Fundamentally, people are suckers for the truth. And the truth is on your side, Bubba.

Evening, evening! Now, first up - I drew the winner of the £50 ASOS giveaway at random, and the winner is Marie of A Stitching Odyssey! Congratulations, Marie! Appliances Online also sent me a £25 voucher to thank me for hosting the giveaway, and I put it towards that checked dress. It's so rare now that I will buy a new dress, but this one has been on my wish-list for an age, so I'm pretty happy about that. Hurrah!

Anyway, I hope everyone is having a good week. Mine got better today as it was payday, and I was finally able to do a couple of things I've needed to do: order the Anna dress pattern from By Hand London; book annual leave for August and flights home and book train tickets to the London meet-up on Saturday. I was also going to buy some shoes, but the pair I wanted had sold out in my size. Ah! More money for fabric, I suppose. I also bought a bottle of wine and some trifle because you have to have some treats, right?

So, on Friday last week Jo of The Amazing Taracat posted her latest make - a fabulous mash-up of two of my most favourite patterns, Sewaholic's Cambie dress and By Hand London's Elisalex. I was immediately seized with a powerful desire to also combine these two patterns - I even had some gingham in my stash if I wanted to shamelessly stalk poor Jo. I was working at home on Friday so as soon as I logged off at four o'clock, I got down to sewing! I decided not to use the gingham - which, to be fair, I already had ear-marked for another project - and went for some more eccentric Paris fabric. I must have been in the zone because by 7:15, I had a dress all finished apart from the hem. That's pretty fucking fast, even for me, but I was so enthusiastic! And here's what I made...

Rue des Poissionniers dress - a fabulous Cambie-Elisalex mash-up, worn with Irregular Choice Mermaid shoes and a vintage handbag

These two patterns are such a beautiful match - major MAJOR props to Jo for putting them together. I cut my regular size in both (size 8 Cambie bodice, size 12 Elisalex skirt) and the only adjustment I really had to make was around the pleats in the skirt. I just did as Jo did, and made them work with the darts on the front and back bodice pieces. Job done. It was super-easy, which is partly why it all came together so swiftly. I loves it!

The fabric came from Paris and it's another pretty eccentric print. Nic spotted it in Coupons Saint Pierre and I have to confess that I mainly bought it because it made me laugh for about five minutes. So, from a distance it looks pretty standard, like a map or a sea-chart. Up close, though, those "islands" are shaped like fish, and the writing all over it is either the names of types of fish, or just generally nonsensical names and terms. It's pretty surreal. I showed it to my friend Michael last week and after looking at it while I ragged on it, he said all seriously that he thought it was so weird it was beautiful. I'll take that.

I like this little shoal of islands. 

I have to say, though, I think it does look fab made up as a dress. My random Paris fabric selections have all turned out to be winners - I think I'm going to have to go back! And to always take Nic fabric shopping with me, because he has a good eye.

This isn't the best photo, but it gives you a better idea of the print

So, as I said, apart from the hemming I was able to sew this up very quickly. This is in large part down to the fact that I am extremely familiar with both patterns now. But I don't want you all thinking I was cutting corners or anything - I'm also pretty happy with how my dress is finished. The bodice is lined, as the Cambie dress is, and the skirt is unlined. I finished my skirt seams by pinking them:

As I usually sew with cotton, my preferred seam finish has been turning and stitching. However, I've recently been really enjoying pinking seams. I think it looks so neat and pretty and it holds up well - I have seen vintage dresses that are forty or fifty years old that have pinked seams and that are still going strong! 

I finished the dress on Sunday when I hemmed the skirt by hand, and then I put it on and headed down to the Pump Room Gardens to the fair. I love the fair, although it's a bit crap this year. I mainly just like eating candyfloss and going on the waltzers:

PENIS CANDYFLOSS. I'd like to say it looked less like a penis in real life but I honestly don't know. I was too busy eating it and trying to keep it out of my hair. Still though, this is a pretty convincing cock and balls candyfloss, isn't it? And all for the low, low price of £2. Bargain.

Here's a slightly more dignified picture of the bodice. It's not as funny, though, is it?

