As regular viewers may have noticed, my blog has undergone a few changes. My aim is to make it easier for everyone to find content and make themselves at home here on the busyellebee blog. This blog is a fully interactive blog, so your comments are not only very welcome, but actively encouraged.

Do you like the new look?

Can you find everything you want easily?

Please let me know.

NEW!

As part of the ongoing changes, I will be sending out free newsletters and exclusive content to everyone who wishes to subscribe for this free service.  Subscription is free and easily to do – just email me at busyellebee [at] aol.com, with your name and email address, and I will add you to the email list.

More details to follow over the next few days.

Thanks for reading! See you tomorrow

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BusyElleBee

Food ~ Photography ~ Music ~ Design ~ Life

Recipe Developer | Photographer | Music Producer | Designer | Blogger

If you would like to know more about BusyElleBee, please click the link BusyElleBee

If you would like to know more about Recipe Development, Photography, Music Production, Design or would like an exclusive BusyElleBee guest post for your blog, please click BusyElleBee

If you wish to contact BusyElleBee, please click
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Related articles

• Work with BusyElleBee! (busyellebee.wordpress.com)
• Weekly Photo Challenge: Renewal (busyellebee.wordpress.com)
• Elle’s Tomato and Barley soup – recipe (busyellebee.wordpress.com)
• Elle’s Star Mince Pies (busyellebee.wordpress.com)
• Busyellebee Portfolio Goes LIVE! (busyellebee.wordpress.com)

Reblogged from Busy Elle Bee:

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• 
• 

Hello,
Apparently it's Christmas next week. :) So here is my 2nd batch of mince pies made in preparation for the great event.

Please forgive my bashed up old mince pie tray. It does have a long family history, but lets face it, it has seen better days. However, it is still in good working order, so what if it is little battered, it produces great mince pies :)

Read more… 426 more words

If you have visited my about busyellebee page, you will know that I have many interests, and have developed a level of expertise in a number of areas, including food styling, product reviews, music reviews and film reviews. If you haven’t read my about page, please do!

Just to let you know, over the next few days there are going to be some fun and interesting posts here on BusyElleBee – there may even be a free printable in the not too distant future

For now, if you would like me to write a fair and honest review for your product, develop new recipes for your web, store, book, article etc, or if you just want to exchange ideas, please feel free to contact me and lets see if we can make our little corner of the world a nicer place

Further details can be found on my about me page and my contact page.

Look forward to working with you

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BusyElleBee

Food ~ Photography ~ Music ~ Design ~ Life

Recipe Developer | Photographer | Music Producer | Designer | Blogger

If you would like to know more about BusyElleBee, please click the link BusyElleBee

If you would like to know more about Recipe Development, Photography, Music Production, Design or would like an exclusive BusyElleBee guest post for your blog, please click BusyElleBee

If you wish to contact BusyElleBee, please click
BusyElleBee

“Thank the bees for all they do”

2012

© Busyellebee

Well I have been living up to my name of busy! I have put together a few of my favourite photographs into a slide show and posted to the BEB Portfolio blog. Here it is, please take a few minutes to view and if you have any comments, please post them below.

Oh by the way, I also wrote and produced the soundtrack.  I said I have been busy  Hope you like it and thanks for viewing.

Covent Garden Green

November 2012

© Busyellebee

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BusyElleBee

Food ~ Photography ~ Music ~ Design ~ Life

Recipe Developer | Photographer | Music Producer | Designer | Blogger

If you would like to know more about BusyElleBee, please click the link BusyElleBee

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Hello,

Yes, you are looking at an old fashioned camera film canister.  I have a huge box of things called the “may come in useful someday” box, and this is one of the items I re-discovered whilst sorting through said box.

As a side note, if you have one of these boxes, it is a good idea to sort and reassess the need for the items.  You have to be ruthless, otherwise instead of being useful, the items will become a pain in your already too busy life.

Back to the film canister.  Why, oh why keep this?  Well because they are useful – they are usually water tight, so great if you like outdoor sports and need to keep small items like spare camera batteries safe and dry, they are small, so fantastic for keeping even smaller things safe, such as beads, buttons and pins.

