Getting stuff done ...

Yay! Torchwood season 1 seen all the way through.

Now we can get back to The Doctor (and mr Tennant)

I'm working from home tomorrow and I'm looking forward to lounging around in my yoga pants. I have a Greek translation to do layout control of. It'll take all day.

I sewed up parts of a Jump Rope Dress for Isabel tonight. I made a button placket that looks awesome! Tomorrow I'm doing the same on a dress for Sofia so I'll be at the same place on both dresses. That way I can finish them together.

I need to make room for my serger though. It's stashed away because I needed room to trace patterns.

I really should make time to sew more often. We've/I've been so caught up in The Doctor and Torchwood (not that that's gonna change any time soon) that I haven't made time to sew as well.

But now I have two dresses cut out and two pair of pants for the girls and I have a bag to make for myself. I just have to decide on measurements first.

I hope I can make it bigger on the inside ...

Signing off

So I finished up Doctor Who season 2 and then I sort of got stuck watching some of the other stuff David Tennant's done. Casanova, Blackpool and a spot of Hamlet.

I totally blame him for the late hour.

Both girls are fast asleep and I really should get to bed. I need to shower in the morning and that takes time and at the same time I have to get the girls ready for daycare and school. Always fun.

At least it's a shorter day tomorrow. I pick the girls up at 4 pm. Then I have to feed Isabel before her grandpa picks her up to take her to riding class.
Grandma's coming in to watch Sofia when I go to a parents' meeting at school. So most likely no sewing tomorrow either. At least Rickard's coming home tomorrow night.

Sewing report and Single Mom Days

Well, Saturday came and went and I spent most of it tracing patterns which I had promised myself I wouldn't have to since I was going to do that during the week before.

But it actually turned out fine. Sewing I can do during the weeks, but tracing patterns and grading them (guh! I graded the Jump Rope Dress for Isabel into a size 9/10 - successfully I might add!) I sure needed to do that undisturbed.)

So I made a toile for her of a size 8 first and it was as I suspected - a bit tight in the chest and tummy areas. So I set to work grading it as my aut taught me and I made a second toile.



I need to measure and fiddle a bit more on the point of the placket, but for a first and second attempt I'm quite pleased with it. It fit which is always a huge plus.

The rest of Saturday and Sunday I spent gorging myself on Doctor Who with Rickard. We got two thirds through the second season and after a recommendation from a friend we're finishing that and then moving on to Torchwood Season 1.
Her husband works at BBC America and had some inside knowledge that that was the way to go.

So next week the box set of Torchwood, seasons 1-3 will make its way home to us and we'll get started on that.
I found a good deal on seasons 1-4 of Doctor Who and seasons 1-3 of Torchwood that also included all the Doctor Who specials.

So sewing wise this week has been a bit of a drought. My husband is away on a business trip and won't return until tomorrow night and suddenly being a single mom with all the activities of the children puts sewing a bit on the back burner.

I have sewn in a zipper in Sofia's coat- Very temporarily. I'm not sure it will stay in, but at least she'll be able to keep it closed up a little better while it lasts. After all we're almost half way through March and I can feel it's getting a bit warmer in the air.

Next chore - pink some fabric and throw it in the wash.

My "Projects I want to do"-list

I just need to get this down in writing somewhere and then get back to it. Links later.

To do this week (week 10)
Pink fabric and fabric and pre-wash (reds from Pink Chalk and the reds from City Weekend)
Jump Rope Dress - cut a size 9/10 for Isabel - I need to decide on fabric with her
New Leaf Folding Tote - already cut out and ready to go - needs interfacing cut too
Get my pants done - waistband and taper legs and hem

Happy Spring!

(image borrowed from here)

I subscribe to Pink Chalk's Fabric Club of Monthly Solids. Last month it was pinks and reds and from the look of the photo above I can expect a yummy stack of greens to land in my mailbox sometime next week.

Or you know - the slip that says to pick it up at the grocery store ...

I can't wait!

A bit more serious than usual

(image from Palmefonden)

This week it's been 25 years since Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme was murdered.

It's one of those defining moments in Swedish history I think. Any Swede back then, no matter what they thought of their Prime Minister can recall where and when they heard the news.

In February 1986 I had just turned 13. I can remember waking up in the night and hearing my mom talk on the phone with someone. She sounded upset but I fell back to sleep.

