Leather Clutch

For a year or so now I have been looking at the faux leather that a friend gave me, dreaming up what I could do with it. I decided to make a clutch.

 

Very plain on the outside, I wish I had put a neon pink

or lime zip, do give it a bit more detail

First I cut up the fabric I went with A3, I cut this shape out of the leather and some floral cotton that I planned to make the lining out if.

The magnetic snapper is easy to attach although you

must make sure it is lined up perfectly

I then put the 2 prices of fabric, right sides, together. Putting the zip in between then, good side of the zip facing the good side of the leather. Then sew along it.

I love this fabric

Do the same with the other end of the fabric. With a cool iron I flattened the join so that the leather didn't poke out. Then I placed the magnetic snap, making sure they lined up perfectly. 

Can't wait to take this out with me tonight

Then I turned the bag inside out so that the floral fabric was on the outside and I sewed up the to sides. Make sure the zip is open before you do this or it is trickier.

Et voila

This clutch was inspired by http://www.extrapetite.com/2013/03/simplified-diy-clutch-bag-tutorial.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+ExtraPetite+(Extra+Petite)&m=1

Aztec Blanket ..... Pour Moi

I have been fascinated by the current Aztec trends, I love how simple the shapes are and they are super pretty. I also like the neon trend, i.e. lime green and pink, but I am not confident enough to wear them so I am channeling my enthusiasm into my next sewing project.

I have chosen to make this quilt using cotton (white, grey and pink)

I started by coming up with a pattern taking inspiration from Aztec designs on Pinterest. Then I sketched it out onto square paper, this made it easier for me to choose colours and the quantity of fabric

I was struggling to find suitable fabric that was affordable, but I got some good tips from twitter and found Seam Star, who had the colours I wanted and it was cheap enough that it wouldn't cost me more than £40.

Seam Star delivered super fast!!

 

Sunday 26th May

Today I finally switched on the sewing machine and finalised my plans for the quilt, I ended up using Micrisoft Word to make a colour version of my quilt, I made a little modifications to ensure that my quilt would pack a punch.

Here is a mock up using word

Day 1                                                Day 2                            

The finished quilt is going to be massive but I still envisage myself carrying it around like the guy on Snoopy

Thursday 3rd July 2014

Getting there ...

...to be continued!!

Emma's Random Blanket

I have started to pay more attention to other people's quilts on twitter and Pinterest and idea was starting to build, web I started to gather fabric for it I decided it was going to be a gift for my sister, as her and her boyfriend are planning to buy their first home and I thought it would be right up her street.

 

Fabric wise I went for a mixture plain, striped, novelty and floral. I also included camouflage as Emma like camouflage.

 

I cut the fabrics into right angle isosceles triangles with the identical sides being 13 cm. then I randomly paired up 2 prices of fabric to make a square then used 4 of them to make a bigger square. I used 5 of these to determine the width then continued like this until I have the required length. I used the fleece backing to determine these measurements, since it was a random pattern this was easy to do.

Once I have the cover sewn together I put it on top of the fleece, right sides together then put the wadding on the back of the sewn fabric.

 

After pinning the materials together i sewed (1.5 cm from the edge) around them leaving a 4 inch gap so that I could turn the fabric inside out, I then turned in a edges where I had not seen and I sewed around the fabric (1 cm from the edge) securing the hem.

Roasted Vegetable Wrap

 

One of my all time favourite lunches (like most) came from the BBC Good Food website, it is a simple wrap consisting of hummus, grated carrot & rocket. It easy to make the night before and robust enough to survive in my handbag on the way to work.

I was wanting to mix it up a bit but keep it easy to transport. So I thought roast veg and cream cheese.

Roasted Vegetable & Cream Cheese Wrap

 

Ingredients:

1 sweet potato
1 carrot
1 aubergine
1 red onion
1 red pepper
4 garlic cloves (optional)
160 g cream cheese (I used extra light)
100 g rocket
4 tortilla wraps
Rapeseed Oil
Salt & Pepper

Method:

Dice all the vegetables and put on a roasting tray. Bruise the garlic gloves and mix with the veg and a drizzle of oil.

Roast the veg in the oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 30-40minutes - Stirring occasionally.

When you take them out of the oven allow the veg to cool, remove the garlic from there skins and smash it with a pinch of salt and a tbsp of oil. Put the veg into an airtight container and mix with the garlic paste.

 

When you are ready to make your wrap take a tortilla and spread a thin layer of cream cheese, then add 2 tbsp of the veg and a handful of rocket. Roll it up and put it in a suitable container for transport. I prefer to wrap mine in a little tin foil as it keeps the wrap secure.

Bon appetite xxx

May Weekend Shenanigans

After two back-to-back weekends of travelling I was so excited to stay in my Kirkwall and chill. So I invited some of the girls over for high tea and a catch-up.

This was a nice way to spend my Saturday, I may post a recipe for the vol-au-vents

in the future but I have plans to make them even tastier

I started my plan with vol-au-vents and mini eclairs but the more I thought about the eclairs the more I wanted to put my own spin on them. I love peanut butter and had a very tasty peanut butter moose at the Kirkwall Hotel the other week and I thought maybe I could use that idea but lighten it up with some fruit, well then I happened to catch the end of a Hairy Bikers programme where they made creme patisserie so I thought that would be the base to add my peanut butter to. Then when I was buying my ingredients I noticed some very nice strawberries and voila...

Peanut-Butter & Jelly Eclairs

Ingredients

Choux Pastry:
60g butter
130ml water
80g plain flour
3 large eggs

Creme Patisserie:
180 ml whole milk
35 g granulated sugar
35 g self raising flour
1/2 tsp salt
4 large egg yolks
2.5 tbsp peanut butter
40 ml double cream

Chocolate Topping:
80 g milk chocolate
80 g dark chocolate (70%)

Method

 

For the pastry melt the butter in the water until all of the butter has melted and the water is simmering. Add the flour to the wet mix and stir over the heat for approximately 1 minute.

Remove from the heat and beat in the eggs one at a time, this will go a little runny at first but keep stirring, it will come together.

Pipe onto a non-stick tray and place in the oven, turning it down to 195 degrees celsius for 25 minutes. Place on a cooling rack.

To make the creme patisserie mix the flour, sugar and salt then add the egg yolks and whisk till it is combined and pale in colour.

Then heat the milk until it starts to simmer, carefully/gradually pour the milk into the egg mixture, whisking the whole time. Return the mixture to the sauce pan and stir continuously.

Once it starts to thicken add the peanut butter and whisk until its the required thickness. Pour into a heat proof bowl and cover with cling film (make sure it touches the top) and allow to cool.

Once cool, whip the cream until soft peaks then fold in the creme patisserie.

Simple to make just strawberries & jam sugar but super tasty

When you are ready to make the eclairs melt the chocolate in a heat proof bowl over a pan of boiling water. Cut the eclairs and spread a layer of strawberry jam (I used homemade but you could use shop bought). Then a layer of the creme patisserie, closing the eclair and drizzling with the chocolate, place on a cooling rack. Keep in an airtight container in the fridge until required.

After words I went a walk with my friend heather and her loopy labradoodle Lucy,

yes she is clean off the ground

 

I didn't get much time between finishing the eclairs and the lasses coming over so only got one photo... I will bulk this up with more photos next time I make them.

Let me know if you try them xxx