Stash Avalanche

Saturday cake experiment

After the disappointment of a third tunic not fitting, I decided that it was time I learnt about patterns properly. So I headed over to Flossie Teacakes because I remembered that she has a useful list of book recommendations. And I even managed to find one in my local library (although I have since discovered there is a little saga to that and I may have to wait a while for it to arrive). Also on her list, and also at the library, was Red Velvet Chocolate Heartache, which Flossie says she loves. It's a book of cake recipes that don't make you fat. Well, alright, make you less fat than normal cake.  Apparently...

The idea is to substitute grated vegetables for the butter or Flora or whatever fat you use. This is something I have been interested in for a while but never tried. I've often heard of apple puree being used but never come across any recipes. Carrot cake, by the way, doesn't count because it has fat in it as well as carrot, and because I don't like it.

The book is written by Harry Eastwood and she has a website here. I have a feeling she may have had a tv series somewhere, maybe Channel 4; if so, you probably know more about her than I do.

So, purely in the interests of research, I thought I should borrow the book from the library and do some baking. I'm on a diet, I want to eat cake, I am trying to do book reviews on my blog. You see, purely for research.

By the way,  this is not going to be a First Impression. It's going to be a Saturday Cake post. I'll need to do more research before I can review it properly...

*******

Orange Squash Cupcakes from Red Velvet Chocolate Heartache by Harry Eastwood

makes 12

2 medium eggs

160g caster sugar

200g peeled and finely grated butternut squash

finely grated zest and the juice from 1 orange

100g rice flour (I forgot to add that you can substitute plain (wheat) flour - the rice flour is suppose to make a lighter result)

100g ground almonds

2tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

75g cold, cubed unsalted butter

200g sieved icing sugar

finely grated zest of 1 orange

1tbs freshly squeezed orange juice

a little grated orange zest for the top

You also need a 12-hole muffin tray and 12 x cup cake cases 5cm in diameter and 3.8cm high.

Preheat oven to 180F/350F.gas mark 4.

Whisk the eggs and sugar in a large mixing bowl for 5 minutes until pale and quadrupled in volume. Add the grated butternut squash and orange zest, and whisk again. Mix in the flour, ground almonds, baking powder and salt, along with the orange juice, until they are well introduced.

Spoon the mixture into the cupcake cases, aiming for it to come four fifths of the way up each case. Place in the oven for 20 minutes until risen and cooked. don't be alarmed that they are flat on the top rather than dome shaped. Cool in the tin for 15 minutes, before refrigerating until cool enough to ice.

While the cupcakes are cooling, make the icing. Whisk the butter in a large mixing bowl with an electric whisk until pale and fluffy before adding 100g of the icing sugar. Whisk again to incorporate the sugar. Add the orange zest and juice, as well as the remaining sugar. Beat once again to combine. Refrigerate until the cupcakes are cool and ready to ice.

Ice when the cupcakes are cold with the help of a small knife or spatula.

*******

Harry says to be very precise about quantities, whisking times and cupcake case volumes. So I really did whisk the eggs and sugar for 5 minutes (I timed it!) and to be honest they were finished doing their pale quadrupling thing after about two. She also says to grate the vegetables as finely as possible so I used a fine Micro-plane grater and nearly gave myself a heart attack in the process. It took ages and my arm nearly fell off (perhaps the grater is blunt - but I thought that wasn't supposed to happen). I really need to get a food processor.

They're sitting on a cooling rack now, and they won't be going in the fridge because there's no room! To be honest, I didn't actually want to make cupcakes, just a sponge cake, but I had the squash and most of the 'big' cake recipes use grated courgette which I didn't have at the moment. So it was a compromise, but not a particularly grudging one :¬) Oh, and I'm not going to ice them either (and if I did, I'd use a water icing).

I shall feed one to Mr G later and see if he survives...

30-05-10 The Verdict:

The sponge is very moist (I found it too moist yesterday but better today) and this makes me wonder how well the cakes would keep. As I said I didn't ice them and I think this was a good move because despite the sugar having been reduced in the recipe (to take the sweetness of the vegetable into account), we found them too sweet. I think next time I'd only use 140g sugar and see if that is any better. The sponge was also very orange in colour and tased orangey enough for me, but Mr G would have liked a bit more flavour. i also thought that they'd go well with a dollop of sour cream or creme fraiche to cut the sweetness.

