Dogs are better than human beings because they know but do not tell.

Morning all! Apologies for the radio silence over these parts - since I last wrote, I came back to Northern Ireland for Christmas and everything has been really busy since then. It is really nice to be home and even more so because I'm able to spend lots of time with my siblings. I've met both of my new nephews, Joe and Fionn. They're equally gorgeous and delightful; both hilarious and darling in different ways. There's only a four-week age gap between them and already you can see their distinct personalities emerging. My parents love being grandparents and my sister and brother have each taken to parenthood very well. I'm thoroughly enjoying being an aunty and it has very definitely NOT made me broody.

Sadly, our beloved family dog Paddy died yesterday. He'd become very sick in October and although he'd made an amazing recovery then, over the last few weeks he'd become very ill again. He couldn't see or walk, he could only eat when Daddy was syringe feeding him and over the last few days he'd lost his hearing as well. It was heartbreaking but also sort of a blessing when he died yesterday afternoon as he had no quality of life left at all. Daddy had been nursing him basically around the clock and it hurts to see someone you love suffering.

Daddy sent us all this picture of Paddy last night.

Paddy was a great dog. He came to us as a puppy and he had been abused, so he was scared of everything and couldn't even bark. As he gained in confidence he started to try and he sounded ridiculously hoarse. He wasn't the brightest dog - he lacked balance and frequently fell off things. He loved to sleep in a flower pot, despite being far too big for it. He stole washing off the line and tools out of the wheelbarrow and one day he came home with a whole cow's leg that he either found on the road or stole from a nearby meat-packing factory. Despite his size and his eventually very loud bark, he was the softest and gentlest dog. He'd chase and hunt rabbits - as dogs do - but that was the extent of his aggression. He couldn't give you his paw without falling over, but he always gave it a good go. One of my favourite memories of Paddy is from this past summer when we took him and Mini to Benburb Priory. Next to the river there are some metal steps. Daddy carried Mini down and we tried to encourage Paddy down them. Try as he might, he couldn't get up the nerve to go down them. He kept getting to the edge and you could see him trying to will himself on, but he just couldn't. He'd lost his nerve so much that Daddy couldn't coax him down the bank either. We had to go back up the steps and take an alternative route and then Paddy was away, tail up, barking in happiness. It won't be the same without him around here.

Here's Daddy with the dogs on top of Navan Fort in the summer. Paddy is just like a streak of movement in the top of the frame because he was so excited - there were lots of rabbits around!

So, while it has been very sad these last few days, it's good to be here. I would have found it much harder if I hadn't been here to share this with my family. And, while it's heartbreaking it's also good to remember what a happy life Paddy had and how much he was loved.

I can't really imagine ever moving home now because I have made my life in England, but a big part of my heart will always be here. It's good to be able to come home. When Nic and I were home in the summer I bought some fabric in Belfast. In fact, it was on the day that we got engaged! It took me ages to sew something with it. Not because it was very precious or rare - I've since seen it in a few other fabric shops - it was just hard to know what to do with it. Eventually I settled on an old favourite - Simplicity 2444. It just seemed right.

Beech Valley dress and Irregular Choice Can't Touch This heels

The fabric came from Paragon Fabrics on Donegall Pass, which I visited following a recommendation from Lynne. It's a great wee shop - packed to the rafters with fun fabrics and staffed by very helpful people. I'd never been down Donegall Pass before - to be honest,  you'd not have much call to unless  you were going for something specific down there - so I'd never have stumbled upon it, but I was glad to visit.  This fabric is cotton poplin by Hill-Berg fabrics and I bought 2 metres at £4 a metre. There's enough of the purple in the print to make the white wearable, I think, and I really like how it looks.

The fit in the bodice looks a bit screwy in these photos, but it doesn't so much in real life! I made my usual shoulder adjustment to the bodice and used my narrowed skirt pieces to fit them onto the 45" wide fabric. I guess you'll just have to take my word for it that it fits fine. I'm happy with it anyway.

I might have to put 2444 on time out for the start of 2014. Gosh knows, I love that pattern, but maybe it's time to branch out a bit. Maybe. 

I named the dress Beech Valley after an area of my home town of Dungannon. It's a pretty name for an area that's not hugely attractive, as it's home to the bus depot and a massive supermarket! Still, I spent a fair bit of my teenage years in that bus station and this dress will always be a wee taste of home, so it seemed fair enough.

