Aye, ye cannae beat a cooked breakfast, man!

Evening! I've been having a busy week so far, having officially started my new job on Monday. Considering how much I usually complain about work, I've been feeling great about it. Today was genuinely excellent, in fact. I hope this a trend that continues. Anyway, what with that and the suddenly glorious weather I have fallen behind with blogging a bit. I have two finished dresses to post about, and three episodes of Scott and Bailey. OOOPS! Well, I suspect that most of you aren't hanging out dying to read my thoughts on Scott and Bailey but in the interests of completeness I will post those final recaps pretty shortly.

So, things are all good here in Casa Clackett. The weekend truly was glorious, wasn't it? On Saturday, Nic and I got out into the sunshine for a walk and a picnic. In May I bought a dress on ebay that I couldn't really wear until my Me Made May challenge finished, so I was excited to wear it. I'm sad like that. We went for a walk along the canal, did some grocery shopping and then had a picnic lunch in Victoria Park.

Saturday 1st June 2013 - Fever Maui Atlantis dress, red Birkenstock 'Madrid' sandals and Zatchels 11.5" green satchel

I actually have this dress in green and love it, so when I spotted the pink one for £2.50 on ebay, I pounced. I altered the green one to make the halter straps into shoulder straps and I am considering doing that with this one, too. Halternecks are cute and summery but wearing one usually gives me a headache with the weight of my bust dragging on the neck-ties. This one didn't though, so I'll have to think about it. This was the perfect dress for a lazy Saturday, I'm very glad I bought it and that the weather was obliging enough to allow me to wear it! Saturday was also the first proper turn out of the satchel I bought in the Zatchels birthday sale. It finally arrived on Thursday 30th May - after having been ordered on 20th April. The satchel itself is beautiful and I really do love it - it's really beautifully made and is a vibrant kelly green in real life, and the 11.5" size is perfect for a small handbag. I now have three Zatchels bags and I'm really happy with their overall quality.

That said, I'm not sure I would order directly from Zatchels again because I was pretty unimpressed with their customer service. I understood when I ordered that it could take up to 30 days for my satchel to arrive, and that they'd probably be a bit busier due to the popularity of the sale. So I honestly didn't mind waiting a while for the satchel to arrive. I was thoroughly unimpressed by the emails from the director, Dean. I'm not on Facebook but I understand the Zatchels page was filled with complaints from customers. An earlier email acknowledged this and apologised but another email at the end of May to all customers basically said "they're taking longer now, be patient, you'll get it when you get it" which I didn't think was an adequate response really.

I should say that I was feeling a bit irritated having had ordering shenanigans with my satchel. It was delayed due to them running out of green leather - which I only found out after numerous emails and then eventually on twitter. Then I got an order confirmation a good four weeks after my initial one, with a new order number. After chasing this up on twitter, I was told that this was in error and I hadn't been charged. That order was cancelled, but then a week later I was refunded my initial order with a snotty email saying "we see you no longer require your satchel"! I got good customer service over the phone and on twitter, and my satchel was eventually re-paid for and dispatched, but the whole thing was such a saga it puts me off ever ordering from them again. Luckily lovely Berylune stock them, so should I find myself in desperate need of another one, I'll buy directly from them. Brilliant customer service and no waiting around, either! Or, you know, I could just have waited til the Brandalley sale 5 weeks after my order, because the people who bought satchels then got theirs a day or two later. Not too impressed, Zatchels.

Anyway, enough griping because I do LOVE my bag. I used to have a bright green handbag in my PGCE days which died from overuse, so it's nice to have another one back in my life.

On Sunday, I was teaching the second part of my Colette Patterns Hazel class at Berylune. My student, Hannah, had managed to get loads done in the first session so we were keen to crack on and get her dress finished. We were joined again by the amazingly talented Fiona Murray, who took lots of beautiful photographs. Look at her website to see who else she works with - I'm in GOOD company! We got our heads down and had completely finished the dress - zip, hem and all - by 2:30, so I helped Hannah with her next project as well. Have a look at Fiona's blog for her thoughts on the day, but I'm also going to pinch a couple of photos to show you!

L-R - a box of amazing vintage seam bindings that Hannah bought on ebay; showing Hannah how to pin a lapped zipper in place; work in progress

The finished article - Hannah in her gorgeous handmade Hazel dress, modelled in the shop at Berylune.