All in all, I think I will certainly have a go at more recipies from this book, but I need to sort out my grater first!

ps. If you speak Weight Watchers (I love this phrase and I stole if from The Girl - I hope she doesn't mind), this next sentence will mean something to you, the rest of you, look away now please...

I pointed the sponge and it's 4 points a cupcake. I also worked out what a 'normal' home made sponge cupcake would be and the answer came to 6. So it seems there is some saving, although 4 still seems rather a lot to me. But then you add the buttercream and it all goes downhill...

Shearwater times two!

Right. Foof! I think finally feel ready to to make a verdict on the Shearwater Kaftan. But first, I'll tell you what I did.

As you already know, I finally took the plunge and bought a copy of the pattern which arrived on Monday. And as I mentioned on Tuesday, I worked out some measurements of the finished garment, and ended up feeling like I might still have to add some width.

The pattern comes double sided on A3 sheets (you can se them here) so you need to join parts together and trace them off. This went fine and the finished pattern pieces looked promisingly large (I worked on the XL size, by the way). I nearly threw caution to the wind and used some Heather Ross's Far Far Away, but I had last minute doubts and got the Bomull out instead.

I also compared my finished Simplicity 2599 top to the kaftan pattern pieces. They were the same size - which gave me a modicum of hope - but then the 2599 has darts so it wasn't really an even game.

Anyway, on Tuesday I made up the Bomull version of the kaftan exactly to the pattern pieces as they come; no lengthening or widening malarkey. The pattern is simplicity itself and you could easily knock one up in a couple of hours. The instructions are also more than comprehensive, making this an ideal beginners' pattern, and I really appreciate the fact that you sew the arms in before you sew the side seams because somehow I have a bit of a brain block when it comes to putting in finished sleeves.

The only (very minor) things I did differently were these:

• I already had some Bomull bias binding cut so I used that instead of cutting what the pattern specified (I think mine was about 1/4" narrower)
• I sewed the bias turning by hand instead of top stitching it
• I used 1" turnings on the sleeves and hem - the pattern specifies 3/4"
• I didn't make sleeve loops
• I haven't yet, but I'm going to add a little button and loop to the top of the neck - not for wearing but for keeping on a hangar. Tunics are buggers to keep hung up!

Here's the result:

It just about fits when I have nothing on underneath. No, let's be honest, it's too small. Only just, but too small. It's bearably fine when it's on and I'm not moving, but I definitely feel the tightness when I pull it over my shoulder blades to get it on or off. I also tried it on with a vest top and it was too snug. I've come to the conclusion that I must have a wide back (or badly rounded shoulders!) because it immediately felt tight across my shoulder blades if I held my arms forward. I also measured the finished top from underarm to underarm and found that it was 22 7/8" (that's 1 1/4" wider than I worked out so perhaps my seam allowances weren't wide enough, but probably just as well!).

Interestingly, if you Google "cup size" you find that the average UK bra cup is a C or a D (and in Australia apparently it's a DD!), so it is a shame that the top doesn't appear to take this into account (in my email conversation with Toni from Make It Perfect, she said she was confident I would have plenty of give despite my C-cup). I think I must also conclude that the girl modelling the top on the pattern must either be completely flat chested or be wearing a larger size.

Another (but minor) fitting problem was that I found the sleeves far too short - I think I'd add at least another 2" if not 2 1/2", but then I am tall and I do like my sleeves quite long.

Waaaaay too short!

So that was Shearwater #1. I like the style, it made up in a trice and it's just about wearable, but needs longer sleeves and probably an inch adding across the front and back...

... and then I slept on it, all ready to make a Shearwater #2 yesterday morning by adding some more width. And in the middle of the night I had a better idea. The Simplicity 2599 pattern and the Shearwater pattern might fit together in the bust/armhole region, so what if I combined them and used the dart from the 2599 in the Shearwater front instead? 

