It's been a busy month of preparations for the annual Month of Mending in March event which starts tomorrow, Tuesday 1st March 2022! If you haven't already signed up, simply tap on the photo below and enter your details:
THE SLOW STITCH
This year the theme of the annual mending event is "Slow Stitch" and we'll be exploring the wider benefits of mending on our mental health. There'll be weekly, live Mindful Mending sessions over in the Still Point Stitching Facebook group where we'll be slowing down, bringing our awareness to the process of stitching and finding our "Still point in the turning world" (TS Eliot). There'll be weekly, live Social Stitch events on Zoom where we can all get together and mend online with a cuppa. I'll be doing Live Mending sessions each week on Instagram where you can come and watch and ask questions. And we'll be making our mending matter by fundraising for the mental health charity, MIND.
Because most of the clothes I mended last year amazingly, remain "hole-free", this year I'm focusing on preventative mending techniques - so methods that reinforce areas of garments vulnerable to wear through due to friction and stretching such as the knee, thigh, elbow, toe or heel to prevent holes from forming. I've enjoyed researching, practicing and honing my Sashiko and Swiss Darning techniques ready for a series of workshops. Here's a sneak preview of what's in store for participants:
To be the first to know about upcoming workshop dates simply sign up to the event here and you'll be notified via email over the coming weeks.
MAKING CLOTHES
After too many years of thinking I wasn't skilled or knowledgable enough to be able to follow a pattern, I finally braved it and have made a needle chord top and a dress in a gorgeous organic Japanese cotton/linen mix! I recommend both the Camber and Factory patterns by Merchant & Mills. I can't tell you how much I enjoyed the whole process from start to finish. Watch this space for the next item...
DATE & ORANGE SCONES
Date scones is a definitely a Kiwi thing. I don't think I'd heard of them until our visit last year. I had a very memorable date and orange scone in a great cafe in Wanaka called The Federal Diner which I've been trying to replicate ever since. They're popular for breakfast or "morning tea" - another Kiwi tradition I'm keen to adopt - coffee and cake at 10am ish - what's not to love about that?
I've been feeling nostalgic about our summer trip and missing the Kiwi lifestyle so have been making a weekly batch of date scones for the whole of February and this is my version of the Date Scone from an amalgamation of recipes I've tried over the weeks.
They must be eaten either fresh from the oven with butter melting inside or cut in half and toasted on both sides before spreading the butter if they're more than a day old.
They're really quick to make so you can whip up a batch in no time and keep for a while in a tin too.
And they're not too unhealthy as most of the sugar is from the dates!
INGREDIENTS:
250g chopped dates
Zest and juice of a large orange
360g plain flour
30g baking powder
A pinch of salt
1 tbsp soft brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
75g unsalted cold butter cubed
200 ml milk
METHOD:
Preheat the oven to 220 C or gas mark 7 and line two baking trays with grease proof paper.
Sift the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and cinnamon into a bowl.
Rub the cubes of cold butter into the dry ingredients until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.
Stir in the chopped dates and the orange zest and juice.
Add the milk slowly, stirring lightly until you have a soft, sticky, well combined mixture.
Using table spoons, divide the mixture into twelve even-sized dollops on the trays leaving space between them as they will spread.
Place in the oven for 10-15 mins until golden brown.
Cool on a wire rack and serve as soon as you can with a thick slice of butter on both sides.
DISCOUNT CODE FOR DARNING KITS
Make the most of the subscribers discount code for The Darning Kit - offer valid until the end of March 22.
Enter the code MMM at checkout and you'll get a £5 discount on these limited edition kits. Order now while stocks last!
See you next month for a round up of the Month of Mending in March event!