Uncategorized Archives - Page 26 of 177

gathered pocket; a tutorial

20/03/2016 12:33 pm \ 17 Comments \ Carolyn

This gathered pocket sits inside and at the side edge of a loose-fitting garment such as an unfitted dress or tunic top, and can be adapted to go in a loose, flowy skirt also. It is best suited to lightweight fabrics.

Firstly, making the pattern pieces… start with an A-line dress pattern. I used dress R from the Stylish Dress Book by Yoshiko Tsukiori; which has gently A-line side seams that curve outwards towards the lower hemline, but this design would work equally well for a straight, diagonal side edge too.

For both front and back pieces, both sides, draw in the above, straight lines;

blue line: starting from the the innermost point of the armscye curve, vertically straight down to finish at the level where you wish for the top edge of the pocket to hit. As a rough guide I find around 5cm (2″) above hip level to be generally a pretty good upper pocket point.

green line: horizontally, at the level where you wish for the top edge of the pocket to hit. The “bagginess” of your pocket is a personal choice; as a guide; my green line is 15cm (6″) in length which coincided with the degree of “flare” of the dress at the hemline.

red line: vertical line from the outer edge of green line, straight down. This is the new side edge of the dress/top.

orange curve; from the blue green intersection, draw a gentle pocket curve to intersect with the original side of the dress edge. As a guide, I made my pockets 20cm deep.

purple line: vertical line from the lower edge of the pocket, up to the green line. This is the centre fold on which you will cut the pocket piece.

The grey lines of the side front and side back represent the original lines of the pattern pieces.

These lines define the new pattern pieces as show above; at left is the new side edge of the dress front and back, now defined by the blue line, green line and red line. Only one side is pictured, if you want the pocket to be on both sides then obviously cut this profile both sides of the garment. Side fronts ( 2), and side backs (cut 2) are defined by the blue line, orange curve and the original side edge (grey curve), and pocket pieces (cut 2) as defined by the orange curve, with a centre fold along purple line. Remember to add seam allowances!

warning; hideous fabric alert… my apologies. This blue stuff was a handy small scrap, I also used black thread because ~~I didn’t bother to change the thread in my machine~~ it stands out and can be clearly seen against the blue fabric… 🙂

Also, for the drawstring ties cut 4 strips of lightweight fabric on the bias; Mine are each 41cm (15 1/2″) long by 2.5cm (1″) wide.

Construction:

Pocket drawstring ties; stitch the long edge and turn right side out. My tips and method for turning out skinny spaghetti strap ties can be found here

(below L) Stitch front and back together along the red line, press open. Stitch side fronts to side backs along side edges, press seam allowances open.

(above R) Stitch side front piece to front along the blue line, finishing at the top edge of the pocket. Repeat for side back piece to back. Clip to end of stitching, press seam allowances to front/back.

(below L) Run a long, gathering stitch along the pocket opening stitching line (green line).

(above R) Pulling up this gathering stitch slightly to fit, stitch a pocket piece along the pocket top edge in two separate lines of stitching, leaving a short 2cm (7/8″) gap in the centre between the two.

(below L) Turn pocket piece to the inside and gently press along stitching line.

(above R) Inside, line up pocket lining and side front/back piece along the curved lower edge and stitch together. Finish pocket seam allowances and side front/back seam allowances if desired.

(below L) Pin the pocket piece to the dress along the top edge of the seam; and, keeping the side front/side back free, stitch together with a row of stitching 1cm (3/8″) in from the top edge. Effectively creating a 1cm width channel between dress and pocket. Insert a tie into each side of the channel, starting from the gap and coming out at each end. Apologies for the scraps of yarn used in this little blue sample pocket, for the real thing I did make proper turned out bias strips, really!

(above R) Secure the tie ends in place by stitching a few passes of back and forward stitching on the outside of the dress, through all layers.

With the ties, pull up the excess width of the pocket edge to fit and tie in a sweet bow or whatever.

And done!

