For me, Autumn, Halloween and Bonfire night have a smell associated with them, the smell of treacle toffee! Every year, my dad makes his infamous treacle toffee, from a recipe passed down from his mum. This year he decided that it was time to pass it on to his eldest child, so I went round today to help him make it. I've missed the smell of it over the past few years since I permanently moved out, so I was thrilled to be involved this year. The funny thing is that although he had the recipe written out, he didn't stick to the quantities, not even close! A lot of guess work was involved, so really I'm none the wiser as to how it is made, but I do know you need brown sugar, butter, syrup and a bit of vinegar...
... then add the treacle, not too much though...
...keep stirring it on a low heat until it begins to boil then boil it until it reaches 180 degreses and it is clear on the back of a spoon.
Pour it into a tray covered with grease proof paper and leave to set.
Under the watchful eye of blossom the cat...
...break it into pieces...
...then put it into packs ready to give to friends and family.
It wouldn't feel like this time of year without my dad's treacle toffee. Even though he guesses the quantities, it always tastes the same! Hope you all have a great Halloween weekend.
and more!!!
I measured my laptop and constructed the outer shell from this lovely butterfly print. I then added a zip and handles. I made sure the handles were properly reinforced to be able to take the weight of the laptop. I padded the bag with ordinary quilters padding, to protect the laptop from little bumps.
Doing this project really got me thinking about how I got started making bags in the first place. It all began when I wanted little corduroy bag, but couldn't find anything like what I had in my mind in the shops or online. So I went to a fabric shop and bought navy cord with a small red flower print on it. I made a little bag with a red zip on my mini JML sewing machine and used it everyday. Even though the seams were terrible, I was really pleased with it. One day I was on a train and a woman said to me, I love your bag! I told her I'd made it and she asked me to make her one and gave me her business card! I was overjoyed but at the same time scared because I'd never sold anything before. Unfortunately there was a fault on the JML mini sewing machine meaning that when I tried to change the bobbin because the cotton had run out, I couldn't remove it, rendering the sewing machine useless.
I didn't end up making that woman a bag, but I did end up buying a proper machine and experimenting further with bag making.
The original little bag I made eventually wore out, so I next made this one with what material I had left. It looks a bit battered because it got beer spilt all over it, but I still keep it to remind me of one of the first bags I ever made. Don't laugh at it!
What I loved about it was the fact it had a zip and a button and flap to fasten it.
It is lined with beautiful dusky pink satin.
Next I made a similar shaped bag but without the sides and bottom. As you can tell, I was going through a time when I loved bag handles and velvet and corduroy materials!
Since the discovery of 