But my use for it today?  This is an essential device for all, doctors, cleaners, lawyers, shop assistants, parents, carers etc. An emergency sewing kit. By rooting around in your drawers and supply cupboard, find the following suggested items …

1.  A scrap piece of felt material or canvas fabric (about 4 inches by 1.5 inches or 10cm by 4cm)
2. a few quilters pins
3. a few glass headed pins
4. safety pins, various sizes
5. 3 or 4 white shirt buttons
6. plastic sewing thimble
7. 4 general sewing needles
8. thread in different colours
9. a small piece of cardboard (about 1 inch by 0.5 inch or 2.5cm by 1.5cm)
10. threader (optional)

OK so why 4 needles? Look at your wardrobe.  What are the 3 most common colours you wear on a day to day basis? In my case the 3 colours happen to be black, navy and white. When I’m out and about, these are the most likely colours I would be wearing should there be a wardrobe malfunction, such as a unravelled hem or a loose button. I suggest threading 3 of your needles with the 3 most common colours you wear and place them onto a piece of fabric as detailed above.  Having the needles pre loaded with thread also means you can start mending your clothes, or replacing a button straight away.

On the piece of fabric, add your glass headed pins.  The reason why I use glass headed pins is that they are far easier to see and pick up if you drop them. If you have to pin your repair work, they are easier to spot and you are less likely to leave them in, and cause yourself an injury.

Add a spare threader to the kit if you have one.  Useful if you have a very short time frame to do repairs, your fingers are not very nimble or your eye sight isn’t the best for threading the needles.

Quilters pins are great as they are long and easy to see.

On a small piece of card, wrap around thread with other colours which match the colour of the clothes you tend to wear.  The most popular colours are light blue, cream, brown, grey etc.  You can use the empty needle for this set of threads.

Save your fingers, and include a thimble.  It’s amazing how normally careful people repeatedly prick themselves when they are attempting a quick, emergency sewing repair.

Also consider adding a variety of safety pins, as they are extremely useful as a fastener when the little white buttons are not appropriate, or as a quick alternative to temporarily fix a hem.

These are just a few of my ideas about making up an sewing kit, do you have one? What did you put in yours?

I plan to post another tip using a business card box holder. Stay tuned for more information

Until next time.

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BusyElleBee

Food ~ Photography ~ Music ~ Design ~ Life

Recipe Developer | Photographer | Music Producer | Designer | Blogger

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Rosmarinus officinalis (Rosemary)

“Rosemary – Remembrance, Rebirth, Renewal”

October 2012

© Busyellebee

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BusyElleBee

Food ~ Photography ~ Music ~ Design ~ Life

Recipe Developer | Photographer | Music Producer | Designer | Blogger

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Hello,

This recipe is an adaptation of James Martin’s Gunpowder Plot Punch. You can find the original recipe here.

This is a simple ‘dunk all in a pan and go’ recipe, which will allow you time to prepare other dishes for your bonfire party. This recipe is meant to serve 4, but if you use small cups, you could serve this drink as you would a hot punch to more people.

Ingredients:

• 1.5 litres ginger beer
• 750 ml orange juice
• 1 large lemon, juice and zest
• 1 large orange, juice and zest
• 2 shots orange liqueur (I used Cointreau) (optional)
• 2 long cinnamon sticks, broken in half
• 1⁄4 tsp grated nutmeg
• 12 cloves
• 5 star anise
• 2.5cm fresh ginger, grated

Method:

1. Pour all the ingredients into a large saucepan, and bring to a rapid boil.
2. Remove from the heat, and set aside for a few minutes to allow all the flavours to infuse.
3. Serve in mugs or heat proof glass cups.

I found this drink surprisingly sweet, but if your tooth is sweeter than mine, you can add some honey or even a drop of maple syrup for extra depth of favour.  This is a great recipe to welcome your guests with, and the forth coming Winter season.

