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A Bustle & Sew Publication Copyright © Bustle & Sew Limited 2024 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 2024 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! February - the shortest month, yet often regarded as the greyest and gloomiest. But I disagree, as all around me there are signs of the changing season. Snowdrops bloom this month, the birds begin to pair off and establish their territories ready to raise their families, and in just a few short weeks the roadside verges and village gardens will be bright with daffodils - pools of sunshine that herald the warmer weather. This month’s magazine celebrates the changing season too, with some pretty floral designs, including perhaps my favourite, the Country Gardens Cushion Cover - though I do love the woodpecker pattern and enjoyed finding out more about this woodland bird which I hope you’ll find interesting too. As always, I hope you have a wonderful month with lots of time for stitching and, if you’re a subscriber, please do look out for the March Magazine arriving in your in-box in FIVE weeks time on February 29th, Leap Year’s Day. Best wishes
Helen xx
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February Though it’s less than six weeks since the winter solstice, the first day of February in London claws back an extra 53 minutes between sunrise and sunset. In the city on colder days there are pink evening skies,, and by the time the night clouds pick up the yellow glow of street lamps, the rumble of homebound traffic fills the winter air.
and this is the last month that we will find ourselves in the full frozen grip of winter.
The days, though lengthening, are still short however, and the increasing light doesn’t bring much warmth with it. February can often be the coldest month of the year as the sea that surrounds us cools to its lowest temperature and frequent easterly winds rush in from Siberia, cutting through gloves, scarves and all but the warmest winter coats, chilling us to the bone.
Snowdrops traditionally appear around Candlemas Day, February 2, the feast of the Purification of the Virgin Mary (which in Jewish law had to take place forty days after a woman had given birth). This was the day that she presented the infant Jesus in the temple at Bethlehem, as described in Luke 2:22-39. The old English name of Candlemas isn’t recorded until the year 1014. The key element of this celebration - and the one from which it is named, is the abundance of candles. These were first blessed in the church, and then carried in procession around the parish; and could also be seen
And as another day dawns grey and gloomy it sometimes feels as though winter will never come to an end. Even so, everywhere there are signs that spring is just around the corner,
“The snowdrop, In purest white array, First rears her head On Candlemas Day”
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blazing all around the building itself. This custom is based, quite simply, on the idea of Christ lighting the way of his followers and shedding light upon their darkness. 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. 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.
February brings Valentine’s Day and a celebration of love
“If I had a flower for every time I thought of you, I could walk through my garden forever." Alfred Lord Tennyson (1809-1892) 6
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In the hoop… choosing your hand embroidery fabric
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Fair Maids of February…. The snowdrop is usually classed as February’s flower - as witness the popular names, “Fair Maids of February,” “Candlemas Bells,” “Flower of the Purification,” and so on through all the lovely list, surely the longest and sweetest any flower has to its credit - throughout the West and the extreme south of England, the snowdrop comes in with the New Year. It is remarkable how true to date in its arrival this first flower of the year is. It may vary in different parts of the country, making its appearance at any time between Christmas and the beginning of March, according to climate, but in each district it is punctual to the time it usually appears. Of course, in very severe seasons its coming may be delayed, but not so much as might be supposed, for, when frost and snow ave retarded its booming, it springs at the first thaw as by magic, blade and flower appearing almost simultaneously. This early and sudden blooming is made possible by the stores laid up in the bulb by the previous year’s growth. By the end of September development is so far advanced that, if a bulb be cut through, a rudimentary snowdrop with leaves and a flower-bud may be clearly discerned. But a period of rest is required before further development Edward Step, Nature Rambles: An Introduction to Country-lore, 1930 can take place, and for this reason the snowdrop cannot be persuaded to flower before is time, as the daffodil and hyacinth can. Floral Thompson: extracts from The Peverell Papers
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The Drumming Bird Sometimes, on a still day, we may hear the sound of tapping echoing through the cold winter air … this is the drumming of the Great Spotted woodpecker which lives in the woods behind our house… The Great Spotted woodpecker is the larger, and most common of the two kinds of black and white woodpeckers that live and breed in this country. Whoever said that English birds are uniformly brown and boring was definitely wide of the mark - we have quite a few colourful birds and this woodpecker is definitely one of them with its distinctive markings and red rump. You can tell them apart as the female lacks the red head patch. The drumming sound, which is mostly made by the males, serves two purposes. Firstly he is defending his territory against rival males, and secondly he’s trying to attract a female with whom he can mate and start a family. The drumming sound is created by the bird hammering his beak against the branch of a tree, making a noise loud enough to be audible nearly half a mile away. The females will drum only briefly, to introduce themselves, when they enter a male bird’s territory. The Great Spotted woodpecker drum at a rate of around 10-15 beats per second for about five seconds at a time. You may think this doesn’t sound a lot, but he will drum for up to 600 times a day - which would cause brain damage to any other bird. Like all the other 230 (approx) species of woodpecker in the world however, he has special adaptations to enable him to drum without ill effects.