I've paired the Elisalex bodice with loads of other skirts, but until Jo posted her Cambilex dress, I hadn't thought of using the skirt in other iterations. I will again though, because I really LOVE the exaggerated shape of the skirt. I know it's not to everyone's taste, but I love the tulip shape. It looks great from behind, in my opinion:

BOOM

Hi, that zip does look better in real life. Just FYI. Look at those pleats, though, aren't they fabulous? I love this skirt pattern, for real. I also love that, for once, the bandstand wasn't full of teenagers so I could pose there. Thanks, teenagers. I guess you were all pretty busy on the extra-scary rides at the fair.

And that's that. Cambie and Elisalex. Two great tastes that taste great together. Thanks for the tip, Jo!

When people get a little too chummy with me, I like to call them by the wrong name to let them know I don't really care about them.

A couple of weeks ago, I got an email from Minerva Crafts, which said "would you like us to send you everything you need to make a dress?" Perhaps unsurprisingly, my answer was something along the lines of ''OH HOLY WUT YES PLEASE WHERE DO I SIGN?" I mean, it's not like I got into blogging to get free stuff. But I'm only human, and free stuff is nice, and working with companies is pretty lovely too. It took me a couple of days to get back to Minerva with my shopping list, because their selection is enormous and also the filtering options on their website? Well, they could be a lot better. But anyway, here's what I asked for:

Vogue Vintage V8789 from 1957 -
I am very amused by the faces on both of the ladies on the pattern envelope here. B looks drunk, and A looks like she's just smelled something awful. Or maybe she's just noticed that her left hand is totally deformed? Look at that claw!

To make it, I chose 3 metres of this Peacock print cotton lawn, from the dress fabric section of the website. Minerva Crafts also sent me the zip I needed for this project. I chose this Vogue pattern mainly because I've been curious about these reprinted vintage patterns, and because I've had good experiences with the Butterick retro reissues. The people at Vogue seem to be better at making the patterns look appealing, as well. I really like the Josephine Kimberling for Robert Kaufmann fabric that the model is wearing in the product shot:

Cute, eh? Except for the fug shiny pink cummerbund thing. But I am very prejudiced against fabric sashes of any kind, so feel free to pay that no mind! Anyway, I think I will look for a fabric with a similar directional print for a future make, but this time round I needed the peacock feathers. I had been invited to a Cluedo-themed party, with the instruction to come dressed as Mrs Peacock. So, I obliged:

Ms. Peacock dress, worn with blue Pin-up Couture belt, Irregular Choice Cortesan shoes and vintage vinyl handbag

That's Ms. Peacock, though. I'm not ever going to be Mrs. anybody. 

So the fabric itself was lovely to work with. The fabric requirements on the pattern envelope are bloody shocking, and suggested I'd need over 5 metres of fabric for this. I asked Minerva for 3 (the fabric is 60" wide) and it was MORE than enough. This is partly because I drastically reduced the skirt - the pattern directs you to cut four massive rectangles of fabric and gather them. I'm no stranger to a gathered skirt, but when I calculated the width of the skirt and thought about how much gathering that would be, I thought, fuck this shit, and made the skirt out of two of the panels. You can see in the photo above that it is still pretty tightly gathered, I genuinely can't imagine how the skirt as drafted would fit! So that's a little tip to anyone thinking of making this dress. It'll save you a buttload of fabric (and money, probably) and I still ended up with a skirt that's more than full enough to handle a full fluffy crinoline underneath! I probably could have got away with using even less fabric if I had measured the skirt length before I cut the fabric, but I obviously wasn't thinking. The length of the skirt pieces provided gave me a skirt that was ankle length! I ended up cutting over 10 inches off the length - but I still think I got a pretty authentic looking late 50's shape.

I only got a few photos before my camera battery died, and they're all pretty similar, sorry dudes!

As you can see, I made view A and it was really easy, and it came together very quickly. The bodice is unlined but it has this really nifty thing where the facing is part of the main piece of fabric - you just fold it down and slip-stitch it in place. There are armhole facings but I couldn't get them to lie flat so I unpicked them, and faced the armholes with some pale grey bias-binding I had in my stash. The dress zips at the side, and I put in a lapped zip.

I didn't make any adjustments but, if I were to make this again I would shorten the bodice by an inch. The shoulders are loose, but I think this is more to do with the length of the bodice than the seams at the shoulders. I might be wrong, but I'll play with it a bit and see where it gets me. For this dress I'm not so fussed because it's a party dress, and probably not one I'll wear all that often. That said, the fabric is really gorgeous to wear! When I finished the dress earlier in the week I didn't love it, but having worn it I do like it a lot more and I love the print.

