Teaching children to sew and upcycle - and a surprise

This morning it became clear that my planned sewing day was out the window: I had a big fat migraine that an early-morning pill had failed to cure. When I climbed out of bed at 10 am to get rid of the hunger pains, a not-so-nice surprise greeted me in the dining room.

Anna had decided to make a start on the owl cushion we'd decided to sew, which is to be based on the one above that we bought from a local market.

Having watched what her Mama did the day before while making a hot water bottle cover, she traced around her existing owl cushion on some greaseproof paper from the kitchen. She cut out the shape, then put it on the nicest bits of fabric she could find.

The problem? They were from my precious stash of fabrics that I'd been sorting through the night before with plans of sewing a cushion cover today!

This was her first try. The next one she cut around.

I was horrified and made a few loud noises, but part of me had wondered if she'd do that if I forgot to put away my stash when I went to bed. And at least the ones she chose weren't my favourite.

In retrospect, I mainly think how cute and smart she is to copy me so. It reminds me that I should be spending even more time teaching her than I do: yesterday I could have been explaining how to cut out a few centimetres outside the tracing line in order to leave a seam allowance, and that my sharp sewing scissors were the only ones to use for cutting fabric properly (I had explained that they must never use them to cut paper). I also could have told her that cutting out patterns is the same as cutting biscuit shapes from dough - you put the cutter/pattern right over to the edge, so you have the maximum amount of uncut fabric/dough available for future patterns, or biscuits.

This was part of yesterday's creating process, in which I made a new hot water bottle cover for Jack. His old one was made of wool - always my preference! - and lovingly knitted by Grandma when he was a baby. Now it's falling apart, and his ENT surgeon told us that to combat his dustmite allergy, all his bedding needs to be synthetic. I chose an old polarfleece jacket to make a new one from, which I can throw in the washing machine on a hot wash once a week or so. (I hate buying things new if there's a way around it.)

A perfectly good, outgrown Kathmandu polarfleece jacket
(I put Kathmandu in the category of made-in-China, kill the little
guy retailers, as I discussed yesterday - so I didn't care about
cutting it up!)

I made a pattern by drawing around the hot water bottle onto greaseproof paper.

The sewing was done on this reliable old lady of a sewing machine, more fully discussed here.

The finished product. I got the idea for the design from here - I love the cushions this lady makes. We have three of them, and I would have bought a hot water bottle cover from her, too, except she only uses wool blankets (all recycled). 

When I sew - which is not very often - the children love it, and invariably flock around to begin their own projects. If there's a friend present, he or she joins in. Yes it slows me down a lot, but it is so worth it to see those young brains growing by the minute. There's also a pleasant, engaged calm that descends over the house. They can both thread needles and sew simple seams now, and Anna ties her own knots.

We finished the sewing day by making Anna her own little needle case with the sewing machine. She did the sewing herself. My choice of hessian for the inside was pretty poor - you can see it falling out already! We'll replace it with felt one day. 

Doing this project and cleaning the day's mess off the dining table and floor meant that dinner wasn't ready until 7pm, but I think it's worth it, don't you?

Matryoshka doll and craftsmanship

Recently a darling little girl turned six, and because she's such a good friend of Anna's, we wanted to get her something special. We chose this Matryoshka doll cushion (much the same as a Babuschka doll or a Russian doll as far as I can tell).

The Matryoshka doll cushion on the gorgeous

antique iron bed of her new owner. 

By day she stands guard, and by night she gets cuddled.

We bought it from www.etsy.com, where the creator, Lucy Patterson, sells her wares. She has her own fabrics printed and the designs are from her collection of vintage Japanese kimono fabrics. She sewed the cushion for us, and posted it down from Auckland. Fortunately, it was a hit with the birthday girl.

It has made me swear off Made-in-China chain stores, where I might save a few bucks and pollute a few Chinese rivers. There is so much luscious stuff on Etsy, and felt.co.nz, that there is really no need. If you haven't heard, these websites bring together people who make lovely stuff with people who want to buy it. The prices are generally very reasonable.

Should I feel guilty for abandoning retail shops? Well, I would if they were different. It seems to me that most of the little ones where things are made with pride have almost all been killed off already by the chain stores, where everything is temporary, bright and chucked in the landfill when it breaks (which is usually sooner rather than later).

The cushion's rear.

 Lucy also sent us some of her postcards, which Anna glued together to make a birthday card to accompany the cushion.

Crochet slippers from Felt seller houseshoes

Here are some other beautiful things I've discovered recently (I can't show you the ones I like most of all if there is only one of them, which is often the case, otherwise when I go to buy them they'll certainly be
gone!)

Ocean-blue earrings from Felt seller artdivine

Black & white chair from Felt seller greyststudio

Something else from Lucy Patterson,
to be found on etsy.com here. It's a craft kit
with printed felt squares supplied, plus
ideas and patterns for what to do with them.

