The world ends when you’re dead. Until then, you got more punishment in store. Stand it like a man—and give some back.

Every day takes figuring out all over again how to fucking live.

More sewing, my friends! After I finished Lucy's dress, I did a bit of sewing for myself. I really like the bodice of B5748, especially the lovely low scooped back, and I was pleased with the effect of adding a gathered skirt to it. Enter the pink From The Hip fabric that I bought when Fabric Rehab had a special offer at the beginning of the month. I bought 3 metres and I wanted a pattern to showcase the amazing print.

As I said above, I decided to use the bodice of B5748. To eliminate the slight gaping that I had in my One Good Turn dress, I decided to drop the neckline slightly and to follow the advice of the wonderful Karen and Mrs C and try my hand at taping. I bought some of this cotton tape from my local fabric shop:

 

Cotton tape

Actually, this is not the exact cotton tape that I used. I bought mine from Royal Fabrics but I liked it so much that I went and bought this 50metre roll online. So, you know, I liked it! I have linked to Mrs C's tutorial above, but basically what you do is handsew it into the seam allowance, which I did before topstitching around the neckline.

It does add an extra step to the construction but I think it's worth it, and it worked in this case. I will definitely be using this technique in future makes.

Calamity Jane dress and Love Me Tender shoes from Office (via ebay)

The circle skirt just wasn't going to work with this fabric. I had used the Cambie skirt for Lucy's dress but thought that might be just too full for what I wanted with this one. Plus, I already have a Cowgirl Cambie! This time I used the instruction for a gathered skirt from Gertie's book and it worked a treat. It was very simple! I lined the dress with pink cotton and hemmed as I usually do, using bias binding.

This dress was so simple to make. Which was just as well, really, because I sewed most of it while feeling hungover last Sunday, watching Deadwood. Hence the name. Deadwood's Robin Weigert has none of the perkiness of Alexander Henry's cowgirls but she has more than enough sass to make up for it, which is the show's joy for me. I love these cowgirls but to be honest, I'd also be thrilled to have one with Jane-like scouts all over it!

I think the bodice pattern could end up,with some tweaks, being a good sloper for me and I intend on using it to help me address some of the issues that I know I'm going to have with the Truffle pattern. When I get around to making it, that is! I really like the back, which is finished with a lapped zipper.

 

Back zipper. I love the way the cowgirl on the left is giving it the side-eye.

 

Back view. It's not perfect but, sure, so what.

This dress hung up for a week before I had the chance to wear it and, while I was happy with it, I wasn't thrilled. This always happens - I suppose it's that, when you're sewing it you're so close to it, it's hard to be objective. But, you know, wearing it today has made me feel pretty chuffed with it. I am so predictable.

 

Goofy face alert! 

 

DERP FACE 

Anyway. I still have well over a metre of this fabric left and I am very tempted to make another dress with it - maybe a mini dress of some description. Any pattern suggestions, folks? I think a girl can never have too many cowgirl dresses. Well, that's true of this girl, anyway. 

Leamington turned on its Christmas lights today so in a minute I'm away out to have a look at them, so I'll leave you with one more photo and I'll catch you all in the week!

Over time, your quickness with a cocky rejoinder must have gotten you many punches in the face.

Evening all! I managed to make it to work and back today without being washed away by the rain, and I managed to make it through the day without swinging for someone. Which is no mean feat in my workplace at the moment. So that's good! Dinner is in the oven, I've done my chores, and the weekend is nearly here - and my little sister and her boyfriend are visiting this weekend and I am very excited about that. We have lots of fun things planned including a day out in That London, but of course I'm most excited about just seeing her.