I also really like the shape, so I will make another one of these, and get the fit a bit closer!

Thank you so much to Minerva Crafts for their generosity - I was so thrilled to be given this opportunity, and I am pretty pleased overall with my new party frock!

Sadly, I had to leave the party early last night because I was feeling really unwell. I've been feeling a bit grotty all week and it's just catching up to me now. I've spent today in maximum comfort, lounging around in a jersey maxi dress, letting Nic supply me with many many cups of tea. Hopefully I'll be a bit more chirpy tomorrow. So, with that, I'm going to get back to lazing! Don't forget that there's still time to win a £50 ASOS voucher, though!

Your boos are not scaring me. I know most of you are not ghosts.

Hello! How's everybody's week going? I'm having yet another busy one, but a fruitful one all the same.   Things are good! Thank you to everyone who commented on my post about, or emailed me about what happened on my way to work last Thursday. I'm fine now, and feeling a lot better about the whole thing. I reported the incident to the British Transport Police, who were really good and took it very seriously, and I'm just waiting to see what they can turn up on the CCTV. I am just feeling a lot better about having reported it, and more in control. But I just wanted to let you know that I'm fine, and to thank you all for your kind thoughts.

So anyway, it's the pretty dresses that you all come for, right? And I have a very special pretty dress to show you all today. When I went along to the Epic Sewing Blogger Meet-up on 20th April, I had the absolute privilege of meeting Sew Busy Lizzy in real life.

Me and the darling Lizzy

In this photo, Lizzy has just given me some fabric. It came the whole way from Australia with her, and she'd bought it for me when I was having a tough time at work. When she gave it to me, she said it was happy fabric to make a happy dress, to wear when I needed to feel happy. I was so touched by this thought, and by her kindness. Not just because of the gift, I should say, but for her friendship during a difficult time. This fabric will always be very special to me. Now, my initial plan was to make Cambie number 376 with it, but my latest dress-shaped love seemed to be the ideal plan for this fabric. So, lo and behold, the Promised Land dress was born:

The Promised Land dress - Elisalex bodice by By Hand London and a pleated skirt - worn here with Irregular Choice Mermaid shoes

As the fabric is both from Australia and Australia-themed (close-up photos coming up) I wanted the name to reflect that. I was intitally going to name it after Keitha...

...but Nic pointed out that this might not be very polite. So instead, it's named after That Time When Morse and Lewis  Have To Go To Australia - Promised Land:

I couldn't find a good picture of Morse and Lewis down under so here's one of them that's very unflattering. Consider it a little treat for the people who find my blog by doing an image search for Kevin Whatley. EVERY DAY.

Anyway, I love this dress a whole bunch. I wasn't in need of cheering up when I wore it on Sunday because I had a perfectly lovely day and life is good. But it's good to know it's there when I need it. The fabric is lovely - it's cotton poplin with not much drape to it, and it's covered in a fun print of Sydney Harbour!

Here's a little shot of the bodice. Now, I've never been to Sydney so I'm not sure what that face is. I love the boats, though, and the zoo. DAT GIRAFFE.

There's the Sydney Opera House! And the Harbour Bridge!

And here's a dolphin. Do dolphins live in Sydney Harbour? I don't care. I get the impression that dolphins are kind of assholes, so it pleases me that one is on this dress, and the same size as the Giraffe. Killer Asshole Dolphins!

So, yeah, I'm pretty happy with my dress. No, I'm really happy with it - this fabric is perfect with this dress, and wearing it makes me really happy!

I was having a good hair day on Sunday...

It also goes perfectly with my green satchel. Not pictured is how perfectly it goes with the yellow and blue ones I got from Berylune

Thank you SO much for this fabric, Lizzy! I love it a whole bunch. It's made it to the top of my Top 5 Australian Exports list:

1. This fabric

2. Pugwall's Summer

3. John Noble

4. The theme tune from Sons and Daughters

5. Round The Twist

Dudes, Doctor Who totally stole your idea...