My posture is delightful in this one but I'm including it because it made me laugh - I can't remember what was making me laugh here but I look so goofy!

I have one more handmade dress to blog about this year and, as I'm separated from my sewing machine now, it will be my last of 2013! I'll try to fit in taking part in Gillian's Top 5 of 2013 series as I've been enjoying reading everyone else's entries. I'll need to pick up the blogging pace a bit. In place of sewing, I've been getting back into knitting and have been teaching myself to knit a cardigan. I think it's safe to say I'm not a natural knitter as I've had to rip back many mistakes and even now I've made progress, I have a fear that I'm going to have to rip right back to the start. Still, as Rehanon would say, what is life if not for learning. I'll get there eventually with it I'm sure. 

Right, I must away and get ready. My sister and I are heading into town to do some last Christmas shopping and to go for coffee somewhere. I will be back with further dresses and cheerier subjects soon. 

Shorts over six inches are capri pants; shorts under six inches are European

Yo yo YO. I hope everyone is well on this grimy Monday afternoon. I'm in full holiday mode now, which is lovely. I woke up this morning at my usual time, remembered that I didn't have to go to work, remembered about the super-boring meeting I'd be missing as a result, and did a dance of happiness in bed. Hurrah! Over the weekend, Nic and I went for a long walk, saw some friends and had our own little mini-Christmas complete with gift exchange and Christmas dinner. It's been really lovely. I managed to fit in some sewing, as well, which was great. My sewing machine has now been packed away until the new year, so I squeezed in as much as I could before I packed it away. I made a dress on Saturday evening and even though it's skipping the FO queue (I have a lovely dress that I finished and photographed weeks ago, patiently waiting its turn on the blog) I'm going to show it to you today because I love it so much. I'll blog that other little dress at some point soon, scout's honour.

So, this dress. On Saturday morning, Nic and I had a little mooch around Leamington. I had an itch to make a new dress, but didn't have anything in my (by now very limited - I need to do some fabric shopping) stash that was doing it for me. Leamington has four fabric shops, not counting the sari shops in the old town, so I was fairly sure I'd find something. I had that annoying thing where I had something unspecific in mind, but specific enough that nothing I saw was quite right. I was frowning at the bolts in Harlequin when Nic picked up a piece of fabric from the remnant box, and it was just perfect. This is why I take him fabric shopping, I swear. The man has skills.

Poppies by Belleboo Fabrics

The remnant was £12.70 for 3.5 metres. Bargain! The fabric is a medium-weight cotton lawn with a lovely drape to it, and there was more than enough to do anything I wanted with it. The fabric reminded me very much of this rose print cotton that Dolly Dagger have used on their Scarlett dress:

Dolly Dagger Scarlett dress - and doesn't the model remind you of our own beautiful Marie?

I've admired that dress for ages but, as ever, I'm very cheap. It's £149 and, while it's undoubtedly a beautiful frock I'm unsure what the quality would be like. I bought the gingham version of this dress on sale a few years ago and it's nice enough, but even on sale I don't think it was worth the money. I had to adjust it a fair bit to get it to fit, and even then the neck-line is too low for me to be able to wear it without a camisole underneath. Still, I love the shape and the style and luckily, I knew just what would work to get the same effect. After pairing the By Hand London Anna dress bodice with a circle skirt earlier in the year for the Distant Sun dress, I knew I was onto a winner. So that's what I did.

Nah, seriously though.  I know that's not all that fascinating, but that's my process, dudes. Here's the dress, anyway.

Comic Muse dress worn with Irregular Choice No Place Like Home heels

Yeah. This may actually be my favourite thing I've ever made. I'm wearing it today for a fairly relaxed day. We're going out for dinner later with some friends to a small pub, so I decided not to wear a petticoat with it today, but it does look fab with one. The skirt is so swishy! I love circle skirts and they're ridonculously easy to draft, and so much fun to wear. Check it out:

The front step was too narrow to do a full twirl, sadly.

Seriously, I love it so much. The whole time I was sewing it, I was like, "hm, yeah, this will be pretty nice, it's hard to go wrong with a floral dress" and then I put it on and was like "HOLY SHIT THIS IS AWESOME I NEVER WANT TO TAKE IT OFF CAN I WEAR IT TO BED." It's kind of magical how much fabric can change from the bolt to the garment.

And, I finally got a photo of my back that I don't totally hate. This truly is a magical day.

