Life is a Catwalk

I've had a lovely couple of days, and now hubby has gone out to our friend's stag night, so I thought I'd bring you up to date on what's been going on in my little world.

Yesterday, I had arranged to meet the lovely Roisin and her fella Nic for after work drinks. Due to the fact that we've both recently started making clothes, we agreed to wear our latest creations to show each other. As such, I was wearing my new homemade dress to the office for the first time. I was so pleased with the reaction I got too, I showed it to all of my work colleagues and friends and I think largely they were all surprised about how good my first ever dress had turned out. It was really the spur on I needed to make me think that this is a hobby I'm definitely going to continue with.

Anyway, the work day passed pretty quickly and then I head off to the pub to meet Roisin and Nic, who had already picked a nice seat near the open front. Granted, for the first 15 minutes Nic had to endure dress talk, but that wasn't all we talked about. Before long hubby joined us and we had a really nice time discussing everything from corny films to education. It's lovely to be with people who are just so easy to talk to. we left the pub (me a bit merrier than everyone else since a pint of lager went right to my head), leaving Roisin and Nic to head off to Nandos while we set off home.

When we got back I was pleased to find several parcels for me. One was a vintage belt buckle which I'd won from eBay, whilst the other contained my leggings (since mine all look a bit wrecked and I can't get through winter without them) and these shoes from the ASOS sale.

I've bought these jelly shoes for my camping trip next month, aren't they cute? I've lost count of which shoe challenge shoes I'm on now, but these are another pair anyway.

Hubby unfortunately had to work in the back room, so I took the opportunity to watch a film. When I was a child, I remember making my mum sit up until about 4am to watch the Mad Monster Party.  Ever since then I've been obsessed with this animation, but could never find it in this country (region 2) on DVD before. Imagine my joy last week when I found it on Amazon. Anyway, I had a great time watching this lastnight, while hubby worked in the back room. I love it, it's such a funny film.

Work today was so so busy. It was so busy that I only had one cup of tea all day. I actually like it when work is like that though, the day passes so much faster when there's lots to do. At lunchtime I popped to the Singer shop in town for a new sewing pattern. As a 6ft, curvy, leggy size 16 shopping for trousers is, for me, an absolute nightmare. Ordinarily it results in multiple tantrums in shops, and as a result I won't even shop for trousers anymore living my life in skirts. Don't get me wrong, I love skirts and dresses, but as the year presses on my attentions are turning to my winter wardrobe and sometimes I just think wouldn't it be lovely to have a nice pair of trousers to wear? So I bought this Butterick pattern. 

and some red material ... so my next project will be a nice pair of red trousers. 

After work, mum and I went visiting for a bit, then I stopped by the post office to collect a parcel which wasn't delivered earlier in the week. A stash of burnt orange needlecord to make a winter dress, that I got from eBay.

Now, I'm sipping wine and wondering how hubby is getting on on the start of the stag weekend. Overall, it's been a really nice couple of days though.

The Inaugural Dress

Well folks, I know I’ve been promising for what seems like forever, but I finally finished my dress this week. This, the first dress I have ever made, was done from Simplicity pattern number 2588, and made in a beautiful cotton fabric called Monet.

I resisted the urge to plough through this at speed, which is what I usually do with most things, and muck it up, so it’s taken me around a month to complete. This is fine since it wasn’t for any specific occasion or anything. If I was making a dress for something in particular I now know I would need to leave 2 months to save myself any stress.

I did encounter some problems, namely with the sizing on the pattern. I’m not into vanity sizing, I am what I am and I like things to fit me well, so I was very careful about lining up my sizes to the exact sizes on the envelope. Whilst this served me well on the bottom of the skirt (which fit beautifully needing no adjustment), the top of the dress seemed to be huge. I rectified this by making the darts in the back of the dress much bigger, taking in about half an inch on each side seam, and taking in around an inch on the bust seams of the bodice. It’s a bit annoying after I was so accurate that the pattern came up so large, but having read around a few blogs and other websites it seems that is a problem with simplicity patterns. Before I make my next dress from this pattern I will be cutting down some of the pattern pieces so that I don’t have to take it in again once it’s complete.

