Save the whales (and the leftover pumpkin)

A local kid friend was having a birthday on Halloween, and while her mun sews gorgeous things for herself, she only very occasionally turns her talent to sewing for her daughter.

That meant I could break the no gifts rule and make her something, right? In lieu of gifts this canny kid had requested donations to Sea Shepherd. I'm up for that and I'll happily give them my standard amount for a kid's birthday gift. But, since I could sew her something using only fabric from the stash, that hardly counts as a gift. And no whales would be harmed in the process!

Apologies for crappy, uneven flash lighting.

A simple School Bus T-shirt in an already drafted size (size 5 with size 6 length) made for a quick sew.

I used fusible web to add my blue spotted humpback whale (image from Google) and then a triple stitch to attach him (or her) permanently.  - I did put some lightweight knit interfacing on the reverse side of the t-shirt front before stitching to help reinforce the fabric.

The blue spotted fabric is a tiny bit of a Michael Miller flannel left over from these pyjamas. Sometimes I'm glad to have my scraps buckets (other times I'm just tripping over them).

The other leftovers that went to good use this weekend was the insides of these fellas...

I gutted the pumpkins and the kids drew the faces on. P's is the one on the left and he carved it himself using the linocutting tools my parents gave him for his birthday. That was,... the birthday when he turned,... oh, about 4! Needless to say this was the first time he used them and yes, he did manage to cut himself.

A's pumpkin on the right was a much more elaborate drawing and was perfectly brought to life by my brother in law who was visiting. He is a known talent when it comes to creating models and looked very comfortable seated at the breakfast bar with a linocutting tool in hand and a beer by his elbow.

While we waited for our take away pizza I "whipped up" a pumpkin cake, and in a complete break from normal blogging style I'm going to go all Nigella Lawson on you and share a recipe (but not a line of coke, sorry!)

It makes a huge cake, but the photographer was too busy eating to take any pictures.

Pumpkin cake

2 cups honey
1 cup oil
2 cups cooked mashed pumpkin
4 eggs lightly beaten
3 cups wholewheat flour
2 tbsp cinnamon
3 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp almond essence
1 tsp salt
1 cup chopped nuts (eg walnuts)
1 cup raisins

Mix it.
Bake it. 350F/170C (or in my incinerator oven about 150C) for about 50 mins
I've used 2 square tins approx 20cm across then put cream cheese icing in the middle and on top.
  
Hope everyone had a fun Halloween. I've loved seeing all the handmade costumes!