If you walk briskly in a pilot's uniform, you can go pretty much anywhere. I've been upstairs at the White House while the Obamas were sleeping

Reader, I married him.

Yay Jane Eyre quote! BOOM! Maybe that's lame of me, but whatever. Jane Eyre is my desert island book, and I love that bit. Jane's a badass. And also, Nic and I got married on Friday and it was truly, truly excellent. Like, honestly the best day we've ever had. The best weekend, in fact, because the celebrations extended into the weekend, and into today, in fact.

The festivities started on Thursday, when my parents and my brother-in-law arrived. Thankfully, Nic and I had everything ready so there wasn't really any last-minute running around. We needed to go to the tip, and to buy some flowers, but the rest of the day was just chilling out and having fun. It was like Christmas Eve, but not as cold!

I won't give you a blow-by-blow account of Friday but we did have an amazing day. The ceremony was brief and intimate. We only had seven guests to that part of the day, and it was perfect. I surprised myself - and my parents, I think - by getting a bit tearful during the ceremony. Immediately after the deed was done, we were met outside by our friend Fiona Murray, who had very kindly offered to take a few photos. I'm underplaying this a bit - as well as being a good friend and a lovely person, Fiona is an extraordinarily talented professional photographer. It was unbelievably kind of her to volunteer her services, and I think you'll agree that her photos are stunning:

Yes, we found another blue door to pose in front of! In my defence, this was Fiona's idea.

Nic and I had no plans for professional photographs - mainly because it seemed like it would be kind of a faff (and it has been at other weddings I've been a member of) so I really can't thank Fiona enough for giving us such a beautiful gift. It was a lot of fun taking the photos - she's great fun to be around anyway and I think she captured us really well!

Our wedding party - don't we all scrub up well?

After Fiona had finished taking the photos, she took my brother-in-law to the station (he had to get on the train to Folkestone as he was going on holiday to France that night) and we all went for a celebratory drink... in Wetherspoon's. I know, classy! We were all very over-dressed for Wetherspoon's on a Friday morning, but it seemed like it was worth it. 

After lunch, the wedding party decamped to Kayal for Business Lunch. I'm not lying when I say that Business Lunch was one of the major attractions to getting married on a weekday! Also, you know, I'd just closed a pretty major deal so it felt appropriate. It was pretty cool because not only was the food delicious, but it gave my parents a proper chance to get to know the rest of the wedding party - our dear friends JP and Hannah (who were also our witnesses) and Viv. 

After lunch, we went to our reception venue. We wanted the wedding reception to be low-key, relaxed and fun so we had booked the function room at The Royal Pug. It's a beautiful room with its own GIN BAR. Yes, you read that correctly! We had invited around 60 guests for the evening party, and quite a few of them brought food for the buffet. Our good friend Rick provided the music - a few weeks earlier, we had gone round to his house to compile a playlist, with the thought that an ipod of music would be pretty cool. Rick went one better and actually DJed the evening, which made such a difference. The music was pretty much solidly 90s pop and indie (I'm a child of the 90s after all) and it was brilliant. 

The buffet, mid-party

Quite a few of our friends are musicians. We'd deliberately not asked them to play at the wedding - not because we didn't want them to, but because we didn't want them to have to work on the evening. Despite this, our friend Tom took us to one side and asked us did we want a band because they'd all brought their equipment, and, voila, we had a live band!

The surprise band. Yes, we had an accordion at our wedding. Isn't that awesome?!

The band played for around an hour and included a guest set from Nic's friend Ian on vocals - this was especially cool, because Ian hadn't sung for about four years. After the band packed away, Rick got the DJ set up and running again and the dancefloor really kicked off...

Dancefloor action shot

The brilliant thing about the wedding reception being so small is that Nic and I got to spend time with all of our guests and to dance our asses off on the dancefloor. Some of my favourite memories from the night are from the dancefloor - like the fabulous moment when my old housemate Carter and I had a heartfelt singalong to Mr Jones by Counting Crows, or when Lucy and I pogoed to Boys Don't Cry by The Cure. Then there were those songs that brought the whole room together - most notably Business Time by Flight of The Conchords, Ignition Remix by R. Kelly and - best of all - when everyone busted seriously interpretive moves to Wuthering Heights. Amazing. Nic and I didn't have a first dance, but we did have the last dance of the night to At The Indie Disco by The Divine Comedy. It was perfect.