The neckline isn't lopsided. I'm leaning weirdly. Still, though, I don't hate this photo so progress.

The reds and greens in this dress work well in this festive season, but I think the poppies are springy enough that this dress will work into the spring and summer, as well. So that's good - I'm a fan of clothes that can cross seasons. A man did stop me in a shop earlier to tell me how festive I looked, and when I looked confused,  he pointed to my shoes! But, yeah, I would wear these in the summer as well, I guess.

Shit. I'm goofy.

So, the weather has turned really mild and, while I wasn't cold at all in this dress (with a cardigan and jacket) it is horribly grimy and drizzly. Luckily for me, my lovely friend Lauren gave me an amazing umbrella for my birthday so I was able to take it out for a spin...

I love this jacket. It makes me feel like Jean-Luc Picard.

The umbrella is from the V&A and it's made me swear off cheap umbrellas for life. It's so beautiful, light and sturdy and just all-round awesome.

COME AT ME, RAIN

Anyway, that's the craic with me. I think this might be my favourite thing I've made so far, and that's saying something. I can't believe I almost passed this fabric by - I think the moral of the story is that I always need to bring Nic fabric shopping with me. He has excellent taste.

ACTION SHOT

Right, boys and girls, I'm off. I've a few things to do before we go out later and I won't get them done gabbing here all the live long day, will I? See you later. 

You're swearing now that some day you will destroy me. Remember, women far better than you have sworn to do the same. Go and look for them now.

Evening all! Tonight's Dispatches from Dolly Clackett comes from the end of a very long work week and the end of a busy year. Yes, I know it's not 2014 yet, but today was my last day at work until 6th January and I feel like I've earned the break. I'm sure that as the old year creeps towards its end, I'll be in a better position to reflect on this year in general; right now I'm just relieved to have made it to the end of this week without punching someone in the face. I have a lovely weekend of fun ahead of me now, though, and some sewing time as well before I head off for the holidays. Hurrah!

I haven't done any sewing this week because I've either been too tired or too busy, but I so still have a few projects photographed and on my hard drive. Last week, Handmade Jane held a giveaway for 1 metre of fabric from Sew Scrumptious. She showed this fabric, and suggested making a 'Dolly Clackett style dress' with it.

Springtime in Paris by Michael Miller fabrics

I mean, who was I to argue? That description really made me chuckle, because Jane is not the first person to have used it - I've read this on a number of other blogs in the last few months. So, I guess that indicates either that I'm in a style rut, or that I've found my style and it works for me. Naturally, I prefer the latter! I didn't win Jane's giveaway, but I did go on ahead and buy myself a couple of metres of the fabric. I would have been rude not to.

It's actually not the first time I have sewed a dress using this fabric. My friend Lucy asked me to make a dress for her from it last year. I'm not normally much given to selfless sewing, but Lucy is a really excellent person and I'm always happy to make an exception for her. I didn't manage to get any photos of Lucy's dress, but I used the bodice of Butterick B5748 and gave it a gathered skirt, and fully lined it with some pale blue polka dot cotton. Is it breaking that great sewing commandment, 'thou shalt not copy' if it's yourself you're copying? Either way, I don't care, and that's what I did.

Boum! dress - Butterick B5748 bodice with a gathered skirt, worn with Irregular Choice 'Windsor' shoes*

This is the dress I mentioned in my last post. The one I spilled champagne on. I think that's a fitting way to christen a Paris-themed frock, myself! I wore this to my staff Christmas meal - minus the petticoat - last week, having sewed it the night before. Unlike Lucy's dress, I didn't fully line this one because I wanted to be able to wear it with a petticoat. Looking at these photos, I'm not sure how often I actually will do that, because it does kind of look a bit derpy sticking out the bottom like that? Oh well, whatevs. 

As soon as I finished the dress, I wanted to put it on, which is why I wore it to work the very next day. I really, really love it. I don't know why I waited this long to buy the fabric, especially as it is the companion to the Paris Ville fabric that I made the Nana dress from, and I wear that dress all the time. It is covered in totally fabulous ladies, as well as some lovely Paris landmarks:

This lady in the blue dress is looking at the Eiffel Tower in the distance, just as I did on my last trip to Paris. Also: PINK POODLE FTW.

I like this lady's stripy dress. It's a bit like a Tiramisu. I wonder if she's given herself an ice-cream headache, or, as she's standing in Place Saint Pierre, if she's trying to decide which fabric shop to visit first.