Last weekend was very relaxed and low-key, partly because I knew this coming week and weekend would be so busy. On Saturday morning Nic and I headed out to meet Lysy and The Scientist for coffee and to meet their new baby, who is just gorgeous. I love babies - this one was particularly darling - and it was really good to see them both taking so well to parenthood. It was cold on Saturday. I didn't wear tights and I was grand - but I'm not sure if I'll be able to do that again this year. That's always a little bit sad for me, because I find tights so irritating. Anyway, sewing with Lucy's Springtime in Paris fabric reminded me of one of my own Eiffel Tower dresses:

Foux du FaFa Chantilly dress, Vivienne Westwood for Melissa PomPom Lady Dragon shoes and Ness Ebony handbag

I had sort of forgotten how much I like this dress - the fabric is very striking and I attracted compliments for it all day long, which gave my ego a welcome boost! Of course I wore a cardigan and a coat when I was out, folks. I didn't want my legs turning blue to match my shoes!

I spent Saturday sewing. Charlotte came round in the afternoon and we did some work on a dress for her - I badgered her into buying some fabric at the Birmingham meetup on the promise that we'd make her a dress together. It was a lot of fun and only rain halted play, as Charlotte developed a headache after a couple of hours. So we headed out for a walk in town and a coffee. When I got home I did a bit of sewing for myself before we headed out to the pub to celebrate Lauren's birthday.

 You can't see the whole dress in the photo but I'm wearing my Bettie Page Captain dress - I'm very envious of Lauren's Vivien of Holloway pencil dress, though!

We had a fantastic night. I said to Nic on the way out "let's not have too much to drink" as I knew he had marking to do on Sunday. But I still found myself getting chips on the way home, and then eating Nic's chips when we GOT home. Smooth. So I was a leeetle hung over on Sunday, but that was grand. Apart from going out to get a few groceries we spent the day indoors - me sewing and Nic resting (he was a wee bit more hung over than I was) and it was just lovely.

I managed to miss Tilly's Sewing Social on Sunday night because I was sewing (hand-sewing and watching Deadwood) and I was kicking myself for missing the discussion about how to fit sewing into a busy life as this has been on my mind recently. Life and work are very busy at the moment, and the cold dark evenings often mean I want to come home and put my pyjamas on and cuddle on the sofa. Well, I do that a lot! But I have been sewing more recently. When I first started sewing, I used to sew for long stretches - days at a time, even - not stopping until I was finished whatever it was I was working on. I'd get tired and cranky and frustrated when I made mistakes. Then there was ages when I didn't sew at all. I'm getting better at striking a balance, I think. I still like to sew for an uninterrupted stretch when I can, and this is for practical reasons as much as anything else, as I don't have a sewing space and sew in the living room. But I am getting better at putting things down when I get tired, and I am getting better at not trying to cram everything into one session. I sewed Lucy's dress over the course of a few evenings during a very stressful week and it felt good to come back from my day job and do something creative and satisfying. It keeps me wanting to sew as well because I don't burn out. I don't think the Pomodoro technique would work for me when it comes to sewing, but a little taste of it certainly does! I think learning to sew when I did saved my sanity in so many ways, and it is continuing to do that.

With that, I'm off. Dinner is nearly ready and I am hungry, but I'll be back before too long. Stay warm and dry, all! xxx

You know, I made that barbeque out of two old barbeques.

Hi all! I hope this post finds you all well. I'm grand - I have been having a very busy time of it recently, but nothing exciting, just work. Still, and sorry to mention the C-word, but in four weeks I'll be home for Christmas so I am holding on to that thought!

Anyway, I have been doing things and wearing stuff, so I will try to get caught up! Last Saturday was bright and sunny for part of the day, and mild enough. Not mild enough for no coat, but it's still mild enough for me to pose for outfit shots without a coat:

Limb Retro dress in cherry print, Vivienne Westwood for Melissa Cherry Lady Dragons and vintage handbag

Ever since I bought my Great Outdoors dress by Limb last year, I have been after another one. But I've never found one in my size in my price range (ie El Cheapo) so when this one came up on ebay for £30 I didn't hesitate! I love the shape of these dresses and the fact that they have a low neckline that isn't totally indecent. And, well, I already knew I had matching shoes. As with my other Limb dress, I think the quality is just lovely and I love the matching belt. All good! While I can't imagine paying full price for one, I know I'll add more Limb dresses to my wardrobe in the future.