You make my heart beat the same way / as at the start of Blue Monday / always the last song that they play / at the Indie Disco

The whole day was everything we had wanted it to be and even more. Everything went so smoothly and we had so much fun. It was wonderful to be surrounded by so much love. Our friends are amazing. Really, really amazing. Everything was so stress-free, and in no small part because our friends contributed to the day in such special ways - giving of their time and talent as well as being there to celebrate with us. In addition to the beautiful photographs and amazing music, we had friends providing us with delicious food! We had two wedding cakes baked by lovely friends - an incredible lemon and blueberry drizzle cake baked (and decorated) by Denise and a delicious raspberry Victoria sponge baked by Sarah. My parents were astounded by the generosity and all-round wonderfulness of our friends, and so were we.

My dad and Fiona

Another dancefloor action shot. These are our people! I can't remember what we were dancing to here but it was clearly something awesome.

By the time we finished the night at closing time, Nic and I were exhausted, emotional and extremely happy. We'd partied our heads off - I actually limped home because I'd danced so much - and it was the best start to married life I could have imagined. I feel incredibly lucky to have such a wonderful family, amazing friends and of course, such a darling and handsome husband.

And now the bit when I talk about what we wore! Isn't Nic's suit beautiful? He got the suit from Debenham's, the shirt from TK Maxx and the waistcoat came from a local tailor via a charity shop. The pocket watch had been given to him by his grandpa and I made him his pocket square (I'm sure Mark Francis would disapprove!)

My dress is a By Hand London Flora dress with a straight circle skirt rather than the pleated one that is part of the pattern. I knew I'd want to wear a petticoat with the dress so this seemed like the best thing to do. I used Carline rose print Liberty tana lawn, which I had bought from Fabrics Galore at the Knitting and Stitching show earlier this year. You might be surprised by my choice - I must confess that I was, because I've never been a big fan of Liberty prints. However, as soon as I saw this I fell in love and I must admit that it was a joy to sew. I made my bouquet myself from gypsophila. It's pretty and simple, and it's also the flower that both of my sisters chose for their wedding bouquets. The pink ribbon around the bouquet came from the boke bucket that the Spoolettes gave me at my surprise hen party, and my headpiece was a gift from Sarah from way back when we did our first swap a few years ago. And my shoes are Karl Lagerfeld for Melissa, and... just LOOKIT. They're fabulous:

I love these shoes. They're business up front and party in the back.

Fiona found me another fancy door to stand in front of!

I really, really love my dress. I wanted to make something that felt like me, and that I'd wear again. I certainly will wear this again - I was really sad to take it off before I went to bed! It was perfect for the day we had and I felt amazing in it. In terms of sewing - yeah, it's probably not perfect, but I loved making and I loved wearing it. Nic loved it too, and really, that's the main thing.

So, yeah. That was our wedding. We loved every moment of it and had a truly beautiful day. I couldn't be happier with my new husband. Life is good! We had an amazing weekend too - we went to Folkestone the following day to visit Nic's parents and grandparents - but I'll have to tell you about that another day. For now, all that's left is for me to thank everyone who has commented or tweeted or emailed to congratulate us on our wedding - it's been beautiful. Thank you! We'll be off to Paris on our honeymoon soon so I might not be around for a bit, but I'll be back before long with many more dresses and shoes, don't worry!

Anyway. I need to go and watch a cop show and regain some normality around here. Night all!

LOLWUT. Married.

Who are the Allens and why are they out of spice?

Hello my loves! I hope this humid Tuesday evenings finds you well, and not too sunburned after the beautiful weekend (for my UK readers, at any rate. International readers: apply similar comments appropriate to the weather in your locale) I'm very well, having finished work until after the wedding - and after that, I only have three working days before we're off to Paris so yeah, things are pretty good!

The wedding is really close now - it's this Friday - and thankfully, everything is ready. I stayed up until midnight last night hemming my dress so that I'd have a couple of days clear to relax. I finally feel like I can enjoy the anticipation now that work has finished. May has been pretty hellish at work - the only saving graces have been that I mostly enjoy my job and I have pretty amazing colleagues - so I've deliberately not been thinking about the wedding too much. Looking forward to something was only going to make getting through work more difficult. But that's over now, and I can just get excited! Tonight, Nic and I are cracking open the bottle of champagne my darling Spoolettes gave us, eating pizza and celebrating in one of our favourite ways: watching cop shows. Hurrah!

