Introducing Doris (and a general round up of the year)

Apparently I was a very good girl this year as I received a lovely dressform for Christmas.

Dressform Doris is going to be very useful with future sewing projects. I can also try out outfit combinations on her without going through the hassle of trying things on myself. Double bonus!

The wooden sewing box on the table is also new. Dad bought it for my Christmas after we saw it in a charity shop at the beginning of this month. It's similar to one my Granny used to have and as far as I can see it's in perfect condition. I love that my best charity shop finds have been at opposite ends of the year: my Mrs Doyle tea trolley in January and this wooden sewing box in December.

 Completely irrelevant photograph. I just thought my bed looked cosy.

I tend to feel grouchy by the end of December because I never think I've accomplished much but I've actually had a pretty good year (by my low standards anyway.) Not only have I MET RICHARD ARMITAGE but I've also started sewing regularly again. This year I've produced 5 dresses, a skirt and a large quilt.

Although sewing has admittedly taken up a lot of my free time this year I have still been baking. 16 cakes, 4 lots of cupcakes, 3 trays of brownies/blondies, 4 batches of biscuits, 1 set of tarts, multiple batches of tablet, 1 tray of muffins, 1 batch of scones and a tub of ice-cream to be exact. My blueberry and lemon layer cake from June was apparently a massive hit as not only is it my most viewed bake of this year but also of all time. Wowee!

 Damn it I forgot about my mincemeat frangipane tarts and chocolate chip cookies from this month! Oh well, almost remembered everything.

Here's to another creative year folks! I wish you all good health and happiness for 2015. Just in case there are other New-Year-Grouches such as myself reading this, here's a photo of my cat Bob in the inflatable unicorn horn I bought for his Christmas. I defy you not to laugh!

festive bakes

Merry Christmas Eve folks! As usual all my festive baking seems to happen in a last minute rush so I thought I'd group them together in one post like I've done in previous years. (You'd think I'd learn to be more organised!)

First off we have the annual batches of Christmas tablet! My mum drinks so much Douwe Egberts coffee that we have a substantial number of their jars by the end of the year and they're the perfect size for storing tablet. Just add some pretty tape, twirly ribbon and a handmade label and you've got yourself a lovely Christmas present.

Next up is a sticky, spiced apple and syrup bundt which I baked using this recipe from Dollybakes. The only change I made was using golden syrup instead of maple syrup for the glaze. I was so happy that this turned out the tin perfectly, I squealed with delight! Cake release spray is a glorious invention.

These cranberry and white chocolate biscuit/cookies are fast becoming an annual Christmas bake for me. Not only is white chocolate and cranberry a winning combination but these biscuits are quick to throw together which is perfect if you're in a hurry.

Sadly I haven't managed to bake my annual perverted gingerbread santas and boobie angels however I have baked these festive gingerbread cupcakes using a recipe I came across on Sally's Baking Addiction. Mine turned out a lot darker as I used half golden syrup half treacle in place of molasses. I also decided to top mine off with a cinnamon and golden syrup cream cheese icing and edible wafer snowflakes. As with most gingerbreads the flavour improved with age. They certainly packed a spiced, treacle-y punch.

For the first time ever I've baked shortbread! It's one of those bakes which my Granny was so good at making that I never felt I needed to bother. However this year Mum and I were really missing her shortbread so we followed Granny's recipe and they taste exactly like hers. We both thought it felt like getting a big hug. It officially feels like Christmas now that we have some Granny shortbread in the tin.

And lastly I made these chocolate brownie trees which I've seen on both Ros and Kate's blogs recently and couldn't resist baking. I wish I had more time to decorate these nicely but they were a last minute festive treat to take to my friends' house.

So that's what I've managed to bake in the run up to Christmas this year - a mixture of old and new recipes. Are you a traditional Christmas baker or do you like to switch things up and try new recipes every year?

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas! Hope you have a lovely day tomorrow. x

my Christmas snowflake dress

Ta-dah! I finished my Christmas dress and it has mother-flippin' SLEEVES! Check out those bad boys.

So.... I have weird shoulders/shoulder blades and a straight back. I suppose I've always known that, but it has become increasingly obvious since I started delving into fitting issues. Dressmaking sure does make you super observant of your own body quirks.

As you've probably noticed it's another By Hand London Elisalex dress. I was determined to attach some well fitting sleeves to this bodice by the end of the year and I think I've cracked it. I've listed my fitting alterations as bullet points below, mostly so I can remember what I've done but also for anyone else who may have similar fitting problems.

I cut out a size 12 based on the pattern's finished waist measurement and adjusted the following:

• 1 1/2" (overall) full bust adjustment following BHL's tutorial

• lengthened the bodice by 5/8"

• removed 1/2" from the front shoulder and added 1/2" to the back shoulder - a forward shoulder adjustment to correct the problem I had with the shoulder seams slipping backwards.

• removed 1/2" from the back bodice, tapering out to 0 just above the armhole - an erect upper back adjustment. This solved the problem I had with my bodice tilting/dipping towards the back. I have a fairly straight back and a very curvy front (thanks chest!) so obviously my back bodice piece doesn't need as much length as the front. A bit of a "duuuuh" moment for me. This blog post helped loads as did Jo's posts on her own muslin fitting.

• altered the sleeve head to match the new shoulder seam placement following Heather B's tutorial. 

• lowered the armhole by 1/2" and added 1/4" to each side of the sleeve (to match the amount added to the armhole) to accommodate my larger "guns".

• attached a simple gathered skirt instead of the box pleat tulip skirt and added a skirt lining. Sadly I didn't have enough fabric to add pockets. A sleeved dress out of 2 metres of fabric is pretty good though!

