Fancy a bit of shopping?

          Are you one of those early shoppers?  With our family we are always thinking of Christmas.  Basically I give each family a home-made gingerbread house.  It’s a good tradition.  But I do like to buy gifts when I know what someone would like.  

          One of the things I like to do is use my sewing skills to make gifts for my family.  Since I’ve finished the crocheting project, I am ready to get my sewing projects organised.  I need to see what materials I have, decide what kind of projects I want to do and then get cutting and sewing.  

          One of my desires is to raise money to buy or refurbish used sewing machines to be used by organisations that train people in developing countries to sew.  Sewing can provide a mother a means to earn a living for her family.  With that in mind, I’ve scanned this advert in the Embrace the Middle East catalogue.  I plan to buy the hand towel and a couple of the cups.  And I might buy the sewing suitcase for a couple of my granddaughters!  

          I wanted to share this with you as a way to support some of the projects that Embrace the Middle East provide.  In the UK, the website is www.embraceme.org/shop. They will deliver overseas, but to get that information you can contact:  For postage rates outside mainland UK, please contact us for a price - either by telephone (01227 811645) or by email to sales@embraceme.org

Sewing lines

            I drew a line on the yellow flannel, walked over to the sewing machine and stitched along the line.  My heart sighed with pleasure and the “I was born to do this” feeling coursed through my being. 

            

           Working with my hands, making things for other people, gives me satisfaction.  My personal belief is that every person is born with an aptitude for some sort of skill, and when he/she goes about doing it, he/she thrives.  It builds confidence, especially as understanding and skill levels grow. 

  

          In this photo I took today, it is illustrating how I approached creating a line-design on this project I am working on.  I like quilted blankets and clothing.  The texture that quilting provides is eye-pleasing and the layers make the garment warmer. 

            This pattern is created by drawing ½ square, (or 2/3 or a triangle).  Then dots are marked at regular intervals along both sides (along the vertical and horizontal line).  Then dots are marked at regular intervals along the vertical and horizontal lines.  The top dot on the vertical line is the beginning of the line that is drawn to the first dot on the horizontal line (closest to the corner).  Then another line is drawn from the second dot down on the vertical line to the second dot on the horizontal line, and repeated until a line has been drawn to all the points. 

         

  

 For this project, the dots were marked at one inch apart.  

            The idea is that these four line patterns represent the corners of a pinwheel.  One the first corner I used chalk to drawn all the line.  But following the crossing lines because confusing—especially as the more I sewed, the more chalk rubbed off, making it difficult to see.  And all the lines were the same colour.  I wasn’t sure I was keeping on the same lines. 

            The second corner I drew the vertical and horizontal lines in the “L” shape.  I also marked the once-inch distance along the lines.  But this time I drew only one line, then sewed it.  This was much easier and much neater.  Plus, I used pink and blue chalk in alternation to make it easier to discern which line was correct.  This was much easier. 

            The last two corners I used coloured pencils, as the line from the pencils are finer and less prone to rub off.  I will tie up all the loose threads and nip them before I wash it. I then use a pre-treatment on the lines before I launder the garment.  

             It isn't clear in the photo, but I've sewing along the lines marked with lavender thread.  

            With this done, I will go back to the baby blanket I’m crocheting.  I love the feeling of a completed project.

Serving Jesus, Author of our faith.

“Lady Helene”

           

           

Double stitching

Pfaff on the left and Frister+Rossmann on the right

                The past couple of weeks my studio/guest room has had the look of a sewing workshop.  That’s because I’ve had two sewing machines set up, using them in turn to make a dress for one of my granddaughters. 

                One model is a Smart manufactured  by Pfaff.  It is made of plastic and has 27 stitch options, plus button hole maker capabilities.  I got it in 2013 from my friend down the street.  She’d had it for over a year and never had it out of the box.  She decided that she was happy for me to buy if from her. 

               The other model is a Cub Twin-Dial manufactured by Frister+Rossmann.  This model is metal with only a straight and zigzag stitches.   I think it must have been made in the 1980’s based on the illustrations on the instruction manual. 

                Here is how I came by the Frister+Rossmann.  “Juliana”, with whom I attend church, will take used books, knickknacks, collectables and clothing in good condition for her favourite charity.  I had books to donate to her and so we scheduled a pick-up.  The day she came, “Juliana” had made a previous stop.  The woman had given “Juliana” a box of clothes, other bits-and-pieces and a sewing machine.  When she told me what it was, I asked her if the machine worked.  I was told that it did.  I asked her how much she wanted for it, as it was to go to the charity shop.  But she gave it to me—and so I told her I would let her know how I got on. 