So, I guess this is my last blog post as an unmarried woman. I probably won't change all that much after Friday, though. I'm keeping my name, and I already call Nic by his actual name on here, so it's unlikely that I'll give him a cutesy nickname like hubby or, ick, the hubster. It'll be business as usual, I swear. Business as usual but OMGMARRIED. It's actually kind of a weird feeling because I know that being married won't change our relationship, but also that it somehow will.

Anyway, enough soppy stuff. I will post next week with a few photos though, because I know some of you are pretty curious to see my dress. I have to warn you, it's pretty simple. I love it, but it's not some super-involved Vera Wang number or anything. Hey, my shoes are fucking amazing, though. So, basically, yay!

I think that's all the bases covered on my two main areas of thought over the last few weeks: work and wedding. Now onto the dresses! Naturally enough, I have been sewing recently with an eye to having some fun and cute new dresses to wear when we're in Paris. And if you've been reading this blog for any length of time at all, you'll know I'm pretty obsessed with Michael Miller's Eiffel Tower fabric line. So, a few months ago, I bought some in one of the few colourways I hadn't already sewed with. And you know, I like to stick with a formula, so I sewed another Christine Haynes Emery dress:

Douce France dress - Christine Haynes Emery dress with a pleated skirt, worn with Miss L Fire Woodie wedges

I had a hard time photographing this dress on such a bright day, so sadly I don't think these photos do this dress justice. You'll just have to take my word that it is cuter on. This colourway was a bit lighter than I was expecting. I bought it from Fabric Inspirations (which, I'm not sponsored to say this or anything, but I love that website. Great prices, amazing selection and really fast dispatch. Good stuff all round) I actually think the colour is pretty true on screen, but I have a terrible memory for this kind of thing so I thought it would be darker. Anyway, while I would normally shy away from less saturated colours, I do think I like this.

EIFFEL TOWER BEWBS

As you can see, I went for another pleated skirt. This time I experimented with wider box pleats. I hear a lot of people saying they think pleats are more flattering than gathers and I'm not totally sure I'm on board with this theory. I think it depends. In this case, I don't think the box pleats I used are especially flattering - I think they kind of make my lower stomach look weirdly wide, or something? It's not an issue for me - something being flattering isn't always a priority for me - but I do wonder if this dress would look better with an inch or two taken off the hem. 

In summary: a cute dress, but not 100% a success. I love the fabric and I love the pattern. I do really like the dress, as well. It served me well for an afternoon in the sunshine followed by an evening of drinking prosecco and eating tasty food with Rick and Lauren, so I know it's going to do well in Paris too. I think I will take that hem up a smidge though, just for the craic. 

I'm not in any way conflicted about my shoes though, which I bought on sale from Miss L Fire. 

They're stripy (SO FRENCH) and have bows and have a random cut-out detail in the heel which is ugly and cute at the same time and although you can't see the insoles, they have pirates printed on them. Winner. 

Yet another classic face. 

That's everything from me for this evening. I have champagne to pour, pizza to eat and crimes to solve. Catch you all next week!

Truth be told, all I want to do is go out, get shitfaced and have a curry and a fight down Caroline Street.

Hola! This evening's post is brought to you by chocolate, fizzy pop and paracetamol: a mild, but very well-earned hangover. And, thankfully, the day off! Yesterday afternoon after work - after a very long week and weekend of working - I hopped on the train to London to have dinner and drinks with Clare and Sally. Or so I thought. I met Clare in a pub on Dorset Street as Sally 'had a few errands to run' and after a gin and tonic, we headed to the pub on Marylebone High Street where we had planned to meet. I walked in the door and was greeted by this sight:

Lots and lots of lovely Spoolettes! It was a surprise hen party, with 16 Spoolettes in attendance. And I really was surprised - I had no idea that Clare and Sally were cooking this up, and I was totally overcome with shock and emotion that so many of my friends had come along to celebrate. It was amazing, and I played it very cool by immediately bursting into tears. Someone handed me a glass of prosecco and there were more tears - and then I was presented with this:

That badge reads, "Will flirt for gin" and Rehanon gave me a coaster that says, "This person is a gin whore."