I wore this for a walk in town with Nic and lunch in one of our favourite cafes, Stone Monkey. Lunch was wonderful, the only shame was the annoying and selfish family of five (one of whom, a babe in arms) who were taking up three tables in the tiny cafe, so it was difficult to find a seat. GRRR! I love living in Leamington, but it's full of people like that, annoyingly.

After lunch, we headed home and I settled in for an afternoon of sewing. I spent Saturday working on my One Good Turn dress and drinking endless cups of tea, which was just wonderful. Sunday was much the same.

As I mentioned in my last post, I was very stressed out all last week. I'm feeling much more myself now but this is after basically hiding out for most of the week. I don't want to get into it too much here, but it's pretty much entirely work-related. My workplace is going through another massive upheaval, for the third time in the four years I've been working there. I'm fucking tired of it, to be honest. Obviously I'm looking for other jobs, but it bothers me all the same. It doesn't help that I suffer from anxiety anyway, so this kind of thing puts me into a total spin. I'm always going to be an anxious person and it sucks, and I spent all of last week freaking out! I am feeling a lot better now, but I hope that explains the absence a little bit.

Along with hiding out, I spent my evenings last week sewing Lucy's Springtime in Paris dress. I gave it to her on Saturday. I don't have a photo of her wearing it - but she might provide one for us if we're really lucky. It does fit her, though! I used the bodice from B5748 and swapped the circle skirt for a full gathered skirt. Sorry for the slightly crappy photo but here's a rough idea of what it looks like:

I dropped the neckline as Lucy doesn't like high necklines. I did this in the highly unscientific way of pinning the pattern piece, eyeballing it, and cutting it lower. I put in a lapped zipper and both the bodice and skirt are lined with pale blue pin-dot cotton. I gave Lucy a pink petticoat to wear with it - she's going to debut it at her son's birthday party and she's going to look like a cupcake! But in a good way, you know. I don't do a lot of sewing for others, but I loved making this for Lucy and sewing it definitely saved my sanity during the evenings last week. I hemmed it on my lunch break while I was working from home on Friday, which was also very enjoyable. Here's a wee close-up of the bodice so you can see the detail of the amazing print:

Michael Miller Springtime in Paris - I love the fact that the Sacre Coeur is on there, the Eiffel Tower and various spotty frocks!

Over the weekend I made a similar dress for myself - which I hope to be able to show you all soon. But for now it's time for me to go and make dinner. Goodnight!

Ma'am, listen to the thunder.

Evening all! I've been having a fairly intense and horrible day, and my instinct initially was to write a big "OMG YOU GUISE I AM SO STRESSED OUT" post because that is how I'm feeling. But I don't really want to wallow because right now I don't think it would make me feel any better, so I'm looking at shoes on the internet. You know how it is. So here's a little outfit post from the weekend, instead!

I had Friday off work, which was just lovely. I spent the morning sewing, before going out for lunch with Nic to Kayal. Business lunch, oh yeah!

 Limb Great Outdoors retro dress, Jonathan Aston tights, Carvela Assemble shoes and Joules handbag

These shoes are gorgeous but so ridiculously impractical. I am still sort of breaking them in because they are a fair bit higher than I am used to. That said, they are beautiful and make me happy, and when you don't have much walking to do they're pretty glorious. You can just about see it in the photo, but the blue of the shoes is fairly similar to the lake blue in the print, so that's pretty cool!

Anyway, I was very happy to wear my gorgeous dress from Limb again and it's loose enough to comfortably fit in a big business lunch! After lunch I met my friend Lucy for a coffee and a chat in Vinteas before changing into some sensible shoes to go for a walk with Nic, and on to the pub with him and a friend. All in all, a successful day off.

