2016 Sewing Projects |Sewing|

I had six projects planned for 2016, but wasn't totally sure on one of them. Then circumstances conspired this January and I have an event at the end of February that I need a couple of things for. So item six was bumped, projects were rearranged and here we are! 

I wanted to set out these items to sew because they've all been on my list of "things I want" for ages. I still want them, so I might as well have a productive year! It doesn't mean I won't sew other things alongside hopefully, just that I want to get these done. Two months for each project, plenty of time to research, buy patterns and materials and sew the items. Which as you'll see are not always in one piece.... 

January February

Petticoat for Laura Ashley dress. 

Airplane prints circle skirt using vintage prints from VintagePleasure on Instagram. 

I want to wear the airplane prints skirt during the day at a conference and the dress in the evening for the dinner dance. My Vivien of Holloway petticoat is just too short for the skirt on the Laura Ashley dress and without spending a crazy amount on a bridal petticoat I'm at a loss. So dress net and ruffles on a handmade petticoat it is!!

The prints I saw on Instagram from ???? and just fell in love with. I'm hoping with some bondaweb they'll make an awesome statement skirt. 

March April

Ultra high waisted pencil skirt with detachable braces. 

From Collectif. 

I've seen similar to what I want all over the place in vintage repro stores, but nothing perfect. I hope I'll be able to recreate the picture in my head in fabric. I'm thinking interesting kick pleat, detailed top band, gorgeous fabric. It might be a bit ambitious!! 

May June

Grey silk cape and circle skirt. 

An old photo. The hat looks almost white here! 

I need to find the perfect fabric for this. I have a gorgeous grey silk pillbox hat with feathers and a veil, but it doesn't really go with anything I own... I want to remedy that and I reckon this could be a very chic outfit. Or total disaster. I've never sewn with silk. 

July August

Blue and white striped robe. 

Underwear and frillies! 

Taking inspiration right off the pattern envelope! It will also be kind of a muslin as I seriously need to do my Godmother's robe as I've had her fabric for literal years and not made it for her. A mixture of fear and laziness I think has held me back!! Terrible goddaughter!! 

Plus if there's time I'd like to play around with underwear and slips etc. Just for fun. It's my birthday month after all. 

September October

Grey woollen suit jacket, pencil skirt and pleated full circle skirt. 

Sorry about the terrible quality, it's the only one I can find!! 

When I saw this photo I completely fell in love with the look, but knew I'd probably never be able to afford a true vintage version as beautiful or even a repro version. Do they exist this gorgeous?

So I know I can sew circle skirts, and pencil skirts. It's just the jacket. So some clothing construction learning might be required. Which will be interesting at least. These two months are Definintely Ambitious. 

November December 

Quilted circle skirt. 

I can't remember where I first saw a quilted circle skirt. It was somewhere in blog land and true vintage. Gorgeous and as usual, way beyond my budget. 

Then Gertie and her fabulous blog popped up again recently with a tutorial for one. Dreams do come true. I'm terrible at actually following directions, so I might not totally stick to her instructions....it's the same basic idea though! Pretty fabrics and toasty legs! 

I hope I do get through them all this year. Fingers crossed. I get way laid easily!! 

What are your projects for this year? 

Jo :) 

New Year Resolutions |2016|

It's that time of year again and I'm sure most people have already written there's up, but here are my resolutions for this year. I think I kept two of last years. Going vegan and running a 5k. Which is pretty good going for me as I'm definitely one for good intentions and no results!

This year I want to:

Go to Paris. 

On my own. I've always wanted to see this city and through one thing and another it's not been possible with another person. So I'm romancing myself by going. I want to be a total tourist and see the sights, and maybe buy some fancy French underwear. I've already been looking at hotels and flights and dates, so I just need to save up some money and this will be a tick by the end of 2016! 

Go solo in a glider. 

Another long term aim of mine. This year will be my year. I've got a savings plan in place for this too and I'm hoping to rejoin my local club halfway through the year. Fingers crossed on this one as I can't imagine being left alone on charge of an aeroplane!! 

Learn German. 

Something else I should've done a long time ago. I'm going to get myself a dictionary and things again and aim for an easy one hour a week. Or perhaps look for a local class. I'd like to learn Italian or French too, but one language is pushing it a bit!! 

Run a 10k charity race. 

