Bustle & Sew Magazine Issue 153 October 2023 Preview

A Bustle & Sew Publication

Copyright © Bustle & Sew Limited 2023

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 2023 by: Bustle & Sew Station House West Cranmore Shepton Mallet BA4 4QP www.bustleandsew.com

Welcometothe OctoberMagazine

Hello everyone!

Autumn is upon us now, those golden summer days just a memory as we turn our faces towards the colder seasons, and the celebrations ahead - Halloween, Bonfire Night, Thanksgiving (if you’re in the US) and then, the best of all - Christmas! These are super-busy times for makers and so this month we have some ideas for decorations - I especially love the Liberty Print Angels - why not substitute a fabric that has special memories for you - cut from an old garment perhaps?

The Orchard Pears are great for embroidering onto ready made items and could be used to embellish a variety of gifts, whilst the Witch’s Kitten Hoop is a great easy stitch for Halloween.

I hope you enjoy this issue and the November Magazine will be published on Thursday 26 October, in four weeks time. Until then I hope you have a lovely month, with lots of time for stitching!

Very best wishes

Betweenthismonth’scovers…

October Almanac Page 5

Something told the Wild Geese Page 8

Autumn’s Glory Page 12

Little Look at Velvet Page 16

The Witch’s Kitten Hoop Page 19

Nature Notes: Ivy Page 22

Things that go BUMP! In the night Page 23

Lovely Idea: Painted hangers Page 27

Winter Geese Cushion Page 28

In the Kitchen: Mellow Fruitfulness Page 30

Orchard Pears Motif Page 44

Choosing the Right Size Needle Page 47

A (very) Little Look at Floss Page 48

October is time for Toffee!! Page 50

Lovely Idea: Knitted Pumpkins Page 51

Christmas Polar Bear Page 52

By the end of this month the fields are harvested and laid bare, the last of the summer flowers have long since faded and fallen leaves form a thick carpet on the ground. In the Celtic calendar October 31 is celebrated as Samhain, meaning “the end of summer” and the beginning of the dark half of the year. Over the years sacred rituals of protection and propitiation marking the end of the summer months have slowly become infused with a sense of fear of the dark unknown and the supernatural at the approach of winter. It’s the twilight of the year, bringing dark magic and mystery along with the fading light and growing shadows.

October

There are some late fruits at this time of year that traditionally need to feel the frost, damsons, medlars and sloes in particular.

“Whentheautumnleaves aregolden,whenthe eveningairischill, Whentheswallowsleaveus foraplacewherethereis summerstill”

Sloes, the blackthorn berry, should also be harvested for gin after the first frost of October, although these days, due to the

warming climate, waiting for a frost in October may be fruitless.

October is a great month to get out and about. We’re unlikely to experience any more seriously hot weather, but it’s surprisingly common for a sustained spell of sunshine to occur around the middle of the month, known as “St Luke’s little summer” after the saint’s day that falls on the eighteenth of the month. The days are getting noticeably shorter now, but there’s still plenty of time to take the dogs for an afternoon walk and enjoy scrunching through the fallen leaves.

Whether we enjoy a St Luke’s little summer or not the hedgerows are beautiful at this time of year. Early morning dew glistens on cobwebs and here and there a few wildflowers may still be found in bloom. Red fruits such as rowan berries,hipsandhawsglowamong the hedgerows’ dying leaves, providing a rich food source for the birds. string or floating in a bowl of water.

In ancient Rome, the eleventh brought the day of the Meditrinalia, when the new season’s wine was tasted and libations were offered to the gods (perhaps the equivalent of today’s Beaujolais Nouveau celebrations). It was customary to taste the new and old wine together, apparently for healing purposes, while reciting the following lines…. “

which means roughly “I drink old and new wine to cure old and new disease.”

The Battle of Trafalgar was fought on 21 October 1805 when the British fleet, led by Admiral Lord Nelson attacked a fleet of French

and Spanish ships off Cape Trafalgar (which lies east of Cadiz) to stop them passing through the Straits of Gibraltar into the Mediterranean. Nelson’s tactics

“Thewoodsneverlookmore beautifulthanfromthecloseof lastmonthtothemiddleof October,forbythattimeitseems asifnaturehadexhaustedallher choicestcoloursonthefoliage. Weseetherich,burnishedbronze oftheoak;redofmanyhues,up tothegaudiestscarlet;every shadeofyellow,fromthewan goldoftheprimrosetothedeep orangeofthetiger-lily…andall soblendedandsoftenedtogether inparts,thatlikethecoloursona dove’sneck,wecannottellwhere onebeginsandtheotherends.”