So I overlaid the Shearwater front on the 2599 front, and initially it looked easy enough. But there is more of a curved 'waist' to the Shearwater than the 2599, and I couldn't work out how to resolve it, and I lost my nerve. So what to do next?

Teach myself how to add darts. Which explains why this post is enormously long (and and why it will probably be late too!).

I found a variety of sources on the internet which all came together to give me a mild case of education. These were:

http://patternsthatfityou.com/Frdartcl.htm http://sewing.about.com/od/techniques/ss/sewingdarts.htm  http://thesewingdivas.wordpress.com/2009/06/27/use-darts-to-create-sheath-dress-drama/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?hl=en&v=9KPGnr4AyBA&gl=US

http://www.sewingconnection.com/darts.htm http://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_c/c-228.html

This last one was by far the most useful but the others provided some background info and confidence.

So following the instructions at Sewing Connection, I added a dart. (Three things to mention about the following photos: firstly some of them are poor quality so apologies - hopefully you will still get the gist of things, secondly I've put them in this post on the smallish size because I'm afraid Typepad might hate me if I put them all in large, and finally, they should all open up to full size if you double click on them).

Here's the Shearwater front traced off onto greaseproof paper:

Standing in front of a mirror, I measured down from the top of my shoulder to my point-of-bust. That came to 12" and I marked it on the pattern, taking seam allowances into account.Sewing Connection's line appeared to run parallel with the centre front, so I went with that.

Their instructions then show a downward angled line drawn from the point-of-bust to the side seam, but they don't say why or what the angle should be, so I had a look at the 2599 dart. This uses a line which is parallel to the hem so I decided to take my cue from that. (And from point-of-bust to centre front you draw a line perpendicular to the CF).

And then I cut it. Yikes!

 

I put a piece of greaseproof paper underneath and lined up the centre front. Then I lowered the bottom half of the pattern by 1 1/2" which is what Sewing Connection recommend for a C-cup.

 

Having done that, I marked a point 1" to the left of the point-of-bust and drew a line from this to the side seam corner of the bottom half of the pattern.

Here again I found Sewing Connection's instructions and diagram a little vague - it doesn't clearly say which point exactly to draw the line to, but this corner seemed to make the most sense.

Now it was time to fold the lower dart line to meet the upper dart line. I fought with this a bit because I was initially trying to do both folds (and a centre fold) at the same time, but things worked better once I had creased each line separately. After they were folded together, I cut off the excess paper following the line of the original side seam. There was a bit of a mismatch aligning up the side seam lines but as they were only about 1/4" out I fudged it.

Compared to the 2599 dart, my dart is shallower by about 1/2" and I wondered if it would be ok. Trying to hold the pattern piece up against me didn't work so I put on the Bomull Shearwater and tried to pinch a similar dart in the fabric. This seemed to be alright, so I decided to leave it at that for a first attempt.

Intermediate conclusion: I really need to buy some books on pattern cutting!

So then I made up Shearwater #2. I probably didn't do myself any favours by using a synthetic muslin-y fabric but I'd run out of Bomull, and I wanted something with a bit of drape. As well as the dart, I also added an inch across the back for good measure, lengthened the sleeves by 3" and tapered them in by about 1 1/2" from half way down..

The darts turned out to go too far into the front (forgot to take of photo but it really did look ridiculous!) so I moved the point-of-bust towards the side seam by 1 1/4" and resewed them.

Here's the result...

I've got to say I love this fabric even though it was sold to me as cotton, frays as soon as you look at it, and it is a complete pig to hold still (I starched it to within an inch of it's life before I started cutting and that helped quite a bit).

Hmmm, not very smiley today am I?

The sleeve changes worked really well although you can't really see them in this photo. The sleeve hem now lies just above my knuckles and because I lost 3" in total from each 'cuff', I don't feel as swamped by fabric as with the Bomull version.

However...

... it's still too small! Gah! The bust fits better thanks to the dart but it is still too tight across the back. Double gah! Again, I can get it on (and just about off) but I can't say I feel comfortable moving in it, and because of the nature of the fabric, I am rather afraid that any sudden arm movements might cause a tear somewhere.