Probably the race for life again. I enjoyed it last year. This should really be just "run 10k" as I've never done that before, but it's good to have goals...

And finally I have six sewing projects I would like to complete this year that have been on my Want list for ages. That's a whole other post though, that will appear in due course. It's hopefully not the only sewing I'll do, but it is a guideline! 

Last year I made a list of things I hoped to try and accomplish, which I liked, that weren't really resolutions, but more ongoing challenges. I'm not sure that's really a difference, but maybe there's less pressure on these!! 2016's are:

Swear less (already going badly)

Better organisation (every year!!) 

Writing a daily summary in my diary. 

A whole #366happydays which you can see on my Instagram under #joshappy2016

Healthier eating (also every year...) 

Grow my hair out

Get more flexible for dancing

Learn more about clothing construction 

Sew some lingerie 

Remember birthdays. Seriously I need to work on this one!!! 

Have you made resolutions? Do you keep them? Good luck for 2016!

Jo :)

New Year, Vintage Laura Ashley |Outfit Post|

Hello lovely people! Or potentially just my Mum and Godmother! Thank you for the photos Rose!! It's a whole New Year again, it's a cliché but I have no idea where 2015 wooshed off to. I think I packed a fair bit in last year, and I hope this year will be even busier.

I seem to have started a couple of new traditions last year that I'd like to keep going in the future.

1) A New Years Day run is important. Start as you mean to go on.

2) I cook a spread out three course meal on New Years Eve.

3) I want to see the New Year in wearing a fabulous dress.

I found THE dress a couple of weeks before Christmas when I shouldn't really have been spending any money on anything other than presents, but it had to come home with me.

 

Lurking in the party dress range of a local charity shop (PDSA in Diss if you're nosy) was this stunning vintage Laura Ashley gown. I'm wearing my Vivien of Holloway petticoat underneath, but it's not really long enough!

 

The fabric is heavy and the print is gorgeous. It has glitter in the fabric somehow as it shimmers. A lovely sweetheart, strapless bodice and ballerina length skirt reminiscent of the 50s, even though this is definitely an 80s number.

 

 

I wore it with a yard of hand knotted ring pearls and matching bracelet from Roxana Jems (who'll be opening their doors at some point in2016), vintage lace gloves and my wonderful patent Pleaser stilettos. Although I succumbed to boots and a cardi (and other layers!!) to troop down to the Kelpies at midnight!!

 

 

These photos were taken earlier in the day as I needed a good photo record of just how gorgeous this dress is! It was a fun way to start the New Year!!

 

How was your New Year? Do you dress up or slob out? Both have equal appeal!!

Jo :)

Roasted Vegetable Pie |Vegan Recipe|

Back on the Winter Warmers recipes again, these are simple little pies, no faffing about getting a full on pie crust, just get your hit of pastry from the top. The little ones in ramekins freeze really well to be defrosted and zapped in the microwave for a midweek lunch and we demolished the large one for dinner between three of us!

Ingredients and method in an easy to copy/paste recipe at the end as usual. Hope you enjoy this one, it's really too simple to even be bothering to share the recipe!

 

 

Chop all your veg into chunks and chuck in a roasting dish with a little oil. Top with mushrooms so when they cook, their flavour gets all over the rest of the food. Cover and roast for forty minutes at 190. If you want them to crisp up a bit, ten minutes before the end, take the cover off, mix the mushrooms in and give them ten minutes with the top off.

While the veg is roasting, boil your kettle for the gravy and get to making the pastry. If you want to be really quick, buy some. I'm reasonably certain that a lot of ready made stuff is in fact vegan, but do check your labels.

Crumble your flour and margarine together into breadcrumbs with your fingers. Add water a little at a time until the dough comes together. You don't want it to be too sticky. Knead gently into a ball and refrigerate until the veg is done.

Make up your gravy (I like Bisto's favourite) and add it into the roasting tin so you get all the good veggie flavour. Put your veg mix into ramekins or pie dishes.

Get your pastry out and roll it out to about the thickness of a pound coin. Top your pie dishes various and slice off the extra with a knife.

 

 

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes at 200 until the top is golden brown and crispy. I still haven't figured out a good glaze, but I quite like the unglazed look. I suspect oil might work to make it shiny if added five minutes before the end? Anyone got any tips?

 

Ta Dah! Pies. Yum.