At the Arc de Triomphe in a nice green dress. Fucks given: NONE.

I could show you all of the ladies on the dress, but I won't bore you all. Although, as well as the pink poodle there's a schnauzer (which Nic has already named Asta) and some little cats. Awww.

Here's a little close-up of the bodice. There is one where I look less goofy, but where's the fun in that? I did consider cutting the bodice in a different spot so I didn't have any headless ladies on my dress, but that didn't really work out. Ah well, live and learn. 

I now have a ridiculous number of dresses with some kind of Parisian theme. There are seven that I've made and one shop-bought one. And I do have some more Eiffel Tower fabric in my stash. That might seem excessive. It probably is excessive! Still, as I'm sure you're used to hearing me say by this stage, I don't really care. The prints and fabrics are lovely, but also they make me happy. Nic and I have visited Paris three times, and I hope that we'll return many more times. I have so many happy memories of our times there. It's not some blogger cliche, I promise. I don't think I'm OMG SO FRENCH or that the French are more chic or any of that nonsense. Paris is dirty and smelly, and it's expensive and I wouldn't want to live there. But gosh, I love it there. I don't think I could get tired of visiting, and I really don't think I could get tired of making Paris-themed dresses.

Here I am at the Eiffel Tower in June 2010, with a Laduree Carrier bag. SO FRENCH. SO CHIC. I still have that stupid carrier bag, actually, hanging on my wardrobe door.

It's blurred because it was raining and it was taken on a phone, but here I am on Avenue Emile Zola, in March 2008. In a fucking beret, no less. It was quite cold, though. The lady who served me in Monoprix that afternoon thought I was French. In fairness, I was wearing a beret and buying champagne and camembert at the time.

And here I am in 2013. I haven't aged a day, I'm sure you'll agree.

Nic and I are considering going to Paris for our honeymoon next year. It's a great place to visit for people who have our interests of cheese, wine, fabric, history, jazz and comics. I'm sure I'll end up buying more twatty, touristy Paris fabric when I'm there, and I'll have no regrets. YOLO, as the young people say.

Right, this photo is purely for all you who said "oh yeah, it's good to see the back of the dress, Roisin!" because I hate this. I can't get it right with back photos. It's either like HELLO BACK FAT, or my back looks weirdly scrawny (which I think it does here) and, you know, my slip is showing. Sigh. I do love the way the back of this bodice scoops down, I think it's really cute. I love the fit across the back, and I think my hand-picked zip is the bomb. Just ignore the other photo faux pas, right?

One final photo; a close-up of the shoes. They deserve a photo of their own for being so utterly darling:

With those big floppy bows, they almost run the risk of being a bit Sloaney, but I like them anyway. I suppose I could tone down the Sloaneyness by making sure not to wear them with a floppy bow in my hair.

Anyhow, that's your lot for this evening. As I said up above, I'm on holiday! So I'm off now to watch Poirot, eat pudding and drink fizzy wine. Hurrah for Christmas!

Me, I have simple tastes. I like to kill my enemy, take their gold and enjoy their women.

OH, hello! I hope you're all well this Sunday evening. I'm not. I mean, nothing serious, but a head-cold and enough to mean that I've spent the day on the sofa in my pyjamas, watching back-to-back episodes of Sex and the City and Law & Order. That's a lot of Chris Noth, right?! But it's all good, because we have a lovely pie from the Cotswold Pudding and Pie Company for dinner, and I only have five days left of work. Can't be bad.

Anyway, that's the craic there. As you can imagine, I've been having a very low-key weekend. Nic and I got out into yesterday's beautiful sunshine to do some Christmas shopping and to have a delicious pub lunch at the Star and Garter, before coming home to watch Inspector Morse and eat homemade vegetarian enchiladas. Hibernation FTW. As such, I really have nothing exciting to write about this evening! The highlight of my week, apart from all of the DVDs, was my staff Christmas meal on Thursday. Half of my team are based in London and although we've usually held staff get-togethers in the midlands, this time round we all went to London. We had a meeting in the afternoon which was - well, it was as exciting as these things usually are. The meeting room we were in did have an awesome mural, though...of a car park. It's not the car park belonging to that building, either, As far as I can make out, it's just a random car park. We had champagne to celebrate a good year and then everyone got their Secret Santa gift. I still haven't worked out who my benefactor was, but whoever it was did brilliantly, giving me some Matryoshka measuring cups and a beautiful Matryoshka brooch. We had our meal in a restaurant in St James's Park, and it was really lovely to watch twilight descend over the park. It was a good day. I was glad of having Friday off work though as drinking in the daytime meant I had a horrible headache for most of Friday. Totally worth it, though.