Just for comparison, here's a photo of the (very un-ironed) linen hoodie which I got from the Gap years ago:

This is a women's large and measures 25 1/2" from armhole to armhole. I like the fit of this and although it is much wider than the Shearwater, I find it doesn't make me look like I'm wearing a sack - probably because of the weight of the linen.

On second thoughts, it probably doesn't make much sense to show you this without showing me in it - after all, this whole escapade is about fit. Look, I even ironed it for you.

Blimey, it is blindingly white, isn't it?

So, a grand finale and conclusion? Not entirely. If I lose 10kg (fingers crossed) I think I can expect the Shearwaters #1 and #2 to be fine, but if I don't, then I still need to find a satisfactory ending. But the thing about tunics is that, as the Gap jobbie proves, it doesn't matter if they are a bit too big, so I think I will keep looking anyway.

It is a lovely pattern but I need to properly learn how to add darts and size up pattern pieces. If you're a smaller size than I am, but have more than a B-cup, you might find that just making the top up a size larger will be adequate, but otherwise you may have to resort to either enlarging the pattern or giving up and looking for an alternative. In fact.... no, that had better be another post.

I would really love to hear of any similar experiences that you have had - either with the Shearwater or just finding the perfect tunic, so get in touch!

And the Stop Press! news is that my usually crappy library has a copy of The Dressmaker's Technique Bible: A Complete Guide to Fashion Sewing Techniques by Lorna Knight so I will have a good look at that before the next attempt at darts.

Simplicity top interlude

Hello.

There's been a slight change of plan. Not that you'd know it. Yesterday, I started writing a post about the Shearwater kaftan and the plan was to finish that and get it published today. That might still happen, but in the middile of the night I had what seemed like a better idea. To tell you about the Simplicity top I made over the weekend. I think that might help when I come to tell you about the kaftan.

During the crazy top sewing month that was Spring Top Week, it seemed that a lot of people were using the Simplicity 2599 pattern, and I started thinking I would like it too. It's very simple and basic, but all the better for showing off lovely prints, which was what got me on to it.

So a couple of weeks ago I ordered it from my LFS and then it sat in my pattern stash while I wondered which model to make and what to use. Well, I plumped for some Bomull of course, and ended up doing the roses-round-the-neck-plus-sleeves version (which is left, middle row in the image).

I made the top. I made some roses. I haven't managed to get the two together yet because I want to stick them in a dye bath first, but here they are waiting for eachother.

(I bias bound the neck instead of using a facing)

(I made six roses in three different sizes instead of all the same size)

The top was a doddle to make and I really liked the fact that you get three different front pattern pieces to choose from depending on your bust size. Strangely, I remember someone commenting during Spring Top Week that they found this very confusing but I really don't know why. Anyway, I almost got cold feet half way through making it because I was worried I was going to end up looking like a dowdy Eighties secretary, but fortunately it didn't turn out that way.

The top calls for a back slit with a loop and button, and I did this, but I found that I could get it on over my head quite easily without opening the button, so I might leave that off next time, or at least make the slit shorter. I also thought that I might also make a dress length version somewhen; it's a nicely versatile pattern.

Once I get the dye action going, I'll post a photo of the finished top but for now, you'll have to make do with this.

Sorry, couldn't sort the contrast out on this photo at all, but it makes me look slimmer than I have done for ages so I can't say I mind   ;¬)

Now, Shearwaters, where was I...?

Another Shearwater kaftan update

Good moaning!

My Shearwater Kaftan pattern arrived in the post yesterday from Buttonberry and I thought that the most useful thing to do would be to work out finished garment sizes. So I measured across the back and front pattern pieces (effectively armhole to armhole), took off the seam allowances, and came up with some figures.

Thought this might be useful to some of you too, so here are my results...

 

(I did them in a lovely nerdy Excel spreadsheet so if anyone wants the full info, just let me know)

Those figures in the 'average' column represent the dimension you would get if you laid the finished garment flat and measured armhole to armhole. Remember there are no darts in this pattern so try to avoid a Muslin Drama if you can! Based on these results, I think I may still have to do some widening.

Also, the pattern includes a waist - what I mean is, it's not straight down from the armholes. This might be something else you need to take into account.

