The party's over

Balmy autumn days had their last hurrah.
Blue skies bid their farewells.
The sun packed up and headed for northern climes.
Melancholy grey clouds took up residence.
A saturated cold set in.
But as I stood under this tree - just for a moment - I was bathed in the warmest glow of gold.

Eye spy ... a work in progress

I am playing along with Cindy's Eye Spy meme each Sunday. This week Michelle, author of the gorgeous blog Hugo & Elsa, nominated the theme of spying a work in progress.

My work in progress is just to hand as I write.

Its a semi-fitted ladies' jacket made from Kwik Sew 3531 (view A) and using a lovely misty grey-blue wool suiting. It was a surprise birthday present for my mum this weekend and needs just a few little finishing touches.

I'd never sewn a jacket before, so this pattern was a relatively gentle introduction. Its an unlined jacket with a simple collar, two darts (bust and arm) and nifty button hole openings placed in the collar seam. The hardest part was probably the setting in of the sleeves ... not the least being because I wasn't paying enough attention ... and sewed the first sleeve in backwards!

The instructions were very clear and the construction relatively straightforward - its a pattern that I would recommend. My only real departure from the instructions (apart from the sleeve incident!) was to bind - rather than over-edge - the facing and some of the seams. I also hand stitched the button holes rather than top stitching them with the machine (for a bit of practice).

So now, I have just a few little bits and pieces to do. I might take in the darts a little, but after that its just a case of fastening down the facing, adding a pretty button and then hemming the garment. Its a bit of surprise that extensive alterations aren't needed, given that I didn't have any proper measurements for my mum. Everything was deduced by furtive phone calls to my dad, who was instructed to take measurements from things in the wardrobe!

Thank you to Cindy for hosting Eye Spy and to Michelle for the fun theme. To see some more W.I.P.s, head over here.

Great sewing boo-boos (part 1)

Just how many times can one fail to see the words "on the fold" when cutting a pattern piece? As we like to say here at Chez Hoppo Bumpo: once, mistaken; twice, unfortunate; three times ... stupid.

Testing, testing ... 1, 2, 3

I was very excited when Caitlin from Pippijoe asked me to test out a gorgeous new pattern for her Sling Bag. This was my first gig as a pattern tester, so I was also a litle bit nervous. Luckily I need not have been. The excellent instructions make this stylish bag very straight forward to construct. Its the perfect project for an afternoon or evening of sewing.

The bag is lined and ties to create an adjustable strap. A cute inclusion with the pattern is a mini-version to sew up for a favourite small person in your life.



My bag has been made up in Pippijoe's striking Pebble in Fiery Red. The print is really vibrant and the cotton-hemp blend fabric is a dream to sew with.

Both Pippijoe's Sling Bag pattern and Pebble print are available here.

My creative space

I am joining in with Thursday's My Creative Space at Kootoyoo.

From left:

• Deep fruit bowl laden with feijoas


• Glass jars waiting to be sterilised


• Sugar

Have you seen feijoas before?

They're a plump little fruit closely related to the guava and native to Brazil. The yellow flesh is sweet and has a slightly gritty texture. And I have kilos and kilos of them, from a tree in my parents' garden.

So, jars have been duly hoarded; the sugar shipped in. Its jam-making time at our place.

Preparing the feijoas is a fair bit of work (the green skin needs to be peeled off each egg-sized fruit), but its all worthwhile. Feijoas make a fantastic candy-flavoured preserve, which is perfect served smeared over warm fluffy scones and topped with lashing of cream.

I just hope I don't meet with the same jam-making accident that befell me last year. A scalded tongue can be so painful!

Thank you very much Kirsty for hosting My Creative Space. Its great fun seeing what everyone is doing. To see who else is showing their creative space (or to join in), head over here.

Hem along week 2 - single fold hem (woven fabric)

Previously on hem-along...
Introduction
Week 1 - basic double fold hem for woven fabric

Single-fold hems

Welcome to my continuing experiments in hem-along. This week I looked at creating single fold hems on woven fabrics.

