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A Bustle & Sew Publication Copyright © Bustle & Sew Limited 2021 The right of Helen Grimes to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form, or by any means, without the prior written permission of the author, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. Every effort has been made to ensure that all the information in this book is accurate. However, due to differing conditions, tools and individual skills, the publisher cannot be responsible for any injuries, losses and other damages that may result from the use of the information in this book.
First published 2021 by: Bustle & Sew Station House West Cranmore Shepton Mallet BA4 4QP www.bustleandsew.com
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Welcome to the April Magazine Hello everyone! Over the last month I’ve been watching spring slowly unfold around me - we’re always a bit later up here on the Mendips. But now the first fat pink buds on the Magnolia are ready to unfurl, the Horse Chestnuts that guard our pathway are covered in hard green buds that will surely burst in the next few days, and I’ve been super-busy establishing my new vegetable garden - NOT helped by Daisy who will insist on helping with the digging - in all the WRONG places! Spring has arrived in the magazine this month too with lots of projects to enjoy - my favourite I think is the Pocketful of Posies apron, whilst I think my little granddaughter Florence will love the Sleepy Bear Head for her bedroom wall. Easter falls early this month and so of course you’ll find bunnies between this month’s covers too. I hope that you have a lovely Easter Holiday, and that the weather is kind to us here in the UK as we look forward to gathering with friends and family (outside) once more. Very best wishes
Helen xx
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Between this month’s covers … April Almanac
Page 5
Easter Celebrations
Page 49
April Fool’s Day
Page 7
Easter Printables
Page 53
Cherry Blossom Bluebird Hoop
Page 8
Lovely Idea: Bunny Garland
Page 55
Poetry Corner: A Shropshire Lad (exerpt)
Page 10
Sleepy Bear Head
Page 56
Demystifying Pre-cuts
Page 11
The Easter Egg Hunt
Page 59
Sun Dancing
Page 15
Planting a Butterfly Garden
Page 60
Spring Banner
Page 16
Spring Sowing
Page 62
Swallow Day
Page 19
A (very) Little Look at the Tape Measure
Page 63
A (very) Little Look at Auriculas
Page 20
Pea Pod Pin Cushion
Page 64
A Look at Embroidery Scissors
Page 23
Nature Notes: The Cuckoo
Page 66
Hand Stitching Tip
Page 25
Cross Stitch Tip
Page 70
Pocketful of Posies Apron
Page 26
Embroidery Stitch Guide
Page 71
Blossom and Bud: In the Kitchen
Page 30
In the Kitchen: Conversion Tables
Page 72
Olive Garland Bowl Cover
Page 41
Templates
Page 73
Chat with Harriet Campbell
Page 43
Embroidered Bowl Covers
Page 45
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A Shropshire Lad (extract) Loveliest of trees, the cherry now Is hung with bloom along the bough, And stands about the woodland ride Wearing white for Eastertide Now, of my threescore years and ten, Twenty will not come again, And take from seventy springs a score, It only leaves me fifty more. And since to look at things in bloom Fifty springs are little room, About the woodlands I will go To see the cherry hung with snow.
A E Houseman 1896
Demystifying Precuts
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The illustration above is the (digitised) original design which I hope will help you with your stitching and colour placement. The embroidery template is a simpler version of this design, replacing the different shades of blue in the forget-me-nots and yellow and cream in the daisy with variegated floss for easier stitching and less fastening of ends.
Stitching Guide It is very important to keep your work as neat as possible on the back - don’t strand across any long threads as these may well catch as you use the apron. Be sure that you start and finish your threads very securely as your apron is likely to be washed often.
The piece is worked in 3 strands of floss so it will stand out better on a hardworking apron.
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Blossom and Bud
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New Potatoes: Summer is on the Way
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New potatoes have thin, wispy skins and a crisp, waxy texture. They are young potatoes and unlike their fully grown counterparts, they keep their shape once cooked and cut. They are also sweeter because their sugar has not yet converted into starch, and are therefore particularly suited to salads. Jersey Royals are the best known variety, and their appearance in late April heralds the beginning of the
Jersey Royals with Mint and Petits Pois Ingredients
summer. Other varieties include Pentland Javelin and salad potatoes, which are best eaten cold. Choose potatoes with smooth, firm skins. Don’t buy potatoes with a green tinges as these are unfit for eating. Most new potatoes have skins that can be rubbed or scraped off fairly easily. It’s best to buy new potatoes in small quantities and use them up quickly. Allow 175-225g per person.
Pan fried New Potatoes with Parmesan Ingredients
● 3 tbspn olive oil
● 700g small new potatoes
● 900g Jersey Royals, scrubbed and thickly sliced
● Salt and pepper
● 175g frozen petits pois
● 3 tbsns olive oil
● 3 tbsns chopped mint
● 50g Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
● Salt & pepper
Method ● Heat half the olive oil in a large non-stick frying pan, add half of the potatoes and cook for five minutes, turning, until browned on both sides. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. Add the remaining oil to the pan and then brown the rest of the potatoes in the same way. ● Return all the potatoes to the pan and cook, partially covered for a further 10-15 minutes. ● Meanwhile cook the petits pois in a pan of boiling water for 2 minutes then drain well. Add them to the potatoes and cook through for 2-3 minutes. ● Add the chopped mint and salt and pepper to taste, then serve.
