Who'd have thought I'd be thanking Barbie (once banned from our household for 5 years) for inspiring my children? I finished a half-hour phonecall with Noreen to discover that Freda and Edie had been making some Barbie-sized loaves of bread. "Did you remember the yeast?" I asked sceptically. "Yes mummy, we mixed it with sugar and warm water and left if for about ten minutes". Silly me. When they came out of the oven they were better than my own morning batch.
The afternoon home-school activity involved making and decorating fashion design books. Freda and Edie have been getting up early to sew clothes for their Barbies. Unfortunately these budding designers, like any other, need some slave labour to stitch up the garments. That's where I come in. My fingers were raw after forcing a flimsy Chinese needle through the seams of a denim dress and canvas bag [left]. Fortunately Freda took over for the second slinky number [right], designed by Edie. Tomorrow they will begin a new selection of outfits, making notes about fabric, special features and tailoring requirements (that's the English part) and measurements (that's the Maths, in case you're wondering). Their portfolios, when complete, will be going to Jia Jia (aka Ava, herself a fashion designer) for final assessment. Freda and Edie think she can make a living in Kunming by selling Barbie clothes. A small boutique next to the Barbie Bakery perhaps. I'm going mad.....
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