In case you're wondering, the reason why the totally awesome Alan Dale isn't on that list is that I recently found out he's not actually Australian. He's a Kiwi! That news rocked my world, I don't mind telling you. I still think he's awesome, and I also love all you Kiwis, right?

Anyway, I've talked a whole lot of crap this evening. But sewing people really really ARE the best, and Lizzy is a pretty special one. Thank you SO much, Lizzy!

Okay, one more photo. Here's me with Mowgli:

Um, okay?

That's your lot for now. But don't forget, there's still time for you to enter my giveaway to win a £50 ASOS voucher!

Dan's a fantastic man. I was talking to him earlier and he asked what kind of phone I had. I said a Motorola Timeport and he said "that's saaaaaad, you want to upgrade!" I said so do you, to a new face. He nearly soiled himself.

Hello loves! Monday has rolled around yet again, but I'm hoping I can put a bit of sweetness into your Monday with a little giveaway. The people from Appliances Online got in touch with me last week and gave me a £50 ASOS voucher to give away to one lucky reader. I know, it seems a bit random, but they said to me that their ethos is to make people happy, and that this might make people happy. So, that's pretty neat, right? Unfortunately, I can't enter my own giveaway, because I already have figured out how I'd spend that voucher - I'd put it towards this dress:

Skater dress in check print - £55 from ASOS

Sadly, I can't enter my own giveaway, but you can. All you need to do is leave me a comment, including your email address, telling me you'd like to win. You can have a bonus entry if you tweet about the giveaway, but you'll need to include me in the tweet (@dolly_clackett) and leave me an additional comment to say you've done so. The giveaway is open worldwide but the voucher is in sterling and will need to be spent in sterling. Someone from Applicances Online will get in touch with the winner via email to sort out the voucher. The giveaway is open until 9pm BST on Monday 29th July 2013.

So, that's the craic there. I hope everyone had a good weekend - I had a lovely, relaxing weekend.  Nic and I went to the park for a boozy picnic on Friday night with some friends, including Emily and Amy from Berylune. It was a wonderful way to round off the week and we ended up staying out very late and drinking a lot of cava. I wasn't hung over on Saturday but I was in the mood to do precisely nothing, so except for going out to get some food all I did all day was lounge around with Nic.

Saturday 20th July 2013 - Bettie Page 'Cheers' dress, red cardigan from Braderie and Topshop ruffle shoes, courtesy of Sarah

These lovely red Topshop shoes were one of the seven pairs Sarah gave me last weekend. Aren't they beautiful? Thank you, Sarah! 

Okay,  I'm off for this evening. I have a dress to finish and a bag of ice to cuddle. See you around the way!

Business drunk is like rich drunk. Either way, it's legal to drive.

It's Friday everyone! Hurrah! I'm extremely happy about this because this is the first weekend for ages that I have no plans. I've had a really fun few months but I can't lie, the prospect of a couple of totally free days with no obligations is really pleasing. I have already cut out my next sewing project - not that I'm going to spend the whole weekend sewing - and this afternoon I'm going to get stocked up on gin and cava. Sewing and drinking. That's living the dream!

It's been a funny week. I've had a good week and work and at home. Some of you who follow me on twitter will know though, that yesterday I had a horrible experience on my way to work. I was groped by a man on the train when I was on my way to work, and it was very distressing. I don't want to go into all of the details here but the experience was very surprising. It didn't surprise me that it happened, or even that it happened to me, but my reaction surprised me. I suppose I've always thought that I'd get really angry if something like that happened. I did get really angry but first of all, I was really afraid. I froze, and I didn't say anything about it, despite being on a crowded train. I was too afraid to. I was afraid if, I spoke out, the man would hurt me. I was afraid that if he got off the train at my stop, he'd follow me and hurt me. When I got off the train at my stop and he stayed on, I felt so confused and ashamed by my reaction. I talked to Nic, and I talked to some of my lovely twitter friends, and I got into work and explained what happened to my colleagues. I called the British Transport Police and reported the incident, and I started to feel better. I understand that it's unlikely that anything will happen - apparently Cross Country Trains only have CCTV in one carriage of their shitty trains - but at least it's recorded (with a detailed description of the pervert) so if someone complains about him again then at least there's a pattern recorded. Still, though. It was fucking horrible. Really.

