Wednesday 18 July 2012

With Fabric and Thread

After seeing all the pictures of this book on other blogs, I had to give in and get it. I'm so glad I did! My sewing machine is buried under moving boxes at the moment, but as soon as I'm settled into my new flat, I can't wait to try out all the beautiful patterns in this book!


The hard-cover ring binding makes it feel so much more hard wearing, as well as making it easier to keep on the right page while you're making the patterns. 


These pincushions are so cute. I want to make them in all sorts of colourways. 


These slipper boots are by far my favourite pattern though. I suffer from seriously cold feet, even in summer, so these would be perfect for keeping me warm in style!


My sewing machine will definitely be the first thing I unpack!

Monday 16 July 2012

Knitted Bows

I'm waiting to move in to my new flat in just over a week. This means, however, that I'm living at my parents' house, with boxes everywhere, all over the floor. It's not really conductive to sewing though, as I can barely get to my sewing machine. So I've gone back to my first love, knitting!

I just wanted some small projects to work on. Something with instant gratification.


So I made these! Knitted bows. Each of them takes under an hour to make, and they're so cute! They're pretty addictive though. I can't stop thinking about all the different combinations I can make!



I'll probably end up sticking them in my etsy shop at some point. I'm still not sure whether to make them into brooches or hair clips. I think they'd work great in both ways!


Tuesday 3 July 2012

Cinnamon Sugar Bread

With all the unseasonable cold and rain at the moment, I've started to crave cold weather foods. One of my favourites of these is anything cinnamon. My boyfriend and I decided to take a rainy day to do some baking, and a look on pinterest led me to this recipe for Cinnamon and Sugar Pull-Apart Bread. 

To start with, butter is melted in a saucepan with milk. Then water and vanilla extract is added.


Then mix flour, sugar, yeast and salt in a bowl.


Add the butter mixture to the flour mixture and mix well.


Beat eggs and add to the mixture, mix well. Add the remaining flour.


Cover and leave the dough until it's doubled in size. (We used this time to watch another episode of Game of Thrones season 2, which we've been saving until summer to watch!)


Knead in two tablespoons of flour and cover again for 5-10 minutes.


Meanwhile, make the filling. Mix sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg in a bowl. Melt some butter.


Then roll out the dough and cover with butter and the sugar mix.


Cut into squares and stack in a dish.


Bake!


And eat!


It's delicious. Reminds me a lot of Danish pastries (or cinnamon rolls, as I've heard them called). Perfect dessert to cheer us up from the horrible weather. Hopefully now the sun will come out and I can blog about some more summery treats!