As I'm still catching up on blogging about recent makes, here's one from a few weeks ago. I bought this  great Makower fabric when Nic and I were in Cardiff at the beginning of November. It's kitcshy as you like, but of course I couldn't resist the print:

Ah! That photo is quite blurred, sorry! The fabric is by Makower and the print is of spools of cotton. I bought it from Butterfly Fabrics on City Road in Cardiff, but I expect it's pretty widely available and I've seen it for sale at Fabric HQ recently. It's a quilting cotton, but reasonably lightweight with some drape to it. I think it's pretty cute! Anyway, I wanted to sew something with sleeves, so went for my old faithful Elisalex variation. And so you have it, the Spoolettes dress:

Spoolettes dress - By Hand London Elisalex with a modified skirt, worn here with polka dot tights from Falke and Escape Boutique bow-front heels. I have an embarrassing amount of shoes with bows on them.

I modified the skirt pieces on this dress by turning it from a tulip to an a-line skirt, because I didn't think the fabric had enough body to hold that lovely tulip shape. The box-pleats are sort of lost in the very busy fabric, but I think that's fine.

I had a slight disaster when pinking the waist seam to reduce the bulk, in that I cut a hole in the top of the skirt! It was irritating, but not fatal, and I unpicked the skirt and reattached it with the hole caught up into the seam allowance. It's the kind of error that would have really upset me in my early days of sewing, but which now just makes me shrug and get on with it. I'm not sure if my solution was the best one, but it seemed to work. I'm just glad that I don't wig out over this stuff any more. It makes life easier.

This is another dress that looks fine in the photos but which is now slightly too big, but after Oona's suggestion on my last post I've put it through the washing machine on a scalding wash to shrink it ever so slightly. It's a bit of a cautionary tale about measuring yourself more regularly. Not that I'm complaining or anything, but after a very busy few months I'm now a bit smaller all over, and there are a few favourite patterns that I'll have to re-trace as a result. This is one of them. And after all my hard work on that FBA, as well! Heh. Seriously though, I know that sounds like a humblebrag and I really don't mean it that way. I just need to remember that it's worth taking measurements more frequently than I have been. Bad, lazy seamstress etc.

Back view. I don't normally include these although I nearly always get Nic to take photos. They look weird, which is why I usually balk at posting them! But someone did email me recently and specifically ask for them - and no, not in a weird cardigan fetish guy way. I think. In any case, one of the lovely design features of the Elisalex dress is the scooped back, so here it is!

I wore this dress to work a few weeks ago, just after I'd finished it. I was in a meeting all day, and at about 5 o'clock my back was getting pretty itchy and I went to scratch it, only to find that there was still a pin in the zip! This is not the first time something like that has happened, in fairness, but previously it's been an errant pin in a hem. Not, you know, in the bodice! I fished it out and started cracking up, which was fine except for the fact that it was my first meeting with my new line manager. Ooops! Luckily I think he thought it charming rather than deciding that I'm a complete loon, but only time will tell I suppose. In any case, I do think he was impressed that I'd made the dress myself, so there was that. It's probably just as well that he knows now that I'm a complete dick, anyway. I confirmed that fact in the team meeting on Thursday, when I spilled champagne all down my dress. KEEPING IT CLASSY. Luckily champagne doesn't stain, because that was a new dress as well.

So that's all the craic with me anyway. I'm aware that I might be seeming less than enthusiastic about this dress, which is unfair - I think it's really cute - but I'm somewhat off my game at the moment. I think I need to go to bed and watch some more of Rome. Nic and I are burning through S2 now, and it's good oul craic. Marc Antony is cracking me up, and my crush on Titus Pullo is growing with each episode:

Ray Stevenson as Titus Pullo

He's lovely, isn't he. Like Pacey, but Irish. I still spend most of every episode exclaiming how glad I am not to be a Roman, though.

SO GLAD NOT TO BE A ROMAN

With that, I shall say valete, citizens! Until next time.

Apropos...it's Latin. You got to have a basic grasp of Latin if you're working in...Curry's.

