Overwhelmed and under talented

So I have spent the last hour or so Googling craft blogs.
Big mistake.
Everything out there looks so professional and GOOD.
I look exactly like the amateur I am.

But fear not.

I will continue on my mission.

You shall hear from me again. Soon.

How To: Make your own book bag

So I am participating in a Secret Santa present swap around with some folks on Goodreads. As I have been dabbling in the art of sewing I thought I would try my hand at making a book bag. From Scratch.
Now it really aint pretty (deal with it). But I did make it myself and am inordinately proud of myself.

What you will need:

2 x pieces of 60 cm by 30 cm bits of scrap cloth
2 x pieces of 30 cm by 5 - 10 cm  bits of scrap cloth (this depends on how big you want the bag to be on the inside - I did 10 cm)

1 x piece of 60 cm by 5 - 10 cm bit of scrap cloth

6 x pieces of 1 m by approx 8 cm of scrap cloth

Now as you can see I used various colours of cloth because I LOVES me some colour. 

Step 1:

I don't have an over locker, only your regular sewing machine, so instead of stitching everything together and going over it with the over locker later to make it pretty, I use my zig-zag stitch instead of the over locker. It doesn't cut off the end bits as nicely but it does help to stop the material from fraying later on. 

So start by taking the two big 60x30 pieces. Turn over the edge of one side and give it a nice tiny hem. 

Step 2:

Now take the two smaller 30x10 pieces. Hem them in the same fashion. Try to ensure that you turn over the same amount of material so all the pieces remain the same length.

Step 3:

Take the 60x10. Sew this to the bottom part of one of the 60x30 pieces (the side you haven't hemmed) with a normal straight stitch.

On the other side of the 60x10 sew the other 60x30 piece. 

Word of advice. Please check the hemmed sides are on the correct side. I spent a good 10 minutes unpicking my work. If you turn it right side round you should have something looking like this:

 Step 4:

Now that you have stitched it, it really is a good idea to either use the over locker or zig-zag stitch. Just run along on the inside of your straight stitch:

Step 5:

Adding the side panels. Pretty much the same as the bottom panel. Stitch it to the red 60x30 pieces, then then bottom panel and once again the 60x30 piece. Once you have attached that, do the zig-zag or over locking. Once all is attached you should have something looking like this:

So I should probably mention at this point - after doing all this I realised that I could have just used one panel for the bottom and side panels instead of using 3 separate ones. So if you're planning on making your own book bag - keep it in mind. 

Step 6: 

Now we get to the handles for the bag. We want something strong and sturdy that wont fall apart if you put a few books in it. Which is why I went for a braid. 

Take all 6 long thin 1 m x 8 cm. Hem them all on each end (the 8 cm end).

Now fold them in half length ways and stitch all along the length.

Step 7:

This next step is really tricky. How do we get the long bit inside out (or right side in).

Easy - I used a bobby pin. Attach the bobby pin to one side of the strip. Push it inward so that the material starts turning in on itself. Continue pushing the bobby pin through the strip until it comes out on the other end. It should look like this:

Repeat step 7 with all 5 remaining strips of cloth. 

Step 8:

Stitch 3 of the strips to the inside of the bag. Properly. Twice. Maybe even a third time. This bag is meant for books. Books are heavy. Then we start braiding the strips. All the way through to the end. Now stitch the braid to the other side of the bag. 

Repeat step 8 with the other handle. 

That's it. You're done. 

You made your very own book bag from scratch. 

Well done!

Hope You Get Better Pancakes

So hubby has been sick the last couple of days and hardly had a bite to eat (let's face it, that is way rare).
Finally waking from slumber all he wants is pancakes and potato chips, now who am I to deny him?

Ingredients:

2 cups of all purpose flour
2 cups of normal tap (or if you prefer bottled) water.
2 extra large eggs
1 tablespoon oil (or melted butter)
1 table spoon lemon juice (optional)
1 pinch of salt
Sugar and cinnamon to taste.

Method

Mix together eggs, water, oil and lemon juice. Mix well.
Slowly incorporate it into the flour. Whisking thoroughly to avoid lumps forming. If you have a problem with lumps try an electric beater. (I prefer not but that really is up to you).
Pour all the batter into a pouring jug. Put in the fridge for about an hour. (the longer the better).

Now - the baking of the pancakes is the hard part... I have a thick bottomed non stick pan. Keeps the heat well. Even though I do use a non stick pan I like using some Spray 'n Cook on the pan for the first round of pancakes but luckily the oil in the batter helps out with the stickiness. I start of by turning the plate up to full heat. (You WILL have to turn this down later, other wise the pancakes will burn before they get cooked through.)

Pour a good measure into the hot pan, and move the pan around so as to evenly distribute the batter across the pan. Leave for 2 - 3 minutes - until the pancake kind of bubbles on the surface. Flip it over and leave on the heat for another 1 - 2 minutes. Put into a plate and repeat the previous steps.

While the next pancake is cooking you can turn around and put some of the sugar and cinnamon on top of the still fresh and hot pancake ensuring the sugar will melt quite nicely.

The recipe makes about 12 good sized pancakes.

Enjoy!!

So I finally did it!

I made it to Blogspot!

I have a book blog... It's nearly a year old and hosted with wordpress.

So I have been toying with the idea of creating a crafts blog for the Gazillion hobbies I sometimes try my hand at and thought trying blogger might by a good idea, you know to compare the two hosting companies in order for me to decide who I will end up paying.

So I hope you guys like the posts. And I am eager to hear your thoughts on the things I like to try out.

Cheers!
Angelicreader ;)