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BusyElleBee

Food ~ Photography ~ Music ~ Design ~ Life

Recipe Developer | Photographer | Music Producer | Designer | Blogger

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Oddly enough, I don’t recall ever making soup with pearl barley.  There was a packet languishing in the back of my kitchen cupboard for weeks, so I decided to see what could be done with it. There are few more comforting soups than the good old tomato soup and with the addition of barley, makes the experience even better.  The great thing about this recipe, you can dunk everything in one pot and you’re done

Serves 4 served in mugs or 2 as a main meal.

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp sunflower oil
• 1 red onion, finely chopped
• 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
• 200 g pearl barley
• 2x 400ml tins of chopped tomatoes
• 1tbsp fresh thyme
• 2 tbsp barbeque sauce
• 750ml stock, either vegetable or chicken
• sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Method:

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan, over a mid-range heat and then add in the chopped onion and barley.  Stir making sure the onion and barley are covered in the oil, and cook for about 5-8 mins until the onion is slightly translucent.
2. Add the chopped tomatoes, thyme, barbeque sauce and stock to the onion and barley mix. Bring the mixture to a boil and simmer for about 30-40 mins.
3. Taste for seasoning and if required adjust with salt and pepper.

Serve with a large slice of bonfire bread (recipe to follow).

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BusyElleBee

Food ~ Photography ~ Music ~ Design ~ Life

Recipe Developer | Photographer | Music Producer | Designer | Blogger

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“Nature’s Geometry”

October 2012

© Busyellebee

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BusyElleBee

Food ~ Photography ~ Music ~ Design ~ Life

Recipe Developer | Photographer | Music Producer | Designer | Blogger

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Ingredients:

• 10 digestive biscuits
• 50g melted butter, cooled
• 600g cream cheese
• 150ml sour cream
• 1tsp vanilla paste
• 2 tsp lavender syrup
• 1 heaped dessertspoon plain flour
• 150g golden caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/2 pot wild blueberry conserve
• 1 tbsp lavender flowers
• 1 punnet of fresh blueberries

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to gas mark 4
2. Place the biscuits in a food processor and blitz until it becomes a fine crumb.  Alternatively place the biscuits in a plastic food bag, and bash with a rolling pin.
3. Place the crumbs into a bowl, and add in the melted butter. Stir, making sure all the crumbs have been coated in the butter.
4. Cover the base of a 20cm spring form pan with the butter crumb mix.
5. Bake the biscuit base in the oven for 5-10 mins. Then remove from the oven to cool.
6. In a food mixer, add the cheese, cream, vanilla paste, lavender syrup, flour, sugar and eggs (including the extra yolk), and mix until all the ingredients have been well combined.
7. Pour cheese mix onto the cooled biscuit base. Tap gently to ensure there are no air bubbles.
8. Place the cake tin on the middle shelf of the oven, and bake for 35 mins, until the cake has set.
9. Turn off the oven and leave the cake to gently cool down in the oven. This should hopefully help prevent any cracks forming.  However it does not matter if cracks do appear, as the top will be covered.
10. When the cake has cooled, place in the fridge for at least 30 mins.
11. For the topping, mix the lavender flowers and blueberry conserve in a saucepan and gently heat over a low flame.
12. Remove the conserve mix and allow to cool for about 10 mins.
13. Stir in half the fresh blueberries into the conserve mix.
14. Take the cheesecake out of the fridge and pour the blueberry conserve mix on top.
15. Top off the cheesecake with the remaining fresh blueberries.

To decorate, I added a fresh sprig of mint and dusted with sugar.  Serve with some extra sour cream or thick natural yogurt and a huge pot of tea.

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BusyElleBee

Food ~ Photography ~ Music ~ Design ~ Life

Recipe Developer | Photographer | Music Producer | Designer | Blogger

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BusyElleBee

Hello,

Above is a video I made featuring highlights of the photo exhibition by Karl Lagerfeld, called Chanel: The Little Black Jacket. The Exhibition is on until 28th October, at the Saatchi Gallery in London.