Thank you to everyone who expressed an interest in how I made these pockets; I hope this is a useful and/or interesting tutorial. If you find it so then please leave a comment and let me know. 🙂

Posted in: sewing, tutorial, Uncategorized \ Tagged: own design, pocket, tutorial

black Oxford shoes, with pinking

10/03/2016 4:33 pm \ 32 Comments \ Carolyn

I’ve made another pair of shoes. They’re a bit shonky, dodgy and clutsy, and clearly home-made, particularly those rough n’ ready heels, but y’know what? I LOVE THEM!!!

Pattern; classic Oxford shoe style, drafted by myself; my tutorial for drafting your own shoe pattern is here.

Fabric; black faux leather from Spotlight, lined completely with very dark navy cotton denim from Spotlight, the two layers are lightly glued together with PVA fabric glue. Rubber soles and heels cut from black rubber matting from Bunnings, two layers of cork inner sole linings from an old set of placemats, black eyelets from Spotlight, black shoelaces and foam inner soles from Coles.

Details: I whimsically pinked various pieces of the shoe, not sure if this looks cool or just emphasises the homemade quality, not in a good way, mind you, but meh, it’s done. Actually there’s a little bit of a pinked theme throughout the shoe and the detailing…

Pinked edges to the vamps and upper edges, and below, the little bit of pleather that covers the centre back seam has a pinked edge too.

Inside; pinking to the edges of that half-circle of denim at the back of the shoe… this contains the counters, which are bits of stiffening to keep the back of the shoe stiff and standing up straight.

Confession time, I cut my counters from milk bottles… yep, household rubbish; whoops! am I going to be booted out of the cobbling club now?! 😀
Well, our milk bottles here are made of a strong, sturdy plastic that I thought is totally perfect for this purpose… it is stiff, strong, pliable, can be cut very easily, coaxed into a new shape fairly easily and holds the new shape well too. And of course; free! since it’s rubbish. What’s not to love?

I covered the inner soles completely with the same denim so they match and blend in with the interior nicely. The inner soles are removable, ie. not glued down inside of the shoe. Inside the shoe you can see the long nails that I used to secure the shoe to the sole and heel… Not seen, but between shoe and sole there are also three shorter tacks holding the sole to the heel along the straight edge of the heel. I did this because I knew this heel/sole joint would be the weakest point in the shoe most prone to coming apart under pressure.Sizing; they are moulded to my own feet, so obviously the sizing is good on me. They are sized to fit my just-slightly-larger right foot. My feet are a touch wide compared to the average so the shoes look a little wider than most you see in the shop; actually I was so worried about making them too tight I think I overcompensated and made them just a touch loose… ! This is ok though, since I’ll need to fit warm winter socks in there at some point and at least they are very comfy and totally not tight!

How do they go with socks? Phew, they still fit. Yes, I knitted these socks too…

Technique and finish-wise; far far far from perfect but I’m still pretty happy. Actually, all was going swimmingly in the beginning and I was very happy with them, then ran into difficulties and self-doubt, decided they were crap, almost threw them in the bin a few times; realised that, contrary to what it says in my book on shoe-making, shoe lasts are actually INDISPENSIBLE to shoe-making… then things started to look up and I got a bit optimistic they might even work out ok. Limped in to the finish line in the end, in spite of a little glue splodging mishap on my nice black binding which downgraded my happiness factor considerably. *sad violin* and resulted in a decision to use my “failed” stacked heels rather than my good ones. Those, I’m saving for the next pair.

heels a bit nasty… but trying not to beat myself up over it

Yes, there is a next pair in the works, sneaky-peeked here on IG; I’ve constructed the uppers already and have found and ordered a pair of shoe lasts. We’re all just in a state of suspended animation, patiently waiting, waiting, waiting; just for those lasts to arrive.

HURRY UP, LASTS!!!

Final thoughts: pretty bad really, but they’re quite tough and totally wearable, even though not pretty. Let’s just say, I’m embracing the homemade look, ok?! 😀
I’m anticipating that these ones will be hardwearing workhorses during winter; everyday things that I can just chuck on for day-to-day everything. I think they could even look quite cute with tights and my little winter mini-skirts, a go-to winter uniform for me 🙂 At least I’m starting to get some confidence that I may just actually have a small range of wearable winter shoes for my Year of Handmade. Woot!

