Sorry, Ted. I was concentrating too hard on looking holy.

Hi everyone! Or, as we like to say here in Northern Ireland, 'BOUT YE? I'm having a very happy and relaxing time here at my parents' house. Nic and I haven't been up to much apart from spending time with my family, and watching all manner of trashy TV. It's been just what I've wanted.

My home town of Dungannon has been really improving over the last few years. A lot of work has gone into celebrating the town's rich history, and a beautiful new visitor centre has opened in the Market Square, in Ranfurly House. We popped in on Tuesday afternoon for a coffee in the tearooms there, and because Daddy wanted me to meet the Dungannon Cow:

The Dungannon Cow. It's pretty cool, and my dad was very excited for me to see it! 

The Dungannon Cow...and a sculpture.

Art isn't art in Ireland unless it is cow-themed. Just so you know.

Anyway, it's good to be home. I'm not even missing my sewing machine - although I will be looking in the fabric shops in Belfast later this week. Well, if I can tear myself away from my Boojum burrito, that is. I did a little bit of sewing on Saturday so I could have a new handmade dress to wear at home! No, really a little bit of sewing on Saturday afternoon was a reward to myself for a very busy week at work, and because I wanted another By Hand London Anna dress. I went into Royal Fabrics on my way home from work on Friday looking for some star-print cotton. I wanted navy but only had red, pink and black to choose from - so I bought two metres of the red and a matching zip. 

Tonight We Fly dress - By Hand London Anna dress. If you feel like you want to sew your own, those talented ladies will be running a sewalong starting on 16th September.

I knew when I bought the red star print that I was running the risk of it looking very similar to my red polka dot Anna dress. And, I mean, it does. I am becoming a bit ridiculous now, I know. I made a small attempt at making this dress a little different by giving it a lapped zip rather than a concealed one, and I made this dress a fair bit shorter. But really, I don't care that much about having two similar dresses.

My sister has already asked me to make one of these for her. 

It wouldn't be a trip home without being photobombed by the dog. Her name is Mini, and my mum decided the other night that her middle name is Patricia.

Getting the approval of the dog is important. Her opinion carries a lot of weight round here. I don't think she's that fussed though, as she was busy scratching here.

I think it just about passes the small dog test. She was equally unfussed by my shoes, as you can see...

"I don't think you're going to be able to take me for a long walk in those high heels. Mini seal of approval DECLINED."

Whatever, Mini. I like them.
.

Irregular Choice IC O'Clock heels 

Nic and I went back into town today to spend a bit more time in Ranfurly House, learning about The Flight of the Earls, and had an explore around Castle Hill. This part of the town was closed to the public for most of my life, as it was the site of an army barracks. It closed a number of years ago, and an archaeological dig took place on the hill - in ancient times, Dungannon was the capital of Ireland, and the site is significant for that reason. The visitor centre is mostly devoted to what the town was like in the 17th Century, although the settlement is much older. There's a Wall of Fame - which has some spaces for nominations...

All right. I'm not as famous as Philomena Begley. YET.

It was a delight to explore around Castle Hill. I mean, there's not much up there, but it's such a treat to be able to get up there at all. And the view is incredible:

View from Castle Hill, Dungannon  - those are the Cooley Hills you can see on the horizon.

The ruins on top of Castle Hill

Obviously on a clearer day, the view would be better, and it doesn't necessarily translate brilliantly to photograph, but it was certainly beautiful. It's good to come on holiday to my home town - it helps me to see it through new eyes, and appreciate what a beautiful part of the world I was brought up in. Hopefully I'll be able to get back up there before we have to go back to Leamington on Sunday.

Anyway, that's me for this evening. That trashy TV isn't going to watch itself, you know. I'll leave you with a bonus photo of the dog, because I'm good like that.

Mini Patricia Muldoon

Oh god, Ted. We had to strip her of her title. We found out she'd been in a film called 'Stallion Farm'

Evening evening. I am super-cool this evening. Nic is out at a gig, and I'm in bed watching The West Wing with a glass of wine. It's good though, because I am on holiday. Hurrah!