                After carrying it upstairs I immediately got it out of the fragile cardboard box.  It had everything—which was very exciting.  I discovered that the bobbin-filler spool did not turn, and that the tension was out, as the bottom stitches were looping.  Even when I adjusted the tension the machine did not sew properly.  But those were the only problems with the machine and so I knew a service would set it all straight.

                I rang Mike Brown, who serviced my 1870’s Singer treadle sewing machine.  He came and collected it, bringing it back in ten days.  The repair and service was £51. 

The finished dresss

                I was working on a dress for my granddaughter “Tigger”, using orange thread for the bodice and black for the sleeves and skirt.  It was great fun to sit down and sew without having to change the thread on the machine every time. 

                My next project to sew is a wall-hanging for the Christmas Fayre in November.  I’ve found my design for this appliqué project, but have not picked out the colour and fabrics yet. 

                Tomorrow is a writing day—working on the Missions Prayer Magazine I do for our parish.  But I’ll be pondering over my next sewing project in the back of my mind. 

Serving Jesus, Author of our faith

“Lady Helene”

Sewing class progress

          Today is sunny, which I know will please "Floss".  Over twenty-give years ago on this date, another woman was in labour and giving birth to my youngest step-daughter.  I am grateful that "Floss's" Mom has not been selfish, but willingly shared "Floss" with me.  Happy Birthday Wonderful Girl!
        So, today is the last day of our sewing class.  I shall miss the ladies and learning new skills to improve my sewing.  I must admit, the two-and-a-half hours go speedily each week.  
       The new schedule for classes that begin the middle of January come out today as well.  Great anticipation fills my little heart; as I want to see what comes next!  If possible, I may want to take two classes if I can.  

On the hanger

       Please forgive my vanity in thinking that you might want to see the final product of this class.

       This is a very simple frock; the skills learned in it's making are foundational on which to build.  It's rather like a musician learning to play scales and read music before he/she plays a song, or writes a symphony.  

       What I really like is that the dress actually fits better than most others I've made, because the dress is made to fit my exact measurements.

      Week before last, as I was basting in the sleeves, I showed the instructor my work.  As she inspected, she remarked: "Hurry and get a car!  I want you on my team."  That is so encouraging!

A satisfying fit. 

         There is a hunch that I will be wearing this dress a lot because it is so comfortable and feels flattering. 

        Serving Jesus, Author of our faith,
"Lady Helene"

Gingerbread Village

This autumn, a young man named David came to vist our Church.  His story of escape from Sudan as a young man reminded me of the amazing power of grace, empowerment and redemption.  

David is now in England, obtaining a Masters Degree with the hope of returning to the new nation of South Sudan and working with the government of build a strong infrastructure.  Currently he and friends minister to over 900 children from his home village, which is almost inaccessable.  

My heart was tugged--what could I do to help him?  

The ageless question from thousands of years previous came softly to my mind; "What is that in your hand?"  Like Moses, God puts things into our hands to enable us to affect others positively for the kingdom.  Christmas was coming.  Gingerbread houses...a beautiful thing to make and a lovely way to decorate for Christmas.  My step-daughters had told me I could easily sell lots of them.  So, the plan unfolded in my mind.  Bake a gingerbread village of 10 houses and sell them.  And my current progress? --two houses now assembled, decorated and delivered; with four orders outstanding.  So I'm praying the Lord will help me complete the 10.  

The pre-fab factory is open

I've baked two batches now..which produces between two and three houses.  I'm still figuring out how thick to roll it for the best result.  Getting the roof too thick makes it too heavy for the rest of the little building.  

Oh, and because I had dough left over, I was able to bake one gingerbread man fo the Maverick.  

Jelly beans and smarties!

       All the houses are the same size, but obviously, each one is going to end up unique because of the goodies I put on the outside.  
       Believe it or not, I spent about fifteen to twenty minutes sorting sultanas (raisins made from white grapes) from candied citrus peel and regular raisins.  And sections of chocolate make great windows and doors.  
       I do try to put on a variety of sweets to get different textures, flavours and colours.  

       I found a couple of small tins of tube-shaped biscuits/cookies, to look a bit like logs.  Crispy, light and a nice foil to the intense spice of the ginger. 
 

Fruit jellies and tube-shaped luxery biscuits.

       When royal icing gets thick and heavy, it will slide and look like snow hanging/falling off the house.  It dries pretty hard, and makes it looklike the house is in a snow-laden country. 

Funny, but I get excited to see what each house will look like once it is finished, because I never know when I start.  

