Invisibility

"Just because a friend is invisible doesn't mean they're imaginary" said A as we drove along the lanes. "Interesting point," I replied. This was the beginning of a new conversation about Treenenee during which I discovered the following information.

First, that the pronunciation of the name is Treenunee, not Truneenee (I had assumed the latter and was corrected). Also, that Treenenee was secretly present at A's birth, having "crept in quietly". Significantly, she is now 12 years old, and was born just one day after A's older sister. Of course we celebrated the occasion with an invisible cake.

Butterfly

Using carefully chosen colours, I began to bring her Butterfly design to life.

Butterfly, (work in progress) by I, felt, 28cm x 18cm

The Butterfly has always been one of I's favourite motifs. This project was inspired by a string of embroidered butterflies brought back from China and an old book Butterflies and Moths that belonged to my mother. I's original drawing was traced and transferred onto felt, cut out very carefully and the pieces laid down onto a piece of white backing felt. To keep them secure before any embellishment is added the edges have been tacked very neatly. The white backing felt is to give stability. It's also to provide a padding because when the front has been decorated, we'll make some wire-covered antennae will be inserted and the whole piece cut out and backed in a contrasting fabric.

It's all over

"It's all over, Mummy", they said. "Yes, I know", I replied. So I tried to set both girls the task of writing a little piece about Wimbledon 2009. I refused, on the grounds she had something more interesting to write about, but A wrote the following to console me:

"This year's Wimbledon was very exciting for me and my Mummy. Every afternoon me and my Mummy watched it on T.V. I felt very sorry for Mummy because Rafael Nadal was not playing this year, and I wouldn't hear "come on Nadal!" from her."

We then had a Wimbledon spelling test choosing words together that we think could be useful for a more extended description of the game: tennis - championship - court - player - singles - doubles - racquet - volley - service - ace. Our spelling tests are more spelling discussions and can last quite a while... and they're always lots of fun, with surprise insights along the way.

Crazy Patchwork

Yesterday we spent most of the day on sewing projects, some new, some that have been in the making over a course of weeks.

Crazy Patchwork, by A, 13cm x 19cm

In the crazy patchwork a mix of cottons and sparkly fabrics have been combined and sewn down with tacking cotton onto the pink background. In the centre is one of my 'samples' from a beading workshop. Below left a children's fairy print, above which is a paisley chiffon. Next, a woven orange-yellow glitzy striped fabric, then a blue sheer fabric encrusted with glass beads, followed by two sequinned nets. A has started to embellish the sequinned net fabrics using contrasting embroidery cottons, ric-rac, and beads.

The interesting thing here is A's fearlessness of putting together fabrics that clearly don't 'match', and without all the usual concerns about difficulty of sewing technique on a small scale. She is very patient with this work and I've noticed that she's beginning to work for more prolonged lengths of time, becoming more absorbed in the task as it develops.

Annabelinda

1982 Design 378 Sunray pleated silk organza, postcard

When we visited Woodstock we saw the Annabelinda exhibition at The Oxfordshire Museum. This was a beautiful exhibition of couture dressmaking. What interested me to begin with was the story of Annabelinda...

Belinda O'Hanlon went to Oxford to study for a geography degree in the mid 1960's. She made dresses for her student friends and for some of the tutors, having acquired dressmaking skills at home with her mother. This activity flourished and so she left her degree course before graduation to set up her couture business. So there's a tale of home education!

Wonderful fabrics and combinations of silks, chiffons, brocades, velvets and wools. In the early years Liberty prints were combined with plain coloured fabrics. We saw gorgeous surprise patterned linings, hand-embroidered finishes. The neckline details were especially noteworthy: also Chinese braids, hand-painted silks, and lots of symmetry, piping, sweeping sleeves and skirts.

The 1970's designs were my favourites. They made me feel very nostalgic as I recalled the first skirt I ever made in the front room at my Nan's house. The fabric was a lightweight brown cotton with small pink and cream floral patterns. Meanwhile Jenny, a family member, then in her thirties, sat alongside me and recalled the dresses she had worn in her teenage years. A very special memory so thanks to Annabelinda for reminding me.

I came home very inspired and determined to make her first dress on the sewing machine.

The Annabelinda exhibition runs until 12th July. http://www.annabelinda.com

Rome

A few years ago, I received a present from her Granny R. It was a book called Treasure Trove of an Ancient Roman Child. She's always liked the book, which has a secret compartment full of replica Roman artefacts.

Family Portrait, imaginary painted plaster fragment

Following a visit with some other home ed families to a nearby archaeological dig, where a Roman Bath House is thought to have been unearthed, this book has been opened again and scoured for information. The most exciting part of the dig was using the hand trowel to search for fragments. We found a lot of flint, but also some pieces of mosaic and clay tiling material. http://www.friendsofsudbrooke.org

Both girls are now grappling with the concepts of 'history' and 'pre-history', as well as the realization that the city of Rome has had such a profound impact on our lives today. From the book we found several motifs of particular interest: laurel-leaf, bulla, votive, genius, and oil lamp. Next follows a local Ordnance Survey search for Roman features!

The Treasure Trove of an Ancient Roman Child, by Fiona MacDonald, Smithmark, 1999