MAKE A PERSONALISED 12" CUSHION

It's the end of term again, the time of year when I find myself, like many of us parents scrabbling around trying to think of some inexpensive & hopefully unique thank you gift for our kids to give to their outgoing teacher. This year my 9 year old daughter Eden has a male teacher, which seemed to make that task even harder, but we are hoping as he is apparently "banana mad" he is going to love this totally unique cushion, decorated with Eden's very own version of some famous banana art.

Though these simple to make cushions & the many variations that you can make of them are fantastic Xmas or Birthday gifts for family & friends  too & can be decorated in all sorts of designs, or techniques - see the print tutorials I will be adding over the next few weeks….

How To Make A Simple Picture Frame Cushion

see HERE...

FOR TRANSFER PRINT TUTORIALS & HOW TO MAKE A PERSONALISED MOTIF

First you will need to choose your print & fabrics  - As this is for a man, I've chosen black denim with a leatherette trim - the white cotton is for the transfer print of our chosen artwork.

For ONE CUSHION you will need…

White or light coloured high cotton content cloth to print onto. 

40cm of your main cloth (In this case - Denim) ... this needs to be firm & none stretch, but you can adapt a jersey or less firm cloth by ironing on an interlining

Leatherette to make into strips(if buying - 25cm)(or you can use a different trim for the frame,  ribbon, binding or a decorative braid will all do fine & change the design to suit the person the gift is for) 

Cut 4 strips of Leatherette 2cm wide X 35cm for your trim

Alternatively you could use Ribbon, or a decorative braid as an alternative trim to frame your print

Cut you Denim (or main cloth) into 2 x 35cm squares

Trim your A4 sized print to make a square & lay onto your cut cushion front

Lay your trim over the edge of your motif to create a frame.

Here I have "basket weaved" the edges in an "over - under" fashion

I used fabric glue to hold the motif in place for stitching.

With hindsight (see below) less glue would have been better - edges & corners only next time!!

I used glue to hold the trim in place as I didn't want pin marks in my Leatherette.

Pinning would be fine on other trims.

Edge Stitch BOTH edges of the trim to securely frame your print.

Repeat all around to finish your print frame trim.

Now PRESS the BACK of your finished cushion front with a hot iron, taking great care not to damage the print - I use a heat reflective ironing board cover, & my cushion & print safely peeled away when still warm - if you don't have this, press onto grease proof paper & peel away when warm.

With the right side of your fabric FACING each other, seam all around your cushion as shown.

Leave a gap of aprox 6cm in one side to create a turning/stuffing hole.

Turn your cushion through by grabbing the inside through the hole & pulling through to the outside

Carefully & neatly press all around the edge of your cushion with a hot iron
Folding & pressing the fill hole will help when closing the hole after stuffing.

Now fill your cushion.

I used Poly beads, available in most haberdashers or online, but you can use wadding, cloth scraps mixed with wadding or recycle the stuffing from old duvets & pillows or even chopped up poly carrier bags - free & eco friendly, what more can you ask for :)

Close the hole to finish by oversewing as shown

You now have a finished personalised cushion :)

MAKE A GIRLS/TEEN JERSEY FASHION TOP

Disclaimer PLEASE NOTE this tutorial is for PERSONAL use only & as such you are very welcome to use it to make personal items or gifts, but it is NOT to be used for resale in any form.

All rights reserved for this pattern to myself.

Copy Right for any downloaded images will be held at source & taken at your own risk.

Okay, now that the covering my bum bit is out of the way, here we go :)   


PLEASE NOTE this tutorial is still under construction, pop back soon for full pattern making instructions

This simple little pattern offers you endless design possibilities & is very current, so any little girl, teen, or fashion conscious woman would be no doubt happy to own one - my own 9 yr old Fashionista certainly is & trust me, when it comes to clothes, she is for my sins  as fussy as they come !!!

Please note front image image obscured for copy right reasons ;-)

Measure the person that the top will be for as so (image to follow soon) 

1. Right across the body at shoulder point, to the point of the arm you want the sleeve to finish - now add 2cm to the total figure. This one was measured to about 2/3rd of the way down the upper arm.
2. Measure from the side of the neck to the length you want your top to finish - this one was measured to just below the waist/top hip.
3. Holding the tape flat, measure across the neck at collar bone point, to get an approximate neck width - don't curve your tape around the neck, this curve will be allowed for in the cutting instructions below.

Find yourself some suitable pattern paper

As design & pattern cutting is my profession, I always have a roll pattern makers "spot & cross" to hand, so that is what I have used here. I have marked out  this pattern on the blank side, so as to hopefully make it easier for you to follow my instructions, besides it's a long time since spot & cross could be trusted to be an accurate measurement tool.

If you don't have spot & cross, any of the following papers can be used as a substitute.

• Wrapping paper, brown parcel paper is especially good as it is quite durable.
• Old Newspaper, especially broad sheets.
• Left over wall paper.