It's my own personalised boke bucket, complete with a seductive picture of Alan. It was full of really amazing gifts too - individually wrapped chocolate penises, a bottle of champagne, a Tatty Devine gin bottle necklace, lots of sewing goodies and trinkets, some brilliant hen party paraphernalia and an astoundingly generous £100 voucher for Irregular Choice. So, yes, I cried again. If ever you were in any doubt that you can meet wonderful people over the internet, last night should shoo those thoughts out of your head. All of the women who came along to surprise me last night are people I have been honoured to get to know since I bought my sewing machine four years ago. I had no idea then that it would be a route for me to meet such kindred spirits, but of course I am so, SO glad that it has been.

Anyway, we got some tasty two-for-one cocktails into us before decamping to Topkapi, across the road, for more drinks and delicious Turkish food. If the owner was bemused to see me parading in carrying a bucket with a picture of Alan Partridge on it, he was kind enough not to show it. We ordered a few bottles of wine and busted out the teenie peenies that Elisalex had very thoughtfully provided:

It's not a hen party without penis-shaped straws, is it?

Anyway, all too soon it was time for me to dash through the rain to catch the last train back to Leamington. I'm sad that I can't adequately convey in words in this post how much fun I had last night, and how much it meant to me that Clare and Sally organised this surprise for me. It was the best gift I could have asked for. I really can't believe how fortunate I am to have such amazing friends, truly.

Thankfully, I'd had the presence of mind to book today off work. I was pretty wrecked by the time I got home - a combination of tiredness and the mix of alcohol I'd fired into myself in the few hours I had in London. I've been feeling gently crap all day, but it's been really chilled. I've caught up on Made in Chelsea (Mytton seriously needs to get off my fucking planet) and did some sewing and lazed around on the sofa. It's back to the old day job tomorrow, but who could complain after such an amazing couple of days?!

In terms of sewing - I will have to get photos of what I made today soon, because I love it. But in the meantime, here's another By Hand London Flora dress that I sewed last week:

Aoibhneas na Bealtaine dress and Irregular Choice IC O'Clock heels

Can we just talk about this fabric, though? My friends at Berylune have recently started stocking Cloud 9 fabrics. This is excellent, and terrible at the same time. Terrible for my bank balance, but fantastic to have another place to buy beautiful fabric in Leamington Spa. Even better that it can be from friends. I spotted this Rashida Coleman-Hale print when I went in to check the fabrics out a couple of weeks ago and didn't buy it immediately, but I couldn't stop thinking about it. It's a border print, but a fairly subtle one, and I couldn't resist pairing it with the beautiful Flora pattern. 

Specifically, I loved the idea of the smaller-scale floral print of the edges running across the neckline of the bodice and the hem of the skirt front, like so:

To achieve this, I had to cut the bodice on the crosswise grain. As Sonja would say, it's a victimless crime. To be totally honest, though - I did notice a difference in how the bodice fits as a result. My usual size still fits but it's a slightly closer fit than I was expecting. No biggie, but this is not a dress I'd wear if I were planning to eat a big meal. In fairness that's no bad thing. I am a dropper.

Otherwise, not too much to say about the making of this dress - it was a very pleasant Saturday or Sunday afternoon activity a couple of weeks ago. The Flora dress has already become a sewing staple for me - in fact, I was wearing one yesterday, and I already have another one planned with some beautiful floral voile that Annie from The Village Haberdashery surprised me with last week. I tell you what lads, I'm totally spoiled here. 

This photo included because vanity. My hair looks nicer here, although you can see the dress better in the other one. Blogging. So hard! Bloggers: SO BRAVE.

Anyway boys and girls, I have to go to bed. Last night's excitement and today's hangover have taken their toll on me, and I need to get the jammies on and watch an episode of something enjoyably shit like Blue Bloods before going to sleep. Night all!

Look, we can dance all day but it's time to step up. Are you going to buy 4000 rubber nipples from me, or not?

Hi all! I hope this week is treating everyone well? I'm absolutely knackered, having had two twelve-hour days at work - with no real lunch break, on my feet the whole time. It wasn't just me, it was my whole team and actually I'm pretty fortunate in that I was able to work from home today, but still. I'm TIRED. May is a beautiful month for many reasons but it's a pretty hideous one in my work calendar. Mega sadface. Thank goodness for that small holiday we have planned in a few weeks, eh?!

Anyway, that's been the craic around here for the past few days. Not too much fun, sadly! No sewing, a little bit of knitting, a fair few episodes of Law & Order. Don't tell me I don't know how to rock the party, eh?! As ever though, I am sewing faster than I am blogging so I do have another new dress to show you. It's yet another Christine Haynes Emery dress, but this time with a little pattern hack. Remember how smug I was about my 'self-drafted' pleated skirt? YEAH THAT.