I have to say, there were a lot of techniques in this pattern that I had never used before in my sewing of curtains, cushions and little projects, such as stitching on curves, stitching in the ditch, applying facings, pleating skirts etc. I would NOT have ever managed to complete this project without this book. From now on this book is my sewing bible, and it even showed me how to make a self matching belt to go with my dress, which wasn’t included in the pattern (there was a belt included but it fastened with a hook and eye rather than having a buckle).

I must say also that having Elsie my mannequin was of immense help too.

I’ve learned some valuable lessons from this exercise, not just that I need time to make something properly, but also that when trying any new pattern it’s a worthwhile exercise to make a muslin first to check sizing… even if the muslin is from a pretty (but cheaper) fabric allowing it to be worn later if it’s not too far out. I’ve learned how to form a bodice, which is great, and lots of new and previously unexplored sewing techniques. I also learned that if you’re getting frustrated with something it’s best to put it down and leave it for a day or two and come back to it later with a clearer state of mind. Injuries sustained include a steam burn from the iron on my thumb, and a pretty nasty case of a needle hanging out of my thumb from handstitching… the moral of the story, if you’re too tired then put it down.

So anyway, here is the finished article. There are imperfections (I’m not going to detail them since hopefully no-one but me will notice they are there) but overall I am ecstatic with my first garment. It fits nicely, it looks lovely and I have definitely made something that I can wear. I can’t wait to start my next sewing project.

(Please ignore the fact that these photographs were taken pretty late when I have no makeup on and look a wee bit tired and pale. Look at the dress not the face!)

Flog it!!

I have to say I've had an uber chilled and most enjoyable weekend. I know the weekend isn't over yet, but I fully intend to chill for the rest of it, finish my dress off and perhaps bake... if I can be bothered.

Yesterday we had a lovely Saturday morning lie in. The step-children are currently in Florida with their Mum, so hubby didn't have to get up to transport anyone to various Saturday morning classes or suchlike and whereas I have been enjoying Saturday morning lie ins for the past few weeks, I think he really benefit from the change of routine.

Once we finally did emerge we had a final sort out of things for the car boot sale. The dining room suddenly resembled the local tip with black bags full of stuff lining the floors. It certainly became a no go area.

Soon after we were on our way into town since hubby needed a new watch battery. We weren't intending to stay there long, so we did something we never usually do and took the dogs with us. They had a lovely time, getting lots of fuss and attention, they do love it when we go out to places and one of my main moans about this country is how they don't let dogs in most places. In both Paris and Germany I saw people in major department stores with their dogs, I don't understand why we're such a anti dog country really, nothing is made easy for dog owners.

We weren't in town that long, and brought Mum and Bailey back with us for dinner and watch a film. I made a delicious steak. It's hubby's favourite, but it's not something we have all that often. Thanks to an offer at the butchers in town though we all had massive rump steaks with chips and peas, done to perfection.

Mum is a huge Edith Piaf fan, and last week I had picked up La Vie en Rose which is a French film about the life of Edith Piaf. It won for hubby and I because it is a foreign film and we love those, and it won for Mum because she is such a huge fan of the performer. Anyway, I'm so glad we picked this film to watch. It's stunning. Edith Piaf had such a difficult life, right from her childhood onwards. The actress who played Piaf, Marion Coutillard is a hugely talented actress and it's easy to see why she was nominated for various awards for this role. It was a very emotional story, but I would definitely recommend that you watch it. We all loved it.