This type of simple hem is produced by folding the up the allowance once to the wrong side of the fabric. Single-fold hems are good for a range of different weight fabrics, including heavier ones where a double fold hem would be too obvious or bulky.

To create the hem below, I made a turn then lightly pressed the fold. (The hem depth that you choose will depend upon your project.) To hold the hem before securing it with stitching, you need to either pin or baste the hem in place.



The raw edge

When using a single fold hem, the raw edge of the fabric remains exposed. (By contrast, a double-fold hem encloses the raw edge in the folds).

Now if the fabric edge is a selvedge or the fabric is not prone to ravelling, all you need to do is fold, then stitch the hem. Fabrics such as knits and non-wovens (e.g. suede, felt) tend not to fray when cut. Wovens - which I was looking at this week - generally fray to some degree on any cut edge. The looser the weave the greater the amount of fraying. I once had a piece of linen that fell apart if you took a sideways glance at it!

When the fabric is prone to ravelling, then the hem edge needs to be finished in some manner to prevent fraying.

One method is to use a zig-zag machine stitch. In the example below I stitched parallel to the raw edge of the fabric and then used sharp scissors to cut close to the stitching to remove the excess (ravelling) fabric. When you do this, its best to test the zig-zagging on a scrap of material to make sure the length and width is suitable. The wrong settings can produce a stitch that gathers your fabric into an ugly little ridge. After zig-zagging, you can then secure the hem by hand or machine.



If you have an overlocker you can serge along the raw edge, before securing the hem by machine or hand. A three-thread stitch will finish the edge securely. In the example below, I'm afraid I have been a wee bit lazy. I already had four threads set up on the overlocker (used for overedging and stitching a seam in one go) and couldn't be bothered taking out the left-hand needle. So instead we have a four-thread stitch.



If you would like to finish the raw edge by hand, you can use an overcast stitch. This is an evenly spaced diagonal stitch that runs across the raw edge of the fabric. The more prone your fabric is to ravelling, then the closer together the stitches.

Of course, if your hand stitching looks anything like my oddly-spaced, strangely-vertical stitching below, you may prefer to use your sewing machine. (I should be too ashamed to show you this picture, but I thought I'd leave it in for its comedic value!)



Securing the hem

To secure the hem, you can use either machine or hand stitching. There are also some "quick-and-dirty" sewing-free ways of securing a hem, which I have covered a bit further on.

You may choose to secure your hem by machine with top-stitching. Below is an example of top stitching, which I tried last week. To see how to do this in more detail, click here.



Alternately, you may wish to secure the hem by hand. A good stitch for securing the hem (after finishing the edge) is a catch stitch. Below is an example of catch stitching, which I also tried last week. To see how to do this in more detail, click here.



Another neat solution combines the finishing and securing in one step, using a machine zig zag stitch. You do this by stitching the turned up hem, then trimming the excess fabric back close to the stitching.




Cheat's methods
Here they are. Shortcuts for securing a hem: the good, the bad and the ugly. The no-sew solutions to hemming. Use them as you will ... I wont tell, if you don't.


From top to bottom: [1] Double-sided bonding tape,
[2] Iron-on hemming web and [3] Hemming tape

1. Double-sided bonding tape
   This sturdy, clear adhesive tape joins the fabric together. No sewing or ironing is needed. The tape is placed on the inside of the fold and is not visible. The raw edge of the fabric remains exposed.
   


2. Iron-on hemming web
   This cobweb-like, fusible tape joins fabric together. The web is placed on the inside of the fold and is not visible. No sewing is needed. The webbing fuses using the heat of an iron. The raw edge of the fabric remains exposed.
   


3. Hemming tape - this mesh tape is ironed over the top of the hem edge. After moistening the tape, it is placed white-side down over the hem edge and ironed in place. The tape is visible, but the raw edge of the fabric is covered.

For a completely no-sew solution, the hemming tape is probably best as it hides the raw edge. The downside is its quite visible. As you can see below, I used a meshy, synthetic type tape, but it is possible to buy variations that include fusible bias cut fabric tape.