All right, folks! It's taken me longer to get to blogging this week than I thought it would, but there you are. I'm off out to the cinema soon to see the new Hunger Games film with some friends, which should be fun. I have a horrid headache but I'm hoping that the distraction of the film will make me feel a bit better. I've had the day off work today as I've been trying to use up all of my annual leave and lieu time before the end of the year. I had planned to spend the day sewing but after doing some Christmas shopping in town, all I've wanted to do is curl up on the sofa and watch Scott and Bailey. So that's what I've been doing. I still think that's a pretty nice way to spend a day off, though.

Anyway, it's not as if taking a day off sewing is doing me any harm and, if I'm honest, I'm feeling a bit tired and uninspired at the moment. I do have a few projects to show you, as ever, some more successful than others. This one is one I'm not too sure about, to be honest...

Barry's dress - Sewaholic Cambie dress with modified neckline, made with Liberty golfer print tana lawn and worn with Irregular Choice Mighty Monster wedges

According to my computer, these photos were taken a month ago. I've been sitting on them ever since because a)I kind of hate my face in them and b)I'm still trying to decide whether or not this dress is a wadder!

But, you know, we're all friends here. I don't mind if you see my big pasty Irish face on a less good day. That's okay. I'm still not sure about the dress, though.

Here are the reasons for my uncertainty:

• The fabric is SO pale! I mean, I knew that when I bought it, but it didn't look so bad on the bolt. I can wear some pale colours, but this looks really icy and I'm not sure it suits me at all.
• It's a bit too big. This is stupid, but the Cambie pattern has always fitted me really well, but I have lost weight recently, and this is too big in these photos (hence the belt) and I've lost more weight since, so I'm pretty sure it's going to be even bigger on me now.

Actually, there are only those two reasons, but I think they're pretty significant. On the day I wore this last month, I wore it with a navy cardigan and my navy cord jacket for people with deformed elbows:

Ha ha, I look like such a twat in that photo! I kind of felt like a twat in the dress, too. Isn't that weird, considering some of the other things I make and wear?! So, I've packed it away now with my summer clothes and I'll see how I feel about it in the warmer weather. Because the fabric is cool, and it's really nicely made, and I do like the pattern. If I'm still not feeling it then, I'll give it to the charity shop.

It would be kind of a shame to have to give it away though because I'm dead pleased with the name! I bought the fabric in Barry's in Birmingham. Also, although I have less than no interest in golf (because, seriously) I do know that there's a famous golf course in Portrush, County Antrim. Portrush is also home to the amazing Barry's Amusements, famous to ALL Northern Irish children. I should warn you if you're planning to click on that link: the website makes it look far better than it is.

© Copyright Kenneth Allen and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

This photo really, really makes me laugh. This is your standard summer in Northern Ireland. It does make me feel really nostalgic, though, and very excited about going home for a few weeks for the holidays. It's not like we'll go to Barry's or anything, but I promise you that all of Northern Ireland is this excellent.

Twat

Anyway, that's the craic with the Barry's dress. Actually, I do like it better now I've looked properly at the photos of it, so it might survive a wardrobe cull in the spring. Who knows. In any case, I'm pretty chilled out at this stage about less than successful projects. I enjoyed sewing this dress, and that's what really matters to me, to be honest. Even if I don't completely love the finished object - although, in fairness, that's rare - the process of making is really enjoyable and that's one of the reasons why I do it. I do need to learn to step away from the pale fabrics, though. My base colour is pale blue. You'd think I'd know that by now!

I'd better dash, anyway. I have to go and put on a few layers to combat the ridiculous air conditioning that they always have on in the cinema, and then head to the cinema. See you cats round the way.

If I want to lick a hippy I'll just return Joan Baez's phone calls

Hello dudes, happy Sunday! Nic and I have had a very happy Sunday, in which we had a pub lunch with friends, a walk through the markets in town and then put up our Christmas tree. I'm currently luxuriating in new slipper socks with an episode of the Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes. Can't be bad. Nic and I have been relaxing this weekend after another busy week and I am really, really into holiday countdown. I have 10 working days left before I finish for the holidays, and one of those is our staff Christmas meal. Hurrah!

I have been sewing - I had a stressful day on Friday, which I soothed by sewing - but I thought this evening I'd do something a little bit different. In the early days of this blog, before I started sewing, I blogged about what I was wearing and what I was doing while I was wearing it. It was never really my intention for this to become a sewing blog. I still read lots of style blogs, though, because I like seeing how people style their clothes and how that fits their lives. So, this evening I'm going to share some outfit photos from the last few months.