Posted in: sewing, shoes, Uncategorized \ Tagged: own design, shoes

dark chocolate suedette

04/03/2016 6:28 pm \ 38 Comments \ Carolyn

I’ve made a new little top. And I’m so happy with it in my outfit! far more than I thought I would be 🙂 Making the little top was almost a spur of the moment thing… see, I’m going out tonight and a few days ago suddenly started to think seriously; what smart/casual outfit with shoes would fit my Year of Handmade? I’ve got tonnes of lovely dresses but didn’t think any of my current handmade shoes would cut the smart/casual mustard with any of them… aaah first world problems! anyway long story short; bit of brainstorming later and dreamt up this outfit. Had the skirt and the shoes already and just needed the top to pull it all together and be the icing on the cake… or should that be the chocolate topping on the cream? Probably.

The neutral colours with a variety of textures in my outfit are very pleasing to me: the suede-y deep chocolate brown vs. smooth glossy creamy-ivory satin skirt, vs softy fluffy chocolate and ivory felt in my shoes. And smooth pine for the base of my shoes. I feel rather modern and new-age cool. Almost trendy. LOL! Yeah, funny thing; it’s been a long while since I’ve felt this sharp in my handmade clothing!!.

The fabric in my top is faux suede, from the Fabric Store in Melbourne, bought during a trip there with Mum and Cassie. I have loads left too… not a bad thing since it’s kinda gorgeous!

Pattern; Crop Top 127, from Burda magazine 2/2015. It’s quite a cute little design, boxy with lots of straight choppy lines long and dramatic diagonal darts at the front and boxy angular sleeve seams. And then the smooth curve of a high-low hemline to break it up. The bias-finished armholes and neckline are clean and neat. I do like a bias finished edge! I used black cotton for this since I didn’t have any chocolate brown. The top as per the magazine is completely open at the back! instead I chose to seam mine, leaving a slit with a little button and loop closure at the top. I covered my embroidery cotton loop with tightly spaced blanket stitching along its length, so it’s strong and neatly finished.

Adjustments; the pattern is in petite sizes, and in the past I’ve found that the Burda petite bustline sits just a little high on me … I lowered mine very slightly just by making the dart shorter. I also added 6cm in length to the bottom hem all round, because it looked like it was going to be a tad on the too short side. And I’m so glad I did!!! It would have been waaaaaaaaaay too short on me! Even at this lengthened version, I feel in constant danger of exposing the underthings. Have to be careful not to lift my arm up too high! I’m wearing my mocha Sierra bra though, which I think is a good fit for this expose-errific top… why? because it’s brown, and quite a longline bra and also since I made it very very plain it actually reads more like a cropped camisole than a bra, if anyone happened to glimpse it. So I’m glad I’ve got that already too. Honestly, everything in the outfit matches just like they were all made intentionally to go together. I feel very harmonious 🙂

Smart casual outfit? that pleases me? fully handmade? Tick, tick, and tick!

Details:

Top; Burda magazine 2/2015; 127, chocolate brown suedette
Skirt; Burda magazine 02/2014; 106; cream satin, details here
Shoes; handmade by me in wool felt and pinewood, details here

Posted in: fashion, sewing, Uncategorized \ Tagged: Burda magazine 02/2015/127, daily outfit, pattern review, top

cherry red sneakers

03/03/2016 3:23 pm \ 26 Comments \ Carolyn

Woa, crack out the sunnies! So, my second pair of sneakers. Bit bright, eh?!

Pattern, drafted it myself. I’ve written a little tutorial on how I made my pattern, coming soon.

Fabric; cherry red cotton corduroy, bias binding; a red small-print floral. Both these fabrics from my mother’s stash when she did a clean out a while back. Black bias binding that goes around the bottom edge; made from some quilting cotton from my stash. Black eyelets from Spotlight, black shoelaces from Coles. Inners; cut from an old yoga mat, stabiliser cut from thin cork (old placemats), rubber soles (matting from Bunnings). Glue is all-purpose PVA from Bunnings.

