It started with 2 old hats...

... bought from a charity shop. Ugly and unloved I unpicked the brims and crowns then sewed some polka dot fabric to the brim and reassembled with the second hats crown I reused one of the hats trim, added some other bits and bobs I had collected and voila... my first hat:

By now the creative juices are flowing and I made another hat and some fascinators including:

and:

and why stop there with the headwear? I made several tiaras including this one:

Can you see what is happening here? I ended up with a glut! Hence 'Kestrel Design Ltd' is born... more details to come ;)

Teddies

I made a teddy for a pregnant lady at work (It was quite a while ago now...) and loved him so much I had to make another before I could give one away...!
The pattern was found here on Cut Out and Keep and was posted by Pauline M :)

Lemon Suprise Cupcakes

I modified this recipe from various cupcake recipes on the web and a Deliah recipe for lemon curd. I thought I was being terribly original with the curd suprise idea, but then found it in a relatively recent baking book so I guess not!


Ingredients: (Makes 12 cupcakes at approx 300 cals each!)

160g Caster Sugar
175g Icing Sugar
150g Plain Flour
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
Butter 225g
3 Eggs
Lemon
Orange

Preheat oven to 180*C
Cream together 125g caster sugar and 125g butter. Add zest of half a lemon and 2 eggs. Add 150g sifted plain flour and 1/2 tsp baking powder. Divide into 12 cupcake cases and bake 7-10 mins til just golden.

For orange curd: whisk juice of 1/2 orange with 1 egg and pour over 35g sifted caster sugar and the zest of 1/2 orange. Place in a bain marie and add 25g butter in chunks. Stir til curd thickens (about 20 mins) then allow to cool.
When cupcakes have cooled, slice the top off, scoop a small amount of sponge out and replace with a dollop of orange curd. Replace the lid and allow to set slightly before icing.

For the icing:
cream 75g of butter and add 175g sifted icing sugar and 1/2 a lemons zest. Add as much lemon juice as it takes to mix the icing to a good spreading consistency.
Spread icing on each cupcake and decorate as required.

Making a Dress on a Dressform Videos (Two Parts)