing off the final gift on Christmas Eve.  

As well as the staple foodie makes and bakes that have to be thought about at this time of year, I decided to make Miss C a dress from a rather delightful polar bear fabric from John Lewis.  

There was a slight hiccup with the fabric, and they sent 75cms less than I'd ordered.  A few frustrating phone calls, an email and finally a PayPal complaint later, I received my correct quota of fabric, and was told to keep the original lot, which meant Miss M got a dress also. 

Miss C also took a fancy to a collar in an old Mollie Makes magazine from last year, I think.  

I had to resize it quite a lot, but Miss C loves it.  Miss M wasn't at all impressed, so no need for a second one.

For their actual handmade Christmas gifts, I opted for a cot quilts.  Back in the summer I made a start on a quilt for Miss M's bed using hexies.  Seriously slow going, I knew it wouldn't be done in time for Christmas, so went for a quicker, smaller, machine worked version for her baby boy doll.

Having never tackled quilting before, I didn't know what to expect.  I used a mix if vintage, vintage design reproduction cottons and scraps of dress fabrics they'd had over the years.  I used 2" squares, and learnt as I went along.  

The binding was a pain in the behind.  The binding wasn't bias binding so there was no give or stretch.  The corners are poorly done, but the girls didn't notice and were over the moon with them.

My dad is never an easy option for makes, and it has to either be edible or knitted.  I went for the knitted option and picked what I thought was a relatively easy Fair-isle.  

I cheated and made the back plain, and that knitted up really quickly, but the front was somewhat different.  I prefer to work Fair-isle from a chart, so where there isn't one, I make one.  The first pattern was a simple one but the second just wasn't turning out right.  I sought help from a friend who was an absolute wonder.  She not only found out what the problem was, she charted the whole pattern for me! 

Once the pattern problem had been fixed, I was able to start the serious work of knitting.

My most favourite gift to make, by far, was a bag for my amazing mum. Ever since I saw this picture on Pinterest, I knew I wanted to replicate it.

I dug through my felt stash and found some beautifully thick 4mm wool felt yardage.  I drafted the bag and flower shapes by hand and set about picking the right colour felt to match a piece if 1940's rayon silk that I had chosen for the lining.  

I stayed up very late on the 23rd of December to get as much done as I could.

It was finished on Christmas Eve, and 100 hand cut flowers and 150 beads later, this was the result.

I love it so much, that I may just have to make one for myself!!

All the gifts were well received, which made all the hard work worth it.  

I hope you had a fabulous Christmas, however you celebrated xx

1940's Fabulous Felt Flowers!

Warning!  This is yet another post dedicated almost entirely to those pretty little petals of felt that make me giddy just thinking about them! :o)

I have been desperate to write this post and have been willing my hands to snip and stitch faster and wishing that boring things like cleaning and ironing didn’t get in the way!!  You see, I have bought a rather wonderful new pattern booklet.  Just take a look!

Doesn’t look much, right? But trust me when I say that it really, really, really is!!  This pattern, this coveted and much sought after pattern, was featured in one of my Needlework Illustrated magazines.  I had been trying to track it down for a long time but had never found it; until now!!!

At the Rufford 1940’s event, I was talking to a fellow trader, (the reader of my blog that I mentioned in my last post) and we were discussing felt flower patterns.  It turned out that her husband had an Etsy shop and for sale in said shop, along with an amazing collection of patterns, was the very Dryad leaflet!!  Small world, don’t you think??

Anyway, I bought the PDF pattern and as soon as it arrived, I set to work!  It’s a slow process though as the corsages are very time consuming and, let’s be realistic, home life doesn’t just stop because I have a new pattern!

There are 12 patterns in the booklet but they aren’t all to my taste so I started on those that appealed the most.

First up, a neat little bunch of “gay golden marigolds”, all in autumnal shades which, given the change in the weather, is rather fitting.

Next we have a rather large pair of chrysanthemums.  The original pattern called for all white flowers and middles, but the white felt wasn’t holding its shape very well so I used some original 1940’s felt instead.  This one is destined to adorn my winter coat!

A favourite of mine is the rather spring like bunch of little daisies.  These were tricky little blighters to do as there are 10 in the bunch and it was hard to show each one off.  It was also hard to find 5 colours that went well together and I certainly wasn’t convinced by the original suggestion of scarlet, golden yellow, primrose, royal blue and white!