Hannah had bought the fabric during her travels in Thailand, and hadn't thought she would have enough for a dress. The Hazel dress requires pretty minimal yardage so we were able to use the v-shape of the bodice and the dirndl skirt to really make the most of the fabric's border print. I think I was as thrilled to see Hannah's dress completed as I have ever been with any of my own. That's the joy of teaching, I suppose! If you're local to Leamington Spa and want to sign up to my classes you can do so here.

So anyway, that's enough of me for this evening. I have dinner to cook and things to do. Watch out for some Scott and Bailey chat coming your way soon, though!

Eh, no. I am NOT dancing to 'You Can Leave Your Hat On'

Hey guys! It's JUNE. The SUN IS SHINING. I'm a BIT PISSED. This is a good thing! No, seriously though. I was teaching today at Berylune, and then I was drinking cocktails in Amy's garden. That is my kind of Sunday. My very excellent student finished her dress and looked gorgeous, and I can't wait to share the photos with you when I get them. But in the meantime, I have the last of my Me Made May dresses to show to you, and a little bit of reflection, too.

So. Here's what I wore on Bank Holiday Monday:

Honolulu Baby dress and Vivienne Westwood for Melissa Lady Dragon Cherry shoes - and, just seen, my new yellow Zatchels satchel

It was warm and sunny but windy on Monday - hence the Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka hair. I can't really remember what we did on Monday. Nic and I had a picnic lunch in the park and went for a walk, and watched DVDs. Relaxing! I knew I had Tuesday off work so there was no need to worry about fitting lots in to Monday. I love this dress, and it really needed a sunny day to show it off!

Tuesday was a bit different though, weather wise. I don't think the sun even came up.

Tuesday 28th May 2013 - Stay The Course dress and red shoes from Topshop

Ah I love this photo but I kind of hate this photo. The weather was shitty on Tuesday but as I was spending the day indoors, it didn't matter. Nic was doing a screening of Round Midnight for some American Studies MA students, so I went along to see it on the big screen. I'd seen a bit of it before, but never the whole way through. The experience was marred somewhat by the person sitting next to me sniffing actually the WHOLE way through the film, but it's such a lovely lovely film and I was surprised by how moved I was by it. Then Nic and I came home and had dinner and watched a bunch of super-sad episodes of The West Wing (don't want to spoil anyone who hasn't seen it, but for those who have it was some season 7 episodes and one of them I cried the full way through it. Like actual, heaving sobs. God.) Anyway, yeah this dress. When I was making the Rue Paul Albert dress and two zips broke, I went to put this dress on and the fucking zip broke on it too! So I had to replace it, and I did, and I love this dress basically. Good old Michael Miller fabrics. My heroes.

Wednesday 29th May 2013 - Meta dress, yellow cardigan from H&M and Poetic Licence 'Backlash' boots

I can't believe I was wearing these boots in May! Depressing. I had a busy day at work on Wednesday because the temp who is taking over my job started and I had lots of induction things to do with her. She was dressed all in black and one of the first things she said to me was about how colourful I was! This dress made my colleagues laugh because recently we had a measurement-related error in our field of work and I had lots of orders to make measuring-tape ties or shirts. Obvs I'm not going to make them, but it made me laugh. Anyway, it took til the 29th day of May for me to figure out how not to look like a total hot mess in end-of-work day photos, so maybe I'm set for NEXT May, right?

Thursday 30th May 2013 - Feckin Birds dress and Topshop shoes

Um, yeah, so clearly haven't QUITE nailed the not looking like ass thing. I was working in London on Thursday so was on a very early train and had a very full day, and this is me upon arriving home. I'm actually pretty thrilled with how good the dress looks after a full day of wear though, although the tulip skirt has flattened a little bit with lots of sitting. Thursday was lovely, though. I had a busy day, then came home and made dinner for friends, and then more friends came round and we had an impromptu mini party thing. It was great - I have such wonderful friends. Friends who understand my need to drunkenly tweet them gifs that make me laugh.

Friday 31st May 2013 PART THE UNE - Home Sewing is Easy dress and Vivienne Westwood for Melissa shoes. Thanks to Lauren for taking the photo!