Well, I wanted to make a quick post, as more days have passed than I would like between posts.  

The other benefit is that I get to use the oven to warm up the flat a little more than when using the central heating.  

I hope your Christmas preparations are going well.  Now that I've made this posting, I'm going to work on more Christmas presents.  

Serving Jesus, Author of our faith,
"Lady Helene"   

More from the kitchen...

       Life has been a little busy since the first of November...and it's about to get busier.  

Many a year have I walked with My Jesus.  Over and again the principle I've experienced is, the more time I spend with Jesus, meditating on His word, the more I seem to accomplish and the less tired I am in body and mind.  

2011 Christmas Ginger Bread House

On 17th November, St. Mary's Langley held thier annual Christmas Fayre.  Last year I contributed a Gingerbread house.  People were surprised by it, and there were lots of compliments.  The children wanted to eat it.  People paid to "Guess the weight."  The winner, a lovely retired grandmother, gave the edible house away to a young Mum with five children.  Her generosity touched my heart.  

With last year's gingerbread being a hit, I was asked if I would be willing to make gingerbread men this year.  I dug out the recipe, which I found on the internet.  http://www.gingerbread-house-heaven.com/gingerbread-recipe.html 

A Gingerbread Man Army

For a gingerbread house, most people use a paper template and use a dinner knife to cut out the gingerbread.  For gingerbread men a cutter is needed.  I had a tiny one, and I didn't think I wanted to do that much work.  By searching on the internet, I found what I wanted at Robert Dyas http://www.robertdyas.co.uk/  The desired item is a six inch long gingerbread man cutter.  My Darling Husband, aka "The Maverick," was kind enough to go into town and buy it for me whilst I was at work.  A big thank you goes to him.  The batch of dough made 48 gingerbread men, plus scraps.   

I am going to have to find an icing recipe I can use with liquid food colouring, as the liquid makes the royal icing runny.  It also takes longer to set.  Even adding more icing/powdered surgar doesn't make the continuity of the icing stiff enough.  But everyone at the Fayre was very happy with the result and they nearly sold out!  

Notice the steam coming off the loaf?  Its just out of the oven

For my birthday, "The Maverick" kindly went down to the local chippy and bought me fish and chips.  We had discussed going out for dinner, but I was tired after my sewing class and didn't feel like going back out again.  Especially since I had an infection in both ears.  Thankfully it wasn't an inner ear infection.    But on Tuesday, I decided I would cook something a bit different for dinner.  Ingredients:  Fish and potatoes.  Result:  A tuna Loaf with Roast potatoes.   It was a nice twist on a familiar meal.  The recipe is in a Good Housekeeping Cookbook.  If anyone wants the recipe, send me an e-mail and I'll send it.  

We nine with the birthday (fruit) cake.

Early in November, "Jon-David" came over with his family to help us celebrate birthdays: "The Maverick's" is 22 October, mine 19th November.  So on 6th November, I cooked a nice chicken dinner, share with "The Aussie Family"  and "The Colnbrook Crew".   From the expressions on our faces here, we had a grand time.  When "Techphil", "Jon-David" and "The Maverick" get together, teasing and laugther are guarenteed to happen.  And so it was on 6th November.

Okay...this blog isn't going in chronological order.  I'd originally intended to post a couple of photos for the night, with little or no text.  But, hey, once I get started, I just can't help myself!  :-)

Cake before cutting

However, 6th November is related to the next photo.  "Jon-David" brought over a big bag of apples from his dad.  They were lovely, large cooking apples.  I immediately made a crumble--even though we still had birthday cake. 

     With so much going on, the bag of apples sat in the corner, waiting patiently until I could pay them attention.  This past Sunday I had to cook the other apples before they went off.  So I peeled them and got out another recipe.  I used two big ones for this cake:  http://allrecipes.com/recipe/apple-sour-cream-streusel-cake/detail.aspx   

After cutting.

Instead of putting the apple in the middle, I made it like an upside down cake.  

If it seems like I'm doing more baking, then you would be right.  And why?  Because although we keep the heat turned down, baking is a great reason to fire up the oven and stay warm in the kitchen.  :-)  And my husband likes it when I bake.  Tomorrow Flapjack is on the docket.  http://www.lylesgoldensyrup.com/kitchen.php?recipe=62 

This evening I prepared two cottage pies for tomorrow's Alpha Course.  I have applesauce from Sunday's cooking; that will be used in a cake for tomorrow night's dessert.  

So, now that's I've stimulated your appetites, I'll sign off for now.  

Serving Jesus, Author of our faith,
"Lady Helene"