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A Bustle & Sew Publication Copyright © Bustle & Sew Limited 2022 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 2022 by: Bustle & Sew Station House West Cranmore Shepton Mallet BA4 4QP www.bustleandsew.com
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Welcome to the February Magazine Hello everyone! Though it’s still cold outside the days are perceptibly longer now and snowdrops are making their appearance, thrusting up through the leaf litter that still carpets the banks and field margins around our house. This month’s edition dares to turn its face towards the new season - at least a little, with patterns that celebrate Valentine’s Day and one of my favourite spring flowers (though I’ll have to wait for it a while yet), the primrose. Recipes will return to the March edition, but in its place we have the first of our new series - A Stitcher’s Alphabet - and I do hope you’ll find it interesting - I know I really enjoyed researching the entries! I hope you enjoy this issue and the March Magazine will be published on Thursday 24 February. Until then I hope you have a lovely month, with lots of time for stitching! Very best wishes
Helen xx
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Between this month’s covers … February Almanac
Page 5
Little Felt Bear
Page 41
The Dawn Chorus
Page 7
A (very) Little History of Valentines Day
Page 45
Couple in Love Hoop
Page 8
Valentine Printables
Page 48
Lovely Idea
Page `12
Tiger Storage Tub
Page 50
Embroidery Tips for Beginners
Page 13
The Primaveral Season
Page 52
Sewing Machine Needles
Page 18
The Art of Mending
Page 53
Flower Power Love Hoop
Page 19
Nature Notes; The Fox
Page 57
Signs of Spring
Page 22
Primrose Cushion
Page 58
A Stitcher’s Alphabet
Page 23
Hedgerows: Refuge and Home
Page 61
Candlemas Day
Page 27
Embroidery Stitch Guide
Page 62
Home Comforts: Beeswax Candles
Page 29
Templates
Page 63
A Winter’s Lane
Page 30
Dandelion Hoop
Page 31
An Embroiderer’s Work Box
Page 34
Sourcing and Using Vintage Fabrics
Page 37
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February One of the earliest, and very welcome, signs of spring is the appearance of snowdrops in gardens, woodland and hedgerows across the country. “Chaste snowdrop, venturous harbinger of spring,” wrote Wordsworth. But be careful rejoicing that spring has arrived when the very first flowers appear may be a little premature! On a snowdrop walk there will be very few other flowers to be seen - perhaps you may spot some early violets and some catkins of lambs’ tails - the male flowers of the hazel in the hedgerow. Snowdrops begin to flower when the weather is still decidedly wintry as their leaf tips are tough enough to push up through the frozen ground. Not for nothing are the called perce-neige in France and
snow piercers in parts of Britain. Many parts of the country organise snowdrop walks this month - if
“From January until April we had a succession of flowers when everything else was black and bare and depressing; tiny delicate iris in darkest purple and an amazing Cambridge blue; a creamy early crocus and another the colour of sealavender..”
you’re in the UK then just click here for a list of some of the best ones across the country. 5
Be sure to wrap up warm if you’re setting out on a walk though as February is renowned for having the most unpleasant weather of the year. Rain and snow are welcomed by the farmers though as they help to prepare the ground ready for the spring sowing. Indeed country folklore welcomes bad weather this month as we are told “If in February there be no rain, ‘tis neither good for hay nor grain.” Though the first day of February falls less than six weeks after the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, by this day London has gained an extra 53 minutes of daylight between sunrise and sunset - and the days will continue to lengthen faster still as the month progresses. In the cities, on colder days, there are pink evening skies, and by the time the night clouds begin to reflect back the orange
glow of sodium street lamps, the roar of homeward bound traffic fills the winter air. For city dwellers, and those having less contact with the land it seems that nature herself is marking time, slumbering while the winter weather does its worst. This isn’t true at all though in the countryside as it’s this month that birds begin to pair up - there is a tradition that they choose their mates on Valentine’s Dayand the volume of birdsong will increase throughout the month as they strive to attract mates and defend their territories. If you have pets, then you can give them a hand with their nest building by putting out the hair after grooming, while dried grass, yard strands are also much appreciated. A hanging basket with dead vegetation and moss left over from the previous summer is a wonderful source of nest-building material for many species, but before you pull it apart do be sure that a wren or robin hasn’t already made their home there. Unlike St Valentine, whose day is so well known and celebrated, St Blaise has fallen from favour. His day falls on February 3 and he was widely popular in Britain from the
eighth century until beyond the middle ages. According to stories of his life, while hiding from persecutors in a cave he healed sick people and animals, in particular saving the life of a boy who had a fishbone stuck in his throat. He became the patron saint of woolcombers, an important and widespread occupation before machinery wiped It out. He is now only remembered in a few Catholic
“February, when the days of winter seem endless and no amount of wistful recollecting can bring back any air of summer” Shirley Jackson (119161965) churches where you can get your throat blessed on 3 February. The priest holds two lighted candles, tied with ribbon to form a cross, to the throat of the sufferer and says a blessing over him or her. On 5 February 1953, the rationing of sweets and chocolate was finally abolished, after more than a decade, and shops throughout the