I had a ridiculously busy week at work, so I was extremely glad when Friday night rolled round, not least because I had made plans with my friend Fiona to go to a local pub that has an extensive gin menu, to sample some of their fancy gins. Yes, I know I wrote about gin in my last post! But I have a long-standing relationship with gin, and there seems to be something about gin and seamstresses that goes together. Also, when I was in on Wednesday I was only able to try one of the 14 gins on offer, so I had to rectify that.

By the time Nic and I were heading out the door, the weather had brightened up and I had got myself dolled up as well:

    Feckin' Birds dress, Irregular Choice 'Swallow' court shoes and vintage vinyl handbag

I love these shoes. I bought them when I was at home at Christmas and although they have quite a busy pattern, they still seem to go with everything. In this case, they clash with my dress, but I think in a good way. Plus, you know, birds!

Disclosure: these may not actually be swallows.

Nic and I had dinner in the pub and had some gin before Fiona and her boyfriend joined us. All of the gin drinks on the menu are gin and tonic, but with different gins and different garnishes. It's nice. A bit gimmicky, but I enjoy a good gin and tonic:

'Wrath' and 'Greed' 

Nic had 'Wrath', which was Bulldog British Dry Gin, garnished with star anise. I had 'Greed', which was Botanist Gin garnished with a lemon twist and some thyme. Fiona told me later that this gin is distilled on Islay, and that it's a great favourite of hers. I can see why.

Hello, lover

Nic had 'Gluttony' next, which was the same drink I'd had on Wednesday. I had 'Pride', which was 6 O'Clock Gin, garnished with a cinnamon stick and a slice of apple. These were all very good, but none of them really came close to the gin we all had later - Monkey 47 Gin. It just came garnished with a slice of lime, but apparently it's distilled with cranberries and it was SO delicious. It's bloody expensive, but at some point I'm going to have to track myself down a bottle of it - because I would say it's worth every penny. 

It ended up being a late night, but one of the best nights out I've had in a while. I don't especially like the pub we were in (The Clarendon, on Clarendon Avenue for any fellow Leamington dwellers) but it's hard to argue with such beautifully made drinks. The music was too loud, but it did mean that we got treated to the sight of a middle-aged bald man wearing a 'Rave On' t-shirt breakdancing. Proper breakdancing, doing that thing where they swivel on their heads? It was pretty immense. 

Anyway - it's late, and I have to be up in the morning to catch a flight to Belfast, but I will leave you with one more photo of lovely, lovely gin. And I'll catch you soon, in NORN IRON! Yeeeoooooooooo!!!

You know what? I didn't even have a whiff of a hangover this morning. Neither did Nic. MAGIC GIN FOR THE WIN.

You made the same mistake that Mickey Rourke made on that catamaran. You didn't kill me when you had the chance.

Evening all! I hope everyone is having a good week - and now it's Wednesday night so it's very nearly almost the weekend. Can you tell I'm ready for my holiday yet?!

I've had a funny old day. I woke up in a bit of a grump because my sleep had been disturbed by our new noisy downstairs neighbours. I still think they're not quite as bad as the last guy, but they are weird. The girl one is always shrieking - which is what disturbed my sleep. Why do people have to be so weird? Anyway, I put on my Promised Land dress in an effort to wake myself up, and left to go to work. I got to the station only to find my train was delayed by almost an hour, so I turned and went home. I stopped on the way to buy some croissants, though, so it wasn't totally annoying.