The poppies are, quite simply, divine.  They were a joy to make and have already proved popular.

Next, some more red flowers, this time in the form of some larger daisies.  I stuck to the pattern this time and used the colours they suggested.

The penultimate bunch is a rather neat little trio of rosebuds. 

And finally, my absolute favourite, if somewhat large, the amazing bunch of anemones! 

And if you haven’t had enough already, here is one last snap, all 7 pretty posies clustered together!

Aren’t they pretty?!  Unlike so many of the corsage patterns from the 1940’s, the instructions in the Dryad leaflet are actually clear, and the pattern pieces neatly worked out and easy, if rather time consuming, to assemble. 

If any of you crafting lovelies want to give these felt fancies a go, you will find the leaflet here, on LittleJohn2003's Etsy shop.  The service they provide is A1!!  The pattern has been digitally enhanced and is as clean and crisp as the day it was made.  Great time and effort has been put in by the seller to ensure that the pattern is in tip top condition and I received my pattern within an hour of placing the order (if you are overseas, please allow additional time due to time zone differences). 

If you don’t craft, but would still like to own such a pretty piece, then please head over to my Etsy shop, here, where you can place an order :o)

Make A Wish - Stir Up Sunday - a 1940's Christmas pudding!

So today is stir up Sunday, the Sunday when, tradition dictates, you should make your Christmas pudding!

For the past 11 years, we’ve relied on Mr Y’s mum to provide the pud, and a fine job she has done of it too.  However, as we aren’t South West bound before the festivities, and as Christmas isn’t Christmas without a pudding, I had to decide whether to buy one or make one and I, potentially misguidedly, picked the latter option. 

I thought selecting a recipe would be pretty easy but having consulted numerous cookery books, I was proved very wrong.  So many choices, so much variation and no way of knowing which one would be best.  In the end, I went with my never failing Marguerite Pattern Every Day Cook Book, bought for a bargain 50p in a charity shop a couple of years ago!  I made a slight addition to the recipe in the form of a lot  little more alcohol on the basis that the extra splash of brandy will help mask the taste of a potentially yukky pud and if it doesn't mask it, the eater might be suitably merry enough not to care :o)

I did moot the idea of a Wartime pudding but had it made clear to me, in no uncertain terms, that that wasn’t an option!!  However, if you fancy giving an early wartime version a go, I’ve included the recipe at the end of the post :o) 

We all had a stir, wishes were made and the puddings (yes, note the plural!  I’ve also given myself the task of making a pudding for my parents!) have been packed into their ceramic basins and are cooking nicely; 6 hours down, only 2 to go! 

Personally, I can't stand the stuff and will be tucking into a chocolate, fruitless, variety on the day but I'm hoping it'll be all smiles come tasting time.

As I had plenty of time of my hands watching the pot (which I've found incredibly boring!) I thought I'd do a little crafting.  Still peeved by the “price verses quality” issue found with the pudding decorations in Cath Kidston last weekend, I decided to give my own a go. 

Taking some felt from my bumper stash plus some sequins, beads and thread – no glue here, just good old fashioned stitching - I made my own pudding decoration.  It received the seal of approval from the little Y's and hope that it will make a rather lovely addition to the tree.

As to the wartime pud, if you fancy giving it a go, the following recipe came from "Food In Wartime" which was published in January 1940 and features over 200 meatless dishes - perfect for a vegetarian like me!  Because it's an early war recipe, it's more luxurious than the more heavily rationed, later war years recipes.

Wartime Christmas Pudding Recipe

1/2 lb wholemeal flour; ½ lb breadcrumbs; 1 lb stoned raisins; ¼ lb ground almonds; ¼ lb sultanas; ¼ currants; ¼ mixed chopped peel; ½ lb brown sugar; 6oz suet; 3 eggs; grated rind of half a lemon; ½ teaspoon each of mixed spice, groundmace and cinnamon.

Turn all the ingredients into a large bowl and mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon.  Fill well-greased pudding bowls two-thrids full so that the puddings have room to swell.  Cover with greased paper, tie on scalded cloths.  Boil for eight to ten hours.  These quantities make two medium sized puddings.  When required for use, reheat the puddings by boiling for three hours.