ChambersBookofDays1864

outwitted the opposing fleet, but sadly although the British were victorious at the height of the battle Nelson was fatally wounded by a musket shot. As he lay dying aboard his ship Victory, Captain

Thomas Hardy brought him frequent reports on the progress of the battle. Finally Nelson is said to have spoken his last words, “Kiss me Hardy”, and then to have died withthewords,“NowIamsatisfied. Thank God, I have done my duty.”Trafalgar Square in London is dominated by Nelson’s Column and commemorates this victory.

A long way from London, October is the time when traditional hedge laying is carried out. This craft dates from the 1700’s and has the effect of filling in the gaps between hedgerow plants’ stems so that animals cannot push between them. First unwanted shoots are removed, then the remaining stems are cut partly through and bent over at a diagonal angle, after which stakes are driven in to hold the stems or pleachers in place. It all looks very stark when first cut, but the pleachers aren’t killed and will sprout bushy new growth in the spring.

As we approach the end of the month, in the fourth week week of October the clocks go back here in the UK, a sharp reminder of the

impending season. In the north of England and in Scotland, winter rolls down from the mountains and hills and sends a shiver throughout the land.

the end of October also brings witches and goblins to our doors. In pagan times this was a brief season when the divide between this world and the next became less secure and the

“Witchesthenspeedontheirerrands ofmischief,somesweepingthrough theaironbesoms,othersgalloping alongtheroadsontabby-catswhich forthateveningareturnedintocoal blacksteeds.Thefairiestoo,areall letloose,andhobgoblinsofevery sortroamfreelyabout.”

dead returned from their graves to haunt the living. Ritual fires were kindled at dusk on hilltops and open spaces to purify the land and defeat the powers of darkness. Boisterous games were played and horns and other raucous instruments blown to counteract the fear of evil spirits.

In AD 835, in an attempt to distract their congregations from these pagan practices, the Church moved Hallowmas, the feast of All Hallows or All Saints, from mid-May to the first day of November. Undeterred people focused their ghost-hunting rituals on the night before All Hallows and the celebration of Halloween on 31 October came into existence.

Today Halloween is mainly celebrated by children who dress up as witches, ghosts, devils or other ghoulish creatures, and make pumpkin lanterns by scooping out the flesh, cutting shapes in the shell to represent a face and placing a light inside. As well as the introduction from the US of “trick or treat”, recent years have also seen the revival of traditional British Halloween games such as “bobbing” or “ducking” for apples; trying to eat or catch with the teeth an apple suspended on a string.

A(very)LittleLook atVelvet

“To the little gentleman in velvet” was a favourite Jacobite toast in the reign of Queen Anne.

The reference was to the mole that raised the mole-hill over which the horse of William III. stumbled when he was out riding at Hampton Court near London.

Following this fall, William died of pneumonia, a complication from his broken collarbone, in early 1702.

ThingsthatgoBump intheNight

Halloween, falling on 31 October, is All-Hallows Eve, the day before All Saints Day, the Christian celebration of all the saints and martyrs, including those whose names are lost to history. Halloween, however, is a much older festival than this, dating back to the ancient Celtic calendar when it was regarded as New Year’s Eve. Thanks were given to the sun god for the harvest and Samhain, the lord of death, was celebrated at the dying of the old year. This was a night of black magic, when witches, ghosts and the spirits of the dead returned to earth. Great fires were lit to ward off evil spirits, and through the embers of which livestock were driven from their autumn pastures into barns for the winter which, as well as purifying them, probably helped rid them of parasites. Surplus stock, or those animals unlikely to survive the winter were slaughtered for Samhain feasting.

When the Romans invaded Britain, they brought with them the festival of Pomona, held to honour the goddess of fruit. As both these celebrations fell on the same day, they gradually merged over the years. May traditional games, such as apple-bobbing and love divination with apple skins, pips and nuts probably have their roots in the Roman festival. In duck apple, or bobbing for apples are floated in a tub of water and contestants have to try to pick one up in their teeth, their reward for success being a year of good luck. In snap-apple, the fruits are hung from string on a wooden pole and again the aim is to catch one with your teeth. An even older and definitely more dangerous version had a stick with an apple

on one end and a lighted candle on the other suspended from a pole. A circle of children stood around and tried to bite the apple as it swung in their direction.

