I wrote a post all about gonks last November. The original 1960s ones were designed by Richard Benson. In the 80s those little sticky message bugs used for advertising were often called gonks. And now people frequently refer to the Scandi gnomes/tomte/nisse as gonks.
I had an email from a lady in Norfolk, called Christine, saying she was having a "senior reflection moment" - and wanted to make gonks for her grandchildren for Christmas [proper vintage 1960s ones, that is] Did I have a pattern?
Well, short answer was No. So I dived down various internet rabbit holes. Yes the patterns are out there, but some people are charging a lot of money for them. Christine wanted something akin to the PlaySchool Humpty. I found lots of pictures. Some were round, some squat, some flat, some very egg shaped and some just plain weird. I wanted one that was straightforward to produce, with not too much curved stitching. And very important, with a flattish base so the little chap would go onto the shelf or bed and not fall over or roll away too easily.
So I played about with some paper and made patterns - then created the basic gonk in some spare fabric, stuffed it, and pinned on paper features. Once I was satisfied with that, I made up a proper little chap with Stash stuff, and sent the gonk,the pattern, and the instructions off in the post.
Now Christine can see how big he will be and make her own modifications [eg adding a collar, or smile, or buttons etc] and create lots for her family. I am calling him Al.
And if he is a success, that will be an Al-Gonk-Win [apologies to any Dorothy Parker fans]
Today is Harvest Thanksgiving at church. Here in Norfolk, we have watched the combines out in the fields, and are perhaps more aware of the seasons than some city dwellers. We will be thanking God for his goodness, and all his love. After the service we are having a special lunch. And we are collecting tins, packets and toiletries for the local foodbank, and monetary donations for work in poverty stricken parts of Bangladesh, where floods have destroyed crops, and life is very difficult.
On September 6th, I was really excited to have obtained a ticket for a special HODS event at Norwich Cathedral. Along with a dozen others we gathered at 10am and were taken upstairs to "The Pryor's Hall" where the Broderers' Guild meets to do their amazing repair and restoration work on ecclesiastical textiles. Helen Johnson, who lead the Guild gave us a wonderful talk, showing examples of their work. The group has been going for about 25 years, and as well as hangings, altarpieces and robes [for clergy and choir] at the Cathedral, they do renovations for churches across the diocese, and right across the country.
This amazing chasuble comes from a church in central London and is a century old. The embroidery is almost Art Deco in style. There is a somewhat sad story behind it -
There was a 'society' wedding, all very glamorous -the bride wore a stunning ivory silk gown, and many gemstone. Then tragically, the bride was killed in a car accident, on her honeymoon. Her family donated the gown and the gems to the church, asking that some sort of priestly robes be made in her memory. Hence this chasuble.
But 100 years on, the silk has started to disintegrate. The team have relined the garment with especially dyed cotton fabric, and sandwiched the silk between that and monofilament conservation net. There are hours of work necessary to stitch round the motifs, thus holding the three layers safely together and making the garment wearable again.
If you look carefully at the bottom left you can see an area under the sun rays where the silk has almost disappeared. The net, once in place, is virtually invisible.
This is an amazing church hanging, from Victorian times, but being restored to its former glory.
I was in awe of their tiny stitches, their meticulous attention to details, and the wonderful, peaceful atmosphere of the sewing room.
The ladies work with highest quality fabrics and threads - conservation next costs around £50 a metre! Asked about costs, Helen told us "We give an estimate for the work, based on a figure per square inch"
Bearing in mind that they sit round a table 8 foot by 4 foot, which holds an average altar cloth quite nicely - that's over 4500 sq. in.!!!
When I did my Advent stitching last year, the hardest part was working with the silver thread. Helen said her team do not find the gold and silver threads easy either! For the regular colours, she says they find Gutermann the most reliable.
My pictures did not come out too well, so I was really pleased to find this YouTube clip all about the Guild. It shows things far better than I can
I so wished all my sewing friends could have been with me for the HODS event - especially Kirsten - it was a mindblowing experience! Being a nonconformist Rev, Bob's never really had any amzing ecclesiastical garments. Unless you count his Noah's Ark Waistcoat which I made him years ago for a Family Service...