The shoulder and sleeve alteration was a light bulb moment for me. I noticed that if I hunched my shoulders forward the seams sat correctly, so of course it made sense to remove fabric from the front of the shoulder and add it to the back where my (larger than average?) shoulder blades need more space. I have no idea whether my shoulders are just genetically designed this way (perhaps I might sprout wings like Angel in X-Men:The Last Stand...) or I just have very good posture.

But yay for the wonders of the internet and kick-ass sewing bloggers! There's no way I would have figured out any of these fitting problems by myself.

Mmmmm, nice and tidy insides. I did quite a lot of blindstitching as usual to finish things off neatly - skirt hem, sleeve hems (turned up with bias binding) and attaching the lining at the armholes, waistband and zip. I love an invisible finish and really enjoy handsewing. It's a nice little job to do whilst watching tv.

The turquoise bodice lining is a silk cotton mix which I thought I'd try out. It was a bit of a shit to work as it moved around a lot, but it feels lovely to wear. I like the fun colour contrast too.

Hey, look... my pattern matching at the back almost works. Just a couple of millimetres out vertically. Close enough for me! The scooped neckline at the back is my favourite feature of this dress pattern. There's something very elegant and 1950s about it.

Although little silver shoes look pretty my dress is far more likely to be worn like this on a day to day basis - with a chunky, wooly cardigan and big, cosy boots - appropriate for Scottish winter.

Throughout university people never believed I came from Scotland. Apparently I look like I come from Norway, Sweden, Germany or Iceland. A tutor even came up to me once and said rather loudly and slowly, "ARE.YOU.FROM.HERE?" thinking I was the Icelandic exchange student. Nope - just a tall, pale skinned, dark blonde with a love for big, wooly jumpers. My long, plaited hair at the time completed the look. I suppose this Scandinavian looking red and white snowflake dress has the potential to confuse people again. Yeah, I could be Norwegian....

So that's my Christmas dress. I'm going to try and get as much wear out of it as possible over the next couple of weeks before it's tucked away for 11 months. I don't have any other red dresses in my wardrobe so this is a fun addition. Has anyone else completed any festive sewing projects recently?

the almost doomed mini mincemeat frangipane tarts

a.k.a. why it's not a good idea to bake using an electric oven during a thunder and lightning storm.

There has been a lot of annoying power blips this week due to thunder and lightning. I *just* got a tray of these tarts out the oven before lightning suddenly struck again and knocked off the power for a minute. Thank goodness it didn't strike 5-10 minutes earlier.

I wrapped up the rest of my filling and pastry and put in the fridge to finish baking tonight. I'm assuming/hoping the frangipane will be fine to use once it's back at room temperature. Just in case the rest of my batch is doomed, I quickly photographed these this afternoon in a rare glimpse of sunlight.

I knew I had to try these tarts after seeing them on Sophie's blog, the Cake Hunter last week. The only change I made was using a regular sized bun tray instead of a muffin tray just to keep my tarts cute and dainty.

My Dad in particular loved these and said they were the best mincemeat pies he's ever eaten. He even went as far as saying he'd buy all the ingredients again for me to make a second batch. High praise indeed.

If you like Christmas flavours and bakewell tarts then you're in for a real treat when you make these. They're like festive cherry bakewells! I don't know if I can go back to making mince pies without frangipane as it works so well.  These will definitely be reappearing this Christmas.

chocolate chunk hazelnut biscuits

Does anybody else grumpy-bake? I certainly do. "I feel grumpy so I'm going to bake something."

This is the end product of said grumpy baking.

I initially thought these weren't anything exciting, but considering I ate four in quick succession with my cuppa I must turn around on myself and admit they're rather tasty. They remind me of McVities Boaster biscuits (do they still exist?) which I find oddly comforting as my Granny occasionally kept them in her biscuit tin.

For the chocolate chunks I used a mixture of Green and Blacks white and milk chocolate as that's what I had to hand. Surprisingly, for me, I prefer the stronger cocoa flavour of the milk chocolate against the hazelnuts and vanilla.

The original recipe says to divide the dough in half, roll into 15-18cm long rolls and freeze for 2 hours before cutting into 2-3cm discs. However I had no time or patience for such nonsense so I roughly dolloped slightly flattened knob shapes onto the trays and left in the fridge for about 15-20 minutes to firm up the butter before baking.

So the resulting biscuits are crunchy and crumbly and a bit rough and ready as opposed to the soft and chewy, regularly spherical ones pictured in the recipe book, but I'm fine with that. If anything, I prefer them this way. Their sweetness easied my grumpiness so they did their job.

Chocolate chunk hazelnut biscuits

Adapted from Hummingbird Bakery's white chocolate and pecan nut cookies recipe

250g unsalted butter, softened

100g caster sugar

200g soft light brown sugar

2 eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

400g plain flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking powder

50g white chocolate chopped

50g milk chocolate chopped  

100g hazelnuts, roughly chopped

Beat together the butter and sugars in a large bowl for about a minute until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla. Mix the flour, salt and baking powder together in a separate bowl before adding to the egg mixture. Mix everything together until well combined and forms a smooth dough. Stir in the chocolate and nuts. 

Dollop small-ish knobs of the dough onto lined baking trays (perhaps about a tablespoon in size), well spaced apart. Leave to chill in the fridge for about 20 minutes. This will keep the butter firm so it doesn't melt quickly and make the biscuits spread too much in the oven. Whilst your dough is chilling preheat the oven to 170C/325F/Gas 3.

Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes until the edges start turning golden in colour. Leave to cool on the trays for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling. The original recipe produces 24 biscuits/cookies but I ended up with 30-40.