Wednesday 21st August - Promised Land dress and Vivienne Westwood for Melissa Lady Dragon shoes

Having an unintended working from home day had its up-sides. It made me happy to be working alongside Nic, who was busy proof-reading. It made me less happy to have to listen to the millions of builders all around my house making a terrible racket. I know they're just doing their jobs, and that's fair enough, but I could really do without having to listen to them yelling while they're doing it. The work I was doing nearly made me cry, too. Mainly because I was doing data analysis, working across lots of different spreadsheets and my work laptop did not agree that having more than one thing open at a time was a reasonable request. It was so frustrating - I'd try to open a spreadsheet, get the wheel of death for ages, and then the computer would bring me proudly to the one I already had open. OMG COMPUTER WHY YOU NOT UNDERSTAND? Sometimes I really do think they do it on purpose.  I soldiered through and Nic and I went out for a coffee when I finished work for the day:

BUSTED. That is not coffee. We went to the pub instead, and that's seville orange gin, with fancy tonic, fresh coriander and some orange peel. YEEEAH.

So yes - gin and shoes. That's two of my top three favourite things, so here's the third - dresses!

Count Grassi dress - By Hand London Anna dress, worn with grey wedges from Topshop (via ebay)

So, this is my third Anna dress. Third of probably about a million, because I have already made another one, and also when I was stressed today I was planning out which fabric to buy to make my next one. Yeah, that's not a surprise, right?

Anyway, the fabric for this version of the Anna came from the Goldhawk Road - the same shop that the polka dot for my Electric Boogaloo dress. It also came in purple, which I was very drawn to, but the  very chatty and charming lad that worked there suggested I go for the pink instead. He was right, like. The pink is more me and I think it's very sweet. When I finished this dress, I thought "Oh, I could wear this when I need to wear something a bit more plain" and when I showed it to Nic, he said "Oh, that'll be good to wear to meetings and stuff" - which made me laugh. This is my version of plain.

I'm looking a bit wrinkled here because, prior to these photos being taken, I was lying on the grass eating samosas in the sunshine

Apparently these birds are terns. They could be geese for all I know, but that's what I hear. Anyway, I thought the grey-blue and black in the pattern would mean this dress could work quite well into the cooler weather, and even with tights. Ugh, kind of sucks to be thinking about colder weather, doesn't it? I hope we'll have a couple more weeks of not having to think about layers.

This dress is much, much cuter in real life. It doesn't photograph that well though, which is very annoying! The shoes are cute though, aren't they? I bought them on ebay, and they're high peeptoe wedges. I was on ebay looking for flat sandals. So, win? This happens every time I decide I'm going to buy flat shoes. I buy ridiculous heels. To be fair, I wear them more than flats.

MOST FLATTERING PHOTO EVER.

I had worn this dress twice before I realised why it looked so familar - the fabric is the same as the fabric Joanne of Stitch and Witter used for her Portlandia dress. Put a bird on it, baby! Put a bird on it, and look super goofy!

Actually, maybe this is the most flattering photo ever. With added triffids. Which are still not as freaky as lotus seed pods.

My father says there's only one perfect view, and that's the view of the sky over our heads.

Evening all! I have been working from home today, and it feels like such a treat to do that on a Monday. Of course, it helped that the sun was shining, and Nic was here and that he went out in the afternoon to buy me a fancy coffee. It's the little things. And then I only have to get through the rest of this week and I'm on holiday, hurrah!

After having such an exhausting week last week - one where I didn't even want to look at my sewing machine, let alone sew - I had a very happy stitching-filled weekend. Nic had work to be getting on with and we didn't have any plans, so I made three dresses. My fabric stash is looking woefully thin now and my wardrobe is pretty fat, which is how I like it! It does mean that I'm a bit behind in blogging new makes though, so I guess there'll be a bit of a glut of them over the next wee while.

This little beauty has been waiting her turn for a while. I originally made this dress to wear to the Goldhawk Road meet-up, but then my Beauty School Dropout dress popped up and relegated this one to the bench. This is pathetic, right, but that actually makes me a little bit sad. I get so attached to inanimate objects. Like, when my Daddy fixed my old iBook at Christmas I was thrilled - not because the computer is brilliant (it's so old and slow) but because I am so very attached to it. I'm a dipstick. Anyway, the dress! I hope it can forgive me...