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BusyElleBee

Food ~ Photography ~ Music ~ Design ~ Life

Recipe Developer | Photographer | Music Producer | Designer | Blogger

If you would like to know more about BusyElleBee, please click the link BusyElleBee

If you would like to know more about Recipe Development, Photography, Music Production, Design or would like an exclusive BusyElleBee guest post for your blog, please click BusyElleBee

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“The Foreign World of High Fashion”

Chanel: The Little Black Jacket – an exhibition of photographs by Karl Lagerfeld

Saatchi Gallery, London

October2012

© Busyellebee

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BusyElleBee

Food ~ Photography ~ Music ~ Design ~ Life

Recipe Developer | Photographer | Music Producer | Designer | Blogger

If you would like to know more about BusyElleBee, please click the link BusyElleBee

If you would like to know more about Recipe Development, Photography, Music Production, Design or would like an exclusive BusyElleBee guest post for your blog, please click BusyElleBee

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Reblogged from Busy Elle Bee:

I came across this recipe in the March 2011 edition of Country Kitchen magazine, and decided to give the recipe a try. The recipe recommends serving with either marmalade or brown bread ice cream. However, I was keen to try a new ginger flavoured yogurt I purchased yesterday, and it worked! It saves on the calories, as I keep trying to kid myself.

Read more… 220 more words

© Busyellebee

“The Night Watch”

2011

© Busyellebee

“Hitting the big time”

October 2012

© Busyellebee

Hello,

http://www.coletterie.com/sewalongs/anise-sewalong

Welcome to the further adventures of my Anise jacket.  Having spent the weekend fretting and trying desperately trying to catch up, today I am finally at the stage where I can cut out my muslin test jacket.

I’m getting myself super organised – look, I even did a mood board for my muslin test. We are going hard core people, we are most certainly not mucking about here.

OK, so you may be thinking, “Why on earth go through all the trouble of creating a mood board, just for a tester jacket?”

Well, it occurred to me that making a tester muslin is not only a very useful exercise to ensure that when it comes to the real thing, I don’t goof it up, but it also creates opportunities.   Most people discard their muslin testers, some reuse them either as fabric patterns as opposed to paper patterns, or recycle them for other projects.  To me it seems a shame to go through all that trouble and not have something tangible at the end.  The advantages for me are, I will have 2 jackets by the end of this adventure.  Plus I need a new a jacket, for when I am digging about in the garden.

Preparing this jacket will also allow me to practice some skills, such as piping work, and making bias binding. Hence, I have decided to add piping at every seam, allowing me to use up some scrap material, which otherwise would have gone to waste. The fabric was already in my stash, purchased at a sale ages ago, so all minimum cost. And if I goof up, no matter, as it is a tester, and if it turns out OK, I will the most stylish gardener in town.

Win win situation, me thinks

Just to let you know, I omitted the collar, as I don’t have enough denim, and I am making a single-breasted jacket as opposed to double-breasted, as I think it will suit me better.

That’s all for now, see you next time!

Related articles

• Colette Anise Sew-a-long: Week 1 – My ‘Chanel’ Jacket Challenge (busyellebee.wordpress.com)
• Colette Anise Sew-a-long – Week 2, part 2: The great pattern assembly job (busyellebee.wordpress.com)
• Colette Anise Sew-a-long: Week 2 – A lining saga (busyellebee.wordpress.com)
• Colette Patterns Sew Along – I’m in, are you? (busyellebee.wordpress.com)
• Colette Anise Jacket sew-a-long – Pictorial blog launch (busyellebee.wordpress.com)

Crickey! It’s Saturday already? It can’t be! Right er, here is the update on my jacket.  There is no update!

It took me longer than expected to join up all the sheets of paper to form the pattern.  I must admit it was more fun to do that it should have been.  Why is it that whenever there is paper, sticky tape and a pair of scissors involved I get my Blue Peter on and I’m instantly transported back to school girl status?  Be grateful that there wasn’t any glue or glitter involved,  otherwise I would still be playing!