I wasn't in work on Friday. Nic was out all day at a conference so I had a lazy morning then rolled over to Lauren's house to sew and watch Made in Chelsea - she's watching it from the start, and we had some excellent series 2 episodes to watch together. It was so much fun. I actually think I need to take this dress in a wee bit because it's a bit looser in the waist than I would like, but of course I always love wearing it. As it was the last day of May and also payday, I had a dinner date planned with Nic in the evening, hence the part one. After spending the afternoon with Lauren, I went home and watched more Made in Chelsea, and then got changed and headed out for dinner with my sweetie:

Friday 31st May 2013 part two - Shepherd's Bush Sweetheart dress and Office 'Love Me Tender' shoes

This was worn for dinner and then drinks and then a walk home in the warm moonlight. I wore a petticoat underneath this dress and felt pleasantly ridiculous in it. I loved this dress when I finished it, but I love it even more now. And even more than that after a few of these on Friday night:

Raspberry mule!

And then it was over. I wore a non me-made on Saturday because I could. But I wore a handmade dress today.

What did I learn? Well, let's have a look at my pledge:

I, Roisin of But It Can't Be From Dolly Clackett, She Gave Me an Easter Egg!, sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May '13. I endeavour to wear one handmade dress each day for the duration of May 2013, with no repeats. In addition, I pledge to sew at least two more garments during the course of the month.

This was a step-up from last year's plegde, when I pledged to wear handmade dresses at least twice a week. That ended up being really do-able, and I realised then if I hadn't tagged on the 'no repeats' bit, I could have done the whole month. I've sewn at lot since then so I thought no repeats would still work out this time. In terms of the sewing new garments - well, I managed three complete dresses, and one that's just needing a hem. So, that's good!

I ended up not having any problems fulfilling the no repeats bit of the pledge. I have a lot of handmade dresses now, and I have the kind of job where most of them are totally suitable to wear to work. So, I didn't find that I had any wardrobe gaps really. I'm used to wearing dresses throughout the year too, so I didn't find the sudden drop in temperature to be a problem really either. I was pleased to find that my handmade wardrobe was suitable for work, holiday, and even a job interview! That makes me really happy. I did struggle to get a photo every day without looking tired, and that's partly because May was an uncharacteristically intense month. I got through it though, and for that I have to offer my heartfelt thanks to my darling Nic. He takes the majority of photos for my blog anyway, but Me Made May was a big ask of him. I'm lucky to have such a supportive thoughtful boyfriend, and one who is keen to be a part of my hobby. I'm so excited some of you all are going to get to meet him on 15th June in Birmingham! I was glad to get to the end of the month, mainly so I could stop taking photos every day.

I did learn a lot from the process. Last May, Me Made May kickstarted me into sewing more regularly. This Me Made May made me realise that the way I sew - basically a lot of repeats but in varying fabrics  - works for my lifestyle and my body. I felt proud to have built a collection that I love to wear and that makes me happy. I want to thank Zoe for arranging this challenge, I can honestly say that taking part in Me Made May 2012 changed my relationship with sewing and in a good way. I have been sewing a lot more this year and it's got me through some stressful times at work, and has made me happy. This will continue. So, while Me Made May is over for this year, Me Made Living will carry on!

Right, I'm off. I'll be back later in the week!

I know I'd like to beat you senseless with a head of cabbage, I know that for damn sure.

Evening lovelies! After that idyllic, sunny bank holiday weekend today has been a bit of a washout! I also had today off, one of the small perks of working in the bit of the public sector that I work in. Still, after such a sunshiny weekend I can't complain about a bit of rain, really!

On Sunday, I taught my first dressmaking class at Berylune. It was a beautiful day, but I wasn't too sad to be indoors as the studio at Berylune is so light and airy and pretty. It didn't hurt a bit that I knew there'd be delicious cake on hand, too! I decided to wear a new dress for the occasion - bringing me over the making bit of my Me Made May pledge!

Sunday 26th May 2013 - Landlocked dress and red wedges from Primark

Aah! My eyes are closed in this photo. Sigh. Anyway, yes - ANOTHER nautical-type dress. I have wanted this fabric - Rigging, from the Michael Miller 'Ahoy Matey' collection - ever since it came out, and I decided the other week to buy some before it became too difficult to find. Really, the only thing to do with it was turn it into a sun-dress so I frankened up a pattern. This is my by-now-standard gathered skirt, with the bodice from NL 6886 and the straps from Hazel. I really love the end result!

