Cooper Concoctions 2021 Part 4

 Cooper Concoctions 2021 Part 4

A New item. I am starting using material from the Back of the Cooper Jeans. 

Unpick Pocket

 

I Unpicked the Pocket when I did all the unpicking.

Unpicked but Pinned

 

I Pinned the two Pieces together Back to Back. Now I could cut the excess material off and get the shape that I wanted.

Double Pinned

 

I placed two Pins in the material. One either side of the Pocket Point.

Pocket Point Hemmed

 

I Hemmed all along the Bottom of the material. I repeated all this procedure with the opposite Pocket.

Pocket Point Back to Back

 

In order to make sure I Blanket Stitched the two parts together properly I Pinned along the Pockets Double Seam. That way if I had been slightly off with my Hemming it would still match up.

With the thickness of the material my fingers needed a break ready for the really tough part.

Cooper Concoctions 2021 Part 3

 Cooper Concoctions 2021 Part 3

Continuing with my Concoction

Trimming

 

Before I can do anything else I have to trim the Edges. Ideally I would prefer to do this with my Pinking Scissors but they have decided to go for a walk.

That is something that often happens. I have so much Craft stuff it is impossible to keep it all in one area. So things get moved around.

Start to Sew

 

I began to Start Sewing at the Waistband towards the Bottom. I put the material back to back and began to Blanket Stitch. This was very hard work due to the Thickness of the material.

I came to the conclusion that the best thing was to do the Sewing in sections. The part where the two metal circles were back to back was a nightmare. I had to stretch the material so they were slightly off centre to make it work.

Careful with Tear

 

Even though I had been careful to pull the material when hemming the part with the Tear was a problem and I had to Sew this section more than once.

Leaving Room

 

After I had finally got the Side Edge finished I could begin on the Waistband itself. I began at the furthest end from the Buttons. This again was hard work due to the thickness of the material. If I had chosen a thinner needle I think it would definitely have snapped.

When I got close to the end I stopped Sewing as I needed to be able to undo the Buttons and turn the Bag back the right way.

Cooper Bag Pocket

 

I now had my Cooper Bag. It isn’t quite square but I think that is part of the charm of hand-made items.

Cooper Button Back

 

In the above photograph you can see the Button Side. I had toyed with the idea of Sewing right up to the Button at the Top.

However I decided against the idea not only because of the difficulty of Sewing (this would be three layers of material because of the fold) but also it would be harder to put larger items into the bag if I did so.

Cooper Concoctions 2021 Part 2

 Cooper Concoctions 2021 Part 2

I have now Unpicked all the Seams and can start working on making something out of the Material

Cooper Rebutton

 

I was outside whilst I was making this and the wind was picking up. I decided to Rebutton the material so one half didn’t blow away.

Resew Below Buttons

 

Next I decided to Sew Below the Buttons but not quite to the Bottom. You might wonder why I bothered to Unpick it in the first place if I was only going to Resew.

The reason is simple. Until I have Unpicked the Material I cannot always tell what pieces are real and what are false. I also needed to know how they joined together.

Cooper Bottom Pinned

 I have now Pinned the section I want to Hem at the Bottom of the material. I have also trimmed the loose material on the Pocket. The Pocket itself had to be removed as there was a hole in it that wasn’t worth trying to mend.

Pin and Hem

 

I Hemmed the Bottom of the Material then Pinned the Sides.

Hemmed Edge

 

I had to mend the Tear in the material that I made whilst Unpicking. So I had to make sure that I included that in the Hem.

Secure Pocket

 

Continuing Hemming up the side I came to the Pocket. I had to Secure the Opening by Sewing along the Curve. 

Hem Side

I am not quite sure how I have done this but I seemed to have reversed the photograph. In this one I have Hemmed the Side and Secured the Pocket.

However because of the way it was originally made this gives a very small Pocket that is still usable.

