Adding interfacing to your cross stitch

As you know I have recently discovered a new hobby and have ventured into the world of using a sewing machine.  My first love of the sharp side, as my friend likes to call it, has always been cross stitch and a few weeks ago she helped me turn my Let's Sew Cushion from a cross stitch into a cushion. Cross stitch fabric, whatever type you use, is not really robust enough to turn into a cushion or other project unless you add interfacing to it to  strengthen and protect it.

I am now venturing into more projects of my own and when I spotted this little character as you may all recognise as Beatrice Potters The Tailor of Gloucester I knew he had to turn into something both cross stitch and machine sewing project related.

He didn't take too long to complete and by the time he was finished I knew what sort of project I wanted to make with him and that will be revealed later. 

So back to adding interfacing to my cross stitch.  I remember my mum using interfacing to give a bit of umph as she called to collars and cuffs or to costumes she would make for our ballet costumes to make it more robust.  

With my cross stitches it is to add more stiffness to the fabric you have used and also to protect the back of your cross stitch keeping all your stitches in place. 

I always wash my cross stitches once they are complete. It doesn't matter how careful you are when stitching them you will always get the natural oils from your hands onto the fabric and it will over time discolour and show on your lovely project that you have taken hours to produce.

So before you add your interfacing you need to make sure that all the little threads are sewn in at the back or trimmed as close to picture as possible as once you have ironed the interfacing in place you won't be able to adjust any little stray threads. I am not the neatest of sewers when it comes to the back. There are those that you wouldn't know the back from the front but I am not one of those. This is relatively neat for me. 

I have learned that there is interfacing which you can sew into a project and there is interfacing which you can iron onto a project.
 I have also learned that there is a smooth side and a rough side
. The rough side is the glue side and the smooth side is the side that faces your iron.
and that you can buy it in pre cut metres or off the roll.
I have also learned that when you are ironing your interfacing onto your project that some of the glue can escape either onto your ironing board or onto your iron and is a devils own job to get off.
So my friend has told me to always have a linen or cotton tea towel in your project box that you use to lie on your ironing board to protect it.

Now comes the clever bit. My friend  told me to look out for one of these packs of cooking liners. You can find them in the £1 shops or other bargain basement shops and of course good old amazon. 

She uses these to lie o top of a project she is adding iron on interfacing to so that should there be any leakage of glue it doesn't go on to your iron which will of cost a lot more to replace than a cooking liner and of course they can take the heat of your iron.  

So when you are ready and you have your 

tea towel on the ironing board to protect it
and you have given your cross stitch a last pressing to make sure there are no creases anywhere,
and you have made sure that all the little threads are either tucked in or trimmed
then you can cut the interfacing to the size of your project.
and with glue side facing down onto your project you are good to go.

Cover the whole thing with your cooking liner and you're ready to press with your iron. You may have to go over it a few times to make sure that the glue of the interfacing has adhered to your project. You can do this by just checking at the edges rather than removing the sheet and having to place it. back again

and like magic its all done and you are ready to make into whatever project you had in mind. 

The Tailor of Gloucester has become the central piece of a pin cushion and thread catcher and he will sit next to me whenever I am using my sewing machine and do you know something I am just a little teeny weeny bit proud of myself for achieving this all by myself.  May be I will write a post about making a pin cushion/cotton catcher.  Those experienced sewers out there will probably know all too well how to put one together but there might just be someone out there who would like to know, and if I'm honest I like to keep a record of what I've done and how so that should I want to make another at some stage I have a library of my how to's that I can refer to.

The year 2020 has not quite started as any of us probably envisaged that it would. Corvid 19 continues reap havoc across the world. I hope you are all finding things to keep you occupied if you are in lock down. We have now survived our first week and heading into the second.  Our front line staff and keyworkers, of which I am one continue to go to work each day and find ourselves living in a very surreal time. I wonder where this will all come to an end and where we will all be in another 12 months time.  

Till then please stay safe and if you can stay home. 

Mx

March reads

I woke this morning with the clocks having gone forward and hope that the weird dream world that we seem to have been living in over the last week has been just that a dream. Unfortunately that is not the case.  How are you all doing out there? Are you managing to get through lock down?  As a keyworker I am still going to my office everyday at least for the time being.  I work for a local hospital but not on the front line.  I can tell you it feels very surreal and we are all extremely proud of our front line colleagues.