The Janene dress - By Hand London Elisalex bodice and a circle skirt, and worn with Irregular Choice No Place Like Home shoes

I had to name this dress after Janene - you might know her as Ooobop! She talked me into splitting this 5 metre length of stretch cotton sateen with her when we met at the big meet-up in April. It isn't something I would have been drawn to immediately but I was a little awestruck to be in the presence of such fabulousness, and it was busy in the shop! I think it came from A1 fabrics, but these lengths seem to be available in most of the shops on the Goldhawk Road. Janene made hers into an Elisalex dress pretty quickly but I sat on mine for a while, unsure of the best purpose to put it to. I didn't want to totally copy Janene but I do love this bodice, so I stuck a circle skirt on it. Job's a good'un!

That wind-machine look...

Obviously I have very little at this stage to say about either this bodice or a circle skirt! At Janene's suggestion, I self-lined the bodice. This fabric has quite a lot of stretch to it, you see. I machine hemmed the skirt, which is unusual for me. I usually enjoy hemming by hand, but for some reason I couldn't be faffed with this one, and made the executive decision that some machine stitching would be basically invisible on this print anyway.

I'm pretending to be enjoying the view of the - admittedly very pretty - River Leam here, but really I'm feeling a bit awkward because this bridge is a road bridge and there was loads of traffic going past! The things we do for blogs...

One of the really cool things about this dress is that the weight of the fabric means that the skirt sticks out in a very pleasing way. I love wearing circle skirts but sometimes they can be a bit droopy without a petticoat under them. Not this one, though. I guess this one would be pretty mega with my petticoat underneath, I haven't tried it yet though!

I let myself be talked into buying more of this stretch cotton at the last Goldhawk Road meetup, with some geometric blue roses on it. This time, I split the length with Rachel of My Messings. I'm happy to think of our twin dresses, each on opposite sides of the world! I haven't yet decided what to do with it, but it may just end up being another circle dress because I'm so pleased with how this one turned out.

Another selfie with my handsome photographer. He likes the dress, which is always a bonus!

So, that's my Janene dress! Thanks to Janene for spotting the fabric and splitting it with me - this is another dress that will remind me of happy times and lovely sewing friends. Being me, I will probably end up wearing this to work and to do the grocery shopping and stuff, but I do have a few weddings to go to next year and wouldn't this be a cute wedding outfit? But mainly, a cute "It's Wednesday and I need to wear something pretty to get me through the five meetings I have today" outfit?

I think, at this rate, I'm going to have to buy shares in By Hand London, eh?!

Doris Day could never make me cheer up quite the way those French girls always could.

Oh, hello there! Happy Saturday everyone. After a week of full-on, falling into bed as soon as I get home exhaustion, it's so good that it's finally the weekend. I've been having a lovely Saturday - putting the finishing touches onto some sewing projects, tidying, reading - as Liz Lemon would say, I'M TAKIN ON MY BUSINESS.

As I said, it's been a tiring week and I haven't been in the greatest form. I've been feeling run down and stressed and tearful. Nothing is wrong at all, I think I have just been over-tired and a bit homesick and in need of a holiday. I had horrible anxiety dreams every night last week and it made me feel really paranoid - and of course, all of that reading about conspiracy theories and unsolved crimes online didn't hugely help matters. I'm getting to be in a better place now, and I'm starting to get really excited about our mini-holiday home to Northern Ireland next week. I know it sounds a bit pathetic coming from a grown-ass woman, but I'm looking forward to being fussed over by my parents, playing with the dogs and hanging out with my siblings. I miss those guys.

Anyway, that's the craic there. But I know most of you come here for the pretty dresses, so here's a pretty dress for you! After I hosted that ASOS giveaway a couple of weeks ago, I bought that checked dress I'd been eyeing up. I had a voucher, and I bought it on a day when they were doing free next day delivery, w00t!