So, being as I can't actually swim and Leamington Spa is nowhere near the sea, I named this the Landlocked frock. My in-laws live by the sea, though, so maybe at some point I'll be able to wear this while frolicking in the surf.

Eyes open this time!

There's really nothing at all to say about this make. I lined the bodice in some navy cotton from my stash, and only needed to make minor adjustments to the shape of the neckline to accommodate the wider straps. The placement of the original spaghetti straps is at a little raised bit, which I changed to a slightly wider raised bit... erm, this explanation isn't very technical, is it? But then, my process wasn't all that technical. I futzed around with it a little bit to make sure that it covered my bra straps both front and back because, gosh knows, I love wearing a proper bra. Anyway, I did get a photo of that but my computer is being so irritating and won't let me rotate it. I'll leave the straps and my chubby back to your imaginations.

Sunday was really great. I had one student, and she had a fair bit of experience in dressmaking but wanted some encouragement to get going on a sewing pattern. I love teaching, and of course I love sewing, but I was amazed by how quickly the day sped by. We have another session this coming Sunday, at the end of which we will have finished one dress and have cut out and maybe started another one! It was immensely satisfying to see my student's confidence grow as the day progress, and watch her become more excited as her dress took shape. We were joined during the day by the amazingly talented photographer Fiona Murray. You can see her photos and read her blog post over at her blog here, and I hope she won't mind me sharing this one with you:

Photo courtesy of Fiona Murray

One of the really lovely things about having Fiona there was seeing how she became enthused about dressmaking as well - and she may even join me for a future date to make a dress to wear to a wedding. I love how the buzz of sewing can be infectious! It's one of the reasons why meeting up with other stitchers is so enjoyable. Nic thinks so, too; it's why he's decided to join me when I go along to Marie and Kat's Birmingham meet-up on 15th June!

Anyway, it was a really enjoyable day. Four o'clock sped around far too quickly, but it meant getting out into the sunshine for an ice-cream in the park with Nic. I'm looking forward to teaching more classes with Berylune, but I'm going to have to be very disciplined if I want to break even at all. I failed on that note this time...

So, yeah. I bought another Zatchel satchel - and some gingham bias binding. Emily sneaked the handmade lemon soap in as a surprise. I'm still waiting on the green satchel I bought from the Zatchels birthday sale - its purchase is turning into a bit of a saga - so I don't feel too bad about splashing out on this beautiful sunshine yellow one! But, yeah. That's probably enough for now.

And that's me for this evening. More me-made-may coming up later in the week, and some Scott and Bailey recaps, too! 

I remember the first time I ate a live taspar. I was six years old and living on the streets of Lakat.

Evening guys! It's pretty rare for me to blog on a Saturday, but here I am! The dinner is cooking, and Nic and I are watching Star Trek: The Next Generation. There are two Rikers in this episode so it's all good. Anyway, we're heading out for the evening pretty soon but I've had a lovely day, and I wore one of my new Me Made May pledge dresses, so I'm keen to share!

So, the story with this dress is that one of the things I definitely wanted to buy in Paris was some toile du jouy style fabric. It's pretty, and also there was this dress from Oasis last year that I didn't buy because it was £85 and probably too short, and £85 flipping pounds - the fuck?

Nice, right? but £85? For that money it would need to come with a kitten. Oasis need to catch themselves on with their pricing.

Griping aside, I was really taken with the willow-pattern style print, and I loved the colours. So when we were in Paris, I made a beeline for the floor in Dreyfus where they sold toile du jouy, but none of it seemed quite right. But then I found something that fit the bill in Tissus Reine, and fell on it. Yes, it had Eiffel Towers on it, and yes, I felt like a bit of a dick buying it. But big whoop, when do I not? Anyway, there was only really one option for it, and that was the Simplicity 2444 bodice and a gathered skirt.