Cooper Concoctions 2021

 Cooper Concoctions 2021

I am often given material in various forms by people as they know I do a great deal of Crafting. On this occasion it was a pair of Cooper Jeans. So what to do with them. 

Cooper Front

 

The Jeans looked pretty much okay from the Front. There only seemed to be a few marks here and there.

Cooper Back

 

Ah I have got to the Bottom of the problem. This was obviously a tear that couldn’t be patched.

Thick Needle

 

The first thing I did was to Cut off the Legs as they would only get in the way. I then found a Thick Needle as I knew that going through Denim would be hard work. I also sorted through my Cottons for some Threads of a decent Colour.

Unpick Cooper

 

I Unpicked all the Seams. As you can imagine this took some time. Unfortunately also whilst doing this the Unpicker occasionally slipped and torn the material.

I carried on Unpicking but I would have to sort these Tears out or they might end up running and making the material unusable.

Autumn Cape – A Long Term Project 2021 - Another Problem

 Autumn Cape – A Long Term Project 2021 - Another Problem

For some reason things never seem to go smooth for me. I have now found my Leaves and was going to start adding them when I Spotted something.

Wrong Colour

 

I should imagine that this was another of my working in the wrong light and being too tired moments. I have inadvertently added a Bright Orange to the edge of my Night time section.

Unpick Colour

 

There is absolutely nothing I can do to hide this so I have to Unpick the Leaf.

Replaced Colour

 

I have Replaced it with a Dull Yellow although the camera has made it look quite bright. I haven’t put it back in exactly the same place because with Unpicking I slightly Damaged some of the Red. Therefore I had to adjust the angle to cover it.

Night Start point

 

This is the area I was supposed to be working on. I need to make the Brown section look more organic and add Embellishments.

Branch Embellishment

 

I begin to add more Branches. This is going to take a long time so only going to add a few at this point.

First Leaf

 

As you can see in the above photograph I have put a few twigs on and added my First Leaf.

Absolutely Fantastic

I am still struggling to use my new phone to take photographs and somehow I have appeared to have lost them. Will have to retake them. Do the problems never cease?

Autumn Cape – A Long Term Project 2021 Filling Time

 Autumn Cape – A Long Term Project 2021 Filling Time

Would you credit it? I have had the Leaves I Knitted under my nose for months and now when I want to use them they have gone walkabout.

Gap Fox Side

Since I cannot do what I planned until I find the Leaves or make some more I am reduced to doing a spot of Maintenance.

As you can see in the above photograph there is a Gap at the Top where I have added extra Rows.

Fox Side Sewn

 

I proceeded to Blanket Stitch the Two Parts Together.

Gap Badger Side

I have the same problem on the Badger Side.

Badger Side Sewn

 

This was easier to Sew as I had left a long Tail when I Knitted whereas on the Fox I had to find the Wool to Match.

Top Rim Tidied.

Finally I Sewed the Top Rim to make it Tidy.

 

Autumn Cape – A Long Term Project 2021 Toggle & Loops

Autumn Cape – A Long Term Project 2021 Toggle & Loops

The year 2020 was for me the year of the Face Mask! I have finally managed to put away my Sewing and get my Knitting back out.

Matching Fox Overlap

 

Frankly it was so long since I have worked on this project I had to go back and read my blog - Autumn Cape – A Long Term Project 2019 Toggle & Loops to remember where I left off.

After I sorted out my Needle and I-Cords I got my Cape and opened it fully. I then Folded over the Fox Side so the Loops Matched where the Toggles were on the Badger Side Interior.

Sewing Fox Overlap

 

With the Tail of the I-Cord I Sewed it Opposite the Adjoining Loop. I Sewed it through itself as well as the Wool.

Fox Overlap Tied

 

I then double checked that the Tie would hold. There was plenty of Cord left to make a Double Tie if I wished.