Pawnee dress - Christine Haynes Emery dress with a pleated skirt and Vivienne Westwood for Melissa Lady Dragon shoes

This fabric is so loud, isn't it?! It's a Pillow and Maxfield design for Michael Miller, and I bought it when Lauren and I went to the Knitting and Stitching show in March. There was one stall there selling Michael Miller fabrics for £6 a metre and I was fairly restrained and only bought this design.

I found with the last Emery dress that I made that it turned out to be too big so I retraced the bodice and sleeves a size down for this dress and I am really happy with the fit. Adding the pleated skirt was no difficulty and I really like the slightly different feel it gives to the Emery dress.

This great big smug closeup of MY MASSIVE FACE is for you, Sew Dixie Lou. I know you love that.

I was careful when cutting out the bodice that I didn't get one of those big flower/mandala things in an awkward place. That meant I had to look at them a bit more closely, and actually they kind of look a bit like lotus seed pods, which: BOKE. Well actually, I discovered when I was at home at Christmas that my mum has some dried ones in a flower arrangement and they're not so bad. But anyway, I do like this fabric despite the slightly bokey association. 

I seem to spend a lot of time saying things like, "Well, I thought it was really ugly and I wasn't sure if I liked it but then realised that I did" because apparently, I have quite the taste for garish and ugly things and this totally applies to these shoes:

Nic hates these shoes. Well, he doesn't hate them and he's not horrible about it or anything, but he thinks they're obnoxiously ugly. I kind of do, too. There's certainly something totally grotesque about giant shiny red lips and toes together! Despite that, I do like the weirdness of these and I am glad I bought them (especially as they were super cheap on sale. No way would I have paid full price for shoes I thought were possibly unspeakably ugly) I wonder if I will ever develop a taste for, you know, neutrally tasteful stuff or am I going to be like that old woman in that terrible poem about wearing purple? Probably the latter.

I've since gone on to make another Emery dress with a pleated skirt and my mind is starting to wander towards pairing this lovely bodice with a circle skirt, or maybe the dipped hem skirt from the By Hand London Flora dress. I do really like this pleated skirt variation, though - it has the silhouette I am so drawn to, but it's a little bit more streamlined than a gathered skirt. Plus, it's a little bit less labour-intensive than gathering and that's no bad thing!

And as for the name - well, the flowers made me think of parks, which brought me to Pawnee. I think my love of Parks and Recreation is probably fairly obvious by now. It's genuinely a source of some sadness in my life that Ron Swanson isn't actually real. Or Tom Haverford. But not Jerry because DAMN IT JERRY.

Anyway, guys. I am super tired and while I often talk a lot of shit in kind of a charming way, I don't want to just start chatting actual shit. So I'm going to go and lie down and watch a bit more Law & Order. Donna says I should.

Great job, everyone. The reception will be held in each of our individual houses, alone.

Yo yo YO. Hiiiiii everyone! I am super jazzed this evening because I have samosa-stuffed baked potatoes for dinner tonight, I've had a wonderful long weekend, I made my wedding dress today and it's totally freaking awesome AND I've got eight amazing winners of the Sew Dolly Clackett sewalong that I hope to make happy this evening. Oh, and Nic just brought me a gin and tonic. So that's excellent as well.

But let's get down to business, here. It's taken a little while to decide on winners for the Sew Dolly Clackett competition because the quality of entries was so high. Like, ridiculously high. Frighteningly so. It's been weird and emotional and flattering for me to watch the dresses pop up across the sewing blogosphere. It's honestly a little bit unsettling to see that your style can be so easily emulated and even pastiched - but it's really touching to think that so many people care and wanted to take part. There are 198 members in the flickr pool, and an astonishing 585 photos. LOLWUT. So I'm incredibly grateful that my darling Nic and my good friend Disha stepped in to help me make this difficult decision. Both of them are well-qualified to judge - obviously Nic knows what I like, and Disha sits next to me every day at work so she has a good idea of what are the key elements of Dolly Clackett style!

I went through the squillions of entries and put together a very long shortlist. I sent this to Nic and Disha. Independently of one another, they whittled this down to a shortlist. Surprisingly and pleasingly, there was a lot of crossover. I had the final call. So, without further ado... the winners!

Winner of the Brother sewing machine and sewing kit, courtesy of Argos is...

