fabric tea towel edge

 How to sew a fabric edging to a tea towel

Materials needed:

Tea towel. I used the ones from our cheap stores here. They come in a pack of three or five for a couple of dollars. I pre-wash and iron everything before use.

Any scrap of fabric that will match the bottom width of your tea towel. You can patch together scraps of fabric to make up the length and width you need.

Quick unpick

Usual sewing equipment: Scissors, pins, thread, ect.

If you don't have a sewing machine this can also be done by hand.

Step 1: Unpick the bottom edge of the tea towel.

Step 2: Unpick the sides of the tea towel. Making it long enough to match  the height of your combined fabric edging.

Step 3: Choose scraps of fabric long enough to go across the width of the tea towel. I had fabric left over from the baby quilt and the kitty baby bib on my Etsy store. Add in extra length for when you have to fold over the edges towards the seams.

Step 4: Your first scrap of fabric fold together and match the raw edges together and press with an iron. Sew the raw edges to the second scrap fabric using a narrow seam.

Step 5: With fabrics wrong side to right side of tea towel sew the second fabric scrap with your first fabric scrap sewn, to the bottom of the tea towel where you unpicked the seam. If the tea towel edge is crooked you may have to cut it to straighten.

Step 6: Flip the scrap fabric edging up towards the right side of the tea towel fabric. Top stitch along the first scrap fabric at the top to hold into place and top stitch along the bottom edge of second scrap fabric to keep it neat and sitting flat.

Step 7: At the sides, fold over the seam to match the original seam of the tea towel. Match your sewing thread to your tea towel thread and if you have to; match the thread to your scrap fabric. I just used white thread through out.

And you are done adding a fabric trim to your tea towel. you can also add a crochet edging to your tea towel as I have done too.

Original hand painted design appliquéd to tea towel

I hope everyone is having a good day or evening where ever you are.

Steamed crock pot chicken - Slow cooker.

Steamed crock pot (slow cooker) chicken with vegetables

Ingredients:

Chicken pieces. (You may be able to do this with a whole chicken too but you might have to adjust the olive oil, lemon and herb amounts.)

Olive oil, 1/4cup.

Herbs: Thyme, Rosemary, Oregano, fresh or dried. I used fresh. Use what ever you think will go with chicken and vegetables.

Vegetables: Potatoes - quartered. Peel them if you like, I never did with mine. Carrots - trimmed and peeled if you want, I never peeled mine. Add in any softer vegetables, such as green beens, towards the end.

Freshly squeezed lemon juice, 1/3 cup.

2 teaspoons of crushed garlic.

Salt and pepper to season.

Method:

Place chicken and vegetables into the crock pot. Mix the Olive oil with the lemon juice, add the herbs and garlic into the oil and lemon juice. Then pour the mixture over the Chicken and vegetables. Keep the lid on the crock pot as the steam will cook everything through.

Cook for 4 hrs on High or 8 hrs on Low.

I hope everyone is having a good day or evening where ever you are.

Home time

After some rain then hail this month we've been having really good days of nice fine weather. I've been harvesting a few items from my container plants, salad mix, tomatoes, and strawberries. Eventually I'll be adding a few more vegetables as I go along.

I've been pottering around at home. We've had a couple of days with baking and cooking so expect a few recipes up soon for those. 

I attended my first craft fair and enjoyed the experience. It was a learning curve and I expect to do  things a little differently next time. I had sales and made a profit after I counted out my float. 

I've also opened my Etsy store: Hilda and Lillian. I do custom orders, so let me know if you would like for me to do anything for you.

I hope everyone is having a good day or evening where ever you are.

Hilda and Lillian

I've been busy preparing for the Home School markets which is going to be held on the 15th of October.  Nanna Chel of going grey and slightly green wrote up a post about the event, here, so I'll link to her post. It'll be my first craft stall so I hope to learn a lot from attending. 

Below is a video tour of what will be on my craft stall table. Of course, a lot of the items are made from vintage fabric, thrift store ribbons, beads, buttons and a lot more from my stash. Even my business cards are made from my craft stash.

I also plan on opening an Etsy shop too, which also will include the same kind of items including more of my art. I named my shop Hilda and Lillian, after my Grandmothers; who are deceased. I think it is a nice reminder of them and being at their homes which had the usual fancy work doiley's and crochet items.

I hope everyone is having a good day or evening where ever you are.

Apple Crumble Cake

Ingredients:

220 butter, chopped, melted

4 eggs at room temperature

2 3/4 cups self-raising flour

1 1/2 cups caster sugar

1/3  cup custard powder

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Sour cream

800g can apple pie fruit

Crumble topping:

3/4 plain flour

1/3 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

75g butter, chilled, chopped

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 C. Grease a deep roasting dish or slab pan.  Cut baking paper to line tin and leave 2cm over hang.

Using an electric mixer beat melted butter, eggs, flour, caster sugar, sour cream, custard powder and vanilla essence for 3 minutes or until pale and fluffy.

Pour half the mixture into prepared dish or pan. Spread apple over mixture. Top with remaining mixture.

Make crumble topping: Combine flour, white sugar, baking powder, and cinnamon in a bowl. Use fingertips to rub butter into flour mixture until mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Sprinkle topping over cake mixture. 

Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Serve warm with cream Or custard and ice cream.

I hope everyone is having a good day or evening where ever you are.