I decided that for now at least I was only going to Sew in One Tie on that Side and see how it held when I was wearing it. This is because with the extra Rows on the Top of the Overlap I didn’t want to throttle myself with it being too high.

Badger Overlap

 

I repeated the process with the Opposite Side. You may notice in the above photograph that the Wool used is a slightly different colour. Therefore I had to be extremely careful not to go completely through the other Side.

Triple Treat Time 2021

 Triple Treat Time 2021

It was my Boyfriends Birthday recently. I decided to make him a Cake. So much effort went into it I decided to take photographs and turn it into a blog.

Basic Ingredients

12 Oz’s Flour, 12 Oz’s Butter, 12 Oz’s Caster Sugar, 3-4 Large Eggs, Packet of Marzipan, Large Bar of Chocolate, Teaspoon Baking Powder, A bit of Water and Butter for greasing.

Flavourings

Vanilla Essence, Chocolate Powder, Maple Syrup

Made to Measure

 

My first Challenge is lack of equipment. My scales battery was dead so I was forced to use the old fashioned way of measuring Ingredients by using a Marked Measuring Jug. Therefore a great deal of this recipe was done by eye. So adjust wisely.

Like Breadcrumbs

 

Add Flour and Sugar together in a Bowl. I didn’t have enough Caster Sugar so I ground some Granulated Sugar with a Mortar and Pestle. Then add the Baking Powder and Butter and Mix until you get Fine Breadcrumbs.

Next add the Eggs. The number depends on the size. I put in 3 then thought the Mixture was still a little thick so added another one.

Vanilla Swirl

 

When the Mixture is smooth add the Vanilla Essence. Either use a Capful at a time or use a Spoon. I tend to be heavy handed so put a good dollop in.

Divide in 3

 

Next fun part. I didn’t have enough tins of the right size or shape. Hence the reason it is a Tower instead of a Circle. I used Bread Tins. The Two Outer ones are the same size. I tried to Divide between them reasonably equally. There is more mixture in the Centre one as no more Ingredients are to be added to it.

Chocolate, Vanilla and Maple

 

I added Chocolate Powder into the Left. Technically it should be Coco Powder but I didn’t have any. In the right I added Maple Syrup. I Mixed both well in.

Well Raised

 

Cooking was a little tricky. I preheated the Oven at 180 degrees. With two different sized Tins and 3 slightly different levels of mixture this is definitely a watch the oven recipe.

I gave it a good 20-30 minutes then tested with a knife. The Cakes were all still gooey. Therefore I put them back in and checked every 5-10 minutes.

A Little off the Top

 

After waiting for them to completely cool I used a breadknife to slice off the Tops.

Triple Tower

 

The Chocolate one broke I will simply put that one in the Middle of the Tower. I then levelled off the Edges to make it smoother to cover.

Off Cuts

 

I put all the Off Cuts into a tub. These are ideal for either having with custard or as a base for another Cake. Remember these can be frozen for another day.

Franken-pan

 

My kitchen is often too hot for certain types of cooking. Marzipan can be a nightmare. I did this at 1am but still had problems. I rolled it out flat but it broke on lifting. Therefore the result looks like a Doctor Frankenstein creation.

Smooth Operator

 

In order to make it easier to add the coating I used a bit of water to Smooth down the Marzipan to make it a little more presentable.

Melt Chocolate

 

Break the Bar either of ordinary or Cooking Chocolate and place in a bowl. Get a pan add water and place bowl in. Normally you heat the water first but I started with cold and heated so I could control the melting process. DO NOT LET WATER BOIL DRY OR BUBBLE OVER THE TOP.

Happy Birthday

 

Let the Melted Chocolate cool until it starts thickening slightly. I poured it over the Cake a bit at a time and smoothing it over with a knife. Once completely hardened I added the candles.

Triple Treat Inner View

This is the Inner View of the Cake when sliced.  The amount it feeds depends on how you slice it. We had at least 3 portions each and fed several of the neighbours into the bargain.