The fusible webbing is less visible and would work as a no-sew solution on fabrics that aren't prone to fraying

And the double-sided adhesive tape? Hmmm - what to say? Ah, how about: I wished I had discovered this years ago when I was wasting perfectly good staples on hems? It has to be the quickest way possible to secure a hem. Its not pretty, but does the job ... kind of. It does produce quite a stiffly finished hem. Does anyone know if that tape ever stands up to laundering or ironing?

Conclusion

I would love to have the skill and patience to hand overcast a hem edge, but suspect I will be content to stay with zig zagging and overlocking. I was, however, excited to discover the all-in-one zig zag finish and stitch. Now to find a place to use it!

Next time: I am moving from woven fabrics to stretchy fabrics. Come back to see my s-t-r-e-t-c-h-y hemming experiments.

Reusable

Due to an unexpected and prolonged hiatus in this blog, management has decided to implement the reusable blog post.

It reads as follows (please select options as appropriate) :

Everyone welcomed the [small child/cat/dinner guest] into our home. [She/he] was so [fluffy/affable/well-mannered]; a delight to have about. That is, until the incident. Its difficult to keep smiling when a [small child/cat/dinner guest] starts [talking politics/vomiting on the hall runner/putting their dinner bowl on their head].


Regular programming will resume shortly.

Making the grade: trialling a customised pattern service (part 2)

A little while back, I mentioned seeing an ad for a new pattern service called Perfect Fit. Its the innovation of online store sewingpatterns.com and enables you to customise the fit of a commercial pattern. You simply provide a set of personal measurements, which is then used to adapt the pattern. The process takes about 7 days.

Now, doesn't the idea of buying a commercial pattern - where the sizing has already been tailored - sound attractive? I thought so ... and as promised, I purchased a pattern to see how well the service works.

Buying the pattern

There are currently 877 patterns from Butterick, McCalls and Neue Mode that are offered as part of the Perfect Fit pattern range. I decided that I would like to make a jacket and had the pick of 225 patterns. I settled on McCalls 5758, which is a semi-fitted, hip-length jacket with princess seams. I completed the order online, opting to receive the finished pattern as an electronic download (although paper patterns are also available).

Then I eagerly awaited information about how to input my measurements. The receipt said: Check your email for download instructions. If you do not receive your instructions via Email within 15 minutes, please check your SPAM folder. Hmmm .... nothing in my Inbox or Spam folder. There was in fact a bit of a delay (11 hours) between completing the transaction and receiving my next instruction by email. But, to be fair, this might simply have been a delay in the e-mail and not related to the pattern service.

Submitting the measurements

The e-mail that eventually arrived was friendly and simple:

Hello Liesl,
Thank you for purchasing a Perfect Pattern.McCalls 5758. Delivery: Download
Please use the link below to enter your measurements for this pattern.
Thank you,
SewingPattern.com

The link took me to a well laid out form. After specifying whether I wished to use inches or centimeters, I was asked to select my posture type (straight, average or curved) from a set of three pictures.

Next I had to enter 26 separate body measurements. These included everything from height, bust, waist and hip through to neck, wrist and ankle circumference. The nature and positioning of each measurement was explained using both text and a diagram.



On the whole it was quite easy to follow, except for this gem which left me a bit bamboozled. And I quote:

Hip circumference (including belly projecting): The tape passes the mostly projecting buttocks points; it lies horizontally around the body; at the front it goes the flexible plate vertically put on the belly to account its projecting . You may use hard paper band on width to put around the body and mark matching points; and take measure on flat.

Whaaa? Luckily there was a diagram to help out. I suspect that something was lost in translation (except for the mostly projecting buttocks points, which I understood all too well). Another small gripe that I had relates to the little drop-down boxes displaying measurements. Whilst it was possible to enter fractions of a centimetre (e.g. 0.1 - 0.9cm), there was no provision for entering whole numbers. Odd that. I had to select a fraction of a centimetre for every measurement.