Construction; stitched the uppers together first, stitched them to a corduroy “sole” with a wide border (above). Padding: glued corduroy to bottom of the yoga matting inners cut to fit, trimmed off the edges. Glued the shoe upper to the padding, wrapping the wide border down and under, snipping around corners, glueing it underneath. Glued a thin cork sole cut to fit underneath. Black bias binding, folded and pressed upper edge, left lower edge wide and raw. Glued folded top edge of binding around the bottom edge and folded under, snipping around corners and glued the excess width underneath the cork. Last thing; cut and trimmed the black rubber sole to fit, glued it underneath. (below)

As far as the construction of these ones goes, I’m satisfied. They’re tough, and will hold together just fine, and they work. Meh, *shrug* All in all, they’re ok, and not a fail.

However, my materials; yoga matting is not an ideal inner sole, really. It’s been good to play with, for learning purposes; but I think it’s time I shopped around for something more sturdy and hardwearing. And I’ve discovered it won’t glue properly to anything other than fabric.

Anyway, here’s the thing; I reeeeeeally want to move onto some of my better materials, like my precious small stash of leather, for instance. My ultimate goal is to make leather shoes for winter. These last two pairs of shoes have actually been but mere trials. And tribulations…? debatable!

Posted in: sewing, shoes, Uncategorized \ Tagged: own design, shoes

Fabric shopping in Tokyo

12/02/2016 12:54 am \ 31 Comments \ Carolyn

Tokyo is absolutely brilliant for the fabric loving visitor… it even has its own fabric district!!!! how cool is that? very, that’s what. Nippori is the most well-known place in Tokyo to shop for fabric, but this is my third visit to the city so I investigated some more and found a few other great stores well worth a visit as well.

But firstly; Nippori… because it’s awesome. If you only have time to visit one location then this will not disappoint. Setting aside a whole morning, or afternoon, would not be excessive for the truly dedicated fabric lover.

It conveniently has its own train station; called Nippori, on the JR Yamanote line. When you get off the train you really want to find and exit from the East exit, where you will descend a long flight of old stairs and soon will see this sign on the street.

You just keep on going and you can’t possible miss it, the street is crammed with fabric stores; also, each of those fabric stores is likewise crammed with fabric too. Most stores are situated along the one main road. The map above has so many marked, you can get a feel for the sheer number of options available… and there are bins and bolts of fabric set up in the street all over, you’re just spoilt for where to look next. Prices are mostly low to middling by Australian standards, quality varies, but is overall pretty great with some fabulous bargains to be had. The most exciting thing about it of course is the CHOICE!! You will find selvedge denim, leather, laces, linens, cottons, tartans, knits, sweater knits, mountains of haberdashery and… well probably everything, if you take the time to look.

There is one very important thing to bear in mind when shopping in Nippori, and I cannot stress this too much…

TAKE CASH! because some stores here will not accept credit cards. Also, it can be quite difficult for the foreigner to obtain cash, even in shopping districts. In my experience, 7Eleven convenience stores have ATM’s that accept foreign credit cards so are a handy place to get some Japanese yen out.

In fact, and this is general advice for the foreigner travelling in Tokyo; it’s a very good idea to sear into your memory the location of a 7Eleven nearby your ryokan/hotel and remember to pop in and stock up on yen if you’re getting low… BEFORE you head out shopping/sightseeing for the day!! Reason being, of course while there are 7Elevens dotted about all over, you can’t count on one being there for you in a pinch and the very last thing you want in Tokyo is to be a bit low on cash. Because I can guarantee; you WILL see adorable things everywhere that you WILL want to buy, and then you WILL waste huge amounts of time first searching for that cash and then for that cute little store again.

Unfortunately there is NOT a 7Eleven conveniently close to Nippori Textile town. So make sure you have plenty of money before you head over!

I bought leather and denim in Nippori.