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country reported a brisk trade in everything from lollipops to liquorice. Towards the end of WW2 the weekly ration of these delights had dropped to a tiny 2oz per person, though this was gradually increased to a more generous 6oz in the post-war years. For those of us old enough to remember the media coverage, February 8 brings the anniversary of the kidnapping of the prize stallion Shergar in 1983. He had won the 1981 Derby and was valued at £10m for his breeding potential. A ransom was demanded, but not paid - for fear of encouraging copycat crimes and the horse was never found. February 22nd brings George Washington’s birthday. Born in Virginia in 1732, by the time the American War of Independence broke out in 1775 he had established a national reputation that secured his appointment as commander-in-chief of the colonial army. After the war was won he turned his attention to politics and became the first President of the USA in 1789. He was elected to a second term in 1793 but resigned in 1797 and died two years later.
The Dawn Chorus This month the dawn chorus gets underway, heralding the start of the mating season as birds begin to look for partners and defend their breeding territories. Beginning with blackbirds and robins towards the end of the month, other species will gradually join in the chorus through until late May when it reaches its glorious peak. The sunrise singing offers a fascinating insight into the world of our garden birds. If you listen carefully you’ll learn to distinguish individual species and the order in which they start to sing each day. This order is determined by the foods they consume and their ability to see in the dim early morning light. The early birds (blackbirds and robins) really do catch the worms. They have comparatively large eyes compared to their bodies and so they can see in the earliest, faintest light of dawn. As the sun rises and light levels increase, insect eaters (such as wrens) wake from their slumber. Finally the seed eaters such as finches and sparrows are up last of all and wait until just before daybreak before beginning to sing.
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Embroidery Tips for Beginners
also the twists as carefully as possible. Now pull your needle and thread away in the opposite direction. This movement will force your little coil of thread to lie flat in the right place. Tighten it up by pulling your working thread, then reinsert your needle at A. This should also be the end of your bullion knot if you’ve chosen the correct number of twists to fill the space.
Bullion Stitch Bring your needle through your fabric at the point indicated by the arrow on the diagram below. Insert your needle back through your fabric at the required length of the stitch and bring it out exactly at the arrow again. Don’t pull your needle right through, but leave it lying in the material as in the diagram and twist your thread around it close up to the emerging point. Six or seven twists are an average number, but this can be varied according to the length of stitch you want to make. Place your left thumb upon the twists and pull your needle and thread through your fabric and
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Signs of Spring
In early February you may well spot one of the earliest signs of spring - pussy willow in the hedgerows. This is the name given to willow stems bearing small soft and fluffy grey catkins. The UK is home to a number of different willow species, including the weeping willow, crack willow and white willow (which supplies the wood used for cricket bats). Goat and grey, or sallow, willow are those which produce these delightful pussy willow catkins. Look out for them in woodland, hedgerows and wasteland, in particular in damp and boggy areas near lakes, streams and ponds.
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New Series…. A Stitcher’s Alphabet
Part One: A & B
Aloe thread embroidery Aloe thread embroidery is exactly as described on the packet, in that it is embroidery worked using a thread made from the fibres of the aloe plant. Based on an account in The Dictionary of Needlework (1882) it would appear that it was worked by “the peasants of Abbissola and the nuns of Oldivales,” who were used to making lace from the fibres of the aloe. It would appear that at that time they had recently started to embroider with aloe threads instead of silks. The aloe threads had the colour of pale straw and were worked using satin stitch and generally laid over a padding of wool to raise it from the ground material (foundation) of silk or serge cloth. 11
A (very) Little Look at Candlemas
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The Lane in Winter It was three o’clock, the church bell tolled as I passed under the belfry; the charm of the hour lay in its approaching dimness, in the low gliding and pale beaming sun. I was a mile from Thornfield, in a lane noted for wild roses in summer, for nuts and blackberries in autumn, and even now possessing a few coral treasures in hips and haws, but whose best winter delight lay in its utter solitude and leafless repose. If a breath of air stirred, it made no sound here; for there was not a holly, not an evergreen to rustle, and the stripped hawthorn and hazel bushes were as still as the white, worn stones which causewayed the middle of the path. Far and wide, on each side, there were only fields, where no cattle now browsed; and the little brown birds, which stirred occasionally in the hedge, looked like single russet leaves that had forgotten to drop.