This morning hubby and I were glad of having stored up some sleep yesterday since we were up at 6.30am to pack the car and go to the Old Coventrians RFC car boot sale. we got there so early, but already the field was packed with traders. Perhaps it was busy because even at that time you could see the sun was going to come out. We sold lots of stuff, clothes, bags, cameras and so forth. Surprisingly we were actually pretty restrained on purchasing too, because ordinarily we would have spent most of our gains before leaving. On a wander around I found something I'd been looking for for an age, a little faux fur jacket for wearing out in the evening in the winter, it's a Tissavel one which looking at eBay seems to go for much more than I paid, so I did well. I bought it off a little old Irish lady for £3, which I thought was an absolute bargain. Hubby bought us a new camping stove. Currently we have those little suitcase type things, which aren't that great but are Mini friendly, so we can ditch those because for £8 we bought a lovely hob with 2 rings and a grill too... luxury! The money we made today will go to our holiday in August, and we managed to clear out some unused clutter to boot, result.

So, there you have it, my chilled weekend. Now I'm off to have a bath and finish making my dress!

Adventures in Dressmaking

Wednesday, hump day at last... not in any vulgar sense of the word you understand, it's hump day as in over the hump of the week and heading towards the weekend (and in my case, payday) hoorah. 

It's been another pretty quiet week. Our office always seems particularly empty at the moment as everyone has started going on their summer holidays. They've also just issued a voluntary severance scheme which makes me wonder how empty the office will seem in later months if everyone jumps ship. For me it's just not plausible. Don't get me wrong, when I look at the figure I would be offered it's attractive enough. It would pay off a couple of debts and take hubby and I off on a nice holiday somewhere, but only if I could line up something to walk straight out into. For me, the salary is worth more. Anyway, enough about work. 

I've not been getting up to that much this week. I have taken the time to update my Amazon wishlist. I've not been near it in years, but decided that there were lots of things I'd like to add to it for a variety of reasons. Namely:

1. Everytime my birthday or Christmas approaches I get asked what I would like as a gift... as soon as that question is asked my mind goes blank. At least I can direct people to the wishlist, even though my birthday isn't until October;
2. As an aide memoir of the things I'd like to buy for myself;
3. As a catalogue of things I would buy if... for example... If I took my severance offer. 

I've also been in a very organising mood this week. It's most unlike me. You know how they say that opposites attract? Well that's not always true, you see hubby and I are both happy to live in (dis)organised chaos ordinarily, but since we aim to do a car boot sale this weekend I started to sort some things out. Firstly our DVD collection, where I discovered there are at least 10 DVDs that we've never watched, so at least we have some stuff to watch on quiet evenings in now. Then today, our hat and scarf collection, which between the two of us is pretty formidable. Hubby is every inch the accessory addict that I am. Who knows what I'll take to 'sorting out' tomorrow.

Alongside all of this I've been trying to finish my dress. Tonight, trying to do some adjustments to the bust, I grew particularly frustrated and decided to just put it to one side. Don't get me wrong, I am in no rush to finish it and would much sooner take my time over it since I'm notoriously clumsy with such detailed things, but this bust adjustment is driving me to distraction. Anyway, I'm still convinced that I'll finish it before the week is out, and each time I try it on I'm immensely proud of my achievement. Like I keep promising, expect a picture soon. 

Right, I'm off to catch up on people's blogs that I've been largely neglecting while my head has been in a sewing machine ... well not literally obviously because that'd just get messy! Anyway, bye! 

Sewing and Stuff

I've not really been doing many blog posts of late have I? I've been neglecting you readers, I'm really sorry. The truth is that a couple of things have prevented me from posting anything that interesting of late. The main thing is that I've not done much that exciting these past couple of weeks. Sure, I've been popping out and about, but in general there seems to have been a bit of a wind down around here in anticipation of the mad month of frolics we have coming up next month. I guess I'm kind of trying to store my energy for one of my best friends mad hen night in Brighton next month, and our annual summer camping trip too. So hey, don't lose interest just yet, it's all going to get better soon.