Jo :)

Ingredients:

400g parsnips (peeled)

A large sweet potato (mine was 700g before I peeled it)

300g mushrooms

450g carrots

1 pint gravy

200g plain flour

100g vegan margarine (I've used Vitalite and Pure)

50 ml water

Method:

Chop veg to similar size, add to roasting dish with mushrooms on top

Roast for 40m at 190 degrees

Make breadcrumbs with flour and margarine, add water until a dough is achieved

Add gravy to veg in roasting dish and mix up

Add to pie dishes

Roll pastry out to 5mm thickness, top pies

Bake for 25-30m at 200 degrees until golden brown

Stew & Dumplings |Vegan Recipe|

I seem to be on a bit of a dumpling kick at the moment! It's turned colder, greyer and darker all of a sudden and I feel like winter has really kicked in. Which obviously calls for hearty, warming dishes in the kitchen. If I can cook it all in one pot and serve it with thick chunky bread, all the better. I love my slow cooker and it gets the most use at this time of the year. If you don't have one, you can do this without, it just means you'll be standing around at the hob a lot more, keeping an eye on things.

Easy to copy/print recipe at the end as usual! Excuse the photos, I ended up cooking round my friends and had left my camera at home again!

First off, put your lentils, yellow split peas and pearl barley into your slow cooker with it set on high. Add three litres of vegetable stock. Home made is best, but Oxo is so much quicker!

 

Leave this for two hours to cook up. You can prep your other veg while you're waiting.

 

 

I like to pre-cook my potatoes so halve and par boil them first. Chop up your carrots, parsnips, sweet potato, and turnip into equal sized pieces depending on how chunky you want your stew to be. The packs of stew veg are perfect for this.

When the pearl barley is cooked through, add the veg and potatoes to the pot along with the gravy granules. Let this all cook down for an hour.

Mix up your flour and butter to form breadcrumbs, and add enough water until it's a slightly sticky dough. If you don't mind soft dumplings, you can stir up your slow cooker and add them on top or in the mix here, shaping the dough into little balls in your hands first, and leaving to cook for another hour.

I prefer crispy topped dumplings so I decant my stew into a dish, put the dumplings on top and bake in a 200 degree oven for thirty to forty minutes until they're nice and golden and the stew is bubbling. Serve with green veg, crusty bread, and if you're feeling really fancy, vegan Yorkshire puddings!

What's your winter go to?

Jo:)

Ingredients:

150g lentils

200g yellow split peas

200g pearl barley

3 litres veggie stock

5 large carrots

4 large parsnips

250g baby potatoes

1 large sweet potato

1 medium turnip

4tbsp gravy granules

150g SR Flour

2tbsp vegan butter (I've used Vitalite and Pure)

Method:

Lentils, yellow split peas and pearl barley into slow cooker on high with 3l of stock

Halve baby potatoes and par boil

Chop veg equally and add to pot after two hours along with potatoes and gravy granules

Mix flour and butter to make breadcrumbs, add water until you get a sticky dough

After 1 hour more either decant to dish to add dumplings or cook for another hour in stock pot with dumplings

If baking, put dish in 200 degree oven for 30/40 mins until golden brown.

Simple Gathered Skirt |Sewing Tutorial|

I wrote a simple tutorial for this on my old blog, but this will be better, plus it has photos! 

I made this skirt for a friends birthday (lacking her measurements) hence the shorter length. If I was making myself this double layer style, I'd be at knee length at least.

 

Anyway, take your measurements as shown in my wonderful (!) hand drawn diagram so you can work out how much fabric you need to buy.

 

Make sure you pre wash your fabric! Ironing it after gives you extra brownie points but I really hate ironing.....

 

Cut your two rectangles out. Hem along one long side of each one. This will be the lower hem. Fold over half a cm and then again so the raw edge is nearly enclosed.
 

If you have lace or anything to add to the hems, do so now. I stitched my lace on just straight along (didn't even pin, I'm so slap dash!) the bottom hem of each rectangle so that it hung underneath the fabric. 

 

I like to French seam, so fold your rectangle in half, wrong sides together with the two short sides meeting. Sew straight down that edge as close to the edge as possible. Turn the tube inside out so your right sides are together and press the seam flat. Then sew the hem up 5mm from the edge to enclose the raw edge. My favourite seam for skirts! Repeat on the second rectangle. 

