U-handblog

Handmade Leather iPod Nano Case

Jeepers!  Thank very much for your super nice comments about my dress/top (and even my figure!).  My current dress size has nothing to do with luck, I have been punishing pushing myself at my local gym and living on chunky soup and it seems to be working?  That said, I have been treating myself to just 1 Reese's Peanut Butter Cup a day (sent to me by the clever Florence.)  If you like peanut butter at all you NEED to get your shoes on and pop the shops this instant because these sweet treats are seriously drool-ish!

Everyone knows going to the gym is pretty miserable, but I find it just about bearable if I have some high beats per minute tunes on my ipod.  After shelling out for an a nano I didn't really want to have to shell out for a case as well and I don't fancy wearing an armband at the gym because it will make me look like I take excercise seriously...

Isn't so annoying that there is a whole industry involved in keepy your new shiny gadgets looking shiny and new?  There's just too much stress in keeping things scratch free.  Why the flipping heck does the back of a Apple Nano have to be polished steel anyway?!!  Anyways, I am indeed uptight about about keeping things looking new, but as a sewer of bags I think I shouldn't buy cases as a matter of principle.

I had a nice scrap fine navy leather in my stash, shame it wasn't a raspberry red or cream colour to go with the green nano, but hey ho. 

• I chose leather because it would offer protection without bulk and also you can leave the edges raw.  I might make another cover in oilcloth for the same reasons.
• I placed some tracing paper onto the Nano and traced the width of the screen and the scroll wheel to get the template for the hole.  I then traced that shape onto the leather and cut out the shape. 
• I then got some clear vinyl (from John Lewis in London; sold as shower curtain by the metre), placed the vinyl onto the wrong side of the leather cut-out and then slowly top stitched around the shape (which was pretty stressful). 
• I made a loop and hook for the cover and stitched that onto the front of the cover. I then cut out the leather back of the cover and stitched the front to the back all around the sides and top of the cover. Job done!

I don't like having small gadgets in my pockets because they can fall out (especailly whilst attempting sit-ups in the gym).  I think hooking things onto things is safer and the metalware makes things looks more gadget-y (Lisa is a geek, Lisa needs to get out more, la la la!)

I'm happy with the way it turned out except that my machine wasn't too keen on sewing through 3 layers of leather (where the loop is attached to the front).  So my machine went a bit wobbly. I had to go back and sew some recinforcing hand stitches through the loop.  I mean, how annoyed would I be if was on the treadmill and my Ipod escaped it's loop and went whizzing into the mech. of the treadmill?  It would be hilarious - not.

The cover is open at the bottom so the nano just slides in and out.  The cover is snug enough at the sides so the player doesn't jump out.

Back of cover

Cheeky Jersey dress sewn on my overlocker / serger

There's nothing quite like shutting-up talking about it and just getting on with it is there?  I've been going on about rustling up a jersey top on my overlocker for ages.   So last night instead of going to the gym I concocted this tunic/dress.  I can't believe it doesn't resemble a pile of ironing.  Like; I'm really happy with the way it turned out - blow me down!

This dress is my own design (no really it is!!).   I bought the white top below and then I traced the outline of the main body of it to get the overall dress size and I then made up the arms and the neckline myself. I also made the overall length of my top longer so I could also wear the top as a dress.  It was so much fun to make because I didn't really know what I was doing so I just sort of fearlessly made it up as I went along (jersey isn't expensive, so there was less pressure!).  I just made sure that everything I did was symmetrical and I measured things carefuly.

What do you think folks?  Have I actually made something that I can wear out in public?!

 

Contrary to popular belief jersey (or any other knitted fabric) is your friend (I know that Jo will agree with me on this).  Knitted fabrics can fit nicely over your hippage and boobage without any need for darts and tucks.  The way that Jersey drapes and stretches over your body means that it is far more forgiving when pattern drafting (which is such a blessing for a maths numpty like me).

I LOVE this machine!  She is so reliable, completely predictable, and strong.  At the shoulders of this dress she had to stitch through 8 layers - 6 layers of jersey and 2 of silk, and she sailed through them like a hot knife through butter.

