Book Review: Pretty Pantry Gifts

By Natasha De Vil

Hello and happy New Year to you all, I hope you have lots of crafting ideas for the year ahead, stuck for ideas well why not try something new like making jams or pickles. Have no idea where to start well then I have the perfect item for you. Perfect Pantry Gifts by Tara Duggan is a beautiful kit that will get you well on your way to making your jams, preserves and pickles.

This tiny little book is not only packed with seasonal and all year recipes but also advice on how to prepare and sterilize jars, food safety and the kind of equipment that you will need.

The kit also comes with an assortment of jar labels, tags, gift bags, matching ties and cloth lid covers for you to create your gifts or maybe stock up of goodies for yourself and brighten up your larder.

I know I did!

I decided to make the Lemon Curd from this book and I have to say the recipes in this book are very easy to follow and I had this jar of delicious Lemon Curd whipped up in no time.

This kit would make a great gift for a budding or even experienced cook, the recipes are easy to follow but a note for British buyers this book is American and so you will have to convert your measurements as all ingredients are measured in cups and pints. I was surprised at how much information ws contained in one little book and the label, tags and jar covers are all quite lovely.

I would give this kit a 4 out of 5 stars.

By the lovely and fashionable Natasha De Vil

Pin It

Upcycle Shoes: Twinkle Toes Tutorial no.2

Guest Blogger Natasha De Vil of the The Crafty Ms De Vil Blog shoe you how to upcycle your shoes for the festive season.

So it Christmas the time of festivity and celebration but you have a problem you spent the last of your pennies buying fab gifts for all your friends and family and now you have no money left to get those awesome shoes for the office Christmas party. Never fear Ms De Vil is here to show you how to vamp a pair of old shoes that will cost you less than a fiver but make your feet look a million pounds!

First you need to select your shoes and choose a glitter that a matching colour.

You will also need a tray, a bowl and a small artists paint brush and some fabric or pva glue.

Evenly cover your shoes with glue using a paint brush

Then sprinkle with glitter covering the whole shoe and then leave to dry.

 When dry shake off the excess glitter in the tray and then mix this and the remainder glitter in a bowl with some more glue, I’d go for an even ratio of glitter and glue.

Give the shoes an even coat of the glitter glue mixture and leave to dry. This second coat will seal the glitter on the shoe to stop it shedding.

And voila once the glue is dry your new dancing shoes are ready to hit the dance floor.

And that is how you revamp a pair of old shoes into new.

Enjoy

Natasha De Vil x

To see the first Twinkle Toes tutorial, check out Ms De Vil's blog:  http://thecraftymsdevil.wordpress.com/2011/05/04/twinkle-toes/

Pin It

Retro Mens' Knitwear Patterns

To prove we are not bias and we don’t just feature articles for the ladies, this week we’ve put together a very special article for the men.

A month ago I popped down to the coast with Natasha DeVil and we had one thing on our minds – raid the charity shops. Seems strange eh? Not quite, there is a method to our madness, London has very expensive charity shops (oxymoron) but as a lot of old people move to the coast when they retire, if you pick the right town, it’s seriously like winning the charity shop lottery.

Anyhow winter is drawing in and we were on the hunt for retro knitting patterns, thankfully we were in luck, it was like an Aladdins cave of musky clothing, 1980’s films  and thankfully knitting paraphernalia. 

Below I've picked some of my favourite images/ patterns...

Parental Advisory – whist the patterns are fab, draw your eyes in more closely to the photography it’s a thing of retro beauty and the models/ their poses are status of art. Enjoy!

Do you like? Below are some of the best patterns pages from Mon Tricot....

Ummm, haven't considered matching socks and jumper, but it is worth considering, he seems happy..

One word - Movember

This is the biggest men's cardigan I have seen in my life, I like the pattern, but the sleeves - Goodness

Notice the title Men's Fashion - I have high expectations

Speechless!

We’ve left the best until last – The Starsky cardigan. Yes that’s right we have the pattern, needles ready SW Craft Club are going retro this winter!!

If you’d like a copy of the patterns of any of the images, let us know we’d happily email the pattern to you. What this space for the women's patterns coming soon.....

Pin It

Make your Own Knickers

Hello SW Craft Clubbers, my name is Natasha and I will be your guest blogger for today. I would just like to say I am very happy to be over here at SW Craft Club as a life time South Londoner and a crafter to boot.

Today I will be reviewing Emeliana Underwear’s Make Your Own Knickers Kit where you get to make your very own pair of upcycled knickers.

The kit basically gives you everything you need including material, thread, lace and easy to follow instructions. All you need is a sewing machine, a pair of scissors and some pins.

The info sheet advises that you take a paper copy of the cut out knickers pieces so that you can make more knickers at a later date.

Firstly you will need to pin the three pieces of fabric together as per the instructions and sew together.

Despite being an experienced sewer I don’t have much experience with jersey or stretch material so as advised in the info sheet it would be wise to practise stitching on some scrap material first. The trick with stretch material I find is patience and take your time.

Then you pin your lace to the sides and waist and sew together.

Then finish of by sewing the sides together, attaching the bow (not skewiff like mine) and trim all the excess thread and voila a pair of upcycled knickers.

As an experience sewer I found this project relatively easy and a lot of fun and it only took me approximately 2 hours to complete this project. However I do believe this kit would make a great starter project for an inexperienced sewer as the instructions are easy to follow and there is a website should you need any helpful hints or need to ask any questions and as I already said it gives you all the materials you need to make the knickers.

The info sheet is full of helpful hints and tips and the whole kit is very user friendly. This would make a great gift for either an experienced or inexperienced sewer and not only that if you take the advice and copy out the pattern you can make lots more pair of knickers.

These kits come in three different styles hipster brief, bikini and shorts, sizes range from 8-18 and they only costs £12 plus £1.95 p&p for UK orders and £2.95 p&p for overseas orders and are available to order on Etsy.

For more information you can visit Emiliana Underwear

Natasha De Vil X

Pin It