The good news is that all the following stores DO accept credit cards. #shamelessenabler

Mina Perhonen Arkistot

google map location

2nd and 3rd floor; 5-13-14 Shirokanedai, Minato-ku.

The nearest train station to this store is Meguro, on the Tokyu-Meguro line or the JR Yamanote line. It’s an easy fifteen minute walk away, but is very unobtrusively tucked away in a side street and you really have to keep a sharp look out for the turnoff. The store’s lower floor is the 2nd floor, and you have to climb up that white spiral staircase pictured above to enter. The fabrics are all located on the floor above that, on the 3rd floor.

Interesting factoid; Mina Perhonen is a Scandinavian name and I’ve always mistakenly thought it was the name of the designer too. However the designer Akira Minagawa is Japanese, and it’s just that his love for Scandinavian design informs much of his own design. The brand’s flagship store is very nearby, on the on the 3rd floor, 5-18-17 Shirokanedai and you can go and browse beautiful and expensive homewares and clothing… however this is a sewing blog so this is all about the fabric only, alright? OK.

Anyway, my discovery that the designer was actually Japanese zoomed a quest for Mina Perhonen textiles right up high on my must-do list. Prices are high, which is kinda to be expected for a designer name brand of this calibre. The small range of fabrics is really gorgeous, and there is also a small sprinkling of very cute and interesting knick-knacks to tempt you; everything beautiful, and exquisitely displayed. The store feels a bit art museum-y, and you’re treated with quiet and charming attention by the staff. I decided upon one metre of printed linen; which was reverentially wrapped up in tissue paper printed with abstract-y sewing pattern pieces and, along with a complementary pattern for a handbag and a small box of incense sticks; popped into a really nice little fabric carry bag then tied up with a mina perhonen ribbon. The lady spent about five minutes tying the most perfect, beautiful little bow with the ribbon. It’s all very very lovely.

Even the sticky tape on my parcel has the mina perhonen butterfly!! #attentiontodetail

The next store I visited was Cocca

google map location

1-31-13 Ebisunishi, Shibuya-ku.

The closest train station to this store is Daiken-Yama on the Tokyu-Toyoko line, and the store is short and easy, uphill walk from this station. This shop supports work by local art and textile people, and also has some handmade clothing for sale too. Overall, it had a relaxed and busy vibe almost like a studio, and I swear some of the interesting-looking people who came in and went straight up the staircase to the loft were some of the makers themselves, coming in to do something creative. Fabric-wise, there were lots of interesting “art” prints that were probably unique one-offs, as well as there was a nice selection of more regular fabrics too; some pretty polkadots, stripes and checks. I was more interested in the “art” fabrics though, and it was actually very hard to choose! The prices here were mostly middling; not particularly cheap but not top end either. I eventually bought a length of wool printed? or painted? with a “messy”, brush-stroke-like tree print.

Craig sneakily took this picture below; of me poking about in the store while he was waiting for me to make up my freaking mind.

The last store I visited was Check & Stripe

google map location

2-24-13 Midorigaoka, Meguro-ku.

The closest station to this store is Jiyogaoka, on the Tokyu-Toyoko line, or the Tokyu-Oimachi line

If you are planning to visit with an unenthusiastic husband and/or offspring in tow, you will all be pleased to hear that just around the corner from this store is Jiyugaoka Burger, which has huge burgers that are everything your average meat-eater dreams of and more. Also, just near the train station I noticed a store with the very promising name of Sweets Forest. Just saying 😉

Anyway, Check & Stripe is a quietly uber-chic kind of a fabric store, with a beautiful range of checks and stripes obviously, as well as tartans, polkadots and plains. It may sound ordinary and the prints themselves were, but what made the fabrics stand out for me was the exceptional quality. The store also carried a decent range of Liberty fabrics, I think they could have been the Japanese printed Liberties. My husband chose some for a shirt, although now I’m secretly coveting it myself, hehe. Although since I’d requisitioned some of his spare suitcase space for that very heavy roll of factory selvedge denim that I’d bought in Nippori… well I figured I should let him have something. As well as the divine fabrics that were right up my alley, the store had adorable buttons, embroidered labels, and a few eponymous pattern books, filled with simple, very loose and unfitted styles photographed in minimalist, faded-colour settings; that “look” that those of us who have more than one Japanese pattern book are all very familiar with now.