All this crafty business has sent me off in the crafty way myself. It's turned into a sewing weekend - stay tuned to see our creations!

A leafy, flowery, fruity creation

"I'm making you a surprise, Mama!"

And this is what I found:

I am just the luckiest Mama!

Luscious food in the larder

Some friends of mine have just opened the Elizabeth Cafe and Larder in Tauranga, New Zealand. When I say 'just', I mean only a week ago! They've had a wildly successful first week, with queues out the door. (But fortunately not late on Saturday afternoon when we called in.)

Must be good, huh? When I took my first sip of the chai latte I ordered, I could tell why it's already popular. The chai was the best hot drink I've ever had! I wanted to drink it three times over. I don't think I could work or live close to there and resist making frequent trips for more.

The children each ate a giant slab of chocolate cake which my gluten-free mouth drooled for.

It looks great too. Here's some photos. The tiles are my favourite thing.

On the boardwalk

I love boardwalks. They are attractive slices of nature (wood) beckoning us to stroll through a slice of nature.

These photos were taken in Tauranga and Mt Maunganui, New Zealand. (Locals will notice I missed the stunning boardwalk on the main beach - blame the windy weather last weekend.)

The park at the bottom of the road.

The path to somebody's front door. I've admired
it every one of the thousand times I've walked
or run past it.

Boardwalk along the estuary. This place always
reminds me of travelling by canoe through the Okavango
Delta, Botswana: deeply, incredibly peaceful.

Path up through the sand dunes at Omanu beach.
These pathways discourage people from wandering
randomly through the sand dunes, and the native
grasses seem to be thriving as a result.

Just a post at the top of the sand dunes. It
tickles my nature bone.

To the beach

We've been at the edge of the land.

Isn't my husband lucky to have grown up across the road from this? And note the lack of people at 10.30 on a sunny Sunday morning during the school holidays. (It's more crowded in summer, though.) You can just make out the surf lifesavers practicing out from the cone.

Funny how the children fall immediately into creating things from what they find on the sand. A yacht for Jack:

...which he set sailing in the water, then sprinted back so his new shoes didn't get wet. It sailed! The passionate little fella was thrilled.

A fairy castle for the little lady, complete with an elegant archway through which to enter the palace.

It was a lovely morning.

While I was at the coast I took a little photo series of something I have a fondness for: boardwalks through lovely natural places. Stay tuned - I'll post it tomorrow.

Artichoke harvest

I harvested these beautiful vegetables, along with some coriander that thrives at this time, and again in autumn.

Here's how to prepare them - well, how I do it, anyway.

Firstly, constantly watch out for their brutal prickles. I peel back about half of the leaves (which from a botanical point of view are certainly petals). The first ones to come off are at the base, and you move up towards the tip of the 'flower'. But only go up about half way, so the upper leaves are left.

The area at the base of the artichoke where it perched on its stalk will still have some of the outer skin attached. Peel this off, along with any stub of stalk.

The upper leaves need to be cut off, so that just the fleshy part of the artichoke is left. Then cut the artichoke in half, so now you can see the hairy bit inside the artichoke. Scoop this out with a teaspoon.

Get everything you're keeping underwater as soon as possible to minimise browning. Have a pot of water ready. Then, with chokes in pot, add a bayleaf and half a lemon and a garlic clove (or none of these, if you don't have them) and bring the pot to the boil. Add a teaspoon of salt.

Boil for 10-15 minutes until they are soft - so that a knife slides through the same way it does with a finished boiled potato.

BUT I have just read in the New Zealand House and Garden magazine (my mother subscribes - it's gorgeous and the recipes are always amazing) that kiwi chef Peter Gordon does it in a different order, and I intend to try his way next time.

He leaves a bit of stalk on the artichokes, and chops off the top half of the artichoke first. Then he turns them upside down (so that the stalk pokes up) and puts them in water, pours 50ml or so of white vinegar over them, adds 1/4 tsp salt, and boils them, unpeeled. Later, when they are tender and cooled, he does the other steps: pulls off the outer leaves, cuts them in half and scoops out the hairy bit with a teaspoon.

Peter knows a thing or two about cooking. I met him about 12 years ago at the Edinburgh Festival when he signed the cookbook I bought from him. Thrill, thrill. I never used the cookbook much though.

Our favourite ways to eat them are just plain, dipped in aioli or mayonaise, or on pizza or in calzone. Such a delicacy.

Roll on the next batch - the wonderfully ornamental plants already have babies artichokes at the ready.

Tying shoelaces: a lesson with Grandma

It's a milestone, learning how to tie shoelaces. Who better to teach a little girl than someone who's been doing it for close to 70 years?

"Don't help me! Just show me!"