That said, instead of the expected 1 evening, it took me 2 evenings to stick the pieces together.  It was HUGE.  Enough to cover a king sized bed.  I’m seriously considering printing out the pattern again on some plain cream cotton and then making a patchwork quilt.  You could dye the separate pieces in different colours and then add some batting, a few buttons, some embroidery, gosh this would make an ideal gift for the enthusiastic sewer in you life!

But back to the jacket.  A few tips:

• Have plenty, and I mean plenty of sticky tape. There is nothing worse than having to stop and spend ages looking for that elusive roll you thought you had stashed away in the stationery cupboard.  If you like having a well stocked sewing basket, consider adding a couple of rolls of sticky tape. They often come in handy, especially for mending tears in paper patterns.
• Use a sharp pair of paper scissors. Do not, under any circumstances use your fabric shears – not even for just that small pocket paper pattern. Your fabric shears are for your fabric only. They need to be sharp at all times. Paper will only dull them and ruin your expensive fabric.
• Clear a large space. There is going to be bits of paper flying around all over the place.  Make sure you have enough space and good lighting is essential. A good comfy chair or stool is also a good idea.
• Be patient. Goes without saying!
• Have a large bin or garbage bag close to hand. When you eventually get round to cutting out the pieces, you will save a lot of time and effort when you cut directly over the bin.  Your life is too precious to be spending hours picking up a mountain of stray bits of paper. Just scoop up the bag or bin and discard in one go.
• Save large pieces of scrap paper.  Essential if you need to adjust your pattern. If you are printing out your pattern like me, the large blank areas are often enough for use for this purpose. Save the planet and all that.
• Take plenty of breaks. After a couple of hours, go and do something completely different, even if all you do is make a cup of tea. I love piecing together paper patterns, but there comes a time when even I get paper cabin fever.

When all the pieces have been cut out, double check they are all there and then place them all immediately in a large envelope or folder. Better still make a list on the back of the envelope or folder of all the pieces, ie A – Collar, B – Cuff, C – Sleeve etc.  That way if you need to print or replace a pattern piece, you know which section to print out.  Plus it is a good idea to store the pieces in alphabetical order, so any missing pieces are instantly identifiable.

That’s about it for now. I’m way behind, as I has hoped to have finished my muslin and pattern altering by now. Opps!.  I guess that will be the next post.

Oh and one more tip, when it comes to cutting out the fabric or adjusting the patterns to suit your frame, remember to measure twice and cut once. And measure everything. Yes it is an absolute bind, but these garments are bespoke pieces, they are for you and/or your loved ones. Many a shirt or dress have been ruined because this vital part of the process was skipped.  People pay thousands to have bespoke items made, and you have the gift and talent to make bespoke items for yourself. Do yourself a favour. Measure. Then measure again. Then after that make some more measures!

OK lecture over! If you have any tips you would like to share, please leave a comment below.  Check out my photo blog here!

Related articles

• Colette Anise Sew-a-long: Week 2 – A lining saga (busyellebee.wordpress.com)

There are far too many things that make me happy to put into 1 post.  Therefore, I have created a Flickr page where I have added all the photos of things which make me happy. Some are obvious, some cryptic and some just plain odd.  But then doesn’t that sum us all up?

Please visit “The Happiness Collection“, and comment either here or on the Flickr account.  Many thanks for viewing. 

Oh, I shall be adding to this collection as and when I discover things that make me happy, so please pop back to check out the new additions.  Enjoy!

© Busyellebee

2012

Adele – Seattle, WA – 8/12/2011 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Oh dear.

When I first heard Adele was the front runner for the new James Bond movie theme, like many others, I believed it to be an inspired choice.  After the 2 previous very disappointing and lack-lustre themes by Chris Cornell and the Jack White and Alicia Keys duet (I feel bad mentioning Alicia Keys’ name in the same sentence as lack-lustre!), Adele seemed to hit the right notes – brilliant voice, fantastic lyricist, 60s glam, and with her usual ‘fire/burning’ themes she tends to revisit in her lyrics, Adele to me became the obvious, natural fit.

When she got the gig – the Bond fan club world rejoiced!