I also just wanted to mention that the pattern comes printed on both sides of A3 sheets, so you will definitely need to do some tracing  off and joining together. But other than that, at an initial glance, everything looks more than comprehensive.

 

Today I shall trace the pattern pieces off and see how everything looks. Might do a bit more measuring too. Anyhoo, I'll let you know how things go.

Amigurumi

Hello. Here's the first of my First Impression reviews, which I hope you'll find useful.

I really can't remember how I got into amigurumi but sometime last year I must have been wondering what to do with my stash of yarn that would be small and quick, and wouldn't be baby bootees. So perhaps I just stumbled across them in the middle of some random follow-that-link type blog browsing. And then I found this book...

title: Amigurumi (from the Kyuuto! Japanese Crafts series)

author: Tomoko Takamori

ISBN: 9780811860826

Amigurumi (pronounced ama-goo-roomi) seem to be all over the crochet magazines at the moment. Little crocheted animals that are more mascot than toy (and probably therefore unsuitable for young children unless as a mobile perhaps). There is definitely a Japanese character to these compared to traditional crocheted animals, and I can easily imagine the Japanese, with their love of all things small and cute, to really go crazy over them.

This is a thin-ish paperback containing 19 patterns for crochet animals, bears, cats, an elephant, a duck... All the standard childrens' toy species are in there, with the odd quirky one thrown in too.

The book is divided into three sections: an introduction, a photo section showcasing all the finished patterns and the patterns themselves.

Introduction

This  has information on yarns and other materials, how to attach eyes and decorate the face, how to crochet single crochet and an explanation of how the diagrams work. The patterns only require single crochet and they are all done by diagram so would be great for a beginner. The patterns look like this...

...which I think is much easier to follow than standard crochet abbreviations.

There is also a four page tutorial which works stage by stage through the making of one of the small bears featured on the cover, so that gives it another tick in a beginner's favour.

Photo showcase

A section of cute and inspiring photos of all the patterns printed on glossy paper. Not much more to say about that! The photos are styled of course, but you can still clearly see the finished animal, such as these...

Patterns

The pattern section comprises a double page spread on each animal specifying the type of yarn required and what size crochet hook, a list of other materials, some project-specific tips, the pattern itself and nicely hand drawn diagrams which show how to assemble the animal. I particularly like the fact that they tell you exactly where to place limbs, ears etc.

This section of the book is distinguished from the rest by being in black and white, and is printed on cream matt paper, which makes it a bit easier to flick straight to the patterns if that's where you want to go.

My first impression

I like this book and I'd recommend it. I have been crocheting for years but nothing more than flat blankets and the like, so I find it provides a nice and easy introduction into something a bit more complicated. The projects are pretty simple and straightforward but would still make excellent gifts. The photos are nicely presented, there is a good range of animals to try, and it is very beginner friendly. Also the contents page provides page numbers for both the photo and the pattern next to each other so there is no flipping back and forth trying to locate something - a very handy touch.

The only criticism I can make is that the information on yarn is brief and could have been more detailed. The book is translated from an original Japanese version so perhaps it is difficult to be more specific about yarn types. The patterns specify yarn in terms of weight (fine, medium, heavy etc) which will probably be fine with a bit of trial and error if you have some experience, but could make you a bit unsure if this was a first crochet project. Also there is no mention on how different yarns behave - how, for example, wool has some stretch whereas cotton doesn't, and how this will affect the finished piece.

I have made two projects from the book so far, a small bear and a jackrabbit...

(the rabbit still needs some whiskers!)

I used a mercerised cotton somewhere between 4ply and DK, and both patterns came out slimmer than shown in the book; I think I would have had a better result if I'd used wool. Also, as you can see from the rabbit's paws, decreases are a bit unsubtle in the cotton yarn because there's no give. The bear took me an evening of simultaneous crocheting and telly watching so you could easily knock up a load of these for a school fete or giveaway.

I also got myself some chenille yarn to make some fluffy animals (there's a lovely stripy cat pattern I'd like to try) but I just can't use it! I do a foundation chain and then I can't see the loops in all that fluff. If anyone has any tips on how to get round that problem, I'd love to hear them.

By the way, at time of posting, the Amazon listing has a Look Inside feature enabled so you can see more images of the book if you head over there.