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Charles Eliot Norton (1827-1908)
The winter has been long and hard with us. Even yet there are snowbanks in shady places, and not yet is there sign of a leaf. Even the snowdrops are hardly venturing out of the earth. But the birds have come back, and today I hear the woodpeckers knocking at the doors of the old trees to find a shelter and home for the summer.
I hope you’re enjoying this little peep between the covers of the Bustle & Sew Magazine. If you’d like to learn more, then please CLICK HERE to visit our website.
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New rags for old… a second life for vintage textiles Vintage textiles have the past woven into their threads - the hands that stitched them, the people who used to wear them and even the rooms in which they were used. It’s a very personal history, full of domestic detail. If you’re lucky enough to find a handmade quilt at market, in a thrift shop or antique fair, then it’s worth snapping up even if it’s not in the best state of repair as it’s relatively easy to mend these items - or make them into new pieces if they’re beyond use for their original purpose. Some of the fabrics used may be classics such as gingham, ticking or candy stripes and you can replace these without too much difficulty, but where other patches are torn or frayed you are unlikely to be able to match the pattern
precisely. The most important thing is to find fabrics of the same weight and composition so they don’t pull or tear each other, and can be washed in the same way. Quilts and other patchwork items were made to be used, not displayed, so if you want to contribute to an item’s history, then don’t be afraid to add your own fabrics to the mix and let it evolve for future generations to enjoy. Cut out damaged pieces by snipping the stitching around them very carefully with small sewing scissors that have sharp points. If there is quilting across the patch, cut through the quilting stitches too from the top of the quilt. Remove the patch so that you’re left with a hole in the patchwork (but not in the filling or backing). Cut a new piece 14
of fabric (that has been pre-shrunk if you intend to wash your item in the future) and slip it inside the hole so that its edges are concealed. Slip stitch it neatly into place. Replace any quilting stitches by hand, matching the quilting on the rest of the item. To prevent further damage to vintage fabrics, try to keep items away from strong sunlight which will cause them first to fade and eventually to simply rot away. If the worst comes to the worst and you have an item, a quilt perhaps, where parts are quite beyond repair, then don’t give up on the whole thing cut out good sections to turn into cushions, or perhaps to frame and hang on the wall
In Praise of English Cooking
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At Winter’s End…
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February - month of Candlemas and Valentine - the days growing longer now, spring is just over the horizon and winter is drawing to a close. February 13 this year also brings Shrove Tuesday, or Pancake Day, marking the beginning of Lent. Shrove Tuesday was the last opportunity to use up eggs and fats before embarking on the Lenten fast and pancakes are the perfect way of using up these ingredients. A traditional English pancake is very thin and is served immediately. Golden syrup or lemon juice and caster sugar are the usual toppings for these pancakes. The pancake has a very long history and featured in cookery books as far back as 1439. The tradition of tossing or flipping them is almost as old:
The ingredients for pancakes were believed to symbolise four points of significance at this time of year: Eggs: Creation, Flour: The staff of life, Salt: Wholesomeness Milk :Purity
Here in the UK, pancake races form an important part of the Shrove Tuesday celebrations – an opportunity for large numbers of people, often in fancy dress, to race down streets tossing pancakes. The object of the race is to get to the finishing line first, carrying a frying pan with a cooked pancake in it and flipping the pancake as you run. February also brings the season for forced rhubarb. When grown outside, rhubarb is in season during the summer months. Forcing rhubarb means it can be available earlier, between January and March. This growing technique also preserves the rich pink colour, and fresh, sweet taste, so that the rhubarb isn’t too tart. The forcing sheds are lit only by candlelight so the rhubarb grows quickly in search of light, producing the longer, thinner stems characteristic of forced rhubarb. Once matured, the stems are then carefully harvested via candlelight which prevents them from turning green. In this country forced rhubarb traditionally comes from Yorkshire in the north of the country. (As rhubarb originates from Siberia, it thrives in cold, wet conditions and soil that is rich in nitrogen. Yorkshire has all three of these, providing the perfect growing conditions) Forcing rhubarb in Yorkshire dates back to 1877. There was once an abundance of growers, which has now reduced to around a dozen within Yorkshire’s Rhubarb Triangle
Golden and crunchy, yummy and munchy … traditional Scottish shortbread…,
