Like Mother, Like Daughter 
I loved Tilly's beret so much that I had to have one myself. Much as I love the cashmere in her hat I couldn't quite bring myself to go all matching although there is a story about that.... When I was a little girl there was a department store in Belfast called Robinson Cleaver, I loved Robinson Cleaver, it was a proper department store of the sort that do not seem to exist any more. Independent and with all the necessary departments, a dark and cosy coffee shop, a hat department, a wig department (oh how I loved the wig department), a proper fur department, I know!! But hey, it was the 70's and I was seven years old, I thought fur was heavenly and used to hide amongst them. My mother bought a rabbit tail fitted jacket from there, yikes, she would die of embarassment if I even reminded her now, she has been vegan for years. Lots of wonderful scents and beautiful, mysterious looking bottles on the cosmetics floor and a treasure trove of a habadashery department. There was a proper lift in a cage with a man in a hat to shut the door, but even better than the lift was the staircase, a wonderful sweeping affair, with a velvety runner, I loved those stairs, I drew pictures of those stairs, I imagined being a princess, a fairy, a ballerina on those stairs and Elvis arriving to serenade me at the bottom. I digress, when we went in to town my dad used to collect us from outside Robinson Cleavers and as he was usually late I spent a great deal of time gazing at the window displays and it was there that I spotted a matching mother and daughter ensemble, sun-dresses I think, with Miss Muffet style hats, a pretty floral print and there may have been little neckerchief thingys too! I loved those outfits, I begged my mother, she refused, I dreamed about us wearing those matching outfits, perhaps skipping down the staircase inside on our way to lunch with Elvis.
I am thankful to say, that my desire for mother-daughter outfits does seem to have subsided on the whole but watch this space, there could be a green version of this yet...
The pattern is Le Slouch, the first time I have made one of Wendy's patterns and I am very impressed, it worked perfectly, well written and easy to understand.
In case you were wondering what happened to Robinson Cleavers? The building was divided into various generic high street shops including a McDonalds! I know, I know.... And the staircase? I like to think that someone had the presence of mind to take that staircase out and rebuild it somewhere else but I guess it is unlikely.
I loved Tilly's beret so much that I had to have one myself. Much as I love the cashmere in her hat I couldn't quite bring myself to go all matching although there is a story about that.... When I was a little girl there was a department store in Belfast called Robinson Cleaver, I loved Robinson Cleaver, it was a proper department store of the sort that do not seem to exist any more. Independent and with all the necessary departments, a dark and cosy coffee shop, a hat department, a wig department (oh how I loved the wig department), a proper fur department, I know!! But hey, it was the 70's and I was seven years old, I thought fur was heavenly and used to hide amongst them. My mother bought a rabbit tail fitted jacket from there, yikes, she would die of embarassment if I even reminded her now, she has been vegan for years. Lots of wonderful scents and beautiful, mysterious looking bottles on the cosmetics floor and a treasure trove of a habadashery department. There was a proper lift in a cage with a man in a hat to shut the door, but even better than the lift was the staircase, a wonderful sweeping affair, with a velvety runner, I loved those stairs, I drew pictures of those stairs, I imagined being a princess, a fairy, a ballerina on those stairs and Elvis arriving to serenade me at the bottom. I digress, when we went in to town my dad used to collect us from outside Robinson Cleavers and as he was usually late I spent a great deal of time gazing at the window displays and it was there that I spotted a matching mother and daughter ensemble, sun-dresses I think, with Miss Muffet style hats, a pretty floral print and there may have been little neckerchief thingys too! I loved those outfits, I begged my mother, she refused, I dreamed about us wearing those matching outfits, perhaps skipping down the staircase inside on our way to lunch with Elvis.
I am thankful to say, that my desire for mother-daughter outfits does seem to have subsided on the whole but watch this space, there could be a green version of this yet...
The pattern is Le Slouch, the first time I have made one of Wendy's patterns and I am very impressed, it worked perfectly, well written and easy to understand.
In case you were wondering what happened to Robinson Cleavers? The building was divided into various generic high street shops including a McDonalds! I know, I know.... And the staircase? I like to think that someone had the presence of mind to take that staircase out and rebuild it somewhere else but I guess it is unlikely.
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