Housekeeping

Thanks to Michelle for this award. So sweet of you to think of me!

Now I am supposed to write 10 things about myself that you wouldn't otherwise know.
1 I was raised as one of nine children.
2 I have a strong dislike of second hand clothing. For the reason why, see 1 above. (I was 8th position).
3 My undergraduate degree is in Classical languages.
4 If you start a sentence, "the amount of people that" and someone corrects you with "the number of people who" and you want to know who is right, I am your woman. I taught English grammar for years.
5 I have always loved crafts, long before they were popular. The moniker "Mary Nanna" was given to me by a friend who was mocking my love of these old fashioned arts.
6 I still meet my friends for dinner on Thursday, as I have done every Thursday for the last 7 years. It's a good ritual to have - then you don't have to get over the inertia of "let's catch up" - you've got a catch up automatically programmed into your life (and a child free evening out once a week).
7 I have one child.
8 I don't like driving.
9. I don't like my husband's driving. (He's an Aucklander, which makes him an Auckland driver)
10. I lurve deeply - and with all of my being - coffee.

And now I am supposed to pass this on to 5 people, but I always find these things hard to do. That would show favouritism, and as middle child, every thing has to be FAIR. So if you would like to run with this, pick it up and off you go!

In other news, just when I had given up hope of my La Mia Boutique ever turning up, it turned up! First impressions mixed. For a start, I was really surprised by the fit and construction. Very home sewn, and I don't mean that in a good way. The patterns are a mix of modern youth, European high fashion (ie kook) factor, and sweet. There are about 40 patterns per issue, with a sprinkling of children and plus size in the mix. There are about 4 sizes per pattern 38,40,42,44 or variations on that theme. It appears to be an all round "women's" magazine, with horoscopes, beauty advice and recipes added to the mix. Also, like Ottobre magazine, all clothes are 'wardrobe' ensembles - in other words, you can make every part of the outfit - the skirt, the top, the jacket all will be patterns within the magazine.

Some of the patterns really intrigue and I can absolutely see this adorable jean jacket in my future:



Here's the first page of the technical drawings:



Some fairly wonky decorative tape application. I actually find this quite affirming:



No one say "unmatched plaid":



And this is just crying out for a broad/square shoulder alteration and a high chest alteration:



I can see I am going to get a lot of entertainment out of this magazine, one way or another. It does go to show how much Burda is in a class of its own when it comes to finishing, fabrics and styling.

I may flirt with other European magazines, but I can see that Burda will be my one true love.