All up the 26 measurements took me about 30 minutes, as I took all my measurements on my own. If you think this sounds a little slow, then I have to ask: Have you ever tried to measure your own inseam? No? Well, I could highly recommend asking a friend to help if possible - that way you will be able to avoid the sort of bizarre contortions and tricks that I needed to perform. If that is not possible, then it would be helpful to at least have a long mirror, to at least make sure you are measuring the right bits, in the right places!

Finally, Perfect Fit suggest that you also upload some photos of yourself wearing close fitting clothes (I added a front and side view of myself). There is also a free format field where you can add any extra details that you think might be useful.

The pattern

I now await my customised pattern. I can't wait to see how well it has been altered. I shall be sure to tell you all about it, when it arrives in about 7 days. In the meantime I will be sitting patiently on my mostly projecting buttocks points ...

It was a beautiful day on the Island of Sodor ...

All the engines on the Island of Sodor were very excited.

"Did you hear the news?" said Gordon.

"Yes!" said Edward in amazement. "Thomas made it out of the cake pan. And all in one piece - hoorah!" he added with a happy little peep-peep-peep.

But the Fat Controller wasn't happy. "Something is wrong with Thomas' icing" he said crossly. "It just won't do."

"What's wrong with the icing?" asked Emily. "Is it that dodgy piping using the wrong icing tip, that gives the impression that Thomas is sporting a five o'clock shadow?"

"No Emily. Today is a public holiday and Thomas' day off. He can look as unkempt as he wishes" said the Fat Controller.

"Maybe its the look of tredipdation permanently iced onto Thomas' face?" offered Percy helpfully.

"No, its not his expression either" sighed the Fat Controller.

Can you see what it is?

Eye spy ... a surprise

I am playing along with Cindy's Eye Spy meme each Sunday. This week the delightful Laurel from Miss Muggins asked us to spy a surprise.

Life is full of surprises here at Chez Hoppo Bumpo - Argy and Bargy make sure of that. So of course I felt sure that there would be something ready-made to chat about for this week's Eye Spy.

Sure enough here is this (early) morning's surprise. Easter egg wrappers - loads of them - stashed well under the quilt in the cot. Was the Bunny in cahoots with Bargy?

Thank you to Cindy for hosting Eye Spy and to Laurel for the fun theme. To see some more surprises, head over here.

Made up

NEW. Age transforming foundation. Natural finish and medium coverage.

To achieve this look may we suggest raiding your mother's Avon sample box and applying 15ml of foundation in Warmest Beige. (Oh, and don't forget to also smear liberally on the face of your blue cuddly elephant and various items of furniture.)

My creative space

I am joining in again with Thursday's My Creative Space at Kootoyoo. (As it is now Saturday, I'm not sure whether I am late or very early).

Clockwise from top left:

• Nordicware Castle bundt pan - a pan and magic trick all in one; produces a perfect castle shaped cake


• Wilton Thomas The Tank Engine pan - comes with an icing guide that helps you produce an edible blue engine. Toot! Toot!


• Commercial cake mixes - buttercake and mudcake (read on and you'll understand why, despite enjoying baking, I have resorted to these)
  


• Snow sugar - a non-dissolving, powdery white adornment
  


• Wilton colouring gels to produce lovely intense colours in icing (and make small children run around in circles)
  


• Solite - a white vegetable shortening (similar to Crisco) used as a stable foundation for fluffy buttercream icing

How's this for excess or insanity ... or both?

In the last 7 days I have made 5 birthday cakes for Argy. I never planned to do this. Honestly. But we needed one to share at kindergarten. And one for morning tea on his actual birthday. And another for the little party with the group of also-turning-four friends.

But of course, a quick count would put that at three cakes, right?

So I have to admit to two hideous cake wrecks. The sort that necessitated baking replacements. One of them was particularly spectacular. I was shattered ... and so was it. There were a lot of crumbs, foot stamping and tears.

On Monday I am making the absolute, definitely never-to-be-repeated, final birthday cake for a family gathering. The plan is for a beautiful blue Thomas The Tank Engine. I have hired the tin, so have no idea how easily it will turn out of the pan.