Then the title of the movie was published – my heart sank.

Skyfall, sounds like an authentic and emotive enough title for a Bond movie, however as a title for a song, a theme song at that, it doesn’t leave much scope.  Try writing a lyric where the subject is Skyfall, it seems easy, until you actually try to do it.  All, Ball, Call, Fall, Gall, Hall, Mall, Pall, Tall, Wall, Y’all, and I’ve run out of viable options. From that uninspiring short list, you can only really use all, call, fall, tall and wall - risking a lazy sounding and repetitive lyric.

Adele, as brilliant a lyrist as she is, was well onto a loser with this. Fortunately, her voice and performance carries this song. The melody, capturing variations on the original signature Bond theme by Monty Norman is perfect, rich in tone, packed full of opulent orchestral sounds.

Adele manages to create the essence of Shirley Bassey, without mimicking her. It is just a shame that the subject matter of the song was not as all in capturing as say “Goldfinger”. Yes, I know a Bond theme is about the music with less emphasis on the lyrics, but if you are going to employ the services of a genius talent such as Adele, who is known for her brilliant song writing, then for goodness sakes, give her some room to create a masterpiece, not restrict her with a near impossible theme like Skyfall.

Brave attempt especially with such a restrictive mandate, well performed, but lyrically you simply can not make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear. Please give Adele a better song title next time!

Rating: 3 out of 5

Now I invite you to listen to Adele’s ‘Rolling in the deep‘, an example of Adele at her best. When given free rein, the difference is clear.

Related articles

• Watch Adele’s Official ‘Skyfall’ Lyric Video (mashable.com)
• LISTEN: Adele’s 007 Theme Song ‘Skyfall’ Debuts (movieline.com)

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BusyElleBee

Food ~ Photography ~ Music ~ Design ~ Life

Recipe Developer | Photographer | Music Producer | Designer | Blogger

If you would like to know more about BusyElleBee, please click the link BusyElleBee

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Just a short update – you can follow my Anise/Chanel jacket sewing adventures in pictorial form here Anise Photos.

There is going to be a lot of fun and plenty of stress as I attempt to make this jacket. So stay tuned to find out how I’m getting along.

So far I have posted my lining options, I still have to decide which one to use, so if you have a favourite, please help me, pick one and comment below.  If you are also taking part in this challenge, please comment – we can laugh and cry together

Related articles

• Colette Anise Sew-a-long: Week 2 – A lining saga (busyellebee.wordpress.com)
• Colette Anise Sew-a-long: Week 1 – My ‘Chanel’ Jacket Challenge (busyellebee.wordpress.com)
• Colette Patterns Sew Along – I’m in, are you? (busyellebee.wordpress.com)

Week 2, and I’ve just about recovered from the pre-shrinking fiasco, only to be faced with a new fashionable dilemma.  I went lining fabric shopping a couple of days ago, and as usual spent far too much on yards and yards of fabric, most of it destined for the back of my sewing cupboard.

To add to my already mountainous stash, I purchased a striped black, maroon and gold flower print silk, plain black cotton and some light gold satin. I also purchased some black and white check sheer fabric, as it was a bargain.

Black, black and more black. Yes it appears I have yet to grow out of my Chanel phase.

So, as I was carefully putting away my new acquisitions, I found in the far depths of my cupboard some printed cotton fabric, that I had meant to make up into various garments ages ago. I suddenly thought that this could also be ideal as a jacket lining.

So having gone shopping to specifically find an ideal jacket lining, I now have 4 choices, one of which was lying in a cupboard all along. What to do, what to do? Yes, I am trying to put my own spin on a Chanel style jacket, but I should also have a little fun, right?  The plain black cotton is tres Chanel, the striped flower lining is chic and playful, the light gold is a little extravagant, but the fashion print is fun, and using this means I can make matching items such as a skirt, dress, scarf, etc etc.  ARGH! I bet Karl Lagerfeld doesn’t have all this aggro!