So it's a bit weird for me to write about this here, maybe, but it also feels weird not to mention it. So thanks for listening - now, on to the pretty dresses!

I've had an eye on Deer and Doe patterns for a while now, and I'd been slowly falling in love with the Belladone dress. Seeing beautiful versions by Anna, Sonje, Jo and Amanda had a cumulative effect and when I got paid at the end of last month I bought myself a copy. First up, I should say that the packaging is BEAUTIFUL. I know that makes me sound shallow but, damn! It felt like a real treat to get this pattern in the post. It's By Hand London levels of packaging beauty. This stuff is ruining me for regular patterns, for real. And for £12, you know, you're not paying the earth there either.

The pattern itself is lovely, and it comes together so quickly! I sewed this up in a few hours, although admittedly this is partly because I finished my seams by pinking them, which is really fast. I love pinked seams though - they're so retro and neat!

The Cosmopolitan dress - Deer and Doe Belladone dress - worn with Vivienne Westwood for Melissa Lady Dragon shoes and a vintage straw handbag

Ooh would you look at that smug wee face! I'm very happy with this dress. I cut a straight size 38 and the only alteration I made was to the length - I cut the length of the largest size because I'm funny about skirt lengths. I never think anything is too short on anyone else, but anything much more than an inch above the knee feels indecent on me. Looking at this, I think future iterations of this dress would benefit from the front neckline being lowered a bit as there's some wrinkling there:

Bodice view and happy face

This pretty floral cotton came from my trip to London to meet Anneke, Solvi, Kathryn and Zoe. I bought it in The Shop on Cheshire Street and got 2 yards for £8 - although it's not quite 45 inches wide, so it's possible to make this dress out of a small amount of fabric! I had the hot pink bias binding in my stash because I love bias binding and I always have a ton of it. I named the dress the Cosmopolitan dress after the international nature of our meet-up, and the fact that this is a French pattern! It's so lovely to have fabric with a happy memory attached to it, and wearing this will always remind me of a truly excellent day out.

The slash pockets on this dress are totally adorable but they're not very deep, so I look a bit goony here.

One of the very cute things about this pattern is how it's all business in the front and then - boom! Party in the back:

Adorable cut-out detail

There's a bit of wrinkling across the back bodice which suggests the fitting here might need a bit of work - but to be honest, this isn't something I'm going to lose much sleep over. Strangely enough the zip looks fine in real life so I'm happy enough, and the dress isn't tight. And look at the little cut-out!

The instructions include directions for finishing the edges of the cut-out with bias binding, which is really pretty. I decided not to do it here, because the pink bias binding I had wasn't an exact colour match for any of the flowers in the print. When I lined it all up, it just looked too much. 

I wore this dress on Sunday to go for coffee and a look in the shops with two of my best friends. The dress was lovely and cool and unrumpled in the heat, although I did put on a cardigan so my back wouldn't burn in the cut-out bit! The shoes are also kind of new - more Melissa shoes, in a colourway I've been after for a while. Pretty!

Apparently this colour is 'lychee' but I'm not so sure. I like it, though.

So, yes, the Belladone dress is a lovely pattern and I shall certainly make it again.  I don't 100% love this dress, but I do like it a lot. In fact I think it will probably grow on me as I wear it because I really do love the fabric. The pattern itself is just adorable, and I can highly recommend it. I may even have my eye on the Bleuet dress because dat bow! It's too sweet.

And now, it's almost the weekend so I am off - I'm having a picnic tonight, and it will almost certainly involve olives and that alcohol I mentioned earlier. Come back on Monday though, for that giveaway I was hinting at - it's going to be a good one!

Well, I only wear designer labels. These are Jamie Foxx for Assfarm.

Yo dudes, what is up?! I can't quite believe it is only Wednesday, but there we are. It feels a bit back-to-front to show this dress to you now, as it was initially a kind of test garment for my Dolly Holiday dress. But I made the Dolly Holiday dress immediately after this one, and wore it first so that's basically the craic there then. As I explained in my post about that dress, this came about as a result of a brainwave telling me to pair the bodice of the Elisalex dress with the skirt from NL6824. I wanted to see how they looked together, and so the La Chouette dress was born!