Prices were middling, and I thought excellent value for the quality of the stuff. Hmmm, I bought quite a lot in this place!

In closing, how nice is this little thought printed on my Mina Perhonen carry bag… !

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: fabric shopping, inspiration, shopping guide, Tokyo fabric

2015; a retrospective

31/12/2015 1:12 pm \ 50 Comments \ Carolyn

The last day of the year! now for some riveting (haha) navel-gazing upon the creation and wearing of my clothing. Kicking off with my favourite outfit pictures from each month.

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

SO:

What have I made: Quantitatively, 72 things, including 22 things for others. This number is counting each underwear set of bra with two matching undies as one thing even though technically it’s three things! as well I made some beanie/dress/shirt outfits for preemies, and counted each set as one thing.

Knitted garments: 18

From existing stash: 19

What am I wearing: I keep my daily outfit blog updated pretty faithfully and really do analyse it… I tot up the numbers last day of the month, and update an excel spreadsheet on the last day of the year; but won’t subject you to that.. you’re welcome #statsfreak #whatcanisayilovenumbers

This year, 93.8% of clothing I wore was made by myself; this number includes underwear, socks and tights but not shoes. Qualitatively, things I wear that are not made by me are my Metalicus tops, that I’ve had for years and years and have no intention of throwing out just to appease my insane me-made sensibility, and scarves that have been given to me as gifts by family. Not throwing those out either, obviously!

I have not bought any ready to wear clothing for SIX years now!

My most worn items of clothing this year can pretty much be summed up in the following pics:

top: gingham dress, green cardi, red tunic, blue skirt, raspberry scarf, black tights, floral dress, blue cardi,

below: brown skirt, mustard cardi, brown jeans, white tee, suede jacket, white dress

and also my cream infinity scarf and my raincoat got a lot of use

I took part in the vintage pattern pledge for the first time, and managed to make six things…

from top left: pink skirt from Vogue 1384 (Issey Miyake, 1984), mustard skirt from Vogue 1693 (Issey Miyake, 1986), white blouse from Vogue 1693 (Issey Miyake, 1986); navy blue trousers from Vogue 1693 (Issey Miyake, 1986), chocolate pleather skirt from Simplicity 7308 (1976), and two-tone skirt from Vogue 1521 (Perry Ellis, 1985)

Favourite creations of the year: well, obviously I’m pretty pleased with my 1yr1outfit efforts! although I might not wear them super-frequently I am very proud I managed to fulfil the challenge successfully.

As far as wearability and suiting my lifestyle; my favourite creations for the year are probably my watercolour silk dress (pictured above), my recently finished Japanese indigo-dyed dress, also my pleather/wool moto jacket rates pretty highly in the satisfaction stakes.

A huge honour was when Heather of Closet Case Patterns named her new pyjama pattern for me! *pinches self* pictured in March, above

Fails: I tried to grow indigo for a home-dyeing experiment… FAIL. Not a single seed even germinated *sob* I’m still getting over that one… I let my blue sea change top go. Lesson learnt: panne velvet is awful stuff and good for… well, practically nothing, actually. My purple silk tulip skirt was shaping up to be real goodie but got chewed up in the washing machine when it somehow snuck in with a load of denim jeans *sob* like your hand knit lace shawl versus a new puppy, obviously that’s not going to end well. I discovered lingerie made from old recycled tights does not last nearly as long as lingerie made with new fabric SURPRISE….. NOT! and also my recurring epiphany that pleather/leather skirts are kinda stupid things and not comfortable at all. I don’t know why I keep on torturing myself by adding them to my wardrobe really, just a dumb glutton for punishment, I suppose. Not quite ready to give up on my chocolate one just yet though, I’m going to give it another chance to prove itself next winter….

But anyway; overall, as far as my sewing/wardrobing efforts go I’m pretty happy with the year.