This is on top of a printer which refuses to print more than 8 pages, without chewing up a perfectly good piece of paper for no good reason. With nearly 100 PDF pages to print, I am questioning why I didn’t opt for the nice pre-printed pattern booklet. I do like to make life hard for myself! (A donation will be sent to Greenpeace shortly).

Now I have to piece the pattern together. Actually, I find that part fun.  It’s like a massive jigsaw puzzle, but far easier to solve. Then I get to cut bits of paper out and stick them together with sticky tape. Seriously, this is better than play school!

I also have to complete my mood board, I still haven’t found my ideal buttons – well actually I did, but there were only 2 left, and I need at least 8. Sourcing affordable black interfacing is also proving rather difficult.

Hope to start on my muslin test tomorrow. Wish me luck.

Are you taking part with the Anise sew-a-long? Please feel free to share your tips and ideas here

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Well week 1 of the Colette Anise sew-a-long has started – and I already feel like I need another week to recover! I was so excited when the email arrived from Colette to say that the sew-a-long was finally going to start.  Dutifully and carefully I followed the preliminary instructions, here is my account:-

1) Source and buy the fabric,

2) Gather notions and equipment,

3) Preshrink fabric … huh? Preshrink fabric?  How on earth do you do that to 10 meters of boucle fabric? Cotton fabric, you just chuck into the washing machine and away you go. You can’t do that with wool, can you?

It suddenly dawns that perhaps buying 10 meters of ‘bargain’ boucle did have a ‘catch’ after all.  Fortunately, those rather clever people at Collette had no less than 3 options for me to consider in order to solve this problem.  The fist was to send the fabric to the dry cleaners  and ask them to preshrink it.  What? They charged me a small fortune to dry clean a dress recently and they managed to muck that up.  I dare not ask them to do the same to my lovely fabric.

The 3rd option was to take the fabric to my local launderette and ask them to wash it with a damp tea towel. I have never been to a launderette and see no reason to start now.  Therefore, I was left with option number 2 – to perform a task referred to as a ‘London Preshrink’.  Ah! it’s called London, anything which includes the word London in the title can’t be that hard. Heck London just hosted the greatest event on earth, preshrinking fabric is a piece of cake!

Task: Preshrink fabric – London method.

1) Locate an old bed sheet and soak it with lukewarm water.  No problem.

2) Wring out sheet. Ah!, this is where my Zumba classes come in handy – at least they would have, had I attended.

3) Wrap fabric in damp bed sheet and leave over night. OK this is where I wished I had gone for option number 3. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to wrap up 10 meters of very heavy fabric in an old double bed sheet?  The fact that the sheet was at least 4 times smaller than the fabric was bad enough, but trying to wrap the fabric in the sheet, whilst keeping it neat and tidy is a near impossible task.  After 5 brave attempts, and the use of all 4 of my limbs, (5 limbs, if you include trying to balance the fabric on my head, and failing miserably), I ended up with a dishevelled bundle, with half the fabric left uncovered.  Said bundle was left overnight in the bathtub.  I attached a huge brightly coloured post-it note on the bathroom door to remind myself not to panic if I enter the bathroom the following morning in my half sleepy stupor and see a huge mass in the tub.  It is not an axe murderer, just my boucle.

Next day, I read the note (thank goodness), and unwrap fabric.  Hmm, but I have to preshrink the other half of the fabric! I couldn’t risk cutting the fabric, as I hope to make a dress and skirt from the remaining part. Urgh! So I repeat the process for the non preshrinked half of fabric, with surprisingly more difficulty than yesterday! I remembered to keep the post-it note on the door.

Day 3, I wake up, read post it note, I unwrap the fabric and set aside to dry. And may I add never again! It is always good to try new things, and I know now never, ever to try this again! There is a reason why launderettes exist!

I then refer back to the instructions which read, “Iron fabric” … WHAT?????

I wonder what time the launderette opens?

I just have to keep reminding myself of my goal to have a jacket just like this …

Onwards and upwards! More next week (if I have recovered in time.)

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© Busyellebee

“My Autumn Sunshine”

September 2012

© Busyellebee