Nectarine cake

Hello again. I haven't done a cake post for ages. I had thought to do one every Saturday (which is frequently Cakeday here at StashAvalanche Towers) but if I came up with the same old yogurt cake every week  (which I pretty much do because I could eat it nearly forever) you'd soon leave me for a more inspiring blogger.

But for a change, and to celebrate the appearance of nectarines at Lidl, I made a nectarine cake this afternoon. I wanted to make this yesterday but things were a bit mad and I didn't have time.

A long while ago I bought The Book of Jewish Food by Claudia Roden (ISBN 0670802387) and found a recipe for Swetschkenkuchen which is a cross between a cake and a tart topped with plums. Swetschke, as far as I can work out, is the German name for Damson but perhaps an anglo-german botanist can put me right on that one. So. Damson cake.

I've never been that into cooked plums so I mostly make this with nectarines but you can pretty much use anything. I've also tried apricots (better than nectarines but more expensive), bananas (no acidity so failed for me), grapes (nice but didn't really taste of anything specific), gooseberries (good) and frozen mixed berries (good). I have a vague feeling I might have also tried rhubarb, but I can't remember how it turned out.

I managed to drop a punnet of nectarines on the floor yesterday while trying to get them into the fruit bowl so I thought I should do something with them before the bruising made them uninviting, even though they could do with a few days to develop some flavour (the hope here was that by cooking them, they might actually taste nectarine-y). I made double quantity because I wanted to use the whole punnet, and threw in some grapes and a chopped up apple, so it was nearly fruit salad cake, but as I said you can pretty much make your own variation. And although the fruit was under-ripe and therefore didn't soften a great deal, it turned out ok. Definitely edible, as Mr G would say..

Along with the versatility of the cake flavours, this is so easy and quick to throw together that before I'd 'invented' my yoghurt cake, this was our standard Saturday cake.

*******

Here's the recipe direct from the book:

Swetschkenkuchen (aka Plum tart) - The Book of Jewish Food by Claudia Roden

125g (4.5oz) caster sugar

175g (6oz) self-raising flour (or plain flour mixed with half a teaspoon baking powder

75g (3oz) unsalted butter, cold

1 small egg, beaten

1 tablespoon cognac

750g (1.5 lb) pitted plums

icing sugar

Mix half of the sugar with the flour. Cut the cold butter into pieces and rub it into the butter and sugar. Then mix in the egg (remove half the white if you only have a large egg) and cognac, and work briefly with your hand - just enough to bind the pasty together - adding a little flour if it is too sticky. Take lumps of pastry and press into a 25cm (10") baking tray or tart pan. Arrange the fruit on the tray tightly packed cut side up on top of the pastry, and sprinkle with the remaining sugar. Bake in a preheated oven (375 Fahrenheit, 190 Centigrade, gas mark 5) for 50 minutes or until the pastry is golden and the plums are very soft. The sugar draws out the plum juices which run into the pastry and make it rise up between the plums so that these are embedded in the light pastry. Serve hot or cold sprinkled with icing sugar.

*******

I usually have quite a wet mixture because I buy medium eggs and it seems rather stupid to throw out half the egg white, and also because my 'tablespoon' of cognac usually ends up being a good splosh. So to flatten it in the pan, I dollop it in and then sprinkle it with ground almonds (a couple of tablespoons to start) and then gently press it out with my fingers. If it starts sticking again, I just add a bit more ground almonds. You could also use crushed sponge fingers or even flour (but I think you might get a strange floury goo if you used a lot). Don't forget, by the way, that the alcohol in the cognac will evaporate in the oven, so it will be fine for kids if you worry about that sort of thing. Alternatively you could use milk and a bit of vanilla extract. The key to getting a good result is to make sure the fruit makes lots of juice which in turn will do it's thing in the pastry, so I find too hot an oven doesn't work (fruit dries out) and pricking any berry type fruit helps.