I'll be in better form when I'm back later in the week, I promise!

Beauty doesn't last forever. It can be blown off your head.

Hello all! It's been quiet round here because I was ill for most of last week. Nothing that serious - and nothing serious enough to keep me off work - but a cold and sinusitis that made me feel pretty crappy. I am feeling a LOT better now, though. I had a busy week at work but I took Friday off and that extra day has just made me feel so relaxed and cheerful. I should try to do it more often. Nic was working on Friday morning so I spent a few hours sewing while watching (and crabbing about) Kirstie's Vintage Home. I knew from my twitter feed that I'd find it fairly unbearable, and I did. I won't get into it too deeply here but I'm always surprised by the seemingly endless appetite the British public have for being bossed about by posh people. It also kind of explains the appeal of Downton Abbey, which has totally passed me by.

Anyway, back to the sewing. My lovely friend Lucy bought herself some of the Michael Miller Springtime in Paris fabric and asked me would I make her a dress out of it. I don't often indulge in unselfish sewing, but I am pleased to do it for Lucy. After some deliberation we decided to go for a Retro Butterick pattern - B5748:

Now these ladies aren't as sassy as the ones on the sleeve of B5603 and, I confess, I found myself strangely disappointed that the styling on the Butterick website wasn't totally wacko. It's a bit frumpy but not too bad:

I know, it's all right, isn't it? Don't feel bad, though. Check out how gloriously WTF the styling of B5708 is:

"Do you know what? Don't even."

Ha! I actually do have this pattern, having scored it at the swap. This picture made me laugh so much I had to stuff my sleeve in my mouth. LOOK AT HER FACE! She is so unimpressed, but then who could blame her. I'd be afraid of getting too close to any naked flames in that monstrosity.

Anyway, yeah, back to the sewing. I thought I'd testdrive the pattern by making something for myself before I cut into Lucy's fabric, so I got out the Matroyshka print cotton I bought last week at the rag market meetup. The pattern itself looked pretty straightforward and I love the fact there are only four pattern pieces. But it took me ages to cut it out! The skirt is a full circle skirt and my fabric has a vertical repeating pattern so I had to do all sorts of jiggerypokery to get it to fit on the fabric with the print running the right way. I had enough fabric but I did have to cut the skirt shorter than the pattern pieces to fit it all in. Mind you, on a retro pattern this isn't much of an issue as the skirts are pretty long.

Slightly blurry - sorry! My vertical print fabric...

Now, once I'd figured out the cutting it was time to get down to the sewing. I can't really tell you if the instructions are straightforward because I took one look at them and was like...

I'll tell you why, too. I read through them and one of the suggestions was to sew the centre back seam closed and then unpick it to put the zip in. THE HELL? No thanks. Well anyway - the bodice was straightforward as was the skirt, so whatevers to you, Butterick. I hate unpicking.

I didn't make many alterations to the pattern. I cut a straight size 12, as I did with my B5603, but I decreased the seam allowance at the side seams to 3/8 rather than 5/8, and I shortened the shoulder straps considerably. Oh, and I only lined the bodice, not the whole dress. This is partly because I didn't have enough lining fabric to do a circle skirt in, but mainly because I wanted to wear the dress with a petticoat and lining would get in the way. When I make this again, I'll omit the lining in the skirt also. I sewed the bodice on Friday afternoon and did the rest of the dress yesterday. When you decide to ignore the nonsense directions and do it your own way, it's pretty darned quick!

The "One Good Turn" dress - Retro Butterick B5748 and Irregular Choice No Place Like Home shoes

I've named it the One Good Turn dress because the Matryoshka dolls made me think of the Kate Atkinson novel of the same name, and thinking about Jason Isaacs as Jackson Brodie doesn't hurt a bit. It's not perfect, fit-wise. I ran into my usual problem with high-necked garments, which was it is a bit too wide across my collarbone and wrinkles a bit at the top. I've signed up for a pattern drafting course which I'm sure will help me iron this problem out but it's fairly minor here and doesn't bother me. When I make this dress again I'm going to bring the neckline down by about an inch and a half, which will probably help.