If this one breaks though, I already have all bases covered. I'm icing it regardless and jogging everyone's memory about the beauty of cubism (in the case of simple cracking or displacement) or pointillism (for crumbs). Wish me luck.

Thank you very much Kirsty for hosting My Creative Space. Its great fun seeing what everyone is doing. To see who else is showing their creative space (or to join in), head over here.

Hem along week 1 - basic double fold hem (woven fabrics)

Some background about hem-along ...
Introduction

Preface

Whether a sewer or not, most us have been faced with a hem at some point. Who hasn't had to do something with a hem that has come down? Or shorten a garment? I suspect this is why hilarious stories of make-shift hemming solutions seem to spill out so readily. I'll personally admit to stapling, taping and pinning in the past. And then - when I became a little more sophisticated - to the extensive use of iron-on tape.

This week was the first in my hem-along and I decided to start with the most basic of techniques - the turned and stitched hem. But you know, after years as a serial stapler, it came as a great surprise to discover many variations on the humble folded hem. So many, in fact, that I thought it best to look at the different possibilities in detail across the next couple of weeks.

So this week, I decided to focus just on how to hem a straight line on woven fabric using a double fold hem. In the coming two weeks I will look at single fold hems on woven fabrics and then some good techniques for hemming a stretchy fabric. Later I will also look at hemming curves.

Read on to see my double-fold experiments using machine and hand sewing.

Double-folding a hem

This type of hem is created by folding the up the hem allowance twice. This hides the raw edge of the fabric in the fold.

It creates a simple, durable hem best suited to light (but not sheer) to medium-weight fabrics. The folds create some weight at the hemline. (If your hem is going to become bulky or heavy when the fabric is turned twice, it would be better to use a single fold, which I will be looking at next week.)

To create the hem below, I made the first turn then lightly pressed the fold. After this I made the second turn and lightly pressed the fold.



The depth of the double-folded hem will depend on your project.

If you are making a garment like a dress, you'll find that the skirt hem is much deeper than say the hem on the sleeve. If you are using a commercial pattern, there will probably be guidance about the size of the first and second folds for each hem. The first fold is, however, generally shallower than the second. This minimises the bulk in the hem.

To hold the folds in place, you can see below that I pinned the hem.



You can also baste (temporarily tack with a long hand stitches) the hem. There are some instances (that I will look at in coming weeks - for example, curved hems) where it is better to hold the hem in place with basting rather than pins.

Securing the hem by hand

Most of the hems I have sewn in the past have been by machine, so it was good to try out some new hand stitches. When you catch a hem by hand, the stitching is less visible than machining.

There are a number of hand stitches that can be used for hemming. Some of the common ones are blind hem stitch, catch stitch and slip stitch. I will be looking at blind hemming by hand and machine in a separate experiment, so this week I tried out catch and slip stitch.

For each of the stitches, I used just a single thread in the needle. The thread was secured at the start and end of the stitching with a knot in the fold.

Catch stitch

Catch stitch criss-crosses the length of the hem. You use small stitches to catch fabric both above and below the folded edge. This is a nice secure stitch, which has a little bit of "give" in it. A little movement in the hemline makes the hem look soft.



If you use a matching thread, the stitch will be barely visible on the right side of the fabric. The stitches you can see below are the small stitches taken above the fold.



When using catch stitch you sew from the left to the right along the hemline. The stitch is worked by catching a small stitch (right to left) in the fold and then moving diagonally up to catch a small stitch (right to left) above the fold. In the example below I am about to pull the needle to the left and then move diagonally back down to the fold again.



Now this is quite a straight forward stitch, but hand stitching really is not my forte. I had a little trouble catching-on initially and picked up some of the stitches in the wrong direction. I found it a little easier when I remembered that I was essentially sewing in a figure 8 with the top and bottom of the 8 being where I should take the stitch.

Slip stitch

Next I tried slip stitch. It is created by taking a little stitch above the fold and then a longer stitch that tunnels through the fold. This is also a nice sturdy stitch, but has a bit less "give" than the catch stitch. It is, however, less visible from the wrong side of the fabric than the catch stitch, as you can see below ...