To read more about my overlocker click here.

Heh!  I'm thinking this a good top to wear to dinner; you can let your tummy reee-lax as it fills up on lots of lovely nosh!

I was going to make the tie out of the same grey jersey then I thought 'hang-on" I have a scrap of plum coloured silk that is too small to make a bag from...

Worn as a dress.  Right, this is probably the only time I'll get my legs out in this blog.  This is very uncharacteristic of me as I am usually glued to jeans and T-shirts, but then I don't make clothes for myself every day so I thought why not push the boat out a bit?  Mmmm, I think if I don't stand up straight in this dress I might look like I have a Santa Claus tummy!

I think I'll take this dress on holiday with me as it's way too cold to wear it in windswept and rainy London.

Recipe for Pizza soup

Seeming as Al isn't here I can please myself and eat what I want and that includes soup (which he isn't overly fond of).  There have been other benefits to not having my lovely bloke around, but I best not list them or it might look like I actually prefer not having him here (which, my darling I definitely don't) He he!  Al landed in SA in one piece, his flight was uneventful except for the fact that the guy he sat next to rank body odour (urgh!).  Al is sharing a flat with 2 folks and his room over looks the sea.  Though it is winter  in SA the weather is more like the end of our summer.  He has his first day at the hospital tomorrow, I hope he settles in OK.

So back to the recipe.  I have always been a soup head, thick or thin, hot or cold, summer or winter, soup is good. I love the way that it can be a meal in bowl and you don't have to concentrate too much on your food as you shovel spoon mouthfuls in and at the same time you can read a book/do your crossword/even chat with your sister.

This is a made-up soup, but it probably is just a version of a tomato soup. It really does taste like pizza, minus the doughy base.  You probably have the ingredients for it right now (which beats going to the boring grocery store).  Oh and it's very low in fat, but it fills you up (woo what is this black magic soup?)  Also this soup is a good way to con the kids into eating their veggies - I've yet to meet a child who didn't love pizza...

Lisa's Pizza Soup  (enough for 4)

You will need:

• 1 x can of plum tomatoes - the larger sized can
• 1 x can of red kidney beans or whatever beans you like - the larger sized can
• 1 x pepper - red or yellow if you have 'em (they're sweeter)
• 1 x med - large onion
• as many garlic cloves as desired.   I LOVE garlic so use fooouuurrrr large cloves in this soup
• big pinch of mixed herbs
• A good glug of olive or veg oil
• half a chicken or veg stock cube
• salt and pepper, and a pinch of sugar (though you shouldn't need sugar if your veggies are ripe)
• Large handful of cooked meat leftovers (with fat removed) that you might have hanging around in your fridge; ham, bacon, chicken, chorizo sausage, roast beef, whatever, this soup isn't fussy.
• vegetarian folks can of course load up on different veggies in place of the meat
• good splash of Tabasco (or equivalent) sauce will give the soup a nice little kick (optional)
• any sort of melty stringy cheese (the stringier the better, kids love the stringy stuff).  I'm quite partial to Gruyere myself.

Putting the soup together

1. Cut up all of your veggies quite small and to roughly the same size.  Mince the garlic.
2. Heat a good splash of olive oil in a med saucepan and throw in all of the cut up veggies and garlic. Cook gently without colouring for 10 mins.
3. Drain and rinse the beans.  Add beans to the pan and cook all gently for a further 5 mins. Add a little water if things are getting a bit dry.
4. Add the half of stock cube to the pan.  Mush it up so it melts into the mixture.
5. Tip the tomatoes into the pan and break them up with your spoon.  Fill can full of water and add to the pan.
6. Add meat leftovers and a few splashes of Tabaso to taste (if using).  Give everything stir.  Mmm smelling yummy!  Turn heat down to a simmer, partly cover with lid, and cook for a further 15 - 20 mins.
7. Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Hopefully your onion and pepper were sweet, if not you might need a small pinch of sugar in the soup.  Add a big pinch of mixed herbs.
8. Ladle into soup bowls and grate some stringy cheese on top.  If you have guests coming around pop a basil leaf or two on top.   If you're on your lonesome forget the basil, get your spoon out, and pick up where you left off with Oscar & Lucinda.  Ah bliss!

