Reshaping (Blocking) Needlepoint Canvases

My first great crafting love was, and probably still is needlepoint; though we parted company for a good few years and it's taken the introduction of it to the 12yo to remind me.  I learnt as a very young child and, having taught the 12yo am truly impressed with the patience on my Mother and Grandmother! When caught up in a project, I find it utterly addictive, soothing and satisfying, and especially good (and more sociable than sewing) when curled up on the sofa in the evenings.  With all the big sewing projects the last couple of years, I have not had the time to risk being diverted, but as this year's big sewing project is continuing to prove problematic, a diversion was exactly what I needed.  I have on the long-term "to do" list an idea that one day I will have sofas full of mis-matched, handmade and much loved cushions.  This is the first of the handmades, care of the extremely clever Emily Peacock and Kirsty Allsop's Craft: a tin of Sardines!  Having not had access to the wools recommended, I took liberties both with the colours (Anchor substitutions done by sight) and, as I found out right at the end of the project, the pattern as my printer rendered a third of the sardine's spots invisible!

Back in Hong Kong, where I learnt to love needlepoint, Mum and Nan made cushion tops all the time and off they went to the cushion making man and came back beautifully stretched and sewn into cushions.  A quick Google and I rapidly decided that, as a) I can make cushions and b) stretching a canvas couldn't be that difficult, £52+ was a ridiculous amount of money to spend on a similar service.  One quick read of a couple of Needlepoint Blocking 101 pages later, a scrubble round the draw for some tacks and a beg of the boyf to find me a piece of wood and I took my first stab at stretching a canvas.  It really is very easy to do and a good thing too as my second project is, literally, in hand!

I soaked the canvas lightly (it should be wet through but not utterly drenched) in warm water and rolled it immediately, and quite tightly, in a towel, to draw out the water: being careful not to rub or disturb the wool.  I then left it to rest for 5-10 minutes while I prepared the board.

You can, or course, buy boards but I wasn't going to spend the money on what might be my first and only attempt at this.  I also read suggestions that the board should be covered with fabric but this one was entirely smooth and I could not see the benefit in doing that.  I decided to keep is simple.  On my board I marked out a grid in pencil.  No great thought was put into it, the squares were the width of the ruler, they were simply there as a guide when eyeing everything up.

And then, with the help of the lovely boyf, we pinned.  As all the guides recommend, it is not so much about stretching the canvas to suit a shape, but working it; allowing some areas to ease as others are gently stretched.  It took a couple of goes, the canvas was quite twisted, but I am very pleased with the results.  Now we just have to be patient and wait for it to dry, 3-5 days is recommended.

If the canvas needs further stretching, and it is recommended in severe cases to repeat the process rather than try to force it the first time, then it can be redipped and stretched once completely dry.  I think I will be happy with mine as it is.  Now I just need to brush up on my cushion making techniques as this will be a curved corner, box pillow construction ideally with a zip and I hate zips!  Though the idea of the cushion being steely, sardine tine coloured, grey and a bright red or blue zip for detail does immediately make me smile.  In fact, I think I have just had a good idea... a zip sewn on externally, rather than hidden, with a ribbon detail at either end for neatness.... hmmmm.

The Greenhouse, part 3

Up bright and breezy this morning, I fitted the edging trim to the greenhouse roof.  It's just glued in place with silicone beading to seal the edges.  Later on the boyf installed the windows at the front and either side of the doors.  He then lined the doors with perspex too; only the back wall to do now, but I ran out of paint, it will have to wait.  The front is pretty much complete now, all I have left to do is build my workbench and finish painting inside.

Megan seems to like it in front of the greenhouse, though yesterday as I was smiling at her liking my greenhouse, she was painting herself, she's going to be patchy for a while.

The Greenhouse, part 2

We have fully embraced some Bank Holiday weekend DIY, the lovely boyf and I, and ploughed on with the greenhouse.  Yesterday was spent mostly painting (me) and cutting the wood trim for the windows (lovely boyf), then we waited....  I hung my beautiful Indian mirror, which has been languishing in the garage, and planted out the tomatoes and beans that I was very kindly given this week.

The hanging basket needed to be redone, I'm testing a linen cloth liner... it saved a trip to the shops!

The lovely boyf continued his campaign to bring order to the garage, installing these amazing under counter drawers.  Ok, ok, so the drawers are not that amazing, but what they can hold is!  Gone are the boxes and boxes of muddled up tools, replaced by lots of lovely order :o)

I even managed some sewing, putting the second pair of gussets in in the corset.  It was a lovely, sun-filled and productive day. 

The Greenhouse... my re-purposed dog run

For a while now, I have been planning a little re-purposing.  Megan's old dog run, which is a lovely Dutch Barn shape, was too nice to sit unused and I decided to turn it into a greenhouse.  Well, half a greenhouse, the other side of the roof sits under our elderflower tree and would get so little sunlight that we decided not to mess with it.  The sunny side of the run would be the greenhouse, the shady side will be our log store.