La Chouette dress and Irregular Choice Mighty Monster shoes

While I knew that the bodice and skirt would physically fit together, having measured the pattern pieces, I wasn't sure how they'd actually look together. So this is where this rather delightfully random owl fabric came in. As with the Dogs of Shame fabric, I bought this from Tissus Toto. You can see why the man thought I'd buy any old shite, right? In my defence, I could see even then that this fabric would look better as a garment than it did as a length of fabric. Nevertheless, it did make the man in Toto shake his head as I handed over my money!

Skirt detail. Yeah, that's an enormous cartoon owl sitting on a park bench right there. The owl IS wearing a bowtie because, duh. It's after 6 o'clock and what is he, a farmer?

In terms of construction, there isn't anything different here from the Dolly Holiday dress, except I hemmed this dress a bit shorter. It felt like it'd work better a bit shorter, because the print is extra crazy. I really love this combination of bodice and skirt, as it echoes all of the design elements I love about those beautiful Limb dresses while being a bit different. Also, you know, I have the enjoyment of sewing it for myself. I've already made another variation on this dress - this time a sleeveless one - which I'll post about next week. As I have said a few times before, one of the things I really love about sewing is being able to make exactly the dresses I want - even if it means making those dresses over and over again!

Back view. This may be the first time I've posted one of these where I haven't winced. I guess this shape works for me!

This is me saying "We can go to pub now please?" and then we DID go to the pub.

Anyway, I had planned to write a bit more this evening but I have a horrible headache and it's making my mind go a bit blank! But I wore this dress last Friday on my day off, which was lovely, and these photos were taken after a day in the sweltering heat, pottering around town with V and then sewing all afternoon, and it's hardly even creased. WIN!

So apart from the headache - which is down to the humidity, I think - things are pretty good round here.  I'm feeling pretty mellow and enjoying this lovely weather, and making lots of fun plans. And I'm afraid that's me having run out of words for now. But I will be back soon with some more dresses and an exciting, non-sewing related giveaway! So, goodnight for now.

Not my words, Carol. The words of Top Gear Magazine.

Hello strangers! There's been a bit of an unintended hiatus round here lately. Partly this is due to the uncommonly good weather we've been having, and partly it's because life has still been pretty hectic. Still, things are good and I'm happy and all is well. Hurrah!

First things - thank you to all of you who commented on my Simplicity Patterns giveaway post. It was really pleasing how many people commented to say that they also love Simplicity 2444! I've finally drawn the winners - I don't have one of those random number things, so I made two lists (one for the smaller size, one for the larger size), numbered them, and then asked Nic to pick a number at random. The winner of the size 4-12 pattern is Lize and the winner of the size 12-20 pattern is Amy Cakes. Ladies, if you could email me with your addresses I'll get those posted out to you as soon as possible!

So, yeah - as I said, life has been pretty busy recently. It's all so much easier to deal with when the weather is so beautiful, though. Nic and I have had a few absolutely lovely jaunts in the sunshine. A week ago on Friday, I was working from home. Nic was out all day and, when he got home, we walked across the fields to the Saxon Mill for a drink in the sunshine:

Friday 5th July 2013 - Hell Bunny 'Larissa' dress, flat shoes from Miss Selfridge and sunglasses from Topshop - satchel from Zatchels, available from Berylune

Aww, I love this dress. I wore it around the house during the day while I was working, and when I popped out to the post office at lunchtime, two old ladies stopped me to tell me how nice I looked! I am seriously struggling at the moment to get photos where I don't look like a total derp, though. I mean, with this face, that's a problem I've always had - it just feels a bit more extreme at the moment! Also, I threw these shoes in the bin when I got home. They cut my feet to ribbons, even with lots of blister rub. Sigh. We had a lovely time at the Saxon Mill, however. I love how the walk across the fields is different every time. The pub itself isn't very nice, but the approach to it is beautiful and it's a real treat to sit outside by the river. The approach is beautiful, too, with a gorgeous bridge over the weir.

Warwickshire is so beautiful! I think my heart really belongs in this county.

On the bridge at the Saxon Mill

I'm afraid the rest of the last few weeks has been a bit of a blur. As I keep saying, work has been really busy. I think we're getting into a slightly quieter period now in so far as I have a lot to do, but the deadlines aren't quite so immediate. I'm still enjoying the new job, and even the bits that are stressful are made much less so because I work with such lovely people. That being said, it's all pretty knackering and it's hard to know when I am going to be able to take some time off. I had this past Friday off, having accrued a load of flexi-time, and it was lovely just to have a day of total rest!