Checked midi dress from ASOS and Irregular Choice Mermaid shoes

So, this photo was actually taken a couple of weeks ago. I'm pretty behind! I am glad I bought this dress, and I'm glad I didn't have to pay full price for it. I think with the voucher and free postage, it worked out to about £30 which is more than I'd pay for the fabric etc if I were to make it, but not a bad price at all. The fabric is a reasonably heavy cotton sateen with a bit of elastane in it, so it's comfortable to wear. I really like it - but I am sort of in two minds about whether I need to take the skirt up a bit. It is HELLA long, right? I mean, I like it, but is it maybe a bit too long? I think at this length it'll look great in the autumn with my knee-high boots (I'm thinking here of all of Chris Cagney's fucking fierce midi skirt and tall boots outfits in Cagney & Lacey) but, yeah. It is pretty long.

It feels a bit weird now sharing shop-bought clothes on the blog. This might be because I hardly buy any clothes in the shops now. I had that shopping ban at the start of the year before going to Paris and between that and ramping up my sewing a lot, I'm hardly buying clothes at all now. I think I've bought maybe five dresses this year. I've just lost the inclination, I think, and all of my spending money is now going on fabric and shoes! To be honest, I didn't ever think I'd reach the stage where sewing made me stop wanting to shop, so this is kind of surprising. It does mean the balance of this blog has shifted away from being a personal style blog to being kind of a sewing blog, which is also sort of surprising to me. I didn't see this coming when I started this a few years ago, or when I bought a sewing machine. Either way, I thank you all for reading and being so lovely. 

To be fair, I probably won't ever totally stop buying clothes because it's not always possible to sew your own. What really drew me to this dress was the fabric - I mean, I have sewed lots of dresses in this shape, but I have never seen this windowpane type print fabric for sale. It's really cute - it's like a rust-red with blue and red smudges throughout it. It's not gingham but I suppose it appeals to me in the same way that gingham does. I couldn't get the fabric out of my mind, so I bought the dress.

Right folks, that's your lot from me this evening. I've got more business to be takin' on - some ironing and some dinner-making and some cocktail drinking. Got to do the weekend right, right?

No round envelopes for me! No way, Hose.

It feels like it's been an absolute age since I blogged. It's just been a week, but it's been one of those weeks where life pretty comprehensively got in the way. Not even in an exciting way, either, mainly work. It's been one of those weeks where it has felt like every bit of my spare time has been accounted for. My manager was on leave last week so I had a pretty full schedule. That was nice, in a way because I am still really enjoying my new job. I'm basically waiting for the other shoe to drop because I know things are about to get pretty intense in the next few months, but it's been so long since I enjoyed my job that I'm just enjoying enjoying it!

I did do some sewing though, and I even started to get some non-sewing related blog posts organised in my head so I will try to be a slightly more conscientious blogger over the next few weeks. 

As for the sewing - I made the most of the time-saving of working from home (no commute! Hurrah!) and I was even able to squeeze in a bit of lunch-time sewing on the two days I worked from home last week. Well, you all didn't think I was going to make just one Anna dress, did you?! At the beginning of last week, I cut into some of the fabric I had bought on the Goldhawk Road. I bought two metres of red polka dot fabric with an Anna in mind - once again, the Goldhawk Road came up trumps for good quality polka dot cotton! You'd think it wouldn't be hard to find, but everything in my local stores is cheap cotton poplin with nasty-ass dye that fades immediately. So, this fabric was about £4.99 a metre, I'm not sure which shop it came from but it was one where the young man who served me was an awesome salesman because he managed to also sell me two metres of another fabric. By complimenting me, like, because I'm pretty shallow like that. Anyway - the dress:

Electric Boogaloo dress - By Hand London Anna dress, worn with Topshop 'Lacrosse' sandals

So, no real construction notes this time around. As you can see, I sewed the midi length except I didn't - I cut the skirt between the midi and the maxi length because I like my skirts to hit below the knee. I french-seamed the bodice as before and pinked the skirt seams - oh, and I sewed the pleats as the pattern directs this time around too! I love love looooove how quickly this dress comes together - in a matter of hours, really, so there is a genuine danger that my wardrobe may become as full of Anna dresses as it currently is of Elisalex dresses and Elisalex variations.