Saturday 25th May 2013 - Rue Paul Albert dress and pink shoes from Topshop

Just a quick word on the fabric - I haven't been able to find it in this colour online really anywhere, and it's not on the Reine website. But it's Toujours Eiffel by Lakehouse Dry Goods if you want to have a look for it. It's 100% cotton, probably quilting weight really but with a lovely drape and gorgeous to sew with. It was about 14 euros a metre, and I bought two metres, which was more than enough for this dress. I sewed this over two evenings but for some reason had to fiddle a bit with it to get it right! Nothing major and nothing worth writing about really, but it's partly why it's taken me a while to wear it. Anyway, as you can see from the photo above of the Oasis dress, it was styled with a pink belt, so I wore this with my faithful pink Topshop shoes.

One of the things that was stressful about this dress is that two zips broke in the process of making it, which is fucking bad luck. Seriously annoying. Nic made a midweek run to Royal Fabrics for me and bought a zip. Maverick that he is, he bought me a blue one, and suggested I let it show in the dress. I love that he was suggesting design features for me, what a cutie!

Rue Paul Albert dress - back view

I make no apology at all for the fact that I love the Eiffel Tower print (and at some point I'll get around to sewing something from the Michael Miller fabric I also bought in Reine) but I really love the colours in this print, and the faded floral print in the background. And of course, it has many happy memories of Paris. I named it from a street around the corner from where we stayed - one that was halfway down the hill from the Sacre Coeur - Rue Paul Albert:

Rue Paul Albert at night

Rue Paul Albert, and the street leading down from it (Rue Muller) had lots of charming bars and restaurants and was just pretty and Parisian. It was a happy place to be! I will tell you more when I finally get around to writing up the second half of my Paris post.

The Rue Paul Albert dress had its first outing to a far less picturesque city, though, as I wore it today to go to... COVENTRY. Oh yes! I work in Coventry so I'm not usually that keen to go there on my days off, by our friends Lauren and Rick had invited us to take part in a Cash Mob, so off we went. This is how this happened:

So, here I am with the Terminator...

...and with my lovely Lauren

Luckily though, Leamington is much more picturesque. After a very successful Cash Mob, and a very enjoyable morning with friends, Nic and I took ourselves off through the fields to the Saxon Mill for a drink in the sunshine. Fine bank holiday weekend fun. And NO RAINING. So that's good!

Looking wistfully in the direction of the pub

It's wine time!

So, in short. Rue Paul Albert dress: Success. Simplicity 2444 is still awesome. I did buy some new sewing patterns today though, so it's time to shake things up in here!

Not right now, though. Right now it's time to go to the pub.

We're no longer called Sonic Death Monkey. We're on the verge of becoming Kathleen Turner Overdrive.

Right now, Nic is doing the washing up to the sounds of Kate Bush. I so wish I could capture how happy that makes me, but instead I'll just try to greet you with Wooooow wooooooow wooooow unBELIEVABLE...!

This has been another week that felt like it was never going to end. Although my new job doesn't officially start until 3rd June, one of my colleagues has been on leave basically since I got promoted, so I've been doing lots of bits of my new job as well as doing my current job, and trying to get some sort of plan together for how to hand it over to my replacement. It's been flipping exhausting! I'm not complaining (not this time anyway, but you all know I enjoy a good old complain) but I am really glad it's the weekend. And a long weekend for me, as I took this afternoon off, and I have Tuesday off as well as the Monday bank holiday. Hurrah!

Not that I have anything major planned, of course. I'm teaching over at Berylune on Sunday and there are still places left on the course, in case you want to make a last-minute decision to join me! Other than that, I'm going to be hanging out with friends, sewing, reading and sleeping.

As I say, it's been a busy week. On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday I had full-day meetings with external panellists. These days are always good - the people we work with outside my agency are great, and they're a change of pace. But they're tiring because there are no breaks, essentially - you spend the whole day on. So I'm looking desperately tired in the next few pictures!

Tuesday 21st May 2013 - Lobsterlex dress and Irregular Choice Mermaid shoes

This is actually the first time I've worn this to work, despite all my big talk when I made it. I just didn't get round to it til Tuesday, and I must admit that I did hesitate at the thought of wearing this in front of a panel full of teachers! But it was fine, and I think it tells you something about my colleagues and how I usually dress at work that no-one passed any remarks on this dress. Well, apart from Darren, who pointed out that the lobsters must be dead because otherwise they're not red. So that made my dress go from a bit grotesque to gruesome. This is me after a long day, and the dress is hardly creased. This fabric is magic, dead crustaceans or not.