The other thing I've been distracted by is that just under 3 weeks ago I began making my first ever dress. My uncle was a dressmaker, and I've always had a hankering to try a bit myself. I've had a sewing machine for years and always 'intended' to do some but never did. Inspired however by the lovely Roisin's successes of late I thought that I should pull my finger out and give it a go. Anyway, I've been working to Simplicity pattern 2588 with some lovely floral material and I have to say I'm happy with the way it's progressing. I'm taking my time (evidently) largely because I ordinarily have a very bull in a china shop approach to things I undertake, forgoing such things as instructions and the like and just rushing in and doing it my way. If I'd have done that I'm sure I'd have finished it in the first week, but it wouldn't have fit, and the zip would probably have been in wrong. Anyway, it's coming along and it'll be finished soon so expect a picture soon.

So anyway, what exciting things have I got to tell you about this week? Well, I had a pretty scary experience yesterday morning. I slipped on the wet bathroom floor and couldn't regain my balance before hitting the tiled floor with every bit of my weight. I came down on the hip that I pulled last month, so that's hurting again, and I managed to twist my knee underneath me. It was sheer luck that didn't see me cracking my head on the ceramic sink in our tiny bathroom, and poor hubby was panic stricken when he heard the kerfuffle of the fall. Anyway, apart from a few bruises and aches I'm fine and I should be fine to get back on my heels soon... thankfully.

The only other exciting thing I can tell you is about the phone I bought this evening on my way home from work. I can't pick up a picture of it so here's the link. Isn't it gorgeous? Anyway, I've been the pub tonight, so no sewing for me. Have a good old weekend folks.

Shoe Challenge - Outfit #6 Flapper

Well, it's boring old Monday again. The weather has taken a turn for the worst so, since I would have to wear tights anyway, I took the opportunity to wear a lovely dress that my mum gave to me yesterday (and a bit shorter than what I would usually wear to the office). I wore it with a pair of my die hard favourite shoes, and it wasn't until someone in the office commented that I realised that the whole outfit, beads included, looked a little bit 1920s. Result.

Shoes - New Look; Dress - Next (gift)

I also must show you these shoes. I bought these a couple of weeks back, they are for the wedding of one of my best friends in September, and are shoe challenge shoe number 15. I like them very much and can't wait to wear them.

Shoes Number 15

Right off to carry on making my dress.

Shrek - Forever After

Yesterday hubby, me and my step-son went to see the latest installment of the Shrek movies. We went with the excuse that it was for my step-son, but hubby and I are both huge Shrek fans, so it was as much for our benefit as his.

The movie was in 3D, which, although pricier than standard movies I always feel is a fabulous experience. It really is a great use of technology and I'd love to know just how its done.

The film itself probably isn't one of the best Shrek films ever. Don't get me wrong, it has the laughs, the characters and the fantastic animation that made all the earlier films great, but it just seems to have a bit less of it all (apart from the animation of course). At around 1.5 hours it was the ideal length, there's nothing worse than those bum numbing 3 hour movies, and perhaps because it was that condensed timescale it was more difficult to fit in such a great amount of humour, or perhaps it's just all been done in the previous 3 films. I did enjoy the film and I definitely think that anyone who is a fan of the Shrek enterprise can definitely not miss this 3D offering, I just think that perhaps you shouldn't go with the expectation that this is going to be nearly as funny as all of the Shrek films that have been.

Collections Part II - Vintage Scarves

Well folks I've had a decidedly quiet week highlighted only by the fact that I had a lovely lunch with Roisin, and visited my friends and their beautiful new baby. Aside from that I've been making my first ever dress, but more about that when it's finished of course. Since I don't have tons of stuff to regale you with I thought I would do part 2 of my collections to follow up on the one I did before showing my brooches.

This time round I thought I would show you my vintage scarves. I don't really know how I got into collecting scarves. They've always been an accessory I've liked since I was quite young, and they of course have a multitude of uses from keeping your head covered in the sun, to wearing them as a neckerchief to brighten up an otherwise boring outfit. The majority of my collection I've managed to pick up fairly inexpensively in charity shops or on eBay and I'm quite proud of my growing collection, not to mention putting it to lots of use.