I used 9 nectarines for the cake I made today, and I chopped them up because they were too green to get off the stone in nice segments, but otherwise I would cut the fruit into quarters or eights and arrange them in fancy circles. It's a bit hit and miss knowing how much fruit to use; with nectarines 3 to 4 will probably to you for the recipe quoted above. You could also glaze the finished cake with apricot jam (good for making a simple cake look fancy when you want to take a present to someone) or add a crumble topping (but I'm not a big crumble-on-cake fan).

This cake is best eaten on the day it's made. The (what Claudia Roden calls) pastry is more like a dry-ish sponge and it quickly loses it's moisture; it gets more like a crumbly biscuit if you keep it a day or two. But either way, it's delicious, and whilst cake for breakfast is not really something I do, it is one cake that I definitely eat without hesitation (if there's any left over, that is).

Yum!

First impressions

I was going to call the next four posts Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed and Something By Heather Ross but I realised that if anyone arrived at the individual pages from out in the ether they wouldn't have a clue what the post was about. So, a much less ambiguous title.

I mentioned a while ago that I was waiting for a flower crochet book which I had reserved at the library, and yesterday I had a bit of a mad (but thankfully restrained) spending spree in Waterstones and bought myself two new crafting books. Coupled with comments from some of you on the May Giveaway post that you liked hearing about my sewing experiences before getting stuck in yourselves, I thought you might like some reviews.

So to overwhelm you completely right from the start (well, you know me, there's nothing like a good old frenzy), I have four books already. I'll do a post on each, and if you want to search for them later, I'm going to put them in a 'First Impressions' category.

And these will be first impressions only, unless it is a book that I've had for a while. I think you only get a really solid idea of what a book is like if you read it in detail, or do a project, and as the new books will be hot from the bookshop, that's going to be unlikely. So think of the review like this: either I've seen the book mentioned somewhere like a blog or magazine, or I've been browsing at the bookshop and thought 'that looks interesting'. And I've had a look, and decided it looks interesting enough to spend money on. So that's a first positive tick in a box.

And then I'll get home all excited, and leap on to the sofa with my new book and a big cup of tea for a proper browse. And after that, it will be First Impressions time. A does-it-look-as-good-as-I-thought-it-did-in-the-shop, does-the-layout-appeal-to-me, does-it-appear-to-provide-what-I-thought-it-was-going-to-provide initial review which I hope will help you make you mind up if you are thinking of buying, or which you might want to comment on and say what you think if you have it already.

I'm going to try to stick to books only. I seem to burble on quite enough about sewing patterns as I sew that I don't really think you need a 'proper' review as well, and with other crafts, well, let's see how things go.

By the way, I have to say I'm not very keen on blog posts that say, 'and now, I want to hear what you have to say!' in a demanding kind of way (and naming no names!). I often feel these types of posts leave a kind of yawning gap or akward silence in a previously comfortable conversation. It's a bit like going to a talk and the speakers asking for questions at the end of their presentations only to be faced with a deadly silence, and the moderator gets up and says something along the lines of 'oh come on, somebody must have a question!'.

So I am not going to demand comments, but I am going to say please do feel free to chip in, if you agree with me, if you don't agree with me, or if you just feel like saying hello, I've got that too.

Does that sound like a reasonably good idea?

Here's a clue then for the first First Impression...

Desperately seeking...

Hello. Wow, we're having summer in Ireland today. It's pretty certain that the rest of the year will be pants, but late spring seems to be the best time of the year here. It's shorts and barbeques and sunburn all round!

Today I'm wondering if you can help me. See, I was doing some gratuitious blog browsing and I came across this lovely bag on a US blog, Simply Vintage Girl, and I completely fell in love with the fabric.

(It's a much brighter green in the bag photo, and I'm hoping it's a brighter green in real life too!)

SVG said she got it at JoAnns  but of course we don't have JoAnns in Ireland. And when I sent JoAnns an email asking what it was they said it was store policy not to provide this sort of information. How customer friendly! I also asked SVG if it said anything on the selvedge but she didn't reply at all!

So I am hoping you lovely people out there might be able to help me.

Here's what I've been able to find out: it's an Alexander Henry fabric (but I can't find it on their website), and SVG got it in the Keepsake Calico section of JoAnns.

What I would like to know is this - does anyone know where I can get this on-line? The shop would have to do international delivery because the chances of this being available in Ireland are so remote as to be a gauranteed no. I have been looking, believe me, but it's either out of print or no-one I can think of sells it. 

