sewing BEE (see what I did there?)

I think I have mentioned in passing a few times that I was planning to make a couple of outfits for Dulcie?  Well, here is the lovely fabric that I bought for the project.  It's not like I needed fabric (God knows I have enough vintage sheets etc to clothe that girl for life!) but once I saw these in Mandors, I just had to have them.

Look at these bees!  Even though I knew such an obvious and directional pattern would make the already daunting task at hand that bit trickier, there was no way I could have left this fabric behind.

 And this one is just so pretty and of a time that I love.  It looks a bit washed out here (I took these photos on my phone for ease of blogging from my parents' house) but is a gorgeous deep, dull green in real life.

 This is the pattern I'm using.  I'm going to make the romper suit (top middle) from the bee fabric.  If it turns out insanely wonderful, I'll probably make the same from the green fabric because I think that would make a cute romper too, but the original plan was to use the green to make the dress (bottom right) so I may still stick to that.

Because I might want to use this pattern again when Dulcie is a bit bigger, I thought I should trace the pattern pieces rather than cut them straight out.  Of course, this is really just another added stage where things could go wrong...  I traced most of the pieces yesterday, until I ran out of greaseproof paper.  Hopefully I'll finish that and cut out the fabric pieces today.  I'm so scared about cutting into the fabric, but I keep telling myself to calm the heck down.  Really, what is the worst that could happen?  If I make a hideous mistake, I can always use the fabric for some other smaller projects and, if the worst came to the worst, I could buy more - that's where new fabric has the edge over vintage/recycled, I guess.  My hope is that if I have the pieces all cut out before I get back to Glasgow then I'll be far more likely to make a start on this before summer is over.  I've never sewed clothes from a proper pattern before and really have no idea what I'm doing, but I'm hoping this project will be the start of something and may leave me brave enough to attempt making something for myself to wear.  Wish me luck!

UPDATE:  It's now Thursday evening and I have cut out all the pieces of fabric for the bee romper suit and have marked on whatever I need to, ready to start sewing when I get back to Glasgow.

Some great things:
1) I have a fair amount of the lovely fabric left over - hurrah! - and a little project in mind for it.
2) Now that all the pieces are ready to go, the challenge seems totally achievable.  I've read through the instructions and (famous last words) the assembly looks more straightforward than some of the soft toys I have made in the past.  Maybe I can do this?!
3) I'm getting very excited at the thought of having achieved my clothes-making goal at last.  I've wanted to do this for years!

A dose of reality:
1) I'm getting ahead of myself here and there is still scope for things to go wrong.
2) I'm not sure when I'll get round to doing the assembly - it's much easier here in Elgin where I have people on hand to distract Dulcie and big, clean spaces to work in.
3) I am petrified this isn't going to fit Dulcie and I will have to find someone smaller to give it away to and then I will actually cry.

Oooh!  Exciting!  Watch this space!

life in the '80s

 Now that Graham has returned to Glasgow to guard the homestead, I can reveal that Dulcie and I are away on holiday at my parents' house.  Last night I found these photos and thought they might be of interest to the general populace.  They are very random snaps, but they made me laugh.  Oh, life in the '80s...

Check out the shining examples of technology in that top picture!  That's my slimline dad on his slimline computer and my sister demonstrating just how user-unfriendly hoovers were back in those days.

 This picture is from a school Halloween party some time in the mid '80s.  The scary trampy clown person is my dad, I'm pretty sure (I don't think headteachers could get away with such disturbing costumes these days) but it's the tiny werewolf in the background that tickles my fancy.  I had hoped this was the Halloween party where Janice dressed as a mummy and couldn't eat the doughrings because her mouth was covered in toilet roll bandages (photos of that party had been requested!) but apparently my dad dressed as the slightly less terrifying John Darling at that, so this must have been some other year.

And here is a picture of me from spring 1982, just a wee bit older than Dulcie is now.  Well, about six months older, which I suppose is quite a big difference at that age.  I did think, initially, that there was zero resemblance between us, but on closer inspection I realise that I have seen Dulcie make that same funny expression with her mouth.  That's my sister again in the background again. I'm being very kind and am resisting posting a picture of her around a decade later in the world's most terrible outfit with the world's most terrible haircut (the double whammy!) because I am kind like that.  I did email it round a few people though - ha!

she thinks she can wink

Back with another video, lazy blogger that I am.  I filmed this quite a few weeks back, when Dulcie first learned to "wink".  You can tell my mum trained her - she winks with both eyes at once too!

little washer girl

Here's a video of Dulcie loading up the tumble dryer, having just emptied the washing machine.  Dulcie loves to "help" these days.  Would you believe she was roling on the floor in angry tears just a few minutes before this video was shot?  Housework is a great distractor.  (It can also work for me sometimes!)  The video is over two minutes long and not a lot happens, so it is perhaps just one for the die-hard Dulcie fans ;)

poor man's ET?