I suppose for us crafters then a lot of unfinished projects will get completed over this time.  I'm sure our poor husbands and partners will now have to face that list of jobs they always tell us they will get to when they have time.

Although most shops are closed for the time being there are still a lot of shops that are operating on line so we can still get our crafting supplies.

Black Sheep Wools
Deremores
Lakeside Crafts
Willow Fabrics
Wool Warehouse

 and of course there is good old Amazon who are still doing what they can to get deliveries out.

Anyway I am supposed to be telling you about the books I have been reading this month. I got a little side tracked there didn't I.


My first read of March was Misty Blue by Misty Gardner

Micky Culshaw is a musician. No longer at the peak of his career he has yet to find love. After a troubled childhood he has moved to London where he leads a shadowy existence between touring and recording with his band, Misty Blue. He finds love with a mysterious older man, Alex, but his world is turned upside down when the lead guitarist of the band is brutally murdered and he finds himself accused of the killing. The remaining band members rally to his support and Micky finds that, in the midst of his living nightmare, his wildest dreams come true, but more anguish is to follow before he finds the true love that he craves. After the trauma of the trial and its aftermath Micky has space to 'grow', but along the way real life intrudes, bringing back long-buried memories which in turn bring developments that will ultimately bring high points and low points, joys and sorrows into his life and those of his friends and family.The story opens in the early 1980s with flashbacks to 1960s Manchester before moving on taking the characters up to the dawn of the new millennium. It recreates the atmosphere that prevailed in the period immediately following the 1967 Sexual Offences Act and through the Aids crisis and attitudes in society before the advent of Civil Partnerships and 'gay marriage'The story deals with sensitive topics and explores the characters' emotions and reactions progressively against the background of its setting.

Recently my partner gave this book to read. There is no synopsis on the back of the cover and all he would tell me was that it had been written by somebody we know and that it is their first self publication. I must admit I was rather intrigued but at the same time I spent the first five chapters trying to work out which one of our acquaintances had written it.  The story follows the lives of four band members that make up the band Misty Blue.  The main character Micky Culshaw has not had an easy life growing up he loves his mother dearly but his father was a little too handy with his fists and his belt and Micky left home and moved to London at the first opportunity. The band has had it highs and lows and by the 80's is no longer at their peak.  For Micky trouble comes when he is attacked in his flat and can't remember what happened and a while later their guitarist Andy is found dead.  It is concluded that Micky and Andy have got into a fight and that Micky has killed him.  Micky's  now has to prove his innocence but it will be a number of years before the truth comes out and for Micky and his friends there will be a lot that happens in between. 

Reading a book without knowing anything about it beforehand is not something I would normally do. I like to read the synopsis on the back and have some idea of what the book is about.  All that said I really did enjoy it and when I did finally get to know who had written it I wasn't surprised,  Would I recommend reading this book?  Definitely.  Would I recommend the author go on to write further novels and hope that a publishers will pick it up? Definitely. And would I read them if they did? Definitely. 

My second read of March is my return to child hood read and this month I picked Black Beauty by Anna Sewell 

From the meadow of his youth to the crowded, frosty streets of London, Black Beauty tells the story of his life under many masters in Victorian England, among them the kind Squire Gordon, the principled Jeremiah Barker, and the exploitative Nicholas Skinner. No matter the circumstance, Beauty bears joy and hardship with grace, heeding his mother’s advice to be good, gentle, and hardworking—always.

At turns suspenseful, heartwarming, and heartbreaking, Black Beauty is a masterful tale promoting equality, compassion, and strength of character—and remains a treasured classic for animal lovers of all ages.

I had completely forgotten that the story is told by Black Beauty himself and that made the book that much more enjoyable.  It was lovely revisiting a book that I enjoyed as a child and one that I read with my daughter when she was little.

My third and final read for this month is What She Lost by Susan Elliot Wright

Eleanor and her mother Marjorie have always had a difficult relationship and somehow just failed to connect. Now Marjorie's memory is fading, and her grip on the things she has kept hidden is beginning to loosen. When she calls Eleanor to say 'There's something I have to tell you', Eleanor hopes this will be the moment she learns the truth about the terrible secret that has cast a shadow over both their lives.