So, does anyone have any leads?

My fingers are crossed (and all international variations). Happy Saturday!

May Giveaway winner YAY!

Thank you everyone for dropping by during May Giveaway week and leaving lots of comments. 162 comments to be exact! Lovely to hear from you all!

Also, a big thank you to Sew, Mama, Sew! for organising the whole thing. It was really exciting, and my first giveaway too - and I'll definitely be doing both again. 

Now. Down to business and over to random.org. Did you know they're based at Trinity College in Dublin? Well, neither did I!  
 
Anyway, I put in the numbers and...


... comment number 24 was from Annette who said...


Congratulations Annette, I'll be in touch very shortly.

What the postman brought...

Did I tell you I did a bit of gratuitous internet shopping a few weeks ago? Well, following the lovely green fabrics which Hawthorn Threads sent me a few days ago, I got another delivery this morning. Two envelopes in fact!
 
Firstly, my Onion pattern arrived. This is the first one I've had from them, and I've only had a quick glance so all I can tell you at the moment is that the pattern itself is printed on nice solid paper all ready to be traced off. I am becoming more and more convinced that these types of patterns are the better option (as opposed to the thin tissue ones you cut). Of course, they create more work but you get much more opportunity for tweaking (even if it is only the simple stuff like adding a bit of length or flare) and you always have a good copy to go back to if you want to make one in another size or whatever. And either way, if you cut the original or use greaseproof paper (cheaper and and easier to get hold of than 'proper' tracing paper), you still get a more robust pattern than the flimsy tissue stuff which tears as soon as you look at it!

Anyway, back to the pattern. It's their Uniformsjakke, which I would translate as Military Jacket (or literally, Uniform Jacket).



I have a couple of jackets in this style and I feel they suit me much better than the standard jacket-with-lapels. I'm going to do a trial run with Ikea fabric (no surprise there), so I'll let you know how it goes.

By the way, if you haven't come across them before (I only discovered them a couple of months ago), Onion are from Denmark and have quite a large range of patterns for women and children (they also sell a bit of fabric and haberdashery). Their patterns come in Danish but a lot have English version instructions as well, which you download from their site when you order the pattern. You can even search specifically for patterns with English instructions which is pretty thoughtful of them. I haven't actually looked at mine yet, but I'll do a whole pattern feedback post once the jacket is done (not quite sure when that will be yet, though).

I suppose the only slight negative thing is that the pattern took nearly 3 weeks to arrive, which for Denmark to Ireland seems rather excessive, but that cold be due to a whole host of reasons, so I'm not going to moan at Onion for it. 


The other very exciting envelope contained some Nani Iro fabric. The same fabric that Make It Perfect used for their Shearwater Kaftan. Oops! Was that very bad of me...? Ok, I suppose you're right, but what the hell, I bought it anyway! [edit 24-05-10 Double oops! How embarassing! It isn't the Shearwater kaftan fabric at all, but it is Nani Iro. No wonder it looked a bit paler than the Shearwater photo! Doh!]

Here it is, on that StashAvalanche photo prop staple, the washing line.



It's a lot paler than in Make It Perfect's pattern cover image - I went for the white colourway and MIP's looks like the cream version to me - but on the whole, I think I prefer these slightly more muted colours. Anyway, the fabric came from an Etsy seller based in Tokyo called Matatabi and arrived in record time. She also sent me that little fat quarter-ish piece of pink (as a sample! how generous!) that you can see in the photo, and that's Nani Iro too. Even better, both these fabrics, and the cream and blue colourways of the Shearwater fabric (which looks like it's called Fuccra), are still available in Matatabi's shop in the Nani Iro 2010 section if you want some.

It's a double muslin and was pretty stiff when it arrived but softened up quite nicely after washing. Although for comparison's sake, I should say it's not as soft as the Heather Ross Far Far Away double muslins I have. I will be very interested to see how it sews up once I find a tunic pattern I'm happy with.

Finally, be sure to drop by tomorrow for the winner of the May Giveaway extravaganza. My first giveaway and I'm really rather excited.

Happy Thursday!