I'm not too hot at food photography, besides most tomato based soups look pretty much the same don't they?  So how about a nice pic of Ralph Feinnes instead?  :)

Fighting fit & a word about sewing with oilcloth

Thank you for your lovely get well wishes everyone :)  I feel tip-top again and I even went to the gym last night.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that I wasn't totally unfit and I even managed to do some boxing training.  Whilst I was warming up I saw a lady doing some boxing sparring with a trainer.  The trainer  was holding pads - for her to hit (so you can box without being hit back - which is a definite bonus).  It looked like brilliant fun, so when the trainer was free I asked to have a go. It was a gas! Really exhausting, but such exhilarating fun.  Well, that's it! I have finally found something that is an all round work out, but also great fun - who knew?   Earlier today I even bought myself these - woo!

Onto sewing things.  I am going to get a 'working with oilcloth' tutorial together (as promised).  I thought I would ask you if you had any preferences as to what I should make out of oilcloth for the tutorial:   

• Laptop sleeve   
  
• Ipod cover - though there are so many different shapes of these things these days
• Wallet
• Lunch Bag   
  
• Magazine Bag   
  
• errrrrrrr...

In case you didn't already know, sewing with oilcloth is made INFINITELY easier if you have the right sewing machine foot (ah! So that's why the oilcloth always flipping sticks!).  The machine foot needs to be non-stick (also known as Teflon coated foot).   These feet glide over sticky oilcloth, vinyl and plastic, and they look like this:

Pic credit: Sewing Machines Plus.

Powered by Qumana

Hey good lookin', whatcha got cookin'?

Are any of you making or are going to make a Amy Butler's Sophia Bag?  If so Jo has made a start on hers and she is recording the process.

I'm busy working on the Sewing World mag bag today.   I'll post the pics later.  Whilst I'm making the bag I'll be thinking about what to get in the supermarket today.  I love cooking from scratch and we rarely eat ready meals or takeaways unless I'm really tired (I do all of the cooking, he does all of the washing up), but the one thing I don't like about cooking is deciding what to make. 

I seem to have a fixed repertoire of meals that only changes very slowly.   I haven't counted all of the dishes that I know how to make, but at the moment it seems quite limited because lately I'm making the same dishes again and again.  I'm in a food rut!  It's not that I can't cook; Mum & Dad (who are both excellent cooks) taught their kids well, and I am trained chef (I never went into it as a career) I'm just not at all imaginative about cooking right now.  Of course it's not the end of the world; it would just be nice to make some foodie changes what with it being the New Year.

Here are most of my cookery books.  As you can see I am a big fan of Nigel Slater, I really rate his Kitchen Diaries and his 30 Minute Cook.  Donna Hay is good for keeping it simple, Gordon Ramsay is great for the reluctant male cook (isn't it Al?), Hot Sour Salty Sweet is full of authentic Asian recipes (and it wouldn't look out of place on a coffee table), I also have a file of recipes that I've collected from the internet and various magazines.

.

Some food sites that I like:

• Delia Online - great no-nonsense mainly British food.
• BBC Food - recipes from all of their food programs.
• Jamie Oliver - love him or hate him; his recipes do work well.
• All Recipes - this site is crammed with recipes that have submitted and rated by folks like us.
• Epicurious - well laid out food info and recipe site.
• Guardian Food - good for restaurant reviews.

Actually, looking at my collection of recipe books I can see that it could do with more variety.  There's not much European and no Indian, American, desert, vegetarian etc. books for example.

.

Do you folks have any recipe books or internet recipe sites recommendations to share with us?  It would be fabulous to hear which books and sites are your faves especially as we are from all over the world and it would help me out of my food rut :) 

I've made this list easily accessible in the Misc-List-Mania category (in the left hand side bar), so please keep adding to it if you have any suggestions.  Thanks!