Anyway, enough of my blabber, here are the artifacts:

Red, white and blue cotton scarf:

I can't remember where I got this one, but it was definitely one of the early ones in my collection.

Edinburgh souvenir silk scarf

I bought this at a vintage fair a few years back, purely because it just had that granny chic element, and I liked the colours. 

Jacqmar green silk scarf

This was the first Jacqmar that I found in a charity shop. After finding it I discovered that Jacqmar is quite a desirable label to have in a vintage scarf collection so now I frequently hunt for them in charity shops. 

Jacqmar red white and blue silk scarf

Are you noticing a pattern here?

Jacqmar floral silk scarf

Another charity shop find. 

Diane Von Furstenberg large silk scarf

This eBay purchase is the current crown jewel in my collection, absolutely beautiful. 

Godiva Festival 2010

Today I spent much of the day in bed suffering with a pretty gruelling migraine that came on me last night. I'm not sure what triggered it, although perhaps being out in the sun for so much of the weekend didn't help, nonetheless, you don't want to hear all about my nasty headache when I have the shenanigans of a fun weekend to share with you.

Every year Coventry hosts a free music festival called, you guessed it, the Godiva festival. Some years it has been known to get pretty rowdy, drunken teenagers, lairy blokes and, well, typical Coventry behaviour. Despite the knowledge of this we decided that we'd go along anyway this weekend, and in fairness although there was the usual drunken teenagers and lairy blokes, we did have a pretty good time.

Friday evening we were keen to get there early because Coventry legend, Hazel O'Connor was playing the main stage. Although I don't remember her too well, I did remember a couple of her songs which used to get played frequently in our house when I was a child, and so I was keen to see her. The weather was being a bit unpredictable, having rained earlier in the day so I was sure to put some sensible boots on and keep a bit warm.

Boots - Doc Martens; Leggings - New Look; Kilt - Edinburgh; Belt - Tesco; Bag - Vintage; Vest - Tesco; Waistcoat - Swapped

We rushed over to Memorial Park as soon as we were all ready, and thankfully we arrived in time for Hazel's performance. She was fabulous, she has such a powerful voice and the crowd were going wild to Will You, and Eighth day (which is one of my favourites). After a wander around some of the crafty, hippy stalls we went over the beer tent and found a nice spot in front of the stage to watch some of the local bands performances. As the night drew in, and got a bit chilly, we decided to head home having had a really nice evening in the park.

Sunset over Godiva Festival

Thankfully the summer sun had returned by Saturday morning, and so I was able to put a nice frock on.

Flip Flops - Primark; Dress - Marks and Spencer; Bag - Vintage; Parasol - Leamington Peace Festival

We had a wander around the other stalls which hadn't been open on Friday night, and to my joy I found a great little granny chic vintage dress in a very bright green, so I nabbed that, and we waited for the carnival to arrive at the park, which my Step-Daughter was taking part in. The carnival was fabulous, I've never seen such a good one in Coventry and the whole theme was the environment. After that we went back into the main festival arena and sat down on the grass near the main stage to enjoy the music that was playing and the beaming sun. 

We decided after a few hours to head home, where I took the opportunity to cut out the pattern pieces for the dress I am making, the first one I've ever made I might add. 

Once my step son had been picked up to go home, we collected Mum and set off back to the park. Badly Drawn Boy were on stage, so we pulled up a patch of grass and listened for a while, but weren't that impressed. We wandered again, getting more beer and enjoying the atmosphere of the festival. As the night was pressing on the atmosphere was changing, the alcohol was kicking in and things were getting just slightly more unsettled but as we were going to leave hubby noticed that Cornershop was playing in one of the tents. We were in just in time to hear them do a cover of the mighty Quinn, and Brimful of Asha, which was just fantastic, then we set off home. We'd had a really nice weekend of free music, but sometimes the best thing is knowing when to leave. 