The roof was tongue and groove covered in roofing felt.  A few of weeks ago we peeled the felt back, cut out the tongue and groove, leaving the overhang at the bottom intact for stability, and exposed the beams.  We also removed the wire mesh from the sides and front. I've since painted the beams with black gloss paint and am slowly working round the rest of the building with white.

My original plan was to then insert traditional twinwall polycarbonate panels, but the boyf had a different idea.  He knows a man who can, and ordered made to measure clear polycarbonate panels instead, including a pre-shaped roof panel.  I wasn't sure about the roof panel but changed my mind the instant it went up.  It is glorious, and I love the contrast between its clean starkness and the wood beneath.  The panel rests on the wood overhang and the beams, we fixed it to them by drilling holes through it and nailing it in place with roof cleats.  I say we, I mean the boyf!  Here's a few photos.

What a view :o)

The boyf then set about tidying up the inside for me, hiding the gaps where the insulation was put etc.

I did what any sensible woman does during couples DIY: handed over the tools, found the nails and screws, and tidied up behind him! 

I was certainly dressed the part!

And there's that view again, whilst the panels are still clean and mirror-like shiny new.

I also recycled the last leftovers of our grass into three mats for the floor, prettier than what was there and easy to lift and shake out if they get too grubby.

I'm pulling together a few bits for the workbench too, as much as possible will be recycled. We need wooden trim for the front windows but hopefully they will go in next weekend and the bench can be put up.  I think I may also cover what's left of the felt with something a little nicer... we'll see, but it seems a shame not to as everything else looks so much better.

In the meantime, just outside the greenhouse, the alliums stuck their heads up sometime last week...

Perfect inspiration to grow something equally wonderful inside!

Surprise!! It's a Wine Bottle Cheesecake!

We did it, my co-conspirators and I, we surprised the lovely boyf for his 30th!  It was a risky proposition, the boyf says he doesn't like surprises, and I'd never organised a surprise party before.  We have been planning for months and have had a few gulp moments.  But, even though the game was first given away less than 24 hours after we started (never mind the second, third, fourth and fifth times!), nothing was ever said that gave him too much of a clue and I think he was genuinely delighted.

It could never have happened without a lot of help and plotting (thank you all, you know who you are) and wouldn't have been as successful if it wasn't for all the good folk who were able to attend.  It was a really good gathering of family and friends, old and new, and as much a pleasure to see people meeting and catching up as it was to see the look on the boyf's face when he first walked in. 

Of all the decorative things (the invitation, the large number 30 poster with suitably embarrassing photos etc.) my favourite was the "cake": the result of the latest collaboration between the lovely Mrs B and I.  We have a history of birthday cakes, mainly my mad ideas and her mad skills, and this was no exception.  The boyf is not a fan of cake so the first plan was a cake of cheeses but they are mainly tiered, weddingy, creations and so it needed a little something else.  What better then, for my cheese and wine loving boyf, than a "vintage" all of his very own.

The Wine Bottle Cheesecake

A dozen firm cheeses (plus two for decoration), a 7cm circular cutter, lots of muscle (Mrs B's, not mine!),  a wine bottle long wooden skewer, a sharp knife, four pins, candles, a bunch of grapes and a personalised wine label later... one wine bottle cake.  11 layers formed the bottle, a mixture of deeper flat rounds for stability and some thinner, more interesting, angled layers.  The top layer we cut with the round and then "curved" with a sharp knife. The bottle neck was 5 layers, cut from a single piece of cheese with a knife, using a screw cap from a wine bottle as a template.  We skewered the neck pieces together first and then slowly pushed the skewer down the length of the bottle.  It would probably have been fine without, but we decided to take no chances.  A cheese board base, with a Stilton to hold the candles, a Lancashire Bomb because it's everyones new favourite and some artfully arranged grapes finished it all off nicely.

The lovely Mrs B artistically arranges the grapes!

Surprisingly simple, very effective, and demolished in minutes... so quickly that the boyf never actually got a taste!

imapiece

My #imapiece jigsaw pieces have been on the to-finish list for such a long time.  They started off easily enough, the fabrics are leftovers from quilts that I made for the 11yr old when she was a baby, lined with felt for stability and rigidity.  Blanket stitched together, they then languished at the bottom of the sewing basket waiting for inspiration.  In the end it was far more simple than I had been thinking, three of my favourite words and some decoration care of the 11yr old.  

I have enjoyed making my three pieces and I love popping over to the Craftivist site to see the other pieces that people have been making, there are some truly beautiful ones... I am looking forward to seeing how the final complete "piece" all fits together. 

Silhouette Christmas Cards

Now that they're delivered or on their way, I don't think I'm giving too much away.  In honour of our first Christmas Day in 5 years with the 11yr old, I wanted to play with the idea of the traditional "family grouping" picture; without the festive jumpers and fixed smiles!  In Photoshop I turned photos of my happy band (the 11yr old, Megs, Finn and Rascal) into silhouettes, each wearing a hint of festive and waiting on a present.  Printed on to white card stock and glued to shop-bought A6 cards with a paper trim and 12mm star brad.  I do love this card, it has four of my favourite souls on it.