But Marjorie's memory is failing fast and she can't recall what she wanted to say. Eleanor knows time is running out , and as she tries to gently uncover the truth before it becomes lost inside her mother's mind forever, she begins to discover what really happened when she was a child - and why.

 Eleanor's mother Marjorie has dementia so time is running out for the mother and daughter to try and reconnect and for all that needs to be said to be said. Marjorie has been searching for something within her house but can't remember what it is that she is trying to find.  When ever Eleanor comes to see her mother draws have been emptied and all her mother can tell her is that she has to tell her something. Eventually Eleanor realizes that she is going to have to put her own life on hold for a while and move in with her mother to look after her. She sees this time as an opportunity for the two women to try and reconnect and heal the wounds that had pushed them apart over the years. 

I have read all the novels by this author and some are better than others.  This one is a bit in the middle. For me it took a while to draw me in but once it picked up I wanted to know more. There were unexpected twists within the novel and I would recommend.

So there you are a bit of a mixed bag this month and may be something there for you.  With us not being able to get to a library or browse the book shops my Kindle has really come into its own.  I've had one for a number of years now but still find I prefer to be holding a book and turning the pages.  If you don't have a kindle you can down the kindle app on your ipad or phone so you can still keep reading whilst we battle our way through the next few weeks.  We're almost at the end of week one so we know we can do this as long as we all stick together (virtually that is).

Stay safe everyone

Mx

Happy Mother's Day

This beautiful Barn owl is the latest visitor to the farm house.  Its the first one we have seen in the three years since we moved here.  It stopped by for only a short time and then flew off totally free. Right now I wish we were all a Barn Owl or any other bird that can just take flight away from the madness that is our world. 

Here in the UK today is Mothering Sunday and I should of been spending the day with my children and grandson the first time we could be together on mothers day for along time. Instead of which my grandson and his mum and dad are self isolating and  as with the rest of the world we are now all self distancing from one another. 

I didn't want my blog space to be taken over but all week we have had wall to wall Corvid 19 on the news seen the absolute madness of empty shelves in our supermarkets. Asda put out times for the elderly and vulnerable to shop and there were reports that at our local store that there were queues from 6am and when the doors opened there was a free for all of people shoving and pushing to get to shelves to the point where the police had to be called I don't think these people were the elderly or vulnerable.  Although other retailers are making the choice to close our supermarkets are going to remain open its not that we don't have the food its that we can't get it to the stores and onto the shelves quick enough before the locusts descend.  I wonder how long this total madness is going to continue. I called into our local Tesco and although there wasn't much on the shelves there was enough for me to be able to get vegetables for the weekend and bread and milk. When I got to the checkout the cashier was her usual polite self and I just needed to tell her what a fantastic job her and her colleagues are doing at this crazy time.  She said she is hoping that now the school have closed and more people are staying home that things will start and calm down.  I do hope she is right this madness cannot continue for much longer. 

Yesterday I had to have my windscreen replaced on my car. The guys were very polite and were fascinated that I could sit and read my book and knit at the same time. Multi tasking in the extreme they said.  That hour will probably be the most normality I am likely to experience for a while as more and more businesses choose to close until we reach the position that China says it now has.  As for Italy it looks like their battle is to continue a little longer. 

As an NHS worker I am classed as a keyworker and therefore for the time being at least I will continue to get up each morning and drive to my office.  I think most of us have seen the video clip of the nurse who just wanted to pick up a few things from the supermarket on her way home only to find that when she got there the shelves they were bare.  Things are being put in place for keyworkers  and even with that I think the list of those essential keyworkers is bigger than our Mr Johnston thought it would be. 

So in conclusion this isn't quite how any of us thought we would be spending today but look after yourselves and be kind to yourselves and each other whilst we ride this dreadful storm.

Mx

Mamma look at me now

Good morning my lovely blogland friends.  I hope you are all safe and taking great care at this time with all that is C/virus related.  Things seem to be escalating at such a rate over the last week and countries being in lock down seems unbelievable. I really do hope that the UK doesn't have to take such measures for the sake of the general population as well as all the businesses that will be affected. I wanted to briefly mention it because it is so much part of our every day lives at the moment but unlike the media I don't want it to be the only topic of conversation in my blog space. 