How much water does your household use each day? Do you ever think about it? We checked our consumption for August and found we were up by about 35%. Which sounds a lot until you factor in all our house guests, and one neighbour without bath/shower facilities and another with serious washing machine issues...so lots of extra people using our water supply.
I am not getting stressed about it, it was all justified extra usage.
However it appears that Cornerstones' August consumption was still less than 50% of the average 2 person household in the UK, so we are not doing too badly. There is a helpful site here which explains the amount used by household appliances, and efficient practices.
Since I did the Green Living Project back in Dorset 4½ years ago, and got a shower timer, it is rare for my showers to take longer than 4 minutes. Bob and I shower alternate days. [When I was growing up, I had a weekly bath, so 7 showers a fortnight feels more than adequate!]
Other bathroom savings - I'm pretty obsessive about teeth cleaning, but not with a running tap. Turning the tap off during brushing saves 10 litres a time. And we don't flush if we use the loo in the aptly named "wee small hours" - we're fortunate in having an efficient dual flush.
I run the washing machine every 5 days or so, on an eco programme, and the dishwasher usually every other day. And we ensure that both machines have a full load. And the garden and greenhouse are watered from the water butt. I've used the hose just once this summer.
In the kitchen, I boil just enough water to fill the teapot - not a full kettle. I use the vegetable cooking water to make gravy. Vegetables are scrubbed in a bowl of water, not under a running tap.
Water is a precious resource, we need to use it wisely [more tips here] The water companies may have let us down badly, failing to fix leaks promptly and discharging effluent into rivers... But that does not a solve each one of us from our responsibilities to use water thoughtfully and carefully.
In some parts of the world, women and children walk miles every day to carry water to their families. And many children die from drinking contaminated water.
Never let me take the clean water from my tap for granted!
Bless, a blogfriend for many years, is doing a declutter-by-date this month. That is, on 1st of the month you declutter one thing, on the 2nd discard two...until the end of the month, when 465 items should have left the home
.She has given herself permission to stop when she reaches 300 items [that should be 24th Sept] unless she gets carried away, and manages 500 in the month.
After Liz sorted out the kitchen for me the other week and said I did not need to keep every empty glass jar, so she'd put them in recycling, I decided I needed a concerted plan of action. I would attempt to declutter in categories.
one belt. I have a lovely leather belt for my jeans, using my M&S tokens. But it got mislaid when the jeans were washed. I grabbed this one [roiled up it the drawer behind my pjs. Why?] I wore it for one day, till best belt resurfaced...but it is cheap and old, and disintegrating. It has gone [ok I admit the buckle is in a tin with other fastenings]
two potato peelers. Both brand new [bizarrely they arrived with other online kitchen purchases] They will go to CS, and thus free up kitchen drawer space
three cracked terracotta flower pots from the back garden. They were stacked up, waiting to be smashed and used for drainage in other pots. But I have plenty of shards in a bucket in the garage already. My Grandad used to refer to daft people as "crackpots" which always made me giggle when I was little. Binned
four brown cardboard boxes. Not flattened into recycling bin, as usual, but torn into small pieces and added to my compost as a layer of "brown waste" [recycled into garden]
five out of date make up items. I don't wear a lot of 'slap' - and I had a load of freebies which were old, half used, and not exactly healthy looking. They have gone. Since the Dundee fall, and my lip developing an interesting paler patch, I do wear lipstick more. But those will get used up quickly. Bin
six plastic Huel bottles. We both have these protein drinks occasionally. But as I am not making any more Technicolor-Joseph-models at a Holiday Club, I don't need to hold on to all these bottles! recycled
seven magazines, all freebies, which were cluttering the coffee table, recycled
eight glass jars with lids. There are still some in the cupboard, because I will be making marmalade shortly- I'm down to my penultimate jar! recycled
nine split, cheap plastic flowerpots. Horrid thin things which had been in the greenhouse - with equally pathetic tomato plants inside. No recycling triangles. Gone into regular bin.
ten cardboard egg boxes. Intended originally for seedlings. Unlike Carol Klein on Gardeners' World last week, I do not spend every other moment propagating new plants, I won't need 120 little cardboard 'eggcups' this autumn. Another layer of brown compost
So that was 10 groups - 55 items gone up to Tuesday evening. 70% purposefully recycled. I have decided to start this again for the next ten days.Thank you again, Bless, for your inspiration!