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secure the ends with a dab of glue and then cut them short.
● When your work is finished press lightly on the reverse and hoop up again.
● Re-hoop your work.
● Mark the points on the hoop where it’s touched by the dandelion stems.
● FINISHED!
● Remove fabric from hoop. ● Wrap green floss around the hoop where you’ve made the marks. You may wish to
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An Embroiderer’s Work Box For me, the joy of embroidery isn’t simply the finished article, but also the hours of pleasurable work involved in creating even the smallest piece. The dictionary describes embroidery as “inessential ornament” which seems a heartless description as it gladdens the heart and soul of the stitcher as well as the eye of the beholder. Before printed textiles became widely available the only means to decorate fabric items was often embroidery. And when embroidering by hand it’s true to say that every stitcher is making a unique creation, even when working from a cross-stitch chart for example, no two pieces of work will ever be exactly the same, and
that’s a wonderful thing I think, in this age of mass production.
you pleasure for many years to come.
Embroiderers are fortunate in that we don’t need any expensive or space-taking materials or pieces of equipment to enjoy our hobby. An added bonus is that everything we use - fabric, floss, needles and scissors are easy and portable, so it’s easy to take projects around with us - wonderful for those long journeys and to take on holiday too.
You don’t need a large work box as you only need a few tools for successful stitching. I have a collection of vintage tins in which I keep everything I need for different projects, so I can simply scoop one up and go!
It’s very important to make sure that the materials and tools you select for your project are of good quality and appropriate for the work in hand. With the right items in your work box you will be able to achieve great results and have the satisfaction of knowing that your finished piece of work will give
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The essential items you’ll need are:
Embroidery scissors These are small and sharp for snipping floss. They sometimes have curved blades so you can snip ends without risking cutting into the work itself.
Sourcing and Using Vintage Fabrics As collecting, displaying and decorating with handwork and textiles becomes more important, "perfect" vintage textiles are becoming much more difficult to find. Chances are, when you are able to locate a perfect piece, it will be extremely expensive. Less than perfect pieces of vintage embroidery, clothing, doilies, quilts and coverlets are very easy to find, and are much less expensive than their "mint condition" counterparts. Vintage pieces have also stood the test of time, and are very durable. Frequent laundering has made these pieces luxuriously soft, and fading and minor flaws only add to their charm. You can make a variety of new projects from these slightly flawed pieces. Another attraction of using vintage linen is its historical interest. Women used to grow their own flax crop, harvest it, process it, spin it and weave it into the cloth that their families used. They commemorated events
both public (coronations, centennials, world's fairs) and personal (births, marriages, friendships). A bride's trousseau furnished all the household linens that she anticipated using for the rest of her life and sometimes was part of her dowry. Don't forget that repurposing antique pieces is a very "green" way of crafting as re-using and repurposing is always more environmentally friendly than buying new fabric. Vintage fabrics also connect us to stitchers of bygone years, giving us a sense of the person who originally created them so long ago. The tradition of "waste not, want not" meant that items were repaired, remade and re-fashioned in order to reuse them. Clothing was remade to accommodate the latest fashions or as "hand-me-downs" for another person. Worn sheets, clothing and tablecloths were cut down to become napkins, pillowcases or towels. Smaller sections became quilt squares, patches and
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A (very) Little History of St Valentine’s Day
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Artful Mending: Not just Making Do!
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February Nature Notes: The Fox If you live in the country, then now is the time you may be awoken at dead of night by the sound of blood-curdling screams like something out of a horror film. But don’t worry - it almost certainly isn’t somebody in trouble, but is much more likely to be the mating call of our native red fox. This time of year is their breeding season and foxes will travel long distances in search of a mate. Red foxes are very vocal - the males will bark to announce their territories, whilst the females make reassuring chirruping noises to their young. In fact they can make up to twenty-eight different sounds, but it’s the ghostly shrieks at 4 am that will make the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end!
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