I'm basically delighted with this dress. I think the shape of the dress is a perfect match for the polka dots. I'm very pleased with the finish, particularly with my concealed zip, which looks brilliant. I love the bodice and the sleeves, I think it's such an adorable look! My only slight reservation is that I think this particular dress could have done with a bit more ease. It doesn't feel tight but the skirt rides up a bit at the waistline, which indicates to me a slight stomach/fabric conflict. Not enough that I can't wear the dress - I wore it to work today and it was grand  - but I guess one of the things about blogging is that I feel compelled to point it out. Like, if I don't, people will be shaking their heads all "Bish, PLEASE" - you know? 

I think that, in this case, the variation is down to a difference in fabric weight. The sizing here is exactly the same size as my Beauty School Dropout dress, which fits fine. The other thing is that my stomach is the bit of my body that shows the most variation if I haven't been eating brilliantly for a few days - and I didn't especially last week. So I'm not concerned, it's certainly wearable. And will be more so after I've eaten some more vegetables. But you know, I wanted to point it out in case anyone feels the need to be all "hey fatty, zipping =/= fitting" because, I know.

Damn, that was a bit intense. Here's a few more pictures of the dress, though:

Because, all griping aside, this is really what I want from a red polka dot dress. It's really cute but not too ridiculously over-the-top girly either. A colleague did liken me to Minnie Mouse today, but to be honest, that's a gauntlet I run most days so no biggie.

It's hard to see why I'm constantly being compared to a cartoon character...

I wore this to the park last Tuesday afternoon for a walk after work. Nic and I were both feeling a bit stressed and a walk in the sunshine cheered us both up. I'm having a strangely melancholy August. It's weird to feel the year slipping away so quickly, a feeling that is magnified by the fact that it has turned a bit chilly again. It's also partly that I have a week off coming up at the end of the month and now I know it's coming, I'm aware of how tired I am and how intense work has been. It also doesn't help that I have been freaking myself out by reading about unsolved crimes and also conspiracy theories online recently! There is some freaky shit out there and reading about it is not good for me. Even though I don't believe, like, 99% of the conspiracy theories, they still freak me out. The internet is bad for me. It's how I found out that I'm one of those people that is really freaked out by lotus seed pods. Don't tell me about the surinam toad, by the way, I know I'm going to have to avoid that shit for life now. I'm a dick, basically. And I need a holiday!

Hey, so this post has been all the feelings and a dress! Go me, I am doing excellent blogging. But it is a cute dress, and looking at the photos has definitely alleviated some of my worries that I'm a big chubby chubster. So, that's good! Also, look at my beautiful assistant:

He helps me pick out fabric, he takes my photos and he proof-reads my blog posts. I love this guy.

Okay, I have rambled a bit this evening. So here's the TL:DR of this post:

• The Anna pattern by By Hand London is beautiful and I'm going to make lots
• I find reading about unsolved crimes and conspiracy theories on the internet very unsettling but I do it anyway
• Polka dots
• It's nearly dinner time so... bye for now!

somewhat embarrassed that I've just brain-dumped in this post face

Erectile dysfunction. It's not just a dog problem any more.

Sunday evening, it's raining, and I'm in my pyjamas. It's all good though, because I'm at the end of a long weekend so lovely it's as if I have been on holiday, I'm all loose-limbed and sleepy and relaxed. I love that feeling. I have a proper break coming up at the end of the month, when Nic and I are going back to Northern Ireland for a week, but a little random day off will hold me until then.