I'm quite overwhelmed by so many of you who took the trouble to check the shop link in my sidebar. And sending helpful comments about browsers etc. It was so kind of you all. It appears that some people with Norton Security programs are being told it is a fake site. I have reported this to Norton and hope they correct the error.
Now I feel I really must get on and make more stock for the autumn. [There are little bowls of mouse body parts on the coffee table]
I've almost finished the little sewing jobs I'm doing for other people. There is one other [non sewing] project to be completed by the weekend.
But today is family focused, as Julian's coming up for a flying visit.
I am so grateful to have so many friends and such a loving family. Thank you all
UPDATE Now FC has also contacted Norton, it looks like the problem is fixed. Yippee!
This is the time of the year for HODS [Heritage Open Days] Docyeck out the national website for this fab, free, festival HERE. On Friday I got to attend something very special in Norwich - of which more later - and Saturday I went to some of the Dereham sites
Bonnie the Mouse had been doing her bit. I popped into the Museum to give Katie a "spare" Bonnie, as I was concerned #1 might not stand up to so much travelling
I also visited the nearby Parish Church, and climbed the
Bell Tower. Dereham is unusual in having a separate tower. The church was 300 years old when there was a bequest to pay for bells. But the building was not deemed strong enough to bear their weight. The tower was built at the start of the 17C. French Prisoners were kept there during the Napoleonic Wars. One escaped and was shot in the churchyard - his grave is still there.
I was delighted to go inside the Georgian Assembly Rooms and see the Regency Ballroom [lovely replica gowns on display]
Back at the Museum, the volunteers were enthusing about the number of families who had visited, and they'd listened to excited children following Katie's Mouse Trail, squealing with joy when they located the little felt characters.
I came home and started making mice to put in my 31:13 shop next month.
A small request... Two people have recently contacted me to say the shop's link on my sidebar would not work for them. I'd be very grateful if some of you good people could check it out and see if the link works for you [I'm NOT asking you to buy anything though]Please let me know if it does or doesn't work for you,. Thank you
Actually not a night, just a morning. Last Monday our craft group had a visit from the wonderful Fehmi Göhkeş, a local mosaic artist who helped us to make our own mosaic tiles.He had some lovely blue tiles which he had made
He explained we were each going to make a 10cm square tile - beginning with a base of wood, we would use tile adhesive to fix a central smaller square
tile, then add others around it. He had loads of plastic trays of different coloured stones, tiles, chips of glass and shards of seashells.
I chose a central blue tile, and 8 small mosaics to go round it. I filled in the gaps with tiny pebbles in blues, greys, lilacs, and a brown colour. My friends were making similar choices. Everything had to be filled and covered with grouting and taken home to dry, 24 hours later, we could sponge off the excess. Here is my finished tile..
The light makes that bottom tile look white, but it is the same gorgeous iridescent blue as the other three corner tiles. I am delighted with my first attempt.
JPIT is a partnership between the Baptist Union, Methodist and URC churches and Church of Scotland. They provide many helpful resources around issues of social justice, the environment, and peace. This prayer was recently posted on their website. I felt it was well thought out, and helpful.
We give thanks for the Paralympics, happening in Paris at
the moment. God who delights in us, thank you for this opportunity to celebrate
athletes and come together in sport.
We pray for peace in Myanmar. God of minorities and margins,
we pray for the Rohingya people, and ask that you help them find safety,
stability and comfort. We pray for the violence against the Rohingya people to
end.
We pray for an asylum system that is fit for purpose. God of
sanctuary, we pray that action is taken to reform policies so that people
seeking safety are provided with what they need and treated with dignity and
kindness.
We pray for people bracing themselves for a difficult
winter. Compassionate God, we pray that vulnerable people are given the support
they need in order to live in comfort.
We pray for all those affected by the extreme floods in
Bangladesh. Loving God, we pray that all those who have lost homes and
livelihoods find comfort and safety, and for aid and relief to reach those in
need. We pray for greater action on the climate crisis, which has caused an
increase in extreme weather.