With a long weekend, I was able to fit in lots of socialising and even a bit of sewing. Our friend Charlotte came round on Thursday evening to help us drink some cava and to give us the last few episodes of Hannibal to watch. My word, Hannibal is an absolute trip - I started out being very dubious about it but ended up being completely and utterly gripped, and with a weird crush on Mads Mikklesen! On Friday my lovely friend V was in town, so we had a poke around in Berylune and lunch in Vinteas. On Saturday, I was off to Warwick. The lovely Sarah of A Million Dresses asked me a few weeks ago if I'd like to join her and some other blogging ladies for a day out at Warwick Castle, ending in a picnic at Warwick Proms. Sarah and I have been chatting over twitter for an absolute age now, and had the chance to meet at the Berylune Etsy Craft party at the end of June, so I jumped at the chance. I was especially keen to have the chance to meet lots of bloggers in person, many of whose blogs I've been reading for ages! The line-up included Char of T-Rexes and Tiaras, Sarah of Essbeevee, Gemma of Fat Frocks, A Rosie Outlook and Alex of Odd Socks and Pretty Frocks.

I met the ladies on Saturday early afternoon, in Warwick town centre, and we had lunch before going back to Sarah's lovely new house for a while. It was so nice to meet such lovely new people - although, having read their blogs for a while, they didn't feel like strangers really! I must confess though to feeling terribly shy and socially awkward for most of the day, which is very unlike me. It was due, in large part, to the fact that I felt like a sweaty monster so I wanted to avoid the camera! Also, it was because I was new in a group of people who all know each other really well, and that always feels a bit awkward. It's silly though, because I had such a laugh and really enjoyed everyone's company, and naturally enough found that I had a lot in common with these stylish, professional, interesting women.

I didn't manage to take a lot of photos because I was busy gabbing for most of the day, but here's a Warwick Castle sandcastle at Warwick Castle:

Warwick... sandcastle?

Char and Sarah took tired old me home at midnight, and I went to bed feeling very pleased with my lovely day out, and feeling like I'd made a few really lovely friends. I was also feeling pretty excited because Sarah gave me seven - yes, SEVEN pairs of shoes... but that's really a story for another day!

Sometimes I sit back and wonder just what the hell I am doing blogging - putting my life on the internet for people to read and participate in - and then I start to feel a bit weird about the whole thing. It never lasts long though because so many happy things have happened in my life as a result of blogging and tweeting. I have met some really brilliant people, and had lovely experiences. I've developed a passion for sewing, and met so many inspiring people who have taught me so much. I've mostly stopped caring about having a big derpy face. I've learned the power of the gif. It's made me a stronger, saner, happier person. That's pretty fucking special, AMIRITE?! I mean, the internet is full of weirdos and perverts, it's true. I'm one of them, probably. But it's also full of people who are cool as fuck. I'll take that. 

Right, it's Sunday. I gots some sewing to do. Laters, folks!

Jet from Gladiators to host a barn dance at Yeovil Aerodrome. Properly policed. It must not, I repeat NOT, turn into an all-night rave.

Hola lovers! Apologies for my absence - things got very busy here in Clackett Mansions - mainly work, but some fun too. Maybe I should catch up in chronological order but I'm what they call a maverick so, I'm not going to. I know how to live on the edge, me.

So anyway - yes, my work has been super busy and Nic was really busy too, so the last couple of weeks have been pretty much a blur. I did manage to get some sewing done in that time though, and some socialising as well. Last month Clare of Sew Dixie Lou invited me and Nic to a little dance party that she was going to be having at her flat on 6th July. Well. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to meet Robot Don and Mr S, could I? I was also pretty gutted to have had to miss out on the By Hand London Club Tropicana party due to having to WORK ON A SATURDAY. I was all ready to party. I just had to make a new dress. Well, obviously.

