gift | Sewchet

August 13, 2014
by sewchet 10 Comments

Jam, Flowers and WIP

Wow, we’ve got loads of blackberries this year! Sadly we won’t have as many next year because, whilst we were away, my son thoughtfully pruned the overhanging branches (quote – “Only the ones with no blackberries on”). He has unwittingly removed most of the growth that was going to produce next year’s fruit!! Hey ho, these things happen.

The Girls eat as many as they can reach; it’s hilarious watching the way they flap with all their might in an effort to jump higher to get to the juicy, ripe ones which are just out of pecking distance!

I am going to make as much blackberry and apple jam as I can this year in the hope that it will last longer. First two batches are in jars awaiting ‘hats’ and labels. I always give some away as Christmas presents paired with matching jars of homemade marmalade or another jam, so gingham hats and raffia ties are a must!

They look rather nice as homemade gifts go!

For our own use, I transfer jam from the jars into a lovely vintage jam pot. The lid was dropped onto the tiled floor and, unfortunately, didn’t survive, but I still love it.

Of course, there’s always a little bit left over that has to go through Quality Control….

If you let your hens free-range as we do, you’ll know that growing flowers in the garden is nearly impossible so my lovely husband brings home glorious blooms on a regular basis. Even so, the cheeky chickens still hop onto the coffee table to peck at the stamens! These should be safe though, as they’re well out of the way up on the dining table.

I know lilies are associated with funerals and many people don’t like them for that reason, but I absolutely love, love, LOVE them!

I wouldn’t dream of removing the stamens that stain everything a dark orange either; they’re just so pretty:)

I wish I could paint – I would have my own watercolour floral masterpieces clinging to the walls like wallpaper….but alas my creative talents lie in a different direction.

Talking of which, here are a couple of WIPs – this one just waiting the addition of a few bits of hardware that are marked by eBay as ‘dispatched’…

Increasing base small

…and this one. In the words of Rolf Harris “Can you guess what it is yet?”.

And no, it’s not another basket. Intrigued? Watch this space….!

July 8, 2014
by sewchet 2 Comments

Annaprashan Gift

The weekend is over so it is time to reveal the project I was working on last week for which I showed you how to make some custom bias binding.

Sarita is my husband’s cousin’s little girl who celebrated her Annaprashan on Saturday, to which we were invited. Not being Indian or Hindu ourselves, I looked up all about this ceremony and discovered that, whilst gifts are not expected, silver and gold are traditional items to present. After a bit of indecision, I decided to leave tradition to the immediate family and create something myself, eventually settling on a personalized quilt.

I found some sweet fabric with an elephant motif which was perfect and couldn’t have been more appropriate – the most widely worshipped Hindu god deity is Lord Ganesha: The Elephant God.

Seeking inspiration from here, I made this: –

I used tailor’s chalk to mark out the quilting lines and then quilted the whole thing by hand! It was hard work, but so much more aesthetically pleasing than machine quilting don’t you think?

The letters were backed with interfacing before being appliquéd on with a close zigzag stitch.

I used free machine embroidery to write the words on the heart, going over it twice for definition and trying to keep it quite ‘scribbly’;

Here’s a close up of that fabulous elephant fabric…

…and here’s how it looks on the reverse;

I love the look of trust in Sarita’s face while she looks intently at her grandfather as he offers her some rice, her first taste of solid food (the whole concept behind this traditional ceremony);

She was so good and not at all overwhelmed by all the attention and rituals that go hand in hand with this type of ceremony.

Here she is with her proud parents afterwards;

I hope the quilt is a keepsake that she will treasure in the years to come and, who knows, it might become an heirloom to pass on to her own daughter one day?

I think a personalized quilt like this would make a perfect gift for any occasion where you’re not sure what to give, whether it’s a gift for an Annaprashan, a Christening present or other celebration – so what are you waiting for, get quilting!

May 14, 2014
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Rooster inspired Hen Tea Cosy

We keep hens.

That is to say, when my husband moved down to Somerset from London he made the typical Escape To The Country statement “I-want-to-keep-chickens-and-grow-a-vegetable-patch”.

As a born and bred Somerset lass, the novelty (if there ever was one) of such things has long since waned. Don’t get me wrong, we loved picking and eating our own home-grown veg, after all, nothing really beats a freshly picked carrot eaten straight from the (pesticide free) soil. As children we even used to set up a stall on the front lawn to sell the surplus to our neighbours down the road.

It’s the laborious journey to this bountiful harvest that I don’t miss, mainly the never-ending removal of waist-high weeds that myself and my three siblings seemed to be constantly battling with. The stinging nettles and thistles fought us every step of the way, not to mention the dreaded slug of which I have almost a phobia (“Limaxaphobia”, apparently). I had visions of my husband doing the ‘nice’ bits ie. planting and picking, and I would probably be the one left with all the rubbish jobs as he works long hours.

So no vegetable patch.

But what about chickens?

Long story short, I relented and surprised hubby with a build-your-own chicken coop for his birthday a couple of years ago. He’s a blokey type of bloke and enjoyed building the coop and run so much that I nearly didn’t bother with the hens, but Christmas was only three weeks later so present shopping was easy that year.

We started with six hens, two of which quickly became broody and prompted the donation of some fertilized eggs from a farmer friend for them to sit on. Twenty-one days later we had three black chicks which turned out to be two hens and a cockerel.

And what a handsome beast he is! We gave him the unimaginative but obvious name “Cock” and he definitely rules the roost among his harem of girls.

I now thoroughly adore all nine birds and could watch them pecking their way round the garden all day long.

Watching them peck for worms and other tasty titbits reminded me that I had some fabric remnants from a roman blind in my son’s bedroom called “Rooster” by Clarke & Clarke – here’s what I made with it: –

Photos of the hens will be sure to ‘wing’ their way onto these pages before very long and will no doubt inspire some more hen creativity in one form or other.

For those who would like to make a similar tea cosy, a tutorial is on it’s way shortly so “follow” the blog to make sure sure you don’t miss out!

May 13, 2014
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VW Campervan Tea Cosy

I don’t know about you, but I love the current trend for vintage caravans and camper vans but don’t actually own one – yet.

If when I get one, it will have to be a seventies or eighties model in need of a bit of TLC so that I can “rip it out and start again” (suitable almost-pun from 80s band Orange Juice).

I’m already imagining an interior of pretty florals and spots in my favourite colours of blue, red, pink and white. The seats will be laden with crocheted throws and there will be enamel jugs and mugs on the shelves.

Bunting will adorn both inside and outside my teapot will have a proper tea cosy…except I didn’t have one until today.

And this is what I came up with….