Creative mending: rocket patch on little trousers

My 3 year old son wore through the knee of  his trousers but they still fit very well. I suspect this might the first of many times this happens, so I could took the opportunity to try some creative mending.

I had to open up the outside side seam as I couldn't get the leg onto my sewing machine free arm. 

I used bondaweb to attach a large patch of fabric on the inside to strengthen the knee and appliquéd a rocket shape over the worn patch.  I used straight stitch to do the flames,  the built in stitches on my machine to add some  stars and free machine embroidery to add a planet. 

The final step was to sew up the side seam  again and done! 

As both pieces of fabric I used were recycled from old trousers,  the project ticked all my boxes  -  it was  environmentally friendly,  budget friendly and fun to do.

I'm back!

and maybe one day I'll update this with  some of my craft projects from the intervening period. For now though,  I'll just try to update you on what I'm up to at the moment. 

Elderflower cordial

Today we took a walk in the woods and picked the last few elderflowers. Most had already turned to berries, earlier than usual, probably because of the warm weather.

I used these to have my first go at making elderflower cordial. There are plenty of recipes around; this is the one my mother-in-law uses.

Ingredients:
15 large elderflower heads
1kg sugar
900ml boiling water
2 sliced lemons
40g citric acid

First, checking each elderflower head is free of insects, snip off the flowers, trying to leave out as much of the stalk as possible. (This was the timeconsuming part for me, particualrly as I made triple quantities! The rest took no time at all.)

Then dissolve the sugar into the boiling water in a 2 litre bowl. Once the sugar has dissolved, add in the citric acid. Finally, add the sliced lemons and elderflowers and stir. Cover and put aside, stirring once a day for a week.

After a week , strain through some muslin and pour into some sterilised bottles. It will keep in the fridge for up to 1 year. Alternatively, put in plastic bottles in the freezer,  leaving some room for expansion. I'll update next week,  once I know what quantity this makes.

Update: The quantity given in the recipe makes around 1.5 litres. As I was making triple quantities, we now have 4.5 litres of cordial at cost of around £6 . At Glastonbury last week, there was a homemade elderflower coridal stand selling it at £2 / glass. At that price, I didn't taste theirs, but I can tell you that ours tastes great!