Sew What! Skirts book review

So work-wise I am still reasonably on top of everything (well it is only 1 week into the year). I still need catch up on the emails a bit, order more supplies for the shop, and I have a looming deadline for the Sewing World Magazine bag, but otherwise most things are in order and under control, that is until this came though the letter box for me - DAMN!
.

This book is going to save my short ass.  We crafters have access to so much yummy fabric, but short folks do not have access to yummy skirts.  Ohhhhh if I start thinking about whipping up some skirts now I just might have some to wear for spring/summer.

Some of the skirts you can make with this book.

The book doesn't have patterns, instead it teaches how to make your own - no wait, come back!  The instructions are clearly written and they shouldn't freak a beginner out which is great because I'm not too hot at dressmaking.  The first part of the book teaches you how to measure yourself, how to transform those measurements into types of skirt, and it teaches you stuff like how to do hems, zips, and darts etc.

How to attach a waistband.



I think I'll try this one first...

Here are the instructions for the skirt above.  It looks reasonably achievable and only moderately swear-worthy...I'll let you know how I get on.

Have any of you bought this skirt book yet?   Which skirt/s did you make?

I'll announce the Amy Butler Pattern monthly sewing contest winners in my next post.

Easy Egg Fu Yung Recipe

I'm lucky to be busy, except I don't have any ironed clothes, there's a mountain of laundry to climb, the vacuuming needs doing, the cooker needs cleaning, the...blah de blah.  After I've been to the post office with the orders and taken the woofer out, there is re-ordering, emailing, and blogging etc.  still to do.  This sometimes leaves us with rather empty food cupboards.  But that's usually OK, sometimes the nicest meals are ones that you cobble together with whatever is lurking at the back of the fridge. 

Egg fu yung is such a dish.  To be strict Egg fu yung isn't actually Chinese; it's American, but it's still really easy, tasty, and pretty darn handy when you haven't got a lot of food in the house.  You can of course make this dish with most any leftovers you want, for instance you don't have to have bean sprouts or spring onions, but they are nice in the dish.  This one is for you Kathi.



Recipe for Egg Fu Yong (for 6 disciplined persons, or 3 greedy guts - guess which one I am)

You Will Need - if you want to know what my fave brands of Chinese ingredients are, look here.

• 6 eggs
• salt & pepper
• big handful fresh bean sprouts (optional)
• small handful finely spring onions (optional)
• 1.5 big handful cooked and diced meat e.g. roast chicken, shrimp, ham, bacon, etc. OR
• 1.5 big handful of diced veggies e.g. mushroom, pepper, sweetcorn,  courgette, cooked broccoli etc.
• oil for frying

and if you want to make a sauce to go with it (I don't usually make sauce) you will need:

• 1/2 pint chicken stock (best made with oriental stock, this brand is very good)
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• Soya sauce to taste
• 2 tspn Corn starch to thicken
• dash of oyster sauce (optional)
• dash of sesame oil (optional)

 

1.  Mix all of the ingredients except the eggs in a mixing bowl, add a bit of salt and pepper.  Save a little spring onion for garnish at the end.

2. Break eggs into a separate bowl and whisk together.  Add the whisked eggs to the other bowl of ingredients.

3. In a wok (a wok is best for this because it is bowl shaped) heat enough oil to cover the bottom of the wok.  Get the oil nice and hot, but not smoking!

4.  Roughly divide the mixture into 3 or 6 portions (depending on how greedy you are) and ladle the egg mixture onto the pan, one portion at a time.  Form a nice patty shape for each portion and fry until lightly brown on both sides.  Turn once only; you don't want to break the patties.

5.  If making sauce:  heat the chicken stock,salt & pepper and soya sauce until boiling.  Make a solution of a little water and cornstarch for thickening.  Whisk cornstarch into sauce a little at a time until sauce is thickened.  Add a dash of sesame oil, and oyster sauce at the very end, and mix well.