That being said, I'm pretty darn happy with it overall. I love the fact that the circle skirt makes the direction on the dolls change as you move around the skirt. And I LOVE the circle skirt! It turns out I needn't have worried about cutting it shorter as this is the perfect length for me to wear with a petticoat underneath it. The fact that I went so much shorter meant that I only had a tiny hem allowance to play with, but I wanted some weight to the hem, so I hemmed the dress with some hot pink bias binding:

I also finished the skirt seams with bias binding because I thought it would look fun and also because I have never finished seams in this way, and I felt like trying something new.

The low scoop-back is one of the pretty details on this otherwise simple pattern and I'm fairly pleased with how it turned out - although, I do wonder if a bit of interfacing around the edges would help it to sit better. Well anyway 99.99% of the time I have a cardigan on, so it doesn't matter hugely on this particular make!

Sadly because the sleeve design is fairly ordinary I coudn't have much fun recreating it the way I did with B5603 but I did think it was only fair to give it a try.

Yeah, there's not that much you can do with that envelope. Darn it!

As I said, I'm really happy with how this dress came out. That bodice needs a bit of work but I can already tell you that I'll be making this one again and again. For Lucy's dress I'm going to bring the neckline down a fair bit. I'm also going to have to swap the skirt for a full gathered skirt instead of a circle skirt - the Springtime in Paris fabric has a horizontal pattern and it's not really wide enough to get a circle skirt out of it. But that's fine and I think it will suit Lucy a bit better that way, anyway. She has this darling baby blue pindot fabric to use as lining:

I would definitely recommend this pattern to other seamstresses, I think it's probably reasonably versatile. I think you do need to be either confident enough to ignore the instructions or patient enough to follow them, though. But overall, I'm happy with my investment, and I'm looking forward to trying out more of those Retro Butterick patterns.

For now though, I'm sewed out. Hand hemming a circle skirt is no joke. This evening I'm putting my feet up with a glass of wine and having an early night! See you all during the week. 

But you see, ten days ago you shot a man in Miami. Put it like this: you were in the first grade; bit a kid every week? They'd start to think of you as a biter.

Evening, folks! It's a cold, dreary, rainy Sunday and I am full of cold and feeling a bit bleurgh. But it could be worse because I have a blanket, and a hot water bottle, and cake. Colds really do suck, though - my sinuses hurt a LOT and sneezing kind of makes me want to cry. I'm hoping I'll feel better soon.

Anyway, it's been a pretty good weekend, all things considered. I worked from home on Friday, as usual, and was able to get out at lunchtime to see some friends. That was lovely, and I'm glad there was something good in the day because the particular task I was doing was very boring but I couldn't stop until I was finished - which I wasn't until 8pm. What didn't help matters at all was the fact that a local church started in on bell ringing at about 5 and didn't stop until nearly 8pm, by which time I was feeling like I was going mad. Poor Nic came home from seeing a friend to find me in tears of exhaustion and frustration. He made me dinner, I experimented with putting henna in my hair, had a bath and went to bed. All fixed. I hate it when work makes me cry.

Anyway. I was up early on Saturday to get over to Birmingham for a meet-up organised by Marie and Kat. I was joined by Charlotte and the weather was pretty disgusting when we left Leamington (in fact, it was pretty much as it is right now.) However, the sun was starting to peep its head out by the time we reached Birmingham, and after coffee and a croissant I was starting to peep my head out, too! We had arranged to meet at New Street and, when we got there, the ladies were waiting for us with personalised badges and little bags of cakes!

That gingham was no accident...