 

Old and young

 

Almost there...

Success! Only she insists on then tying extra flourishes

on top of the finished bow. Strange!

 



In the company of a lion

A couple of days ago I posted about our spring garden, having taken many photos for you. What I didn't mention was what good company I had! He was a bit challenging at times, straying over the plants I was trying to photograph.

Regardless, I love the company of my grey lion. His luxurious fur goes well with firewood, stacked away for future winter warmth, which he will soak in as he lies in front of the woodburner. I photographed it because I love the colour of this fresh rimu (terrible to burn it, I know, but the tree had been hacked down before we discovered it). It adds character to our garden, I think.

Lion cat

Pocket money and jobs: a strategy

It's school holidays here. Apart from our two, there's often an extra child or two around in the holidays, as other parents try to juggle jobs and holidays. The kitchen gets a good workout, and the more help I can get, the better.

That combines nicely with the fact that someone in this house has spent too much money on lego recently. Trade Me is a dangerous auction website if you are a lego addict. The addict is only nine years old, and his Mama didn't stop him falling into the trap of auction fever. Lego knights were his downfall (although he insists they are worth his bid price).

However, he spent three times more than his wallet holds, so it's time to repay debt and hopefully use the episode as a lesson on money management. I needed the nudge of it, certainly: since the children were very young I've been saying how important it is to encourage them to save 10% of all the money they get, and yet I've never implemented it.

So here's our strategy. It involves housework, saving 10% and commitment.

They have three jobs a week to do: cleaning either the bath or our three handbasins, making their bed each day and helping me prepare our evening meal once a week. They have a week to complete the jobs and on Sunday they get $4.50, 50 cents of which will go to school in an envelope to be banked in first credit union (I'll be getting the application packs to join the credit union when term starts. They already have bank accounts, but this way we only need make the slightest effort to deposit the money.)

If they don't do the jobs, they have to pay me $4. I know it sounds mean, but recent experience assures me that otherwise they don't do the jobs if they don't feel like it, which usually means there's nothing they really want to buy that week. (We've had a less formal money-for-jobs thing happening for a while). Then they want to do lots of jobs in the week they've found something they want.

Anna helping me cook tonight. The carrots were
chopped very small, but I didn't complain!

My ulterior motive with the cooking is that by the time they're 12 they can cook dinner one night a week for the family, and this is their training ground. Plus they tend to eat raw vegetables as they chop them, which is a good way to slip the good stuff in.

I really need the help around the house, too. Even little jobs noticeably reduce the burden, and I don't want to have to harass them for the help. They already regularly do other things that aren't on the list, like set the table and take out the rubbish and recycling.

But when I entitled this post, I didn't mean that ours is the strategy. It's something I think will work in this family, although it may need refinement. I hope that they gain skills, I get help and they get to experience the magic of money growing effortlessly when a bit is regularly put aside.

Do you have any tips you can share?

I shared this post at Frugally Sustainable and at the

Garden treasures

At this time of year I find myself increasingly drawn to the garden, wandering around and enjoying its promise.

There are little strawberries starting,

Beans sprouting at the base of the tripod that is ready for them to climb,

Big fat Italian artichokes ready for harvest - yum!

Freshly composted ground waiting to nourish little plants,

Baby lettuces growing, growing in the moist and ever-warming spring air,

Seeds sprouting, sprouting - these are the antique spice mix sweetpeas from King's Seeds,

And, away from the vegetable garden, tiny flowers appearing in little nooks, ready to make their babies.

Violet Mackerel: thank goodness

You'd think that with no TV it might be tough when Mama needs to rest and there are active children about.

Nearly seven years ago when Anna was but an embryo inside me and making me very nauseous, I learnt that it can in fact be great: I spent most of the summer days lying in bed, while two year old Jack frolicked around me, turning my knees into a slide, and reveling in the fact that I had nothing else to do except be with him.

The same thing happened today (sans pregnancy). Anna and I each read a magazine, then I read to her, and we discovered the wonders of Violet Mackerel. Have you heard of her?

She is a book star most definitely a cut above the rigours of the fairies Rachel and Kirsty, or Skating School, or Unicorn School, which is the usual painful fodder inflicted on us by Anna each reading time. We've had a couple of reprieves recently with Pippi Longstocking and Milly Molly Mandy, but they've been old news to me for thirty years. Violet Mackerel is fresh meat!

I thoroughly recommend her, for plot, charm and lovely little moral lessons. She'd be especially nice for families where mum and dad are no longer together, but she is very nice for this family where we most definitely are. There are four books, and I think they'd suit girls aged 6-9 or so. The two we took out of the library stunned me with their production values. This is art! I'll definitely be buying some for gifts in future.

 The author is Anna Branford, the illustrator is Sarah Davis, and this is Violet's website.