Recently, Dulcie has developed a bit of a thing for choosing her own clothes and will often insist on wearing something other than what we have picked out for her.  Sometimes this results in surprisingly good looks, but other times... Well, not so much!  When I was getting her ready to go out one day last week, she spotted her old jacket, now a bit on the small side, and was determined that she would wear it as opposed to any of the outdoor gear that actually fits her.  I helped her SQUEEZE into it and my dad managed to snap this photo.  Too funny.  I can't believe I actually let her go out like this.  I think she looks like a cross between a poor wee soul (with no neck) and ET.  What a face!

33

 It's my birthday today!  Hooray!  Despite starting the day off in hospital (just a scheduled check-up, nothing too drastic) I've had a lovely day.  My presents were small in quantity and high in quality, just the way I like them.

My mum and dad gave me this amazing vintage musical card (as well as a gorgeous vintage fabric print) which I love, love, love.

Here's a little video of it in action.  I love the sound it makes, totally adorable.

Mail was pretty thin on the ground today (as it has been in general of late) but, in a coincidence of perfect timing, the embroidery I'd treated myself to on etsy arrived.  I was a little nervous opening it for fear I wouldn't love it as much as I had expected, but it was even nicer in real life and I love it even more than I thought I would. Yay!

The rest of the day was spent hanging out with Graham and Dulcie (a rare treat in itself) going round the charity shops and out for lunch.  For tonight, we're hoping Dulcie might go to bed at a reasonable hour as we have cava and lots of cheese in the fridge.  Mmmmm!  All in all, a pretty happy birthday :)

the sun has got his hat on

 I couldn't resist this happy little tin in Marks and Spencers when I saw it on Monday night and, what do you know, the sun has been shining ever since.

Here's what's inside the tin - six little chocolate discs.  I will "get rid" of these and keep the tin for goodness knows what.  I've been realising today that I have A LOT of tins and generally have no idea what to keep in them.

This sunny weather is most welcome and fairly lifts the spirits.  The tree outside our living room window has leaves squeezing their way out of the buds at last, a sight that makes me happy once each and every year.  And this year, the view is even better than usual as we are seeing it through new windows!  Our windows were cracked and drafty and, worst of all, impossible to open.  This week we are in the process of getting them all replaced with double glazed ones that I can open with one hand!  Even though it's not that warm, I keep opening windows wherever I go so that I can enjoy the novelty of fresh air in the flat.  The work has been more disruptive than I imagined.  I cannot believe how much dirt gets spewed inwards when the old windows are removed.  Everything we own is covered in a 0.5mm layer of hundred-year-old soot and it is absolutely disgusting.  Once the work is complete (we're maybe halfway through right now) we are going to have to clean every single item we own - not a fun thought.  I'm wishing I'd got a bit further with operation clear-out before now!  It's quite a good excuse for a spring clean though.  Now we know how much mess is created, we are completely clearing each room before it's worked on.  Today I was putting everything back in the kitchen and went a bit crazy, getting rid of heaps of stuff.  We have so much more cupboard space now (amazing!) and the things we use regularly have been put in the most accessible spots.  It's been a long time coming, people!  Other jobs forced by the window situation include the sad dismantling of my wall of many wonders (which had much more on it than in that early photo).  I'm hoping I'll be able to rehang most of it in my craft corner (once the craft room is turned into our bedroom and a wee corner of our current bedroom is turned into my crafting space) but I will probably have to downscale a fair bit and I know it will never be what it was.  I will miss having a space that I'm allowed to do what I like with (I think I've spoken before about how Graham and I can't agree on anything interior-deco related) but I'm looking forward to the flat's layout working better for us.  Bigger picture, bigger picture, Laura.  I'm hoping the upheaval and mess of the window installation will give us a shove to keep going to the bitter end.  There's a long way to go yet, mind you.  Talking of which, I should go and find some junk to send to the charity shop now.  Our bedroom window is to be the last to get replaced, but there is a lot of crap piling up in there (right by the window, too) so I should probably plough ahead with it now.

Hope you're having some sunshine where you are too.