29th September - Rue des Poissonieres dress and Irregular Choice Lady W shoes*

Hey Northern Hemisphere-ers, REMEMBER SUNSHINE AND WARMTH? Yeah, me neither, but this photo was taken then. This was on a Sunday at the end of September, and me and my Cambie-Elisalex hybrid took some new shoes out for a spin. We went to the tip shop (which was rubbish, although I did briefly consider buying a flask with a big rubber Borg head on top of it) and then to the supermarket and then for a walk in the park. These awesome and ugly and fabulous shoes had arrived earlier that week, so I wanted to put them through their paces. Check it out:

When I took these out of the box, Nic said "Woah! Those are like superhero shoes!" You know what, as well, these aren't even the gaudiest shoes I own. They don't even go with anything. I love them. Anyway, my memories of this day are of Nic being thrilled to have bought Face/Off for 50p at the tip shop, and of accidentally buying really spicy chilli bread. Ah, good times. We watched Face/Off that night, I think. I'd never seen it before and it was every bit as... interesting as I'd imagined it would be.

26th October 2013 - Calamity Jane dress and Vivienne Westwood for Melissa Lady Dragon bow shoes 

You know, I have no memory at all of what I was doing on this day. But those shoes - I decided not to buy them because it's winter now and it's going to be basically impossible to wear them until spring. So, as you can see, that worked out well.  I love those bow shoes, and I love my cowgirl dresses. I wear them all pretty frequently, and it's at least partly because my lovely friend and colleague D gets such a kick out of it when I do. I need more pin-up fabric in my life! It was still warm enough for me not to wear a coat in October, and I was getting fairly heavy wear out of this navy cord jacket from H&M:

This jacket is cute, and it's warm as well. It has these fake leather elbow patches and even though the sleeves are the right length - as you can see, the cuffs come to my wrists - the elbow patches hit above my elbows. Is this shoddy drafting from Hennes, or are my elbows in the wrong place? Do I have freaky elbows? Where are everyone else's elbows?!

Saturday 16th November 2013 - Come Sail Away dress, navy cardigan from New Look and Mel pop heart flats

I wore this a few weeks ago when we joined some friends for a walk across the fields to the Saxon Mill for lunch. It was a lovely walk, but the service at the Saxon Mill was astonishingly bad. Shockingly so. We got a round of drinks and my friends were refunded the cost of their meals, so we adjourned to the Fat Pug for many glasses of prosecco and chocolate brownies. It was a really good day, one of those ones where lunch in the pub with friends turns into tripping home after midnight to eat chips in a pitta bread in bed. Why is it that chips are so much tastier when you eat them in bed?

Sunday 24th November - Emily and Fin 'Lucy' dress and Alexander Herchcovitch for Melissa wedges

Last Sunday! We had a very quiet Sunday last Sunday as I was pretty tired after the Spoolettes bowling extravangza, and Nic was tired after having been in London all week. I bought this dress at 52 Greek Street when I was in London, as it was only £15 and it has boats on it! It's been so long since I bought a dress in a shop (May was the last time) that it felt a bit strange, but I thought this was cute. I wear glasses for watching TV and I should really wear them all the time, because I'm short-sighted enough that reading signs in the distance or even recognising people is difficult without them, but they kind of make me feel like Ogbert the Nerd.

One without the stupid face. I mean, stupid facial expression. The face is still pretty stupid.

Today - no outfit photo from me today, so here's Nic instead, looking handsome in his new hat. I made him pose in that doorway for the full Dolly Clackett experience.

I must admit that it often feels a bit strange now to just share outfit photos, but I do still enjoy it. It's nice for me to see how I wear both my handmade and shop-bought clothes. It's much more frequent now that I'll be wearing something I've made than something I've bought, and that's a nice feeling. I still like all my shop-bought clothes but I'm happy to have a wardrobe full of pretty dresses I've made myself. That was kind of the whole point of me learning to sew in the first place, because I love the dresses.

That's it for me this evening. Nic and I have been getting into HBO's Rome over the past few weeks and because Atia of the Julii reminds me so much of Julie Cooper from The O.C, Nic has put on a Chrismukkah episode for us to watch. YAY SANDY COHEN AND HIS AWESOME EYEBROWS. YAY ALAN DALE.

Atia of the Julii

Julie Cooper

Me and these awesome red-headed bitches have got some business to attend to. I'll catch you later in the week with some sewing. Laterz.