Zoe B!

 

Agh! Isn't this perfection?! Sadly for everyone involved, this fabric is from a 60s duvet so it's not even like I can rush out and make my own. Nic said, "Everything about this rocks" and Disha said, "I can totally see you wearing this." Nice shoes and doorstep combination too, Zoe!

Winner of the By Hand London Anna and Elisalex patterns is...

Alex of Odd Socks and Pretty Frocks!

Alex describes herself as 'shit at sewing' but I beg to differ. I think this is only her third dress or something?! Anyway, I loved the fabric and, you know. AWESOME SHOES. Nic said, "This feels more 'Dolly Clackett' than a lot of the flowery prints" and Disha said "Awesome! Such a classic fabric." I totally agree. I love a bit of toile.

Winner of the Christine Haynes Emery pattern is...

Jenny from Sewing Pies!

Now, Jenny sewed about a million dresses for this competition. Seriously, she had 12 finished by the deadline and I think she's made a few more since. She really went for it! I loved them all, but the one that won it for her was this one:

Errr fabric? Awesome. Also, this is a mashup of the Sewaholic Cambie bodice and the By Hand London Charlotte skirt, and I need to get on this immediately if not sooner!

Winner of the Colette Pattern of her choice is...

Jenny Clark of Tea for Two!

This is an Anna dress with a gathered skirt, which is obviously a winner. I really love the fabric and so did Disha and Nic. Nic said, "The fabric and cut work really well together here - and the placement of the tree on the left shoulder is awesome" (I love that he notices this stuff!) and Disha said, "This just says SUMMER. Lovely." I couldn't agree more. Nice work, Jenny!

Winner of the Sewaholic pattern of her choice is...

Modiste Girl!

I love this fabric, and these photos are so sweet and summery that I was pretty captivated. Also, dudes. SHE MADE A MATCHING PARASOL. I mean, come on! That's unbelievably rad. Both Disha and Nic also loved the parasol, with Nic saying, "It adds a classy touch."

Winner of the $75 voucher for Harts Fabric is...

Heather B!

Heather actually entered a few dresses into the competition - I think she entered three in total, and I loved them all. There was some pretty awesome shoe action there too. But this one totally and utterly stole my heart:

I'm actually pretty much consumed with envy over this dress. And the shoes. In fact, I may have to buy myself the shoes. Anyway, all of the dresses in the Sew Dolly Clackett flickr pool are dresses I would wear, but this is one I'd be tempted to steal. Disha said, "Stunning. I would love to own this." BACK OF THE LINE, DISHA.

Winner of the £50 voucher for Berylune is...

Melody Mae of Bourbons and Bras!

ANCHORS THOUGH. This dress made me jump out of my chair and run into the next room to get Nic when Melody first posted it. I think it's heartstoppingly, outstandingly beautiful. I need to get some of this fabric! Also, excellent shoe choice once again.

And finally... I did say when Sarah announced the competition that I would donate a prize of my own. Nic and I are off to Paris in a few weeks on our honeymoon and I'm going to be doing some serious fabric shopping while I am there, so I decided that my prize is going to be some specially chosen fabric from Paris. And, the winner of that is...

Lynne of Ozzy Blackbeard!

Again, Lynne entered a few dresses into the competition and they were all beautiful, but this one is what won it for her:

Lynne is a great girl for an awesome print, and this is no exception. Check out the pattern matching too: impressive or what?! This dress is just so bright and pretty and cool. Disha pronounced it "totally fabulous" and Nic thought the fabric choice was "Exciting without being novelty" and I just love the combination of the pattern and the dress. Thoroughly excellent, and I'm excited about picking something fun out for Lynne in Paris.

I really wish I could give space to everyone who took the time to enter the competition. I am genuinely touched by the quality and imaginativeness of the entries! Everything in the flickr pool is something I would love to wear. More than that, though, Nic and I have been so moved by the warmth of all of your best wishes for our wedding and our marriage. People we have been lucky enough to meet and get to know in real life took part in this competition. One of my best friends did, and one of my colleagues did as well. And then there are all of you who I only know through blogs or through twitter - the good will and well-wishes are so gratefully received. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!

A special thanks should go to dear Sarah for having this crazy, thoughtful and generous idea, for organising the prizes and for cheering everyone along the whole time. There's a little gift on its way to Sarah as I write, but it's so minor in comparison to the gift she - and all of you - have given me. Thank you all so much!