Once assembled, we headed down to the Bullring Markets to have a look around the stalls there while the sun still shone. There are quite a few fabric stalls and stalls selling trims dotted among the fruit stalls and they're well worth a poke around - there are some really interesting fabrics at very reasonable prices. I didn't buy anything myself there, but Char picked up some burgundy plaid for a tunic dress. The combination of the sunshine and the cheap fabric made lots of my sewing compatriots happy:

Here's Steph enjoying the animal print on offer...

I fared better inside, buying fabric I'd spotted back in May (but didn't have the money to buy) as well as some haberdashery from the brilliant Pete's Sew Good:

I don't generally enjoy puns, but Pete's really has an astonishing range of haberdashery at excellent prices, so I'm going to give him a pass here.

All shopped out, it was time for lunch and a swap at nearby Cafe Soya. Cafe Soya was the first restaurant I ever ate in in Birmingham! It was at the smaller branch, in the Arcadian, but still. I love that place, and I'd recommend it to anyone. The set lunch was a bargainous £6.95 and included tempura banana, so I was one very happy customer. After a whirlwind morning of shopping and gabbing, it was good just to sit down and take stock! The food was amazing, too. I had vegetarian Singapore Vermicelli - YUM.

After food, it was time to get down to the serious business of a swap. This WAS a serious affair - there were 15 of us, and one of those people was Claire, so there was a lot of stuff to swap! I had only brought one thing - a Very Easy Vogue pattern that I knew I'd never get around to making - but that was all good! There was much excitement around the table and I'm very happy with what I came home with (I'll show you in a bit)

 

Swap in progress. Katie brought about 17 frajillion vintage patterns!

Even Char came home with something, picking up a fantastic book of knitting patterns with unlikely celebrity endorsements...

Donald Pleasence: "If I had time I'd knit this jumper for my wife. A casual jumper looking so elegant is very rare to see these days."

Sidney James: "I like to see a dame in a red sweater. It's nice. I love it. My mate 'Ancock thinks it's a fair treat, too. Smashin'."

Not pictured - the celebrity endorsement by Andy Capp. SERIOUSLY.

Charlotte had to head home after lunch and the rest of us hit up Fancy Silk Stores - a Birmingham legend. I didn't buy anything here but drooled (not literally) over some gorgeous jade green wool crepe - it was £21 a metre but it'll be perfect for a Gertie wiggle dress at some point in the future. Winnie kindly agreed to snap a quick outfit shot for me among the bolts on the first floor:

Home Sewing is Easy dress and Vivienne Westwood for Melissa Ultragirl shoes - perfect for a day of fabric shopping!

You can see that Jade green wool crepe just to the right, there. The pink wasn't bad, either! Of course I had to wear my Home Sewing is Easy dress, the only shame was that the beauty was hidden all day by my coat! Ah well...

Marie got a photo of us all (minus Char) outside the store itself - 

Photo by Marie - from L-R here's me, Alice, Helen, Katie, Helen, Rachel, Mellie, Catherine, Amy, Suzy, Karen, Winnie, Steph, Claire and Kat

I should point out here that I don't know why I'm standing awkwardly with my hand over my tummy. I'm not pregnant. Not unless a noodle baby counts.

After some misdirection from me led us to the decidedly NOT FANCY "Fancy Fabrics" we headed to Barry's Fabrics on Moseley Street. Oh mummy, how did I never know this place was there?! Barry, I don't know who you are, but I salute you. Your fabric warehouse is CLASS. I dropped a few more pounds on some awesome fabrics and with that, I was done. We headed back into town, I bid my companions farewell and, after a quick stop at Urban Pie to bring home some pie for Nic, I was on my way home. I was low on funds and had started to lose my voice from all of the talking but man, what a fabulous day. I can't thank Marie and Kat enough for organising - it really was so much fun. And I should reiterate how wonderful these women are - friendly and sweet and funny and awesome!

So, what did I buy?! From the Rag Market itself I bought...

