The dangers of sharing a changing room

I was in H&M with my sister and we both had items we wanted to try on. It was busy so we had to queue for the changing rooms. When we got to the front of the queue I told the sales assistant that we would go in together. I thought it would save time and we like to get each others opinion on what we look like, we do that quite often.

“No, you can’t do that,” said the surly sales assistant.

“Why not?” I asked, a little astonished that this could cause an issue.

“Only one person is allowed in each cubicle. Health and safety.” she replied with a smile that suggested she thought she was doing us a favour.

“What the ….” I didn’t actually voice this but my expression said it all.

And to make matters more ridiculous there was a chair in the corner of the changing room. So what was the chair for?

• To sit on whilst you are changing into your dress? Perhaps, but not likely.
• To chuck your clothes on after you have taken them off? Probably not, there were hooks for that.
• To quietly read a book after a stressful shopping morning? Doubt it.
• For your sister, your friend, your child to sit on and wait for you whilst you are trying on clothes. YES! very, very, likely.

I would seriously love to know, how changing in a changing room with your sister could possibly be deemed as unsafe or indeed a risk to ones health. If you know, please, please enlighten me. I have been racking my brain thinking of a scenario where something dangerous might happen. I have thought of a few, but they all involve the surly sales assistant.

Something else that sounds ridiculous…

EU requirements for cords or drawstrings on children’s clothes

• Clothes for children up to age 7  should not have cords or drawstrings in the hood and neck area
• Clothes for children between age 7 and 14 should not have cords longer than 75 mm in the hood and neck area or drawstrings with free ends. Cords in the hood and neck area should not be elastic except for shoulder straps and halter necks
• Clothes for children should not have cords or drawstrings with free ends longer than 140 mm in the chest and waist area
• Halter neck-style children’s clothes should not have loose ends
• Children’s clothes tied at the front should not have belts or sashes longer than 360 mm, when measured untied from the point where they are to be tied
• Other cords or drawstrings on children’s clothes should not trail below the sleeve or hem of garments. Drawstrings and cords at the bottom hem of long-legged trousers should be totally on the inside of the garment

Even homemade children’s clothes should meet these requirements. A child could be strangled by strings around the neck, if caught in playground equipment for example, or if strings at the back of a garment get caught in a bus door.

Even though these guidelines sound ridiculous, the reasons are valid. Unlike the nonsensical reason for not letting me in a changing room with my sister.

So I will be changing the halter neck top I made for Stylo magazine. The pattern is from Madeit Patterns, Summer Collection (coming soon) but I adapted it to have a halter neck because I love that look. The original pattern has straps and no dangly bits at all. And of course meets every EU safety standard.

The Pleat Fold top features neat asymmetrical pleating at the top and shirring at the hem. Don’t be afraid of shirring, it’s as easy as winding your bobbin up, winding your bobbin up, pull, pull, clap, clap clap. But there are options on how you can finish the hem and they all look good, so you can make this quick and easy the style without any unnecessary anxiety.

I absolutely love the colour of the Pleat Fold top, the name doesn’t sound very appealing – curry. It’s a Robert Kaufman Kona Cotton from Plush Addict. A good quality cotton, there are hundreds of colours to choose from, but curry was the perfect colour for Scout.

The bubble shorts by Do Guincho are one of my all time favourite pattens. I have made two pairs already. Here and here. They would look good in pretty much any fabric but the Random Pencil Check from Petite Couture gives them the edge over the other two I made.

Sadly, Petite Couture no longer has the Pencil Check, I’m not surprised it has sold out but they do have Dot Weave and Architextures Shadow which I think would look fantastic as bubble shorts. I have my eye on both of them.

So, what do you think of my Stylo magazine Look No.3? If you haven’t yet seen them, heres Look No.1 and Look No.2.