Wednesday 22nd May 2013 - Magnificent Obsession dress and Topshop 'Strawberry' shoes

Every time I wear this dress I feel really happy about it. I know I look tired as shit here, but I'm feeling pretty fabulous, because this dress makes me feel gorgeous. I have to make some more out of this pattern (Retro Butterick B5603)

Thursday 23rd May 2013 - Flood Meadow Cambie dress and Irregular Choice Mighty Monster shoes

I hate this photo so much, you guys! By the time I got home from work yesterday, the weather had completely turned to shit and I had to take the photo inside, with a flash. Look at that shiny face! You can't even see how cute the dress and shoes are. No need to say I love this dress - it's a Cambie, innit? Perfect for work, and for a more chilly day because it's fully lined (I wore it with a pink cardigan, by the way.)

Friday 24th May 2013 - Too Many Dresses dress, green cardigan from Phase Eight and Primark shoes

And that brings us to today! I was working from home this morning, and Nic was out from early this morning until lunchtime. So I didn't get dressed until midday, and then I finished work for the day. I wasn't lounging round all morning in a full circle dress and a petticoat. Although I have been this afternoon, so, yeah. I held off wearing this dress until this point in the month, partly because for some reason I thought it might not fit (although durr, it does) and also partly because I kind of forgot about it. Earlier in the week, though, I bought a really fluffy pink Hell Bunny petticoat, and it seemed the perfect match for this dress. Yeah I know you can't see it, whatever. It's under there. Anyway, I wore this to go out for afternoon tea and then to the pub with Nic. All I can say is I'm glad I had the petticoat on, because the wind today is NO JOKE. The townspeople of Leamington didn't get exposed to anything more than a few layers of pink tulle, this way.

This one makes me laugh because I guess this is what my face looks like when I'm not doing a photo face? I was looking (squinting) at the approximately 5 million school children that were swarming along the street perpendicular to ours. I didn't figure out what they were up to, but it momentarily distracted me from trying not to look too goofy, and the result was goofy. Ah well.

So, Me Made May is going pretty well so far. I mean, the weather is sucking now. But I have enough clothes to get me to the end of the month, and the only thing I'm finding difficult is getting the photos. I obviously don't mind having photos taken of what I'm wearing, but every single day is a bit much. I am enjoying wearing my handmade clothes though. I have been doing that a lot more in the past year, since last Me Made May, and it's nice to intensify that. I don't miss my RTW clothes, but at the same time, it hasn't made me feel at all like I want to stop wearing shop bought clothes. I know it has that effect on some people, but it hasn't on me. I bought a dress last Friday, and wore it out on Friday night. I had worn a handmade dress all day, so I didn't feel bad:

Friday 17th May 2013 - Hell Bunny 'Larissa' dress, Vivienne Westwood for Melissa Cherry Lady Dragon shoes and vintage handbag

I bought this Hell Bunny dress in Magpie on Warwick Street last Friday afternoon. I had spotted it before we went to Paris, but my self-imposed shopping ban was still ongoing, so I decided I'd buy it when we got back, if they still  had one in my size. I love it! I mean, yeah, I could probably make something like this myself for a bit less money (probably only a bit though) and I'd enjoy making it, but sometimes it's nice just to buy a pretty dress. Sewing for myself has made me do that a lot less often, but occasionally, still, it's pleasant to shop. My handmade clothes are becoming a larger proportion of my wardrobe, but I don't think they'll ever be my full wardrobe. And that's okay by me.

Anyway, it's Friday night! There's wine in the fridge and dinner being cooked, and a DVD to watch. See you all soon!

We'll buy cheap booze and run through these backstreets, you be Cleopatra and I'm Marc Antony.

Evening all! This evening in Chateau Clackett it's all about dinner and The X-Files, and maybe a bit of sewing later. I hope everyone else is having as pleasant a day!