Sunday we just caught up with things that we hadn't gotten around to doing the rest of the weekend, and by lastnight I was coming down with an almighty migraine. I can't complain though, I'd had a really good weekend. 

If you want to see more of my photographs from Godiva Festival, including pictures from the carnival then click here!

The Big Smoke - 30.06.10

I had a lovely day yesterday. Last week I booked the day off work (yes that’s right, 2 days off work this week), and booked two coach tickets to London, one for me and one for Mum. We’d been meaning to go for sometime but what with one thing or another we just never got there, so I bit the bullet and decided to make the most of the nice weather by getting us down there. I do love a girly shopping trip with my Mum.

Hubby dropped us off at the coach park fairly early before he went off to work, and I took advantage of being early by enjoying a small breakfast at the coach park café. My morning was brightened up by the man who served me my breakfast telling me how lovely I looked. It must’ve been my bright vintage dress that I had spent the evening before taking up in readiness.

Pumps - Primark; Dress - Vintage (Oasis Birmingham); Belt - ASOS (via a charity shop); Bag - Dakine (gifted); Sunglasses - Gucci

The journey by coach to London is always a bit of a drag, but it’s so much cheaper than the train that I tend to just deal with it.

By lunchtime we had arrived in London, and following a coffee stop at Victoria train station we were on the tube and heading to Marylebone to find Alfie’s Antique Market. Originally the plan had been for us to go to Camden, but because we pretty much always go to Camden everytime we go to London I decided I’d much sooner go and see Alfie’s since I’d heard so much about it but never been. It was a short walk from the tube station to the multi-storey antique emporium and as soon as I walked in I knew I was going to like it. This place really has everything, costume jewellery, homewares, art and most importantly vintage fashion. On the ground floor we found an outlet called ‘The girl can’t help it’. I was so excited by the sheer range of 1950s clothing that I had to resist letting out a little squeal of joy. Hats, shoes, bags, dresses by the rail load even original corselettes and wedding dresses. Something you realise when looking through such a huge collection is how whacky and experimental 1950s fashions were. For example, Perspex shoes with clear heels filled with flowers, hats with great big cherries on them, wooden mules with little village scenes carved into them, skirts with rural scenes, or pictures of dogs all over them. The 1950s ladies certainly weren’t plain. As I ascended through the floors of the antique market I grew increasingly excited by what was on offer. Finally, we got to a 1950s homewares stall; the stuff was amazing and looked just like it had fallen out of the pages of the 1950s book I bought on Monday. The vendor was more than happy to chat to us about 1950s décor, and we found at that many of the things in the very book I bought earlier in the week had been borrowed from his home to be photographed, oh how I would love a home like that. We finished off with a sandwich and a drink on the roof terrace before heading back to the tube station in the oppressing heat.

With time pressing on, and aware that we probably wouldn’t fit in the galleries and shopping, Mum was adamant that she wanted to get to Harrods. The tube journey felt so long in the heat and everyone had that humid glow and sheen to their complexions. We arrived at Harrods, packed as always, and found out it was the middle of their sale. I’ve never seen Harrods like it, boxes of perfume sets piled high at around £17 and people walking around with several bags on their arms waiting to make the purchase. I had to be restrained though since this is an expensive month for me, but in the gift shop I couldn’t resist buying a couple of lovely little reduced bits including a Harrods mini shopper, teddy bear and apron for my baking escapades.

Wasn’t I good?

After a brief meander around a few more shops it was time to get the tube back to Victoria and head to the coach park. Time sure flies when you are having fun. We had a little time to spare when we arrived so we grabbed a beer in a pub en route before taking our seats for the long journey home… all the longer because it was rush hour and was taking us ages just to get out of London. It was a joy not to be driving though, so I just put my sunglasses on and napped for much of the way home. Another lovely day out this week, I am a lucky lady.