“MrsHookofChulmleigh,Devon,aged 70toldmeinMay1938thatinheryoung daysitwasthecustomonAllHallowe’en topareapples,thenwhirlthepeelthree timesroundtheheadandthenthrowit overtheleftshouldertothefloor. The letterformedonthefloorbytheapple peelwouldbetheinitialofthefuture husbandorwife.

MrsHookassuredmethatherapplepeel alwaysformedtheletterJandshe eventuallymarriedJackHook”

From“TheTransactionsofthe DevonshireAssociation”

Spookily we are told that if you were brave enough to brush your hair in front of a mirror at midnight on Halloween you would see the face of your future spouse peering over your shoulder - eeek!

Halloween parties with guests dressed in costume have been growing in popularity in this country for the last forty years or so, and although they appear at first glance, rather like “trick or treating” to have been imported from American culture, they have in fact been around for a bit longer than that.

Mellow Fruitfulness…

By October autumn has definitely arrived, the days are shorter and winter is just beyond the horizon. If we are lucky then this will be a mellow month, with plenty of sunny, or at least dry, days to spend in the vegetable patch where marrows, pumpkins and squashes have taken centre stage. In the orchard soft fruits have now given way to hardier, but no less delicious apples and pears.

This is a great month for foraging - hedgerows are bursting with ripe berries and nuts and the mild damp conditions mean there are mushrooms a plenty to be found in grassland and sheltered woodlands. If you know your fungi then you can take your pick from an abundance of wonderfully named varieties of fungi, including puffballs, penny buns and chicken of the woods. The UK has

something like fifteen thousand types of wild fungi, but you can narrow this down to around fifty tasty varieties that are in season this month. But if you’re out foraging for mushrooms, don’t forget the old Croatian adage, “all mushrooms are edible, but some only once.”

In the kitchen the salad days of summer give way to more warming dishes and robust flavours as we put away flip flops and linen and pull out our favourite woolly jumpers and boots to keep us snug and warm as the days shorten and grow colder. Pumpkins of course are also in season now, their golden glow lighting up not only Halloween but other dishes like soups, curries and of course, the famous pumpkin pie!

Itisthechildren’sbook,AliceinWonderlandbyLewis Carroll,whichfeaturesperhapsthemostfamousmushroomin allofliterature.Ontopofthatmushroomisseatedanalmost equallyfamoushookah-smokingcaterpillar.“Oneside[ofthe mushroom]willmakeyougrowtaller,andtheothersidewill makeyougrowsmaller,”thecaterpillarobservestothe heroine,Alice,who,beingofanadventurousnature,decidesto testthisseeminglypeculiarremark.Itturnsouttobecorrect.

Chicken,Leek&MushroomSoup

Ingredients

● 110g dried mushrooms (optional)

● 1 tbsp olive oil

● 1leek, washed, trimmed and finely sliced (use green parts too)

● 100g rice (brown short grain is good for this, but basmati will work too)

● eaves from 2 sprigs fresh thyme (or use dried)

● 100g mushrooms, cleaned, quartered and sliced

● 2 carrots, peeled and sliced

● 1-1.2 litres chicken or veg stock

● 200g cooked chicken, shredded salt and pepper

Method

● Put the dried mushrooms (if using) in a heatproof bowl. Add just enough boiling water to cover and leave to stand.

● In a large saucepan, heat the oil and add the leek. Gently fry for 8-10 minutes, until softened. Rinse the rice well in boiling water to remove the starch, drain and keep to one side.

● Drain the dried mushrooms, chop them finely and reserve the liquid. Add the dried mushrooms, mushroom liquid, thyme, fresh mushrooms, carrots, 1 litre stock and rice to the saucepan. Season with salt and pepper (you won't need much salt if using dried mushrooms). Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the rice is cooked.

● Add the chicken. Simmer for a couple of minutes to warm the chicken through. Add a little more stock if needed, to thin the soup. Check the seasoning and serve immediately.

ChoosingtheRightSizeNeedle

Choosing the the right size needle to suit your fabric and thread will help you to achieve the best possible results when stitching-andherearesometips to help you do this:

Your needle should be able to pull your thread (and that includes the doubled-over part behind the eye of the needle) through your fabric quite easily, without putting too much stress on the thread as you pull it throughthe fabric -youshouldn’t have to tug, it should pass through quite easily.