If you need to clue or tape your paper together to make bigger more usable sheets, then I recommend using "magic tape" this is more durable than standard Cellotape, so less likely to disintegrate with age or perhaps ironing your pattern flat.

Prit stick type glues can also be a good alternative if using anything but wallpaper.

You will also need… 

• A straight edge or long ruler of some sort.
• Your tape measure or long rule.
• Some sort of set square, or something that you can use to make sure that your frame is at true right angles.
• Pencil.
• Marker or felt tip pens 

Now to Cut Your Pattern

1. Fold two sheets of your chosen paper as shown in the picture below, making sure they are both quite a bit bigger than the measurements you have taken, use the picture below as a guide for how much bigger.
2. Once folded, mark out your guide frame - for this use your pencil to mark out a square/oblong using the measurements you have taken from your model on one of your two folded sheets of paper - use your set square to make sure all the right angles are true.
3. Remember - the width measurement used on paper, will be HALF of the measurement you took across the shoulders/upper arms & neck, length measurements will be as they were.

You are now cutting the FRONT of your top pattern & you now you have your guide frame marked out in pencil. 

Take a coloured felt pen - I've used red here & following the measurements on my diagram you can carefully mark out your pattern shape.

1. Mark the "side neck" by measuring in from the folded top edge of the paper, by HALF of your neck width measurement & marking a dot on the paper.
2. Now mark a point at the outer edge of the guide frame 3cm down from the top edge of your guide frame as shown in my diagram - join the side neck point, to this sleeve point by drawing a straight line ending on your guide frame - you now have your shoulder/top sleeve

You should now have a pattern that when laid out, looks something like this.

Basic Sewing Instructions

The finish of the top is down to you, but how you choose to sew it can also be a design feature. 

For example the garment below below at the bottom of this tutorial has been overlocked in a contrast colour thread, so that the seams show on the OUTSIDE of the garment, the neck, cuffs & hem have been finished in the same way. 

If you don't have an overlocker, you could think about using a contrast binding to get a similar look, but make sure its in jersey & sewn on with a small zig-zag to keep its stretch.

The top shown at the top of the page at the beginning of this tutorial has the hems sewn in the normal way, with neck, cuffs & hem all neatly hemmed with a small zig zag stitch to keep the fabrics stretch.

For this reason I will keep the make-up instructions very simple

1. Sew the shoulder seams together.
2. Finish the hem of the neck in the way that you choose.
3. Sew both of the back & front side seams together.
4. Finish the hem of the cuffs in the way that you choose.
5. Finish all around the hem & front tie in the way that you choose.

NOTE - if you are BINDING your neck & armholes, trim 1cm off all around the neck edge then bind the neck BEFORE sewing up the shoulders & bind the armholes BEFORE closing the side seams. This will give a neater, easier to control finish.

Before Sewing, why not take a look at the embellishment tutorials & add a front detail, as shown on the finished garments - you can add applique, a transfer print or more to finish your top.

MY BRAMBLE HINNIES RECIPE

As a kid I grew up in the North East of England in an area that once was part of Northumbria, but is now County Durham. Singing Hinnies are a well known local treat, but traditionally they are made with dried fruit. I remember well the blustery days playing in fields & scrambling up verges to fill up a bowl or bag with wild fruit, wild blackberries & "bleeberries" were always a favourite & in the Autumn as kids it was our job to bring them home for baking - I remember always being sent off with the warning - "don't pick where a dog can cock its leg & remember just because a dog can't get in there - foxes cock legs too" :)

  
My wonderful great Aunt Lizzie was a  baker, famous locally for her fantastic "Stottie" which she sold to the whole village, this foragers twist on the traditional Singing Hinny, is a family recipe passed to me as a small child by her. I can still see her face & smell the wonderful aroma from her old style hoop handled griddle pan as they sizzled & sang on that open fire :) even then she still cooked & baked everything on an old style black range.

Bramble Hinnies

These are very simple griddle scones, made with wild foraged blackberries & are a tasty, quite nutritious take on a traditional North East English recipe.

They are also a great simple little recipe to make with the kids.

INGREDIENTS

200g Plain Four

100g Butter.

50g aprox of Wild Brambles.

1/4 tsp Salt.

Tsp of Baking Powder.

A mixture of aprox 100ml of half Milk & half Creme Frais   

(traditionally it should be half cream, but this tweak  helps lower the fat/cholesterol content without harming the flavour) 

Note: if using currants as they are dry, you will need extra liquid - ie: more milk& cream/creme frais mix - 150ml aprox

METHOD 

Heat you griddle or heavy based fry pan & leave on a low heat.

Rub the fat into flour to form "crumbs", 

Now add the other dry ingredients (inc brambles) & roughly mix

Add the milk/creme frais mix slowly as the needed amount will vary according to how juicy the Brambles are.

Gradually mix to form a soft dough with the milk and cream/cremefrais.

Roll out to about ½ inch thick and cut out using a scone cutter or aany biscuit cutter you fancy.