With National Foodbank Day on 6 September, we pray for the
day to come when nobody is in need of a foodbank. God of justice, we pray for
action to end poverty while giving thanks for the commitment and care of
foodbank volunteers and workers.
Did you know that World Jollof Rice Day was celebrated on August 22nd? We missed it too! Jollof is a one pot dish, of rice, spices, meat and veg - it was first served in the Wolof Empire*, which covered modern day Senegal, Gambia and Mauritania - but now most countries in West Africa have their own version of the recipe. It is ten years since Jamie Oliver got into trouble demonstrating his own recipe on TV - despite the varied versions from the different countries, his was deemed definitely inauthentic! In Norwich at the Summer Market the other week, Bob bought a jar of jollof paste from Shirley, an enthusiastic Londoner who is bringing her family's spice blend to the table, making it easy for everyone to put together a pot of jollof.
He cooked the rice with the paste, adding in onions, beans, carrots and some leftover chicken. It was very tasty [and not too hot for my sensitive taste buds]
*Spelt Wolof, it is pronounced Jollof. The empire lasted from 14th-16th centuries. Maps below show the location then and now!
One answer is 'often from other blogfriends' In recent weeks I have been grateful for inspiration from all sorts of people.
Bless has started a September Decluttering Challenge- and I think maybe I should be picking that one up. Having done a great job tidying the kitchen for me last week, Liz pointed out that I do have rather a lot of empty containers - and maybe some of them ought to be recycled, as I am never going to make that much jam or chutney
Kirsten who has inspired me so much with stitching, mentioned how she made a quick soup when lunch was late, and needed to be prepared fast. I decided that I could produce some "Fridge Scrape" minestrone - and ended up with 3 days worth of delicious soup.
Catriona - who reads blogs, but does not blog herself, sent a lovely handmade anniversary card - with a genius cutting technique which lifted it out of the ordinary into the 'classy' category. I shall definitely be copying this one. Sign of the times- we had oodles of messages online, on WhatsApp, on Facebook etc - and just three actual cards. I'm grateful for them all though, so reassuring to know that people care! [C's also married to a Shed Man, and our spouses have chatted on the phone about tools]
Kezzie's Tardis Tuesdays have made me rethink the ways I can wear clothes in my wardrobe, in different layers, or tucking in, or combining tp make one garment serve various outfits . Ok, maybe this one [pictured left] is not quite what I mean!
Rachael, our lovely Vicar, shares my passion for sewing and crafting [and also for preaching] and in recent weeks she has introduced me to two new ideas.
At the Parish Church Coffee&Cakes this week, she had us making paper roses from old Psalters!
So whilst I get a fair bit of inspiration from books, and YouTube, I absolutely love it when my friends are the ones who inspire me. Thank you all!
I love the fact that the word text has the same root as textile and texture - they all come from the Latin textus, 'to weave' . So books about fabric must be text-text
Last month I acquired three such books. One was passed on by a friend, one was 50p in a NT bookshop, and one was £6 from Greener books.
Reviews in reverse order
Having loved the Haberdashery shop Bob discovered for me in Paris, I was intrigued to find The Mason Sajou book in our library. [the Sajou shop is based in Versailles ]And I loved it so much, that I felt I would like my own copy. There is a lovely review here so I will not repeat what is said there - check out Kim's words and illustrations. It has 20 lovely projects, with excellent instructions for different techniques, and creative ways to use stitching. My first purchase from Greener Books, a company committed to recycling books. This was the cheapest 2nd hand online copy I could find, and I was pleased with the prompt delivery and excellent quality. Watch this space, as I plan to make up at least one of these ideas soon..*****
28 fresh designs influenced by ceramics, fabrics, and folk
embroidery. Helen Turvey recreates designs of English ceramicist William DeMorgan, French Toiles de Jouy textiles, and
Scandinavian and Northern European folk art . Designs for decorative and useful
items for the home, of for gifts.. Great instructions and charts – cleverly using
different shades of red thread. It is a step further on than the Mueller samplers that I used to inspire a section of last year's collaboration with Kirsten. But If I can find appropriate Toile, I may use it in this year's CoverStory. Another *****
Finally this one. Kirsten included it as a flat gift with the last parcel. Which was interesting as I had seen it mentioned online She and I have since discussed it, and found ourselves broadly in agreement. The principle is a good one - if you are dress making, be as efficient as you can when cutting the fabric, so avoid senseless waste. In practice, this is not so easy to implement. Advice like "avoid stripes, directional patterns, velvets" and "boiled wool is about the best" is somewhat limiting if you want a pretty summer dress, or a special evening gown. Cutting 6 identical 'kangaroo' pockets which can be tessellate dinto one strip with no waste at all is fine - if you want 6 identical garments in the same size and fabric. But unless you are manufacturing for a shop or dressing the women from the workhouse, this is not helpful.Sadly although the book has lots of hand-drawn diagrams, there are no clear photographs or pictures of any finished garments on the wearers.