I had planned to use Friday to do a bit of sewing and a lot of lazing on the sofa. I was still in my pyjamas at 10:45 when the postman arrived, bearing my copy of the Anna dress pattern from By Hand London. I've been busting to buy this baby since it was released in early June but tedious financial practicality won out and I decided to wait to payday before ordering. It was the first thing I did upon arriving in work on Wednesday - I was sitting in the boardroom, waiting for a meeting to start, buying the pattern on my phone. It's not that I'm a By Hand London stalker or anything. Well, it IS that. But anyway, the pattern is beautiful. I had some amazing fabric that came to me as a gift from Handmade Jane all ready and waiting for it too, so as soon as the pattern arrived, I got down to sewing!

Like the Elisalex dress and the Victoria blazer, the Anna dress is beautifully drafted and it comes together so quickly. It's aimed at beginners and I think this would be a brilliant project for a beginner because the instructions guide you through french seams and inserting a concealed zip so effortlessly. I sewed in bursts here and there throughout the day - stopping to go out for cake, and later to go for a long walk with a pitstop at the new Aldi in Leamington to buy some of their own-brand gin, cooking dinner and making cocktails. Even with that, by bedtime I was putting the finishing touches on my dress:

I love the label that is included in the pattern!

I had planned on wearing another new handmade dress to the Goldhawk Road meet-up on Saturday, but when I finished this on Friday night I knew I had to wear it. It's maybe a bit much for Shepherd's Bush, but I knew I'd be going to Camden in the afternoon and that anything goes there! Enough teasing, though, here's my Anna dress:

Beauty School Dropout dress - Anna dress from By Hand London, made with retro swimmer fabric from Classic Textiles on Goldhawk Road

Nic's dad is Indian, and he's always telling me I should give wearing a sari a go. I understand why he says this - he gets that I love bright, pretty clothes, and I think he's nostalgic for the country where he grew up. But wearing a sari would feel too much like cultural appropriation for me, so I'm uncomfortable with it and I wouldn't - but maxi dresses always feel like a good compromise. Nic's dad always likes it when I wear a maxi dress, and so does Nic, but this is the first one I have ever made! It certainly won't be the last, though. When I told Nic I was making a maxi dress he was really pleased, and when I told him I was making it with a thigh high split in it he was all LOL...WUT? To be fair, it's not something I would ever have imagined going for. Blame Sew Busy Lizzy and Karen. It just felt like I needed to go there. 

I'll front with you, though. I did have the wobbles a bit about wearing this dress around London all day. I mean, I'm no Angelina Jolie. These are pretty pasty Irish limbs I'm talking about here. But once I was out and about, I felt kind of awesome. It didn't hurt a bit that my lovely man kept telling me I looked like a 30s movie star. I mean, I know that I DON'T, but this dress definitely has that vibe. 

I feel that the train in the background really adds a shot of glamour to this photo! No shit though, I know it's sad and everything, but I love Leamington station. I'm obviously a bit of a trainspotter at heart.

The only adjustments I made to the dress were to raise the shoulder seams by about half an inch - something I have to do on basically everything - and to invert the pleats. Yes, my pleats are on the outside of the bodice. They look like little fins, which is fitting given the ladies on the dress. I'd like to say this was on purpose, but it wasn't really. It started out as an accident - but I liked how it looked so much that I left it the way it was. The pleats look kind of deco, and it means that less of the print is lost. As a few people have said elsewhere, the skirt pieces are HELLA long, so when I was tracing them I traced to 40 inches and gave the skirt a two inch hem. I could have gone longer if I wanted a floor-sweeping gown, but this fabric is white so keeping it off the ground felt like a safer bet. I don't have any photos of the inside, but the bodice is all french-seamed, and the waist seam and skirt seams are pinked - apart from the split, which is turned and stitched, and then slip-stitched down.

COFFEE FACE. I was up late on Friday night. That's a vice-like grip on my coffee cup, there.

It turns out that a maxi dress with a thigh-high split is a surprisingly comfortable and practical garment. It was the perfect thing to wear to meet celebrities...

I AM SIEGE FACE

Wanted on voyage. Please look after this bear.