Method ● Put the new potatoes into a pan, add cold salted water to cover and bring to the boil. Simmer for about 12 minutes, until just tender. ● Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan, add the new potatoes and cook, tossing occasionally for 5 minutes. ● Stir in the grated Parmesan and cook for a further 2 minutes. Season with pepper to taste and serve straight away.
Spiced Chocolate Custards This is a lovely recipe for Easter, combining as it does my favourite ingredient chocolate with the traditional spices that appear in so many recipes at this time of year. What could be nicer? Just garnish with orange zest for a sophisticated look, or again you could use mini-eggs for a seasonal variation. These amounts make enough for six people.
Ingredients ● 225 ml milk ● 2 crushed cardamom pods ● 1 vanilla pod ● 1 crushed cinnamon stick ● ¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg ● 200 g good quality plain chocolate ● 5 egg yolks ● 140 ml single cream ● Zest of an orange.
Method ● Pour the milk into a pan. Add the spices, bring the milk to boiling point and leave to infuse for a few minutes. Strain and discard the spices. ● Break the chocolate into pieces and add it to the milk. Place over a low heat and stir until the chocolate has melted and blended thoroughly into the milk. ● Add the egg yolks and beat well. ● Continue cooking the mixture on a low heat, stirring continuously until it thickens and becomes creamy. ● Remove from heat and stir occasionally while the mixture is cooling. ● Swirl in the cream and then pour into six small dishes or glasses. ● Sprinkle the orange zest on top to decorate.
Rhubarb and Cinnamon Muffins Ingredients
● 150ml full fat yoghurt
Makes 12.
● 80g butter, melted
● 200 g rhubarb, halved lengthways, then chopped ● 1 tspn ground cinnamon ● 275g plain flour ● 3 tspn baking powder ● 150g sugar
Method ● Preheat oven to 180C/gas mark 4 ● Line a muffin tray with muffin cases. Put the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and sugar in large bowl. ● In another bowl, beat together the egg, milk, yoghurt and butter, and add to the flour mixture. Stir, then add the rhubarb.
● 1 medium egg
● Divide the mixture between the cases and bake for 25 minutes until firm to the touch.
● 100ml milk
● Serve with a dollop of whipped cream.
Easter Celebrations This year Easter falls on Sunday 4 April. The date can fall anytime between March 22 and April 25. It’s calculated by a very ancient formula dating back nearly seventeen hundred years. Easter Day is always the first Sunday after the first Full Moon on or after March 21st (the spring or vernal equinox). If the Full Moon is on a Sunday, Easter Day is on the next Sunday. Whenever Easter falls, we love to celebrate the final ending of winter, in much the same way as
our pagan ancestors who would light great bonfires to mark the return of the sun after a long cold winter. Today our Easter celebrations are the most glorious muddle of ancient pagan traditions and Christian customs. The symbolism of fire is still used in Christian worship at Easter. In Catholic churches on Easter Eve, all candles are extinguished, then the great Paschal candle is lit and from its flame all the other candles are rekindled. The custom of decorating churches with spring flowers and greenery owes more
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than a little to the ancient Celtic practice of tree worship. At the original feast of Eostre, the goddess of spring, eggs were used to represent renewal and new life. Centuries later the Christian church adopted the egg, using it as a potent symbol for the Resurrection. Ancient games like egg-rolling (originally performed to ensure good crops and large families) were reinterpreted so that the egg came to symbolize the rolling away of the stone from the door of Christ’s tomb.
Hens’ eggs can be painted in a naturalistic way to copy the colouring of different species of birds’ eggs. Display them in a basket, on straw or simply in a humble egg box for a lovely rustic effect. But remember eggs coloured with paints rather than edible food dyes should be used for decorative purposes only.
Processions and parades are traditional at Easter time across the world and provide the perfect excuse for dressing up. When hats used to be worn every day rather than reserved for special occasions, then it would have been natural to want to decorate your ordinary bonnet for special occasions. At Easter real spring flowers ribbons and carefully crafted paper flowers were all used to decorate normal headwear. In
parades large and small, at national or village level, prizes were awarded to the best or most highly decorated Easter bonnets. It’s a custom that’s still popular today with everyone from schoolchildren in classroom competitions to adults taking part in the vast Easter parades that take place all over the world. Parades are especially popular in Spain, particularly in Seville or fair ,where the Easter lasts for days on end, and also in Spanish speaking Latin
American countries such as Mexico. As well as flowers all sorts of other decorations may be added to bonnets, such as rabbits or chicks. Rabbits have a special significance at Easter, representing the Easter hare who was the sacred companion of Eostre, the ancient goddess of spring. All over Europe children get up early on Easter Sunday to search for eggs supposedly left by the Easter Hare or Bunny.