There only remains a little bit of admin - could the winners please email Sarah at rhinestonesandtelephones@gmail.com - and she will sort out your prizes!

I'm going to go and finish that gin now. Once again, thank you to everyone who took part. YOU GUYS ARE TOTALLY AWESOME.

Tell me. What is it like to stare into the eye of Satan's butthole?

Hola, boys and girls! How is this Thursday afternoon treating you? I'm grand - I have just finished work for the day and it's been a good one, even though I did get drenched when I popped out at lunchtime to go to the post office. The drenching paid off though, as I was also able to pop into Berylune and buy some of their new stock - some beautiful Rashida Coleman-Hale for Cloud 9 fabric. Yay!

Anyway, it's been a busy week at work and a fairly productive one at home. Nic was away at the start of the week so I entertained myself by sewing and watching lots of TV boxed sets - I made a dress and binge-watched episodes of Law & Order, The Office (all of season 7, basically) and Hannibal, and I also got caught up on all four episodes of this series of Made in Chelsea. I was pretty TV-ed out by the time Nic came back and it was really nice to talk to another human being! With another bank holiday weekend on the horizon, I have lots more sewing lined up, including my wedding dress! Meep! Ideally, I'd like to leave it until slightly closer to the wedding to sew it, but this weekend is my only free weekend between now and then. So that's exciting, if a little bit daunting. I'm also going to pick the winners of Sew Dolly Clackett - I selected a (long) shortlist today and have shared it with my judging panel of Nic and Disha, and hopefully they'll be able to help me pick the winners from that. It wasn't easy, not least because all it has made me want to do is buy fabric! I hope to announce the winners over the weekend, so watch this space.

But you know, it's not like I have any shortage of dresses, is it? And I have a new one to share with you today. This is yet another By Hand London Anna dress - my love for that pattern basically knows no bounds. As with the Elisalex pattern, I had to get down to retracing it in my new size, as the pieces I had been working on are now two sizes too big. A happy task, if a tedious one. I've hacked this pattern every which way, but this time round I decided to sew up a straight Anna because, damn. She fine.

Deanna dress - By Hand London Anna dress and Vivienne Westwood for Melissa Lady Dragon shoes

Yeah, I'm not really sure what face I'm pulling there! I bought this fabric when I went shopping with Char and Sarah in Birmingham at the start of February. It came from Fancy Silk Stores and they had all these bolts of it next to the till, and it was basically an impulse purchase. You know, like when you buy sweeties at the supermarket when all you went in for is washing-up liquid? Anyway - it was £4.99 a metre and it's twee as shit, and I wasn't altogether convinced that I actually liked it. But you know me - if it's ugly and I'm not sure that I like it, it generally means that I will like it. I bought two metres and had initially planned to make an Emery dress out of it, but when it came to cutting it out it felt like only Anna would do, so there you go.

THAT'S MORE LIKE IT, FACE. Good work.

So, while the fabric looks like Cath Kidston threw up in a bin after eating too many sweets, it's actually by Hill-Berg fabrics. And I'm mostly joking with that Cath Kidston remark. I quite like Cath Kidston - I mean, I made my Madarch dress, and I have two Cath Kidston bags and a purse (all polka dots, obviously) and you'll have to pry my mushrooms mug out of my cold dead hands, but something about the relentlessly middle-class mimsyness of it just makes me crazy. Even though I kind of like it. I think that's what makes me crazy. I'm such a smug hipster that I think I should be above it but I'm totally not. Or at least, not completely.

Anyway. It ended up that I liked this fabric, even if it is disgustingly twee. It's green and pink, so it works with my lovely pink and green sandals. I made this dress while binge-watching episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation so it very nearly got called the STFU, Guinan dress. In the end I named if after Deanna Troi. I love to bag on her because she's quite shit at being an empath, but also I think she's pretty awesome.

I'm just going to leave this one here...

As I have made the Anna dress so many times before, I don't have anything left to say about it! I turned and stitched all of the skirt seams and pinked the bodice seams and waist seam. I didn't make any adjustments at all to the pattern and just sewed a straight size 8, but I think for next time I may have to take a bit of width out of the back neckline. I hadn't needed to do this before, but I think it would be a good adjustment here.

So that's basically the craic with this dress. And with this week, which has been grand but which I am glad is nearly over. I feel like I should have a bit more to say, but actually I have probably waffled on for quite long enough. So I'm out of here. Laters, gators.