McCalls 6915, books & rain




This is the fabric and pattern Brighid and I chose in Christchurch a few weeks ago, while the boys soughed it out at a kung fu tournament.  It's black velvet, and really beautiful fabric.  The pattern is McCalls 6915, and while it is easy to put together, the actual pattern is ridiculous.  I had read that the pattern comes up large on Pattern Review, but the reality was quite stark.  The top is loose enough to be made in a woven (the pattern specifies moderate stretch) and the skirt is unhemmed and falls above her knees.  I favour loose dresses on Brighid, but this is just bad pattern making I think.  It is entirely my fault that I ignored the band and folded the neckline over and stretched it out really badly.  So I made some tucks in the front and then added the neckband after all.  The next step in fulfilling Brighid's specs for this dress is that she wants pointy bits around the hem and arms...

She added some socks and gumboots and a hoodie and off we went to see Tinkerbell and the Pirate Fairy at the movies.  Appalling gender constructions, but I tried to leave that at the door and I did really love seeing Brighid's pleasure in the film.

Recent reading:
1. A Girl is a Half Formed Thing by Eimear McBride.  I think it is worth the prizes and acclaim it has won.  Not happy reading, but more worth it than I had feared given I had read some plot info already.  This White Review interview with McBride is thoughtful and much better than most interviews with authors (or perhaps I usually read in the wrong places).
2. The Cleaner of Chartres by Salley Vickers.  Vickers once again manages to win reasonable literary acclaim at the same time as writing a deeply satisfying curling up in bed restorative story.
3. I've just started The Collected Works of A J Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin.  Fabulous so far.

In the garden, everything is wet.  Soaked to the core and out to the rims again.  I think my tulips have all rotted in it.  Shame, given that this is the year when I splashed out on more than ever before.  The daffodils and irises are obviously made of tougher stuff, and the snowdrops are looking lovely out the front already.  I do still have coriander in the garden, and lots of kale, spinach, silverbeet, mesclun, some rocket and masses of miners lettuce.  Not bad for the middle of winter.

The main triumph is that the illness which laid us up for eight days has finally departed.  Good bye and good riddance to that series of gastro disasters.

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