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My Creative Space

Almost finished embroidering this table cloth, just can’t decide on the border colour.

Re – hemming this dress I made for my sister when I was 14 – she was 5. It has been worn by my sister and 2 of my daughters (and will be worn by the 3rd) and has only ever needed the hem fixed.

I’m enjoying these books that Nell sent to me along with some soap and chocolates. Thanks so much Nell.

Speaking of my sister… she gave me this tapestry approximately 10 years ago! I have pulled out my original stitching that was done when I was clueless and am having another go at it. I’ll update you in another year (it’s very large!) and hopefully not in another 10.

Check out other creative spaces at Kootoyoo and have a very crafty day!

Easy peasy apricot jam

by Kelly 2 Comments

I’m so pleased with the amount of apricots we got from our tree this year – however, the birds and insects (consequences of an organic garden) left me with a lot of partially damaged fruit. What to do? Make jam of course!

Start by cutting up your apricots and de-stoning them. Weigh your cut up fruit. This determines your sugar quantity. Say I had 300grams of cut up fruit, then I would use 300 grams white sugar.

The juice of half a lemon, or thereabouts.

Place fruit, sugar and lemon juice on a low heat in a saucepan. Add a couple of tablespoons of water if it seems a little dry as the sugar starts to dissolve. Stir fairly often while it’s dissolving.

Leave on a lowish heat, it will start to simmer and bubble, then eventually foam. Stir occasionally and watch that it doesn’t foam over.

When the foam starts to subside and the jam looks glossier, do the saucer test.

What is the saucer test? Place a small amount of the liquid from the pot onto a saucer and pop in the fridge for a minute or two. If the liquid “sets” or is nice and thick and gloopy when you take it out then you’re ready to jar.

Have your sterilised jars ready. That means washed in hot soapy water and placed in a low oven (leave the door ajar) on newspaper to dry and sterilise.

While the jars are still hot, ladle your hot jam into them carefully and seal. I just use plastic jam covers as I’ve found them to be the most mold resistant.

With a recipe like this you can make huge or tiny quantities.

It’s Saturday

by Kelly 1 Comment

And a glorious Saturday it is too.

I was the lucky recipient of these gorgeous hand dyed, hand spun yarns in a swap with Nell. Aren’t they beautiful, especially the rainbow one. I feel like I did when I was a girl and received a special soap or something and was too afraid to use it. I’d just admire it for a long time!

Nell kindly included an embroidery book (here’s a girl after my heart!) and even a pack of lollies for the children! I can’t show you what I’ve sent her yet as it may not have arrived.

We’re headed into the city today for the Freedom to be Born March, it should be a great turn out on such a nice day.

All the best for the weekend, God bless you all.

Dye a fat quarter economically

by Kelly 2 Comments

If you don’t mix your soda ash solution with dye it can be used over and over. This can save a lot of money on soda ash and the water you would need to mix it up each time.
Dye starts to lose it’s effectiveness as soon as it’s mixed with soda ash.
I cringe when I think I used to mix my soda ash with dye, then discard the leftover dye down the sink. What a terrible waste!!

Here is one way to dye a fat quarter economically: (these are simple rather than full instructions, as I tend to “wing it” a little and not write down everything I do!) This method will usually give mottled results, which is my personal preference. If you are not aware of safety precautions for dyeing please make yourself very familiar before attempting this!

Cotton homespun (quilter’s muslin)

1. Soak your prewashed FQ (fat quarter) in your prepared soda ash solution. (A rough guide is 3/4 cup of soda ash to 3.8 – 4 litres (a gallon) of water. Soak for at least 15 minutes, it can be left for days if you don’t get to it.

2. Mix up your dye as weak or strong as you like. I tend to mix it on the lighter side (say 1/2 – 3/4 teaspoon of dye powder to 1/4 cup water). If it comes out too light you can always overdye but it may be just the right colour and you won’t have used the extra dye. Place the mixed dye in a bucket or other container that will fit the FQ and dye.

3. Ring the soda ash out of the fabric tightly. Your fabric will be damp. Place it in the bucket with the dye and move it around to soak the dye in. Now squeeze the fabric and move it around until the colour looks good and most of the dye is soaked up. You can leave it to sit in there for 10 minutes if you wish.