Scottish cookery has always differed from culinary creations south of the Border. The Romans influenced English cooking but as they did not venture far into Scotland, historically Scottish cuisine developed slowly. Scottish cooking methods advanced through the influence of the French at the court of Mary Queen of Scots and later through the elaborate dishes served to English lords with Scottish estates. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert acquired Balmoral in the 19th century and whilst they brought with them the rich food of the English court, they also liked to serve traditional Scottish dishes to important visitors. Scottish cooks have always been famous for their soups, haggis (a dish traditionally served on Burns Night) and their baking, especially scones, pancakes, fruit cakes, oatcakes and shortbread. The story of shortbread begins with the medieval “biscuit bread”. Any leftover dough from bread making was dried out in a low oven until it hardened into a type of rusk: the word “biscuit” means “twice cooked”. Gradually the yeast in the bread was replaced by butter, and biscuit bread developed into shortbread. Shortbread was an expensive luxury and for ordinary people, shortbread was a special treat reserved just for special occasions such as weddings, Christmas and New Year. In Shetland it was traditional to break a decorated shortbread cake over the head of a new bride on the threshold of her new home. The custom of eating
shortbread at New Year has its origins in the ancient pagan Yule Cakes which symbolised the sun. In Scotland it is still traditionally offered to “first footers” at New Year. Shortbread has been attributed to Mary, Queen of Scots, who in the mid-16th century was said to be very fond of Petticoat Tails, a thin, crisp, buttery shortbread originally flavoured with caraway seeds. There are two theories regarding the name of these biscuits. It has been suggested that the name “petticoat tail” may be a corruption of the French petites gatelles (“little cakes”). However these traditional Scottish shortbread biscuits may in fact date back beyond the twelfth century. The triangles fit together into a circle and echo the shape of the pieces of fabric used to make a full-gored petticoat during the reign of Elizabeth I. The theory here is that the name may have come from the word for the pattern which was ‘tally’, and so the biscuits became known as ‘petticoat tallis’. Shortbread is traditionally formed into one of three shapes: one large circle divided into segments (“Petticoat Tails”); individual round biscuits (“Shortbread Rounds”); or a thick rectangular slab cut into “fingers.” There are many different recipes and regional variations for shortbread. The recipe below uses rice flour to give a slightly crunchy texture:
Scottish Shortbread Ingredients ● 6 oz. plain flour ● 2oz. caster sugar ● 1 oz. icing sugar ● 2 oz. rice flour ● 5 oz. Butter ● pinch of salt
Method ● Preheat oven to 140°C (280°F or Gas mark 2). ● In a mixing bowl, cream together the sugars and the butter. Sift in the flours and salt: work by hand to a stiff dough. ● Roll out the dough to 1/2 inch thickness. Form either into a round or into other desired shapes and prick with a fork. ● Bake in the oven until light golden brown, around 30 – 40 minutes.
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Signs of Spring… By the end of this month it feels as though winter has been with us forever. All around us in the countryside the branches are bare and the colours muted - shades of lavender, sage, buff and grey dominate the landscape. But winter is drawing to a close, and there’s something almost magical about spotting the earliest signs of nature’s awakening to a whole new year of growth. Catkins are a wonderful sign of this awakening. Appearing on the bare branches of the hazel, birch, willow and sweet chestnut, their whimsical shape is full of the promise of spring days ahead. They have, however, been present since the previous autumn, but it’s only in these late winter days that they develop their long, dangling shape that helps them catch the slightest of breezes and distribute their pollen as widely as possible. Did you know - their name, which is very much part of their charm, evolved from the old Dutch word “ meaning “kitten,” referring of course to their resemblance to a feline’s tail. 22
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In February …. The frozen ground is broken Wher e snowdrops raise their heads, And nod their tiny greeting In glades and garden beds. The frozen stream is melted, The white brook turns to brown And floaming through the coppice Flows helter skelter down. The frozen air is golden With February sun, The winter days are over, Oh, has the spring begun?
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The Royal School of Needlework was founded in 1872 with a mission to preserve the art of hand embroidery. To mark its 150th anniversary the RSN launched the RSN Stitch Bank to continue this mission. The RSN Stitch Bank aims to digitally conserve and showcase the wide variety of the world’s embroidery stitches and the ways in which they have been used in different cultures and times. The RSN Stitch Bank is an ongoing project and new stitches are added regularly. The RSN will be working with partners around the world to include stitches from different traditions.
Every year we lose historic textiles through wear, age, and the more aggressive routes of war, neglect and destruction. We know that stitches from history have been lost because they fall out of use. Then, when an older embroidered piece is discovered, curators and museum staff cannot recognise the stitches. Textiles and the knowledge of stitches throughout the world continue to be threatened by wars and other disturbances, as well as changes in manufacturing processes. Stitchers can use the RSN Stitch Bank to find a new stitch to use in a project and learn how to make it using videos, written instructions, illustrations and photographs for each stitch. Researchers, curators, historians and students can use the site to learn about the use, structure and history of each stitch in a range of embroidery techniques and to identify a stitch on a textile. You can browse the stitch wall here You can also create your own folder and save the stitches you are most interested in. It is all completely free and an amazing resource for stitchers!
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Templates I hope you enjoyed this little peep between the covers of the Bustle & Sew Magazine. If you’d like to learn more, then please CLICK HERE to visit our website.