Iwasalwaystaught that the shaft ofmyneedleshouldbeaboutthe same thickness as that of my thread. That’s fine if you’re using an open weave fabric, but for most surface embroidery you need to consider not only the thicknessof your thread,but also its thickness at the needle’s eye

where it’s doubled over, as well as the weave of the fabric. A tighter, closed weave will need a needle that makes the right size hole for both thread and needle to pass through.

If you’ve pulled your fabric tightly in your hoop you may hear a sort of popping noise as you pass your needle through, but there still shouldn’t be any real resistance to the passage of your needle through the fabric. If you have to really tug to pull your needle through then you should be using a larger size needle.

There may also be a soft noise as the rest of the thread passes through your fabric, but not a loud zzzzz sort of noise. If you hear such a noise and are experiencing resistance as you pull your thread through the fabric, then once again you

should have chosen a larger needle.

And finally, the hole your needle makes in your fabric should be large enough for your thread to pass through it, but no larger. Your needle shouldn’t leave a visible hole in your fabric around your thread.

Having said all this, there is no set formula to determine what sizeneedleyoushoulduseatany particulartime. Whilstyoushould consider the points I’ve raised above, your needle choice may well be based mainly on your personal preference - which needleareyoucomfortableusing at any particular time, and with particular materials? Over time, asyougainexperience,choosing the right needle will become automatic - something you don’t even have to think about!.

TheGreatBritish Pudding

TheseAutumnDays

Whendoesautumnbegin? Theastronomers, followedbythealmanac-makers,beginitin thethirdweekofSeptember,whentheday andnightbecomeequalinlength,and continueuntilafewdaysshortofChristmas. Manypeopleareguidedentirelybythe weatheroftheyearandfindusuallythatwhat theyhadthoughttobeearlyautumnis followedbyanotherspellofsummer. The ramblingnaturalistknowsthatyoucannotfix datestoourseasonsbeforetheycome:that theymergeoneintoanothergradually,and thatafewmilesnorthorsouthorthetwo sidesofarangeofhillsmayshowamarked difference.

Someofourbirdvisitorsleftusbeforewe begantothinkofautumn;butwhenthelast oftheswiftshavegone,thelapwingsflock andthestarlingsmovetosomeotherdistrict, weknowtheseasonisabouttochange,andwe watchforsignslikethethinningofthelimes, theyellowingoftheelmsandthebrowningof thebeeches. Asarules,thesechangesare gradual;andthereisstillmuchofsummer shownbytheflowersandinsectswhenthe wildfruitsaregettingtheirtintsofripeness andtheearlyfungiarebeginningtoappear.

WinterisComing…

Wehavepassedtheautumnequinoxandthedaysare noticeablyshorternowwhiletheeveningswillseemto drawineverfasteroncetheclocksgobackattheendof thismonth. Butthecoldermonthsbringtheirown compensationsandinparticularthejoyofcosyingupin frontofanopenfireorlogburnerandtoastingyourtoes whiletheweatherdoesitsworstoutside.

Youcanstillevokememoriesofthosedepartedsummer monthsthough-trythrowingahandfulofwoodyherb sprigs-bay,lavenderandrosemaryworkwell-onyour logfiretosweetenthesmokyaromasofwinter. Burning thesewoodyherbswillfillyourroomwithrichmusty aromas. Eitherkeepaboxofdriedherbsbyanopenfire touseaskindling,orthrowanoccasionalhandfulonthe embers. Ifyoustacklogsnearyourfire,thenlayerthem withgeneroussprigsofdriedrosemary -itwilllook prettyandyoucanenjoythefragranceasyoupassby.

October

I’vebroughtyounutsandhops; Andwhentheleafdrops,whythewalnutdrops. Crackyourfirstnutandlightyourfirstfire, Roastyourfirstchestnutcrisponthebar; Makethelogssparkle,stirtheblazehigher, Logsareascheeryassunorstar, Logswecanfindwhereverweare. Springonesoftdaywillopentheleaves, Springonebrightdaywilllurebacktheflowers; Neverfancymywhistlingwindgrieves, NeverfancyI’vetearsinmyshowers: Dance,nightanddays!anddanceon,myhours!