6.  Pour a little sauce over each egg patty and serve with some rice.   Yummy...I'll go to the flipping supermarket tomorrow!

Quick and easy origami gift box tutorial

I'm still on a high, and the air feels different in a good way.

As part of the U-Handbag 2nd birthday celebrations I thought I would create a tutorial and I would do a giveaway.  Here is the tutorial.  It's a very easy origami lidded gift box which you and/or the kids can whip up in less than 10 minutes.  This box would be perfect for packaging smaller Christmas presents like jewelery, or you can use these boxes as dividers within a larger box (which is great for keeping our crafting supplies under control).

I have a stash of origami paper to (just about) rival my fabric stash...

Nice to have, nice to look at; nicer to covet than to use...(bit like how I feel about my fabric stash).


Origami was my first craft hobby.  The first model I ever made was this very box (I must have been 10 yrs old), from then on I was hooked. Here is a star I made recently...

An example of modular origami.

For my tutorial for a pretty origami lily flower click here.

Here is the lidded box.  I made a padded flower to put on the lid.  The flower can use be used to lift the lid off the box, or you can make a ribbon bow, or maybe a fabric yo-yo with button center, or stick some dried flowers on, or not!

 

To make the flower I followed JuJu's excellent tutorial.


1. Start with a square of thick paper or (best) light card (mine is 25cm square, which makes a box that measures 9cm (W) x 4.5cm (H).  Fold the paper in half diagonally, both ways.  Ensure all of your creases are sharp by running finger nail along each crease for every step of this model.

Fold diagonally, ensure that the tips meet perfectly.  It's best to be anal about being precise when paper folding!

2. Open paper out and you will see that you have folded a cross.  Take one of the corners and fold the tip of the corner to the very center of the cross.   Take your your time to be as precise as possible.  Origami works best when your creases are sharp and your folds are precise anal.

Repeat with the other 3 corners, and open out paper.

3.  Take one of the corners and fold the tip of the corner to the opposite crease that you made in step 2.

Repeat with the other 3 corners and open out paper.

4.  Take one of the corners and fold the tip into the fold you have just made in  step 3. 

Repeat with the other 3 corners.  Right, that's boring bit over with.  All we have been doing up to now is making crease lines which will form our guidelines for following steps.

5.  Take your paper and using the crease lines as a guide fold in the corners to the center of the cross as shown in the photo below.

Now fold in the side edges (using our crease lines as a guide) to 90 degrees as shown in the photo.

6. Turn the model over and make a diagonal crease in the 1st square from the left (as explained in the following pics).

Model is now turned over.  Notice how there are 4 squares on the bottom edge of the model?  We are going to make a diagonal crease in the 1st square from the left by following the next photo...

Hold the 1st square (from the left) in the same way as I am in the pic, and press your thumb down to make the beginnings of a diagonal crease (running from the bottom left to top right corners). Ensure the corners of this square meet each other perfectly, make the crease nice and sharp, repeat this step on the opposite of the model, and what you'll get is this...

Making these diagonal creases allow for the sides of the box to be formed.  Repeat this step with the other 3 corners of the box in the way, and what you'll get is this...

See?  It's all taking shape nicely.

7.   Fold the flap down into the box to finish the one of the sides (as explained in the following pics)

Pinch one of the flaps as shown in the pic, and start folding the flap (on the ready made crease) down away from you..

.

..fold the flap down way from you and into the box...

...flap is completely folded into the box.  The triangular tip of the flap should now lie flat on the bottom of the box to form a cross.  Repeat with the other side of box and you're all done!

If you like you can put some pretty paper at the bottom of the box to hide the cross. 

To make a lid for the box you need to use paper that is 1.5 cm square larger than the paper you used for the bottom.

Pop some tissue paper into the box, add your Christmas/birthday/treat pressie to the box, present to lucky person, and make 'em smile!

.

For my tutorial for a pretty origami lily flower click here.

Kitchen Confidential - what (some) restaurants rather you didn't know.