For proper patterns and projects you have to buy Liz's other book - but looking at the projects in that, I do not know I would want to wear many of them, however Z-W, earth friendly they were [I have a Moebius scarf] That book is £28.
Having said all that - "A Year of ZWSewing" comprises 12 sections - each one with a concept [fastenings, gussets, historical clothes etc] a guest piece from another ZW designer [across the globe - Australia to USA, via Sweden, France, NZ etc] and an "Ask Lizzy" spot. I did like the little anecdotes - eg Did you know George Lucas specified that none of the Star Wars costumes should have zips or buttons ? Apparently they do not exist in his galaxy far, far away!
For all my negative comments, I must say this book was the most challenging, and very thought provoking. Liz is not keen on people using the odd leftover bits for embellishing garments [thus ensuring nothing is wasted] - my approach would be I cannot avoid having this piece left if I cut a circular neckline - so in what other project can it be used? I am giving this ***. It might have had 4* but for one thing which Kirsten commented on and I completely agree - it has a really weird cover surface.Sort of ... waxy. We both found it genuinely unpleasant to hold! I could not read it in bed for that reason! If it is to stay, I shall have to make a cover for it!!
I have borrowed many sewing books from the library in the past week or so. When asked at church if Bob is resting properly, I said that he is spending most afternoons sitting in the lounge reading - and I keep him company, also reading [or sewing] "How good of you to give up your time to do that!" was the response. I had to explain it was not a chore. I love being together, and furthermore, will grab any excuse to avoid housework to stitch or to read!!
I have been doing a lot of sitting and stitching whilst Bob has been resting his leg. A good excuse to get out my friend's Nativity Set and refurbish it for her.
When she acquired it, there were a number of things which needed fixing. She had kindly given me some felt to use
The ox and the wee donkey had very weak, splayed legs
Wise Man #3 was distinctly lacking in both a gift and a blingy crown
There was NO Mary, Joseph or Baby Jesus
So first up I strengthened the legs of the animals by couching lengths of green garden wire on the inside - here's a strong ox with a weak ass!
Then I rolled up some blue felt, put a shirt button and two beads on top to make a girt, and added sequins to the crown.
I looked at the figures in detail - each had a cylindrical cotton body, with a pink felt head attached. So I prepared Mary and Joseph and a tiny 'sausage' for Jesus'
Bob offered to make a simple manger from two interlocking rectangles of wood.
A coffee stirrer provided a staff for Joseph. My friend was delighted when I took the completed set to church with me on Sunday. All set for December!!
Jess absolutely adores this Julia Donaldson story, about a Princess who is kept in a tower, sewing cushions when she wants to be out there practising medicine. And Liz got tickets for the theatre production as a special treat
Everybody thought Jess ought to go in costume as Princess Pearl - but the doctor's coat I made for Rosie six years ago has gone AWOL. Fortunately the crown was still in the Dressing Up Box
So last week, I made another coat - using two old pillowcases, and a shirt pattern from my Pebble Mill Set bought 40 years ago.
A stethoscope was borrowed from the Manchester cousins.
The beloved pink " Grandma Dress" would definitely fit the bill. My machine embroidered two name tags [Dr Jessica and Princess Pearl] with velcro backs
Happy to report that the costume, and the production were both very well received!
Preacher, teacher, wife, mother, grandmother, craftswoman. Married to wonderful Pastor Bob since 1979, now happily retired to Norfolk, but still busy. I am blessed with two brilliant grown-up daughters and four wonderful grand children