I have always said that my one regret was that I hadn't had the time to learn how to use a sewing machine from my mother.   The most abiding memory of her was for her sewing and it was always her regret that she was unable to make my wedding dress as she had done for my older sisters as she had become too ill by that time.  I've mentioned many times the fact that both my mother and grandmother and all the women on the female line were seamstresses going back for generations and it was always something that I felt I should of been able to do.  Like a lot of us we don't ever see a time when our parents won't be here and that we will have many years in which to obtain their knowledge.  This year is will mark 30 years since my mother passed away and I decided that this should be the year that I face my nemesis. 

I recently joined a local crafting group. We are all of mixed abilities and all have expertise in different crafts. We are made up of knitters, crocheters, crossstitchers and machinists. You may recall at Christmas I got some of them sock knitting and with some success. 

Having discussed the sewing machine issue one of the ladies very kindly offered to lend me a sewing machine and told me to start by learning about the machine and going from the basics of threading up the machine and filling a bobbin.  I have been practicing away working out my tension and finally getting straight lines.  I won't show you the disasters that happened up to this stage.

I wanted to do something as a thank you for lending me a machine especially as she hasn't known me that long but has really made me feel part of the group and is very quickly becoming a very good friend.

I looked through my stash of cross stitch charts and came across this lovely chart that just about covers everything that is me when it comes to cross stitch but as you can see forms a sewing machine.  The chart is by Ursula Michael and is aptly named 'Let's Sew' and I have stitched it on 28ct evenweave.   Because it is made up mainly of words using back-stitch and very little in the way of cross stitches I didn't think it would take me too long.  

It was whilst I was busy beavering away cross stitching that I mentioned to my other lovely friend, who is also an expert in all things machine sewing, that I would quite like to make my cross stitch into a cushion so that it combined my first love with what I hoped would be my new love and she was more than happy to help me.

So one Saturday afternoon she set about helping me fulfill this ambition.  We added interfacing to the cross stitch in order to strengthen the even weave and to protect the back of the cross-stitch. 

I don't know what the technical name is for one of these but needless to say it came in very hand when cutting out and getting the size right to fit my cushion.  Unlike my mother and me she used a rotary cutter to cut the fabric. A rotary cutter is now on my list of equipment to purchase as I can't cut straight either so finding one these templates and a rotary cutter will definitely be the way to go for me. 

We had picked out fabric from her vast stash, something I am learning about too. I have a stash of wool, cross stitch charts and evenweave and every conceivable silk I may ever need but now I get to create another stash how exciting.  She found two pieces of fabric sewing machine related and went on to show me how to place and add a zip. 

and low and behold here is the end result.

I can't tell you how chuffed I was at being able to combine my love of cross-stitch with what I am hoping to be a new love of machine sewing. I am not quite at the making of reading cushions but I am getting to slowly understand the construction of things which is a vast improvement on where I have been for the last thirty years. 

So as the title this post would suggest.

MAMMA LOOK AT ME NOW 

MX

Leek & Potato Soup

The weather here in the shire continues to be wet and windy and there doesn't seem to be any sign of Spring arriving any time soon. It seams the country is going a little crazy with all the talk of coronavirus and every time I have been into the supermarkets the shelves are empty of rice, pasta tin foods and toilet rolls. Thankfully there is still plenty of veg available and for those of us from a certain generation it will be going back to basics and making things from scratch. This is nothing new for a lot of us who like to meal plan and batch cook. 

Sometimes the written word does not come easily to my ageing brain. Other times there is so much in there that needs to come out you just don't know where to start,  right now I am some where in the so much to say I can't get it out phase.  For now I thought I would share with you another winter warmer whilst I try and get the filing system sorted out. I would like to share with you one of the easiest and quickest soups to make and it freezes well.

Serves 4 -6

4 medium potatoes diced
1 medium onion diced
2 leeks sliced
2 litres vegetable stock
Tbsp plan flour
2oz butter or 2tbsp of oil
seasoning

•  add the butter or if calorie counting the oil to a large saucepan and add the onion, leeks and potatoes and cook for 2-3 minutes until coated.
• Sprinkle over the tbsp of flour and stir
• add the vegetable stock 
• continue to cook until the vegetables are soft 
• using a blender or hand blender, blend until smooth
• season to taste

I know the media has to report on the Coronavirus but it does seem to be leading to a mass panic and I'm not sure that will be helpful to anyone.  If you have been affected in any way I hope you and your loved ones are safe and well or at the very least on the road to a good recovery.  

Stay safe one & all

Mx