Anyway, I had a thoroughly lovely weekend. On Friday evening, Nic and I went to the pub for dinner with some friends and had one of those evenings where the next day your tummy is a bit sore from laughing so much. I love evenings like that! On Saturday we had a bit of a lie-in and then decided to have a little mini day-trip along to Oxford, because it's been ages since we were last there. I like Oxford a lot, and it's a nice day out - it's close enough on the train to not be a hassle, but far enough away to be a bit of a change of scenery. The day started out a bit cloudy but the sun came out, and damn if Oxford isn't pretty in the sunshine. I took a new handmade dress out for a spin, as well:

Saturday 18th May 2013 - Rue Ramey dress and Topshop shoes

ANOTHER Cambie dress. Sorry not sorry. I don't think I can have enough of this pattern. This is made from the first piece of fabric I bought in Paris, and named Rue Ramey after one of the streets nearby where we were staying in Montmartre. I have absolutely nothing further to say about this lovely pattern, except that this is the best sweetheart neckline I've managed in all of my Cambie dresses. Oh, and I know I have a bit of a bullseye thing going on up in the bodice area, but whatevs. It would have been difficult to avoid with this print, and I don't really care that much anyway!

I think it's actually impossible for me to stand up straight. Ah well. These photos were taken at the Old Bodleian Library, which was closed to visitors or I would have stood on the steps. As big fans of Inspector Morse, Nic and I never get tired of being all "Oh this is where someone took a shot at John Gielgud" or "Hey do you remember when Richard Briers dyed his hair black and was totally evil to Roger Allam's wife?" and, less often, "Oh this is where Lewis almost got run over" because, Lewis isn't as good a TV show as Morse. Lots of things happen in this courtyard.

We pottered around in the sunshine, and walked out the Cowley Road to Atomic Pizza, on the recommendation of Rick and Lauren. I liked it so much I'd nearly get on the train to Oxford now to have my dinner there. It's full of excellent comic and video-game memorabilia, and 80s toys and games too (one wall has a massive shelf of My Little Ponies) and the menu is immense. We both had burgers and sci-fries (chips covered in chilli flakes) - Nic had the Johnny Cash (refried beans, American cheese, hot sauce and jalapenos) and I had one called the Monkey Magic - which had, instead of burger buns, two pizzas. It was without a doubt the most unhealthy thing I have ever eaten in my life and I couldn't even manage half of it. I really want to go back and try more of their menu, but it may take my arteries some time to recover. We did a lot of walking though, so I don't feel that bad!

I had some mending and some chores to do on Sunday, but it was so sunny and lovely that I didn't mind! I also put the finishing touches to my second Me Made May sewing pledge dress, which I'm really thrilled with. Nic and I went out for a walk and then spent the afternoon gossiping with friends over tea in Vinteas.

Sunday 19th May 2013 - Sewaholic Lonsdale dress and Charlotte Russe Madison wedges

Look at the derp face! This is not the best picture of me but it really made me giggle. Anyway, yes,  my gingham Lonsdale is a favourite, and so are my gingham wedges! These were super cheap in Charlotte Russe when I was in Florida last year, but the reason they were so cheap was that the sole was basically made of paper. Honestly, it was like cardboard and came away after only a few wears. Luckily I have a really good cobbler who was able to resole them with a proper sole and now I can wear them to my heart's content - weather permitting!

Monday 20th May 2013 - Sewaholic Cambie dress and red jelly sandals from Miss Selfridge

Aaaand we're back to the 'big tired face just home from work' style photo that this Me Made May seems to be marked by. Heh. I haven't worn this dress for a while and I had sort of forgotten both how comfortable it is, and how happy it makes me to wear red gingham. I had a day of running around at work, hence the flat shoes, but at least I felt well-turned out while I was doing it!

So I've had kind of an unofficial Sewaholic weekend - it wasn't planned that way - but I do love these dresses. I still have a Cambie to go before the end of Me Made May, and I'm sure I'll sew more over the coming months. That makes me predictable, but I'm okay with that.

Anyway, it's time for me to go. Duane Barry has just driven up a mountain with Scully in his car - OH SHIT!

Once again, you display an immaturity about vegetables that I think is not at all presidential.

Hey all! It's FINALLY FRIDAY! This week has been so busy at work, it's felt both interminable and also has sped by in a blur. I haven't blogged my Me Made May progress since day 8, so here's a bumper catch-up now! I should warn you now though that most of these photos were taken at the end of busy work days so I am looking majorly crumpled and tired in most of them. Still, keeping it real, YO.