Now transfer to the griddle & slowly bake on both sides until golden brown & risen. 

They can be served spread with butter, but we like them without and they are at their best when eaten whilst still warm.

They don't last longer than that around here anyway :)

UP-CYCLING GARDEN PLANTERS

How to Up-cycle Ugly or Tatty Old Planters 

I didn't want to pay out £80 for the large ceramic planter that I vaguely liked, so figured it was time for a bit of DIY - Luckily I then spotted these large 20L ceramic pots  in Aldis for only £3.99 - bargain :) 

I now had my pots, time to get my creative head on.

  If you don't have an Aldi or somewhere similar, selling planters at bargain prices close to you, then you or someone you know, may well have old ones knocking around that aren't of use & you can revamp, or perhaps can salvage from somewhere such as Freecycle, Freegle, Greencycle or whatever your local freeby keep it out of landfill site is - or maybe even if you are lucky a skip :)

How to Up-cycle Ugly or Tatty Old Planters

 They were painted with Hammerite metal paint, no primer needed - I used the hammered version as it's great for covering flaws & gives a nice textured finish.

I then masked off the areas not to be painted with masking tape.

 I used the type of paints favoured by graffiti artists as they are very durable, have good cover, come in a wide range of colours, are easy to use & you can even buy additional nozzles for altering the spray size.

For this project I used about a 1/5th of each of 4 cans in 2 shades of 2 colours
 this decorated 5 large pots

 Protecting my hands with latex gloves, & painting outside & using a mask, I carefully sprayed the deeper pink at the top edge

 I then sprayed the lighter pink at the bottom edge creating what I think is a lovely subtle dip dye effect.

 I repeated this with the 2 shades of green, left to dry for an hour - peeled off the masking tape

Et Voila!!  A lovely large garden planter that doesn't look like it cost £3.99 :)
I decorated 5 of these, alternating the colours so that some start at the top with green & others as shown here with pink, this works really well in & around the wall of our small yard 

MY BRAZILIAN BANANA CAKE RECIPE

This is my own adaptation of the traditional Brazilian Banana Cake recipe "Bolo De Banane" 

 I liked the original recipe as its a healthier take on most of the cakes we are used to here in the west, so it appealed to the health food freak in me, it also appealed to my "waste not want not" self, as its a great way to use up past there best & even ready for the bin Bananas - but I found the original slightly lacking in flavour, so having tweaked it around a bit, this is what I came up with...

BRAZILIAN BANANA CAKE

A Rich, Moist & Flavorsome Cake,  Adapted from a Traditional Brazilian Recipe. Lower in Sugar & Fat than Other Traditional Cake Recipes.

INGREDIENTS

1 Large Egg

 1 & 1/2 Cups of Self Raising Flour   (or plain flour with tsp of Baking Powder)

1 Cup of Raw Cane Sugar

4 tablespoons of Softened Butter 

1 Tsp of quality Vanilla Essence

A Generous Tsp of Maple Syrup

3 x Medium/Large Mashed Ripe Bananas

Handful of Roughly Crushed Pecan Nuts

METHOD

Pre- heat oven to 180ª  - Grease a 10” inch Loaf Tin.

Whisk together Eggs & Sugar until  fluffy & light.

Whisk 1 tablespoon of flour into this mix - this will help stop any curdling.

Now whisk in the Softened Butter, Vanilla Essence & Maple Syrup
Change from Whisk to K beater (if using Mixer) or large Spatula or Wooden Spoon.

Now sieve & gently fold in the Flour.

If using a Mixer, break up Bananas & throw into the bowl whilst still mixing, otherwise 
Mash the Bananas & fold into the mixture, lifting in a circular motion to add air.

Gently fold in the Crushed Pecan Nuts.

Pour Batter into the Baking Tin & place into the hot oven.

Bake for Approximately 50 minutes, or until Golden Brown & Cooked through.

 Test with a knife or skewer, if it comes out of the cake clean, the cake is ready - 

NOTE never open door until at leas 3/4 way through cooking  - ENJOY!!!

Hiya :)

I'm new to this "Blogging" lark, so please bear with me,
I'm ffaffing around trying all the buttons & seeing what works having a practice & I'm trying to post a recipe card, my very own Recipe Card - I've finally sussed out the software (whoops I've gone bolded :-/) - thats the software on my computer, not on here - obviously  -- oh bugger, how DO I unbold this thing -   there :) - thats better :)

Anyway, some time ago I decided to write up my recipes I fancy myself as I'm a bit of a creative cook you see and I thought it would be lovely to have recipe cards to pass on to our Daughter when she's older not to mention that I get foggy as hell & forget what goes into my own recipes, so need a soddin prompt these days and now I've finally mastered the Pages software (we are a MAC household for our sins) and I'm going to try & share my first vaguely professional effort.

If it works, please try my cake, its simple to cook, healthy but tastes  naughty and is  a great way to use up past their best Bananas :)

Ok... the boss (that's my Daughter Eden )   needs me ....I''m outta here - catch you later :)