Let's Talk About.....Cleo

Cleo is a lightweight loose-fitting linen jacket, with ¾ length sleeves, ideal for summer and autumn, with just 1 button on the front. She has 4 different types of fabric to zhuzh her up.

The bold fuchsia pink flower design comes from a pair of shorts that I bought for myself, for a holiday in the sun back in 2010. They were an impromptu buy. 2010 was a big year for birthdays in our family. Hubby was about to turn 50, daughter number 1 was going to be 21, and daughter number 2 was now 18. So we decided, as they were all growing up fast, this might be the last time we have a holiday for just the 5 of us. And if you want to entice your children to come with you on holiday – A, you need an aeroplane; B, somewhere warm; C, a pool; and being practical, D, a destination flying out of Bristol airport. 

So we settled on Menorca. As hubby speaks fluent French, all our foreign family holidays so far were to France, and with his A level Spanish we felt confident he could cope with the language barrier. No need to worry, most people spoke English, but he enjoyed the opportunity to speak Spanish anyway.

There was plenty to do for all of us in Menorca. We stayed in a modest villa with a pool, were in walking distance of the sea, shops, beach, and restaurants. We saw horses racing through a town at St James fiesta; dancing horses in the town square; and lots of relaxation. 

Because we were there for a fortnight we needed plenty of summery clothes, and short shorts were called for. I’m not sure I wore them much back in the UK, so they languished in my wardrobe, and then they seemed even shorter the older I got. I just loved the fabric so I kept them. They seemed too small to cut up, so they got added to the pile ‘whole’, until now. Their moment had come!

Looking through the family snaps for this blog, I then discover that I have used another fabric from our Menorca holiday on Cleo. The small sweet-pea flowers originate from a summer dress that daughter number 3, Jo, is wearing when she was not quite 14. A pretty fabric, so guess what? I cut it up and added it to the pile. 

The Cleo is available for purchase now, find her here.