Finn's Stocking

Well, Finn needed a stocking to go with Megs and Rascal's.  I have tried to tailor them all to fit their personalities, Megan's is girly but refined; Rascal's is pared back and unfussed; and Finn's, a combination of bright blue felt and vintage polka dot and house themed vintage ribbons, is rather more colourful and unexpected - rather like the little man himself.

The only thing is that is that the boyf now needs a new stocking; his "shop-bought" looks a little lack-lustre in comparison to the others. 

The Herbarium, a tutorial of sorts

Thinking about what to get my Dad for Christmas whilst also idly musing about keeping herbs in the kitchen over the winter gave me an idea to make a modern, herby version of a terrarium, a Herbarium.  Now I'm sure most of you don't need a tutorial on how to make a terrarium - especially if you're my age and have fond memories of them from your childhood. Sure, you can debate pebbles, gravel, activated charcoal but they are more a matter of taste I think than  necessity.  As long as there is some drainage and a light, well-draining soil, anyone can make a terrarium.  All that said, I was taking photos as I went along and really loved them, especially of the pebbles, so here it is, my tutorial:

I chose a mix of pebbles and gravel as drainage, both were rinsed thoroughly first in a colander before being layered in a glass vase.  I found a lovely rectangular shaped one in IKEA, a far more modern take on the old skool green bottle terrariums of memory!

I didn't bother with activated charcoal; I don't think it does much in terms of helping with drainage, as long as you don't overwater I think that the double gravel layer works well.  I would expect to refresh the herbarium once every so often to trim roots, replace the soil and at that point clean the gravel and pebbles through.  For the soil layer I chose a fine, well draining soil.  I could have added sand to the mix but I was happy with it as it was.  As it's a winter herbarium I planted sage (sage and chestnut soup, oh yes!), lemon thyme (always) and parsley (a good all-rounder).  You can't overplant otherwise you'll end up with an overgrown mess, hence the basil hovering in the background, but I was happy to put large sage and parsley in as they should be being used regularly and therefore trimmed back.

Yep, I made two, I couldn't resist!  The garden centre grows an amazing selection of herbs in the spring and I plan to refresh them next year with some funky new additions.  My herbarium is now the new centerpiece for dining room table, a perfect accompaniment to dinner.

It's Halloween week :o)

halloween

Definition: a period of time, around the 31st October until the annual G&G Halloween party, when holiday is taken to cook, craft and costume

And you know it's Halloween week when you are hammering in eyelets at 8.15am on a Wednesday morning, visiting Ellis and his blood box at the local fancy dress shop mid afternoon and finishing the day staking shrunken heads and making your boyf a brain! Yesterday was not much quieter, with food shopping, haunted hands and a little DIY, I was still hemming the kirtle at 10pm and today I started on the cooking before I'd got out of my dressing gown.

Eyelets for the Tudor Gown:

It couldn't have gone smoother or quicker, 11 perfect eyelets in less than half an hour.  The double eyelets at the top and bottom of the right hand side stagger the lacings to keep the bodice straight. 

The lacings were temporary until I bought some ribbon later in the day.

The Kirtle hem:

The kirtle was hemmed by hand.  Having done so much handsewing of late I am preferring it to the machine, but the kirtle hem was a surprisingly fiddly and uncomfortable to sew; I hope that the gown hem treats me more kindly.

The Plastron:

The plastron was then pinned to the laced up bodice and the piping pinned in place.  It was then sewn to the top fabric, turned in and the lining handsewn.  The plastron top now perfectly lines up in front of the laced bodice and in line with the kirtle bodice.

Finally, I restrung all the beads and sewed them to the plastron before it is attached to the bodice; photos to follow as i'll sew this on after I've finished the hem.

Lorraine the Brain:

Yes, Lorraine, I blame the 11yr old ;o)

Lorraine is based on this great instructable.  She is the third attempt, it's safe to the boyf and I are not natural brain makers!  Essentially, you deconstruct a baseball cap, paint it brain red, use an acrylic caulk to create your brain and then paint that blood red too.  I also bloodied some bandage - that got some looks, drip drying in the kitchen!

As I couldn't get a cap without an adjuster, I used the brim to cover the gap.

The cupboard:

In amongst all the Halloween stuff, I had a couple of jobs that I also needed to get done.  One of which was the shelf on my "everything fits" cupboard.  We originally took it out as it wouldn't fit with the ironing board in there.  Normally I wouldn't agree with cutting up old bits of furniture but I need the extra space in the cupboard and to fit the ironing board in.  I took the jigsaw to the shelf and cut a ironing board shaped rectangle out of it.  I can't tell you how pleased I am to get all the extra stuff in there (Christmas presents at the moment) and not now have to fight the ironing board to get it in their too!  It's the small things :o)

I will finish off the shelf properly, sand it and stain it.

The to do list for tomorrow night.... decorate, hem the gown, finish the plastron and cook.  I think that's it and lets hope it is because that simple "cook" comprises 12 different dishes... I'd better get back to it!  Pics of everything, hands and heads included to follow, probably not until after the party though if I'm being honest.  Happy Halloween!