4. Ring the fabric out so it’s wet but not dripping. Chuck it into a plastic bag (you can fold it if you want, I just scrunch and shove!) then place that bag into another plastic bag. A ziplock bag is an excellent option to prevent seepage. I’m a tightwad so I just reuse plastic shopping bags. Then I wash them out and reuse them over and over til they’re dead.

5. Leave your fabric for as long as you can stand to wait (the longer the better – 24 hours is good, 10 is OK, 4 hours – have you any patience at all?!)

6. When your fabric is cured pop it into a bucket with some cold water to cover it and squelch it around to get the excess dye out. Then wash it in a small amount of warm soapy water (be conservative with the water, you really don’t need to use too much!) Now place it in cold water to cover again. You can leave it like this for a while and let the excess dye seep out. Just keep squeezing it in small changes of water until the water stays clear.

Pop it on the line to air dry (use a dryer if you want but I’m a tightwad remember?)
Give it a press and voila!

Disclaimer: I’m not an expert, this is just what works for me. The water in your area may differ to mine, therefore you may get different results. The weather may be different, etc, etc.
Don’t forget safety, it is absolutely essential when dyeing to follow safety protocol!!

Rain, rain, don’t go away

by Kelly 2 Comments

Last week must have been my lucky week, not only did I get the parcel from Nic, but I also won Becky’s giveaway. 3 patterns, a knitted dishcloth and some soap. Thank you so much Becky!

I’m loving the vinyl tablecloth I picked up at Spotlight today. If you’re crafting with kids a vinyl table cloth is essential!

I’m so grateful for a wet winter, the garden is flourishing. Daffodils are one of my faves.

Lots of broad beans, we planted hundreds of seeds we saved from the last harvest.

And the most thrilling of all – the first blossom on the apricot tree (can you see it?)

In the midst of all this rain the grump in me is finding a few things to gripe about. It’s my first winter with 4 little ones who want to get out to parks and for walks and can’t in this weather. It’s also nearly impossible to get much washing dry (I won’t give in and buy a dryer – never, never!)

I can’t complain too much though, the tank is constantly overflowing, it’s wonderful.

Make your own yoghurt

by Kelly 8 Comments

Yoghurt is getting really expensive in supermarkets and it’s really easy and much cheaper to make your own. Did I mention it’s also delicious – it is! You’ll need some store bought natural yoghurt with live cultures and a cooking thermometer to start. This is for a small quantity, you can easily double the recipe for a larger batch.

I start with 2 cups of fresh full cream milk and heat in a saucepan to about 85 degrees celsius.

It’s best to heat slowly to prevent burning.

Cool the milk to about 45 degrees celsius, then stir in 1/4 cup of the store bought yoghurt.

Pour the mixture into a large jar that has been cleaned with very hot & soapy water. Any utensils should also be pre – cleaned in this manner.

Put a lid on the jar. Wrap the jar with a towel and secure with rubber bands. You can fill another jar with hot water and lid it to keep the temperature in the esky more even if you like, I’ve found the yoghurt sets really well doing this.
Pop your jar/s in an esky and close the lid. Leave overnight (about 12 hours) then refrigerate. How easy is that?
Reserve some of your yoghurt for the next batch to use as the starter.

Next time I’ll show you how to make yoghurt cheese or spread! Mmmmmm!!!

Family Finance 4. False economy?

by Kelly 1 Comment

I’m always willing to try “home brand” products and many offer a true saving for a product equal to brand names. You do however have to be selective and be aware of certain pros and cons. Here is an example:
I recently bought “home brand” liquid soap. We go through a lot of liquid soap with young children in the house there is a lot of handwashing to be done. After it was all used up I bought a brand name soap to compare. I found I can use about a quarter of a squirt of the brand name, as opposed to 1 – 2 squirts of the “home brand”. Therefore, I’ll keep buying the brand name soap.
Another example is toilet paper. I buy middle to high range quality paper as the cheap paper disintegrates on contact with moisture, therefore you have to use about 3 times as much.
There are some “home brand” products I’ve used for a long time that are just as good as others, such as flour.
So, try all products but be aware that “cheap” products won’t always save you money.