As usual, I had some inspiration. A couple of weeks ago my friend Lauren tweeted me to say she was in the Limb shop in Manchester. Her twitpic of the rails and rails of beautiful dresses reminded me of a sewing plan that's been on the back burner for the while - to make my own version of this beauty:

Limb Day dress

You may recognise the fabric  - it's From The Hip by Alexander Henry, and a firm favourite of mine. So much so, I've already made two dresses from  it, my Cowgirl Cambie and my Calamity Jane dresses. So I really couldn't resist the red colourway. After making the Toto dress last week, I had a sudden thought that maybe the pleated skirt of NL6824 could be paired up with the bodice of Elisalex to make a beautiful mashup. I measured the pattern pieces and they fit, and I made one as a test garment - which is awesome, but which I haven't photographed yet. Then it was time for cowgirls! 

The Dolly Holiday dress - Elisalex bodice and skirt from NL6824

This bodice really is the absolute shiz. I love it so much, and I love how it works with the lovely, full pleated skirt from New Look 6824. There's not much to say about it because I followed the bodice instructions from Elisalex, the skirt instructions from the NL pattern and blammo, I had a dress that I loved! It was really too hot to wear it on Saturday, but it was really too hot for anything. 

I was posing with the beautiful Leamington Spa sign, but I was tickled to find that I was also standing in front of a sign that read 'Loco' like, fair enough.

I named it the Dolly Holiday dress, after one of my favourite books - The Dolly Holiday by Anne Dunlop. Helen Gordon is one of those characters that got under my skin at an early age, and I think she's marvellous. After finally sleeping with her unrequited love, the cold and distant Richard, Helen decides to move on. She gets a job in a Wild West Theme Park in Portrush. 

"Sandra had helpfully highlighted the one suitable job for this week. Assistant to an Assistant at the newly opened three million pound European grant-aided Wild West Theme Park in Portrush. 

She advises that I read Last of the Mohicans, Sarah will brief me on Little House on The Prairie and I will watch all of Daddy's John Wayne movies.

I felt excited about the Assistant to the Assistant position. Perhaps I will be dressed like a cowgirl, or better still, a whore in a saloon bar. Fulfilment of my kinkiest fantasies."

I guess that's all pretty meaningless if you haven't read the books but Helen has been important to me over the years, I'm glad to be able to pay her some small tribute.

A little close-up of the bodice, and the wrong side of the tracks.

Anyhow, Nic and I caught the train to London on Saturday morning and before long we were south of the river at Clare's house - where we were joined by fellow Spoolettes Rehanon, Emmie, Nicole, Alison, Jo, Fiona, Sally and Amy. Mr S was there too, and so was Alan:

Ooooooh SEX

Anyway, what I'd like to do is show you lots of photos of us in our handmade best, looking gorgeous. I'd like to do that but I can't, because a combination of drinking in the daytime, the heat, the dance floor and the excitement kind of did me in. Nic took lots of drunken blurry photos of the walls and stuff, but you probably don't need to see that.

Ah-ha!

This photo makes me laugh so much, but it might give you an idea of the dancefloor action. There are also about a million photos of Clare dancing her ass actually OFF, but really I don't think she'd welcome me putting them on the internet. Oh go on, just one then, because she was fabulous. This is honestly the least obscene one.

She's my PA. Hard worker, but there's no affection there.

So anyway, Nic and I had planned to take the train back home to Leamington on Saturday night. However, I basically got completely shitfaced and after falling asleep on Clare's bathroom floor, and then the floor of her hallway (you stay classy, Roisin!) I had to admit defeat somewhat. Clare and Sally got me and Nic to bed - they put me in pyjamas, Sally rubbed my back while I was being sick into a bucket and then Clare took my eye make-up off for me! Rehanon did a corner-shop dash to get us some fizzy drinks to settle our stomachs in the middle of the night. I was a fucking mess, in short, and Nic wasn't much better and we were so well looked after. If you ever needed proof that people who sew are awesome, Clare even took my earrings out before I went to sleep. 

Anyway, it was a really excellent party and Nic and I dragged our carcasses home yesterday morning. We spent the rest of the day hanging out in the shade at home, it was lovely. And, having both had a really intense few weeks, we spent a lot of yesterday feeling really bloody lucky to have had such brilliant people to have fun with. Learning to sew has made my life better in so many ways, but I never could have anticipated the really amazing friends it could help me to make. FUCK YEAH SEWING, in essence. 

I will catch you all up on the rest of the last week or so shortly - and tomorrow I'll draw the winners of my Simplicity 2444 giveaway! But for now, goodnight.