In the morning she woke me and told me Olof Palme had been shot.

"They have shot Olof Palme" she said.
"Who" said I.
"Nobody knows".

Already then there were rumours flying around and this was just the first day.

Olof Palme was a man who inspired. In some he inspired admiration and loyalty, and in others he inspired loathing and even hatred.
He was a very respected politician in Sweden but also a very much hated politician. There didn't seem to be a middle way with him.

My parents were politically active in the town council back then. At least my father was. And they were both actively working during the re-election campaign the previous September when the Social Democrats and Olof Palme had been re-elected into government.
They helped arrange all the local activities that seem to follow. Setting up areas where you could write your condolences.

Once the arrangements around the funeral were falling into place it was decided that one child from each local party organisation would be flown to Stockholm to participate in a choir that would sing at the funeral in the City Hall in Stockholm.
I was at the right age, I had the "right connections" and I already sang in a choir so I don't think there was much debate at home who would get to go.

It was also decided to send my father to carry the local party organisation flag in the "flag wall".

We were a group of 5-8 children who flew out of Sturup together and we were shipped off to a manor house outside Stockholm to bunk with the rest of the 240 children sent to participate.
It was a bit like Summer Camp. We would sing during the day and eat barbecued hotdogs at night. We were shipped into the City Hall in buses one day to practice singing and entering the Hall end exiting.

We passed the crime scene on the way.

On March 15th we were sent into town once more and spread out in the City Hall to wait for our entry. We all sang and laughed and made a lot of jokes and I don't think a lot of us thought about why we were really there until one of the officials came up to us and told us to simmer down because the coffin had arrived.

After that it all went quiet. Some children in the choir were as young as 7 or 8 I think and some started crying.
We got our cue and went inside the Blue Room where we filled the large stair case and parts of the balcony.

Here is a link to the opening of the ceremony. (I hope it's available outside Sweden as well - let me know if it isn't?). At 1:33 you can see the whole staircase filled with children wearing white sweatshirts. At 2:02 there is a shot of the "flag wall" I spoke of where my father was. At 2:14 you can hear us sing the first hymn.
At 2:41 they cut to show the children a bit more up close and at the moment they cut I am standing just to the right of the camera, no more than a child or two out of shot. (Also! Hello 80's hairstyles! I don't miss you.)

I had this on a vcr tape at home - I wonder what became of it. I haven't seen this in so long.

I can't help but feeling a bit dualistic about it. It was a sad occasion and a horrific event (the murder) but it was still a fun experience. I'm glad I had it.

(I can't help link to this too. It's the speech made by Anna Lindh at Olof Palme's funeral. She was chairman of the Social Democrat's Youth organisation at the time of the murder. She later went on to become Foreign Minister and she herself was murdered on September 11th 2003 when she was stabbed to death in a department store in central Stockholm.)

Troubles with the Mailman

My husband threw his back out the other night and has been at home trying to recover. He's on the mend so he's up and about and yesterday he was making a sandwich when he looked out the window and saw the mailman try to stuff a Flat Rate Envelope down the mailbox.

He went outside to rescue it and the mailman was a bit miffed and said if we plan on getting any more envelopes of this size we should really get a larger mailbox.

Well, it's not like I'm going to stop ordering stuff but I'm not particularly keen on having a dropbox out there with a large slot and a note saying "Any large and interesting parcels can be dropped here". That's just begging to be robbed.

The mail carrier have a system where if the parcel is too large for being dropped in a box they leave a slip in the box and bring the parcel to the pick-up station. My guess is he wasn't keen on bringing it back with him.

I'm at a bit of a loss as to what to do.

But!

This whole affair meant I have some City Weekend-fabric to play with! There should be another parcel for me today or tomorrow with one more knit that I ordered, as well as another parcel from a different store with the red City Weekend colourway. I am so excited.

I have this Saturday "off" from the family and I plan to trace a bunch of patterns this week so I can get started on cutting fabric and sewing on Saturday. If I'm lucky I might be able to cut fabric during the week so I can just sit down at the machine after breakfast and get stuck in.

Too bad Isabel's still not sold on the Ramble in the Park fabric I got for her. With a bit of luck I might be able to make it last for a tunic for myself.