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The Egg Hunt Easter wouldn’t be the same in our family (in Rosie’s opinion at least!) without our Easter egg hunt on Easter Sunday morning. We have both chocolate and real eggs in our hunt and when Rosie was little she used to enjoy decorating the hard boiled eggs with felt tip pens or paints. But these days we feel it’s much nicer to use vegetable colour dyes to colour our eggs. Soaking the eggs in vinegar before boiling or adding a spoonful of vinegar to the coloured water does seem to make the egg shell more receptive to the colouring. Onion skins produce the most beautiful deep golden yellow, and if you deliberately wrap some eggs inside the skins you will find beautiful delicate patterns on them when they are cool. Try beetroot juice for pink, moss or birch leaves for green. If you tie a leaf or a tiny branch to an egg with cotton then its outline should remain delicately imprinted upon the egg when you remove the string after the egg has cooled. When it’s time for your hunt, choose one person to be the Easter Bunny and hide the eggs well so that they’re not too easy to find. Use both your hard boiled eggs and an assortment of sweet and chocolate ones too.
The Easter Bunny may need to get up super-early that day to make sure he or she has enough time to hide all the eggs before the family awake and spot what’s going on! Another good idea is to keep your egg shells from previous baking sessions - if you rinse them well they make great containers to keep the smaller eggs safely together. Everyone participating in the hunt will need a container - perhaps an Easter basket they’ve made beforehand, or a small wicker basket or bowl. Nobody must start looking until everyone is ready to begin at the same time. Eggs can be hidden behind bushes, nestled within clumps of daffodils or primroses, in tall glass or perhaps somewhere in an innocent-looking bush or shrub. Be sure to ban any pets from the garden while the hunt is in progress - although they may enjoy the hunt too, chocolate is poisonous to dogs. Very young children are often happy to bring their finds to a large communal basket - and I remember one year that a very clever Easter Bunny managed to secretly re-hide the eggs while the toddlers were still hunting. That was the longest egg hunt ever and do you know, those little ones never even noticed!
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Creating a Butterfly Garden
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Spring Sowing But for this summer’s quick delight Sow marigold, and sow the bright Frail poppy that with noonday dies But wakens to a fresh surprise; Along the pathway stones be set Sweet Alysson and mignonette, That when the full midsummer’s come On scented clumps the bees may hum, Golden Italians, and the wild Black humble-bee alike beguiled: And lovers who have never kissed May sow the cloudy Love-in-Mist. Nor be the little space forgot For herbs to spice the kitchen pot: Mint, pennyroyal, bergamot,
Tarragon and melilot, Dill for witchcraft, prisoners’ rue, Coriander, costmary, Tansy, thyme, Sweet Cicely, Saffron, balm and rosemary That since the Virgin threw her cloak Across it - so say cottage folk Has changed its flowers from white to blue. But have a care that seeds be strewn One night beneath a waxing moon, And pick when the moon is on the wane, Else shall your toil be all in vain.
A (very) Little Guide to Tape Measures
September House Pin Cushion Pattern available from Bustle & Sew store
“Measure once, cut twice” was the mantra drummed into me by my mum and grandma, and for someone who’s notoriously imprecise, this has proved to be invaluable advice over the years. There are plenty of tape measures out there to choose from, and whilst fabric tape measures are still a good budget pick, do be aware that they are prone to stretching over time, whilst most modern tape measures are made of plastic, fibreglass or a coated fabric which are both durable and accurate.
Most tape measures are between 1.5 m (60”) to 3 m (120”) in length, but you can purchase longer ones. A short one is fine for most projects, while a long one is particularly good if you’re interested in patchwork and quilting. Some even have a clever solution so you can use them as though they’re longer than they actually are. Their markings continue on the other side of the tape, so you simply flip them over and continue measuring.
Most European sewing patterns use metric measurements, whilst US ones are generally imperial, so it’s best to get a tape that has both. For accuracy fine marks are used for millimetres and eighths and sixteenths of inches, whilst thick lines or colour coding are used every 10 cm or 12” to indicate feet.
Beyond the basics, there are a few nice extra features available. Some tape measures come in a tin to help keep them tidy, whilst retractable ones stay neat with a simple button press, keeping them always ready for use. Some even have a magnet - great for tidying pins and needles.
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Cross Stitch Cross stitch is probably one of the easiest stitches of all. It may be worked separately, as an open “scattering” or close together to fill an area. It is a geometric stitch and looks best (and neatest) if all the stitches are placed evenly on the background fabric which is why it’s most often worked on even weave fabric. Some of the oldest embroideries in the world have been discovered in the Greek Islands. These are very frequently worked in cross stitch. Cross stitch should be worked so that the second stitch, which forms the X shape is always slanted in the same direction. This makes the stitch very smooth and even.
Leaping Rabbit pattern available instore