 

Thursday 9th May - Another Eiffel Tower dress and Irregular Choice 'Mermaid'shoes

So here's one where I'm looking tired as shit! After Wednesday being a lovely day, Thursday was miserable and I got rained on and blown about on my walk from the office to the station - I was SOOOOO grumpy about this! Especially as I didn't have a coat with me. But, I loved wearing this dress. When I finished it last year I felt kind of ambivalent about it, but I love it. Good old Simplicity 2591.

Friday 10th May 2013 - green gingham Cambie dress and Vivienne Westwood for Melissa Ultragirl shoes

HELLO WRINKLES! Not much to say about this dress except I love it, and I love gingham, and I want to sew more gingham dresses. I wore flats last Friday because I had a lot of running around to do, and when I was waiting on my train home a lady came up to me and said "You're wearing flats! Me and my friend love looking to see what shoes you're wearing!" which was nice, and weird at the same time!

Saturday 11th May 2013 - Etoile dress and Vivienne Westwood for Melissa Lady Dragon shoes

I wore this dress in a bit of blatant self-publication - I was helping the Berylune ladies out at the Save The Children fair in the town hall, and this is the dress you can learn to sew with me at their workshops! There wasn't much going on at the fair but it was good to hang out with friends and eat cake.

Sunday 12th May 2013 - Majestic Oak dress and Vivienne Westwood for Melissa Ultragirl shoes

Sunday was miserable weather-wise and I was exhausted, having had a late night on Saturday. I was going to declare Sunday a pyjama day, with a me-made crochet blanket but I did have to go to the shops to get stuff for dinner, so I got dressed. This dress is another one that has grown on me since I made it, and it was really comfortable for a lazy day at home.

Monday 13th May 2013 - Hounds of Love dress and 'Strawberry' shoes from Topshop

Monday was the start of a super-busy work week, and you've got me here exhilarated and exhausted after getting through the first day. I love this dress a WHOLE LOT, the more I look at those little foxes the cuter they get. This dress even prompted one of my colleagues - whose style is radically different to mine, and who almost never makes comments about my clothes, to say "cute dress!" which was really nice. You know how much I love compliments, right? I SO SHALLOW.

Tuesday 14th May 2013 - Come Sail Away Elisalex dress and Topshop 'Jostle' heels

So Tuesday was pretty stressful and I didn't manage to get a full length picture. I was really busy at work, and had family matters on my mind as well as my grandfather was hospitalised with fluid on his lungs. Since I blogged about this dress I took the hem up to just on my knee and I like it a lot better. Also, these shoes are new! Well, not new - I got them on ebay for 99p, and I love the colour, and they were 99p!

Wednesday 15th May 2013 - Colette Patterns Peony dress, yellow shoes from Topshop and my lovely Zatchels bag from Berylune

It pleased me how much the elements of this outfit matched, because the blue in the bag basically exactly matched the blue flowers in the dress. One of the external people we were working with asked me if I had my shoes dyed to match my outfits! I explained that I just really like brightly coloured shoes.

Thursday 16th May 2013 - Simplicity 2444 (the first) and pink shoes from Topshop

I think this week has unofficially been 'Topshop shoes week'! I love the shade of pink that these shoes are. This was my first Simplicity 2444 dress and I wear it a lot, but I'm looking tired and crumpled here so not doing this pretty frock justice. Still - sunshine!

Friday 17th May 2013 - Cowgirl Cambie dress and red wedges from Primark via ebay

Again, I had a Friday of running around, spending the afternoon sorting out my project's cupboards in our secure filing room. FUN. But this dress is always fun - I have made a lot of Cambie dresses now, and I have more planned - and a new one made to show to you soon!

That's us up to date now on Me Made May. I'm not finding it difficult at all to wear a different me-made every day, and I have pretty much fulfilled the other part of my pledge too. I am finding it difficult to get photos where I don't look like ass, but that's partly because I'm so busy at work. Although I'm being promoted within my team, I still have a lot of things to tie up and finish before my replacement starts and I start my new job, AND we have lots of activities going on right now. I don't mind being busy, but I look so tired at the end of each day. Ah well - I suppose now you all know what I really look like!

Right, now it's Friday night and I'm going to the pub. Hurrah!