 

 

Cut your waistband. Fold it in half, and then turn the long raw edges in by 1cm so they will end up in the waistband. Iron it and iron it again. Make sure it lines up well and your life will be easier than mine!
 

The two tubes should now fit nicely one inside the other. Make sure you put the shorter one on top!! Line the raw top edges up neatly and pin your waistband over both pieces. Fold the end you are starting to stitch at under itself so the frayed ends aren't showing. Do not stitch it closed.
 

Sew around your waistband until you're a few centimetres from the end and back stitch to stop the thread unravelling. 

 

Use a large safety pin in the end of your elastic to feed it through the waistband until you have both ends showing. I favour a criss cross square stitch to make sure it doesn't spring apart! Manoeuvre it into the waistband so you can tuck the leftover raw ends over. Finish stitching the waistband on and run up over the elastic to join the waistband into a circle.

 

Hey presto. One pretty, comfy, layered skirt. 

 

Notes:

Always backstitch at the beginning and end of any sewing, bonus points for tying off too. 

If you've got wavy lace, follow the top edge so it doesn't flop over a straight line of stitching. 

Match your top thread to your lace, but if it's fairly thick, leave your bobbin thread as the main fabric colour and the inside will look neater. 

Make sure your elastic doesn't twist. 

Ironing is more awesome than I think it is. 

So is pinning. 

Don't be lazy :) 

I like it because there's no zips or buttons. Win. 

Think you'll give this style of simple skirt a try? 

Jo :)

Nutty Dumpling Roast |Vegan Recipe|

Well, this is long overdue and somewhat of a practice run. I've been meaning to make nut roast for ages. And in true Jo fashion, browsed a few recipes and then made it up from there. So it kind of turned out more dumpling like, than traditional nut roast texture! So feel free to add more nuts to it if you so wish, if you doubled (or maybe trebled) the amount of seeds/nuts in the recipe, you'd get about double the yield. Which for me was a large rectangular baking dish. My friends and I enjoyed the dumpling though. So here's the method for that! Recipe and simplified method for cutting/pasting/printing at the end as usual. 

Chop your sweet potatoes into chunks. I went for around about 1 to 2cm cubed. They kind of mushed into the dumpling a bit so bigger could be better! 

 

 

Set them to cook (steam or boil is fine) and keep an eye so they don't get over done. They want to be just about to be edible and still pretty firm. Parboiled really I suppose. 

I'm not a professional chef. Can you tell?! 

Slice and fry the mushrooms. You don't want to add oil as the suet is oily enough later on! 

 

 

Blitz up one pack of chestnuts, the cranberries, maple syrup and balsamic vinegar with enough water to make a thick paste. 

 

 

Add all the seeds and nuts (chopping up the other bag of chestnuts). Season to taste. I added a good tablespoon of smoked paprika here. 

 

 

Mix the suet into the paste along with the packet of silken tofu and add this to the frying pan, and don't forget to add the sweet potato which should've been done a while ago!

 

 

Once hot through, pour the whole lot into your baking dish. 

 

 

Bake for 30 minutes at 200 degrees, take it out. Top it with the jar of cranberry sauce and roast for another 10 minutes at 220 degrees. 

Voila. Nut dumpling roast. Serve with potatoes and lots of veggies. 

Excuse the last photo. I was very excited to eat it and popped over to my friends, forgetting my camera. So it's only phone quality I'm afraid!! To be honest excuse all the photos, it gets dark early now!

Do you make up recipes?

Jo :)

Ingredients: 

500g cubed sweet potatoes

300g sliced mushrooms 

2 packets ready cooked chestnuts (I pack chopped)

150g cranberries

3tbsp maple syrup

2tbsp balsamic vinegar

50g golden linseed

50g blanched peanuts

50g sunflower seed

Salt and Pepper

Smoked paprika

300g veggie suet

Pack of silken tofu (349g)

Method:

Parboil/steam sweet potato till slightly undercooked

Fry mushrooms

Blitz 1 pack chestnuts, cranberries, maple syrup and balsamic vinegar with water, until it turns into a paste

Add the seeds and nuts to the frying pan

Season

Add the suet and tofu to the paste and then into pan

Heat through and pour into dish

Bake for 30m at 200degrees

Top with cranberry sauce

Bake for 10m at 220degrees