Most importantly of all! I’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who reads my blog and takes the time to leave a comment, every kind word is very much appreciated. *mwah* I love that the sewing community are such a busy and happy bunch; creating like mad, inspiring and supporting each other always, wearing our creations happily and proudly, and sharing freely, openly and generously with each other.

Thank you so much! big hugs all round 🙂 and here’s to a wonderful 2016!

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: daily outfit, random life stuff

Christmas mignardises

20/12/2015 2:39 pm \ 16 Comments \ Carolyn

So, every year I make something small to give to close friends and family for Christmas, sometimes a Christmas ornament, sometimes a sweet treat to eat. This year, I decided on eatables; mini Christmas-pudding mignardises. Cute, non?

The idea and the details are probably not new but I did adapt from several sources, so I thought I’d compile here my method for making them…

First up, the Christmas cake…

My standard fruit cake recipe, given to me by my old friend V yonks ago, I’ve been using it ever since. It’s a nice boiled fruitcake, very moist, so a good choice for making the cake-balls. I doubled up the ingredients to make two fruit cakes, and this plus one quantity of rum buttercream icing should make approximately 140 bite-sized balls, if you don’t eat any in the meantime 😉

Pineapple boiled fruit cake: (these quantities are for one cake, double this quantity is required for the remainder of the method)

Tip the following ingredients into a saucepan:

450g can crushed pineapple, drained but reserving a little of its juice just in case
125g butter
375g mixed fruit
1 cup sugar
1 tsp mixed spice
1 tsp bicarb f soda
pinch salt (optional)

Boil, stirring, for 10 min, if it starts to stick stir in just a splash of reserved juice. Allow to cool, then add:

1 cup self-raising four
1 cup plain flour
2 eggs

Mix in well. Again, if it seems too thick, add a dash of reserved juice.
21cm square cake tin, 160C for about 40 min or until cooked, leave for 5min in tin, remove to cool completely

As mentioned, this quantity makes just one cake, for this method double up to make two. Once the cakes are cooled completely it’s time to make the balls…

Now; you’re forming the cake into balls using buttercream icing as the binding agent… I found my basic recipe on taste.com but to impart a festive Christmas-sy flavoured air to them I substituted a large dollop of rum in lieu of some of the milk. If you don’t want the alcohol just use all milk and no rum, or just a dash of rum essence, for the flavour. I found this quantity to be enough for the two cakes, so halve this quantity if you’ve only made one cake.

Rum buttercream icing:

125g butter
500g icing sugar
4 tblsp rum + 2 tblsp milk

Cream butter until smooth. Stir in about 1 cup of sifted icing sugar. Add rum + milk and mix. Stir in the remainder of the sifted icing sugar, beating well until smooth.

It starts to dry out straightaway, so use immediately!

I rolled the balls, half a cake at a time,because it’s kinda messy work and this was all I can handle, but whatever works for the individual of course. Anyway, break off a sizeable piece of cake that you can handle and crumble into a large pan. The pieces should be fairly small and crumb-y, but obviously there are going to be some chunky fruity bits, don’t worry too much about a very superfine consistency. To half a cake worth of cake crumbs, add a quarter of the rum buttercream icing and knead and mix it in thoroughly with your hands, then take about a tablespoon at a time, or bite-sized pieces, roll the mixture into balls. No doubt about it, this is messy work, best not pick a day you’ve just had a manicure; although I will say that the butter etc all over your hands impart beautifully soft skin afterwards! When rolled, push them into the bench ever so gently so they have a little flat base, so they can stand upright without toppling over.

Decorating:
I found this quantity of cake to require:

650g white chocolate
400g glace cherries

Melt chocolate in three of four batches for ease of handling, and either dip the balls or drizzle over the cakes, so as to look like custard or brandy sauce as it’s poured over Christmas pudding. Push half a glace cherry on the top or use other glace fruit, if preferred.

Done! Keep them in the fridge until required. They can go individually in mini-patty pans to give away, or not, because I think they look pretty cute all by themselves!