Ralfie and Jemima

Ralfie and Jemima

Sunday 10 July 2011

Mommy's Makeover



The Water Mill Bakery is as successful as ever. Every day James and Julie Periwinkle sell large quantities of bread and pastries. They deliver sandwiches to peoples' workplaces once a day. Last week, they even got the chance to do the catering for a big hotel. 

As business is going really well and Julie hasn't had an afternoon to herself in a while, James has offered to stay in charge of Jemima and the store, so that she can take an afternoon off to meet her friend Teresa at the town square. 

"Hello Teresa! How are you? Have you fully recovered from your cold?"  "Hello my dear, it is so good to see you! Yes, I am well again and looking forward to having a good time."


The two rabbits have decided to go to the dressmaker. Teresa does not at all feel comfortable with her dress any more and would like to primp it up. Julie is looking for some sort of accessory she can wear when James and she go out. 

So off they go to the dressmaker's shop. On their way there, Teresa tells Julie that the woman is known to be extremely shy, and that she might not want to appear on camera. 


Sure enough, when the two rabbits arrive at Miss Emily Pincushion's Taloring Shop, Miss Pincushion, the tailoress, agrees to attend Julie and Teresa only if no one takes her picture. She has allowed me to photograph the shop, though, and everything in it!


Here you can see her sewing table. Her shop is full of enormous reels of yarn and big rolls of fabric in different colours.

 It looks like Miss Pincushion was just having a cup of tea before we arrived. Wait a minute... What does she need those huge buttons for? They're as big as saucers!


"Go ahead and have a look at everything, my dears," she says to the two rabbits. "Maybe you will find something you like. I have plenty of lace and fabrics. You may have a look inside the cabinet, too."
"Thank you Emily!", Teresa says. 


"What a lovely sight," Teresa says to herself. "White lace and pearls - just what I was looking for!"


"Look Julie," says Teresa, "Wouldn't this look lovely along the hem of my dress?" "Oh yes," replies Julie, "It really would!"


They bend over to open the cabinet doors. "Hmm, I don't like this fabric. The colour would make me look pale," says Julie. Teresa agrees. 


As Julie reaches out for the little doors again to close the cabinet, she accidentally brushes against something...


"Oh dear!!" Julie has brushed the large plate with her arm and spilled most of the pink pearls that are now jumping about and rolling across the floor. 


"How clumsy of me!", wails Julie. "Don't worry my dear, it could have happened to me, too!", says Teresa and they start collecting the pearls. Miss Pincushion helps them.

 Soon they are opening the other side of the cabinet, and what Julie sees, leaves her almost speechless. 


"Look at this, Teresa. This is the loveliest fabric I have ever seen! Emily could make a shawl for me out of this!" "Oh yes, Julie, it is very nice!"

 The two rabbits present the lace and fabric to Miss Pincushion. She seems very pleased with their choice.


"Oh lovely! This will look lovely, my dears!" she exclaims. 
First of all, she pins the white lace on to the hem of Teresa's dress. "Do you, like it, my dear?" "It looks  great!" replies Teresa.

Then, she sews on the lace and attaches one of the pearls below the neckline. 

Soon Miss Pincushion adds another pearl and says, "Done! Look how pretty your dress is."

Teresa tries it on... 
 ...and is overjoyed.
In the meantime, Miss Pincushion prepares Julie's shawl. 

Julie is very happy with it.

She looks at Teresa and says, "We have such fancy outfits now, I feel like going out tonight." "Me too," says her friend. "What a pity that we didn't make any plans." 
They are just about to leave the shop when two new customers arrive...

"SURPRISE!" call James and Troy. "We have come with an invitation. We would like to take you pretty rabbits to the theatre," says Troy.  

"What a wonderful idea, Troy", exclaims Teresa. 
"So, do you like what Miss Pincushion has done to my dress?" "I do. You look like a princess tonight," replies Troy. Teresa blushes.


"You surprise me again and again," says Julie to her husband. "But what about the children?" "Thomas and Tamara are taking care of Jemima and the little ones tonight!" James answers. 

As they leave the shop, Miss Pincushion waves everyone goodbye.