It was also perfect for meeting up with sewing bloggers and hitting up the fabric shops on Goldhawk Road. Nic and I were waiting by the Paddington statue to meet Emmie before catching the tube over to Shepherd's Bush, where we hooked up with Claire and 30-odd other sewing bloggers and sewing blogger groupies. Yes, apparently sewing bloggers do have groupies:

He was offered a sticker with his name on, but Nic opted to stay with this one.

I'd been really looking forward to the meet-up because I loved all of the fabric that I bought last time I visited Goldhawk Road, but mainly because I was excited about catching up with sewing friends and meeting some in real life for the first time:

Here I am with Emmie, Alison, Vicki Kate, Rachel and Amy

I was really looking forward to meeting Vicki in real life, as she's been an amazing friend to me over the past year. I was thrilled to see her in a Michael Miller print, as well - the girl has taste! It was also fabulous to meet Rachel for the first time and to hang out with my fellow Pacey fans Alison, Amy and Kat. I think we agreed that we can share him, but no-one else seemed to feel the Fauxlivia love. Shame, because I think she's a badass. 

We headed off to the shops in smallish to medium sized groups - the little group I was in picked up Zora and Lorna and eventually Kat on the way, and of course Nic joined us to sniff out the fab novelty fabrics! We were also eventually joined by a surprise Ooobop, which was a real joy, as ever. I had a lot of fun chatting with the ladies and doing some shopping (no photos of what I bought - it's all washed and ironed and I can't be faffed, but you'll see it eventually) Pretty soon it was time for lunch, and I waved goodbye to everyone as Nic and I weren't joining everyone for lunch. Before we got back on the tube, we made a quick stop into Classic Textiles, which was lovely. Three of the staff were like WOAH THAT'S OUR FABRIC, which was pretty funny! Well chosen, Handmade Jane. 

So, Nic and I wandered back through the market and got the tube to King's Cross, and walked from there to Camden. It was a beautiful day for it. I loved walking along Midland Road, it's so beautiful, and of course I found an opportunity for more posing:

Specialist tailor - Midland Road

I'd never been to Camden before, but Nic and I had agreed to meet our friends there as they were working nearby. On Friday, Nic asked twitter folk for recommendations of things to do in Camden - he got a few good ones (and one person who helpfully told him it was "horrid" like yeah, thanks that, Enid Blyton. NOT.) but in the end we just pottered around. It was very hot so pushing through the market didn't appeal, and instead we walked up the canal to Primrose Hill, had an ice-cream in the park and a drink in a pub, before heading back to St. Pancras Way to meet Josh in The Constitution. We snagged a table out in the garden by the canal and enjoyed a few drinks and lots of chat in the sunshine.

The Artist Formerly Known As Nic, enjoying a well-deserved pint

Wine time. This dress is great for drinking wine in. Also look - despite eating, travelling on the tube, drinking coffee, and lolling around on the grass my dress was totally stain-free. GO ME!

It was really good to catch up with Josh and to meet some of his friends, and all too soon we were on our way back to Marylebone to catch the 11:08 back up the road. It was a very full and very enjoyable day out, filled with excellent people and lots of fun. And a fucking brilliant dress. I have to say it again - you ladies at By Hand London are geniuses. This pattern is so beautiful. I'm going to leave you with a few more photos of my dress, and I'm going to go and make myself a cocktail and - you guessed it - watch an episode of Inspector Morse.

Here's what it looks like from behind. I don't normally do concealed zips, but it does definitely work with this pattern.

Another shot of the bodice - you can just about see the inverted pleats there

And one more full-length one, just because. Oh! In case you're wondering, the name 'Beauty School Dropout' IS a reference to Grease. Not because I love the film (I don't, especially. I like it well enough, but I don't love it) but the retro swimmers reminded me of Frenchie, and also the song has been in my head for other reasons recently. It's a good song, too. 

Baby get moving, why keep your feeble hopes alive?

What are you proving, you've got the dream but not the drive

If you go for your diploma, you could join a steno pool

Turn in your teasin' comb and go back to high school...