 

2.5 metres of this Matryoshka print cotton - this was the fabric I'd looked at earlier in the year. It wasn't the cheapest in the market and at £5 a metre was maybe a bit overpriced but I love the print. I'm thinking of using this for an experiment in pairing the bodice of Simplicity 2444 with a gathered skirt but I haven't totally made my mind up yet. 

Yeah, I couldn't not buy polka dots! I got 3 metres of this gorgeous pea-green polka dot polyester for £2 a metre. It has a fabulous drape and is really soft. I bought it thinking of using it for a Colette Chantilly but I think I might divert it for a New Look 6000...

Measuring tape fabric - this came from Barry's and was £5 a metre and I couldn't leave it behind! I have just bought Retro Butterick B5748 and I might use this to make it, if I have enough of it.

I also came home with 2 metres of this - which I know will make Amber wince...

Rock lobster, baby! I scored this in the swap, courtesy of Marie. I have no immediate plans for it, but fabric this fabulous will have to be paired with an amazing pattern. I also came home with:

Retro Butterick B5708 from the swap, some Rit dyes and a variety of zips from Pete's Sew Good

And that was my day! I got home, had dinner, put my pyjamas on and have basically been on the sofa ever since. But I'm looking forward to feeling a bit better and getting to work on sewing with some of these gorgeous fabrics. Not now, though. Now it's time for apple crumble and custard. Goodnight!

I'm outdoors, I'm wearing comfortable clothes, I'm gardening, and I'm learning Spanish!

So, yeah. I'm deep into another fairly manic work week but it's THURSDAY NIGHT BEBE and I'm working from home tomorrow. This week has also been sweetened by payday and, as well as having booked my flights back to Northern Ireland for Christmas, I took advantage of 15% off at Fabric Rehab (oh hai Amy, thanks!) to buy the pink version of the Alexander Henry From The Hip fabric that I made my Cowgirl Cambie out of. I'm still trying to decide what to make from it, but I bought 3 metres which is more than enough to make something fabulous.

So, I thought I'd show you all another one of the gorgeous dresses I got in my swap package from the delightful Sarah. I wore this on cold, windy Sunday for a day of running errands and an afternoon of hanging out with Char, watching Criminal Minds.

 Simplicity 2886, Jonathan Aston tights and Irregular Choice No Place Like Home heels

I was TOTALLY unaware of this pattern before Sarah's swap parcel arrived and I must confess that, if it had been down to the pattern envelope alone I would have swerved this. I mean:

Like, it's not as WTF as some of the Vogue Pattern envelopes (LLadybird is particularly eloquent on this topic) but this is pretty frumptastic. Which is a shame because the details are so adorable. I did an image search as well and there are some seriously gorgeous versions of it out there, including the one Sarah made for me, so I might very well add this pattern to my stash.

And like, the version Sarah made me is just too freaking adorable! I love the combination of the blue floral and the sweet polka dot accents. The slight sweetheart neckline is unusual and pretty (not that you can see it in that pattern envelope, the hell, Simplicity?!) It's all good.

As it was so cold, I wore it with this red cardigan, my No Place Like Home heels and these fabulous Jonathan Aston tights. My star-print tights died last week and these leaf-print ones seemed like a likely replacement. And, check it out, they have MAPLE LEAVES on them! Fitting for wear with a Canadian dress, and for spending time with a Canadian friend:

Again I think Sarah knocked it out of the park with this dress, I really do love it. She has my style pegged very well, clearly! This one will be perfect for keeping bright in the colder weather, especially as there's a bit of ease through the bodice so room to layer up underneath. Thanks again, Sarah!

I'm very excited that it's nearly the weekend. I have lunch tomorrow with my girls Hayles and Lauren, and on Saturday I'm hitting the rag market in Birmingham for a sewing and gossiping day out organised by Marie and Kat. Plus on Sunday I have a meeting with a local organisation to see about the possibility of running some local sewing workshops. AND I'm having a chippy tea tonight. YES!