I finished reading Kitchen Confidential yesterday, (but this is my fave about food book).  It was quite entertaining; it took me back to the not so good old days, which just makes me feel even happier to be where I am know.  Even though I don't cook for a living anymore I've always been fascinated by kitchen goings on and I love cooking for friends and family. In fact I'd sooner cook at home or at friend's houses because I know that eating out can be a veritable minefield...  Here's few reasons why (list compiled with the help of Mr Bourdain, and my own observations):

• It's pricey - most restaurants charge at least 3 times the cost of creating the meal.  For example in the UK, it's not unusual for a chicken costing approx £2.00 ($4) (to the restaurant) to be worth £24 - £48 on the menu!!  So after the chef has cut the chicken up into portions that's £6 for a plate of cut up chicken pieces in a wine and cream sauce, or £12/15 for a plate of chicken breast in Restaurant a la Pretentiousss.  Blimey!
• Is it Special? - Special of the Day is often made up of a surplus of ingredients that need using up before they go off.  Any past-their-best veggies, or meat that didn't get used up over the weekend; pop them in a pie, or a stew, or some other rich tasting sauce, or make a terrine, or mousse thing, or anything that disguises the fact that the ingredients aren't spankingly fresh, give it a fancy name, and get rid of it!  Of course Specials are sometimes made from lovely ingredients that the kitchen has been able to obtain at a good price, but do you know which Special you are going to get, the old, or the new? 
• It's all about timing - Typically the best time to eat out in a restaurant is on Tuesday or Thursday.   That's when ingredients are likely to be freshest. Because even though restaurants receive regular deliveries, the big stock- up is usually on a Tuesday (after all of the weekend's ingredients have been used up) and Thursdays (to gear up for the their busiest time; the weekend).  If you want to make a science of timing, eat in the restaurant mid to late evening because if you eat early in the evening you may be eating ingredients from the day before as the kitchen will use those ingredients before they use the new stuff. 
• No Meat Thanks - Now, I haven't cooked in many kitchens myself, but I do know that many chefs aren't as scrupulous as a vegetarian would like them to be about not mixing utensils which have touched meat with those that haven't, or using veggie stock when they should...
• Get up off of that floor!- If your lamb chop lands on the kitchen floor, I'm sorry but it will miraculously spring back onto your plate.  Kitchens are often cramped and very hectic spaces, and food will do somersaults.  When it's busy and your lamb chop meal is part of 3 other meals(which have all been painstakingly prepared to be  ready at the same time), from a table of four and your lamb hits the decks at the last minute, rather than start all over again (and delay the other 3 meals) it will more likely then not be giving a dusting off...I've seen it...eurghhh!
• Which Meat/fish & 2 veg? - It's not unknown for restaurants to serve pork and pass it off for veal (at a higher price), and pass off  fish fillet of whatever for fillet of whatever (at a higher price).
• Done well? - If you are partial to well done steak be on the look out.  You are more likely to be served a whangy tough boot of a steak that the chef will be glad to get rid of...  He/she can cook the heck out of it.  You can't serve a tough steak for rare to medium steaks because they won't wont' be tender to eat.

.

Nice piece of well-done Steak?


With all of that said though; sometimes there's nothing nicer than being treated to a tasty meal and not doing the washing up!  Do you like to eat out?

Photography and photo editing tutorial (this is how I do my own product shots).

I had a nice, quiet weekend, and uneventful weekend.  Sometimes that's the best kind of weekend.

The 'photography and photo editing tutorial' is on my craft business blog.  If you sell (or are going to sell) your crafty goodness online hopefully it should be pretty useful to you :)

Thanks again for all of your really helpful votes for the new banner.  I'll do the draw first thing tomorrow morning (to give my US readers a last chance to vote) and I'll announce the draw winner in the afternoon.

The bag for the new bag tutorial is more or less finished.  I'm just doing the writing up now...

Okeydoke!  Back to writing up my bag instructions...whilst I'm doing that will get a load of these yummy bags!

This bag is crazy lovely (and yep it is handmade)!   See this bag and more yummy ones like it here.