Oh, hello there! Happy Saturday everyone. After a week of full-on, falling into bed as soon as I get home exhaustion, it's so good that it's finally the weekend. I've been having a lovely Saturday - putting the finishing touches onto some sewing projects, tidying, reading - as Liz Lemon would say, I'M TAKIN ON MY BUSINESS.
As I said, it's been a tiring week and I haven't been in the greatest form. I've been feeling run down and stressed and tearful. Nothing is wrong at all, I think I have just been over-tired and a bit homesick and in need of a holiday. I had horrible anxiety dreams every night last week and it made me feel really paranoid - and of course, all of that reading about conspiracy theories and unsolved crimes online didn't hugely help matters. I'm getting to be in a better place now, and I'm starting to get really excited about our mini-holiday home to Northern Ireland next week. I know it sounds a bit pathetic coming from a grown-ass woman, but I'm looking forward to being fussed over by my parents, playing with the dogs and hanging out with my siblings. I miss those guys.
Anyway, that's the craic there. But I know most of you come here for the pretty dresses, so here's a pretty dress for you! After I hosted that ASOS giveaway a couple of weeks ago, I bought that checked dress I'd been eyeing up. I had a voucher, and I bought it on a day when they were doing free next day delivery, w00t!
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To be fair, I probably won't ever totally stop buying clothes because it's not always possible to sew your own. What really drew me to this dress was the fabric - I mean, I have sewed lots of dresses in this shape, but I have never seen this windowpane type print fabric for sale. It's really cute - it's like a rust-red with blue and red smudges throughout it. It's not gingham but I suppose it appeals to me in the same way that gingham does. I couldn't get the fabric out of my mind, so I bought the dress.
Right folks, that's your lot from me this evening. I've got more business to be takin' on - some ironing and some dinner-making and some cocktail drinking. Got to do the weekend right, right?
As I said, it's been a tiring week and I haven't been in the greatest form. I've been feeling run down and stressed and tearful. Nothing is wrong at all, I think I have just been over-tired and a bit homesick and in need of a holiday. I had horrible anxiety dreams every night last week and it made me feel really paranoid - and of course, all of that reading about conspiracy theories and unsolved crimes online didn't hugely help matters. I'm getting to be in a better place now, and I'm starting to get really excited about our mini-holiday home to Northern Ireland next week. I know it sounds a bit pathetic coming from a grown-ass woman, but I'm looking forward to being fussed over by my parents