... but looks similar on the right side of the fabric. Once again if you used a matching thread the stitches would be almost invisible. And again, the little stitches you can see are the ones that have been taken above the fold.



When using with slip stitch you sew from the right to left along the hemline. The stitch is worked by using the fold as a little tunnel. You start by taking a "tunnelling" stitch to left in the fold and then bring the needle out and take a little stitch (right to left) above the fold. Then you take the needle down into the fold and move left again.

In the example below, I have loosened off the stitching slightly to show you what is happening. I am about to take the needle back down into the fold again.



So its an along-up-across-down-along sort of pattern.

Securing the hem by machine

Machine stitching is a quick way of securing the hem and produces a very durable, even stitch. The stitching is generally visible from the right side of the fabric - even when you use a matching thread. For this reason, this type of hem is often referred to as a "top-stitched" hem.

Top stitching is always done on the right side of the fabric, so strictly speaking, you should sew the hem from the outside of the garment. The catch is that you need to be quite sure that you are securing the hem up all the way round with your stitching. There is not much point in having a line of beautiful top stitching if its not actually fastening the hem.

Given this, some people choose to sew on the wrong side of the garment. I'll admit it ... I am one of those people! If you are going to do this, you need to make sure that you are also sewing parallel to bottom of the hem, otherwise your stitching is going to look all wobbly from the outside.

Here is my hem secured with machine stitching.



Additional tips

#1 If you have any vertical seams intersecting with your hem, they will create extra bulk in your hem. The heavier your fabric the more pronounced the effect. Instead of the double fold hem having three thickness, it will have six! Before you begin sewing you could take out a little bit of bulk by cutting the seam allowance to about half its size (you can read more about "grading" a seam here).



#2 If you are hand sewing, its a good idea to create a knot every now and then as you are stitching. This means if the hem starts to come down later, it will only undo up to the knot. This way you won't have to re-stitch a whole hem!

Conclusion

Before this experiment I rarely hemmed by hand. I shied away from the whole idea, thinking it was too difficult. Securing a hem by machine has always seemed like the quickest, easiest and safest thing to do. However, after trying the catch and slip stitches, machine stitching seemed so heavy and obvious. I think I might be a convert!

Next week: I will be looking at single fold hems and how you finish the raw edge of the hem. I will be using both the sewing machine and hand sewing. And ... shhhhh, don't tell anyone .... but I might even dabble with a cheat's no-sew hem or two.

Four

He was our first. A bonny - and ever so cuddly - baby. Argy was born this day four years ago.

As part of the birthday festivities (which when you are 4, apparently extend for approximately 11 months), there is a handmade gift. Kiddo here has been made from Jodie's terrific Kinder Boys pattern.

Kiddo remains nameless at present. The name Mr Manny has been touted, but there is the real possibility he will be named after an engine.

Like most small boys, Kiddo is parading unashamedly in his undies. At least they're not on his head. I have given him a towel to wear until Argy and I choose some fabric for clothes. Fashion parade to follow.

The silver lining

Its raining; its pouring.
Complaints of this is boring.
Behaviour's hit the skids.
I've got feral kids.
But at least there's colour this morning.

The azalea pictured above, is the lone survivor after a scorching summer.

Eye spy ... a new development

I am playing along with Cindy's Eye Spy meme each Sunday. This week Christina of A Little Bird Told me asked us to spy a new development.

Ooh ... easy. The story goes a little like this.

And now we have Caller #9 on the line.
Um hello ... yes ... is this Dull FMs "Secret Sound" competition?

Yes, Caller #9. For $10,000, what do you think the
sound is?
Oooh, easy. Its the sound of that young hoon who has been tailgating me wherever I drive.

Sorry Caller #9. That is incorrrrrect.
Huh? But ... wait ... there must be a mistake ... I'd know the sound of those horrible screeching tyres anywhere.

Listen Caller #9, have you taken a look in the (rear) mirror lately? That sound is YOU, lady.

Oh dear. It is too. This is s a new development.

I now need to add tyres squeal when bearing right at any speed above completely stationary to the increasing list of woes. The grand old dame is nineteen years old this year - she was my very first car. Parting will be such sweet sorrow.


Thank you to Cindy for hosting Eye Spy and to Christina for the fun theme. To see some more new developments, head over here.

Stand back and throw: milk marinaded chicken

They say that necessity is the mother of invention.

Case in point: a favourite recipe has gone missing. A tender little marinaded number, cooked on the BBQ. It was called Gai Yang Chicken. Um, I think? Look, I'm pretty sure about the chicken. But the rest is a bit hazy. I seem to be missing some (or is that all?) of the ingredients.

Solution? Make it up, of course.

I call this invention, ingenuity, resourcefulness. Yippee ... Gai Yang Chicken rides again. Of course, you might beg to differ; pointing out that Gai Yang Chicken can only be called such if it contains authentic ingredients. That I am corrupting a beautiful South-East Asian dish. You might say that I should be calling it Gai Yang Style ... or really something else altogether.

Fair enough. So this week I stood back and threw together ... er, a complete fabrication.

To begin I arrange some chicken thigh fillets in a dish. Then I cracked open a tin of evaporated milk. I poured the milk into a nice glass jug and took a few photographs in the late afternoon sun (note: this step is optional)

Next I tipped the milk into a food processor and threw in a bit of garlic, a couple of chillis and chunk of peeled ginger. This was followed by a big slurp of fish sauce and a sprinkling of lime leaves. Finally I flicked the switch and blended the lot together, then pour the resulting green sludge marinade over the chicken and refrigerated it for a few hours.

Finally I drained the chicken a little before barbequeing the pieces until golden and cooked (pictured, top).

I served it to the family with rice and vegetables - it was very tasty. No, really it was. Even the small people of the household devoured it. And I'd absolutely never make that bit up ....

My creative space

I am joining in again with Thursday's My Creative Space (better late than never!) at Kootoyoo.

From top:

• Pieces from the fabric stash - fat quarters in softest shades of olive, cream and candy floss


• Shiny, rounded bodkin - supercedes a bent little safety pin for guiding elastic through casings


• Crisp new copy of the delightful, locally-produced Meet Me At Mike's 26 Crafty Projects

Crafty endeavours have been scant this week, so I have earmarked a teeny-tiny shoe project from the book for this weekend. Baby-steps.

Thank you very much Kirsty for hosting My Creative Space. Its great fun seeing what everyone is doing. To see who else is showing their creative space (or to join in), head over here.

For hire

Two arborists.
Topiary a speciality.
Will bring own tools (namely an egg beater and plastic hammer).
Safe work practices strictly adhered to.

A-hem ... may I have your attention ...

Please select the correct answer.
A hem is:

1. The noise you make when clearing your throat
   Sample usage: A-Hem. What's going on here? (pointing to floor)


2. An accusation used by small children
   Sample usage: It wasn't me that poured that all over the floor; it was Hem (pointing to brother)


3. A song frequently mimed due to poor eyesight and small print
   Sample usage: Please turn to Hem number ...


4. Neatened lower edge of a garment or other sewn item. Generally turned up and held in place by a safety pin stitching

If you have an interest in hems of the sewn variety, please visit in the coming weeks when I will conduct a series of completely haphazard hem experiments (in the same line as Seam Along).

There will be a veritable hem-o-rama of blind hems, hem facings, rolled hems, covered hems .... and more. Both the sewing machine and overlocker will be gainfully employed and I will be using soft lens photography to pass off some very dodgy hand sewing. And, when I work up the courage, there will be a sprinkling of tricks like mitring corners and turning up tapers.

I might even show you some of my very own secret short-cuts ... the ones you won't hear about in your sewing class or in books. (Think of the potential of the humble staple, here people).

Next Wednesday: Starting at the beginning. I will be looking at the the basic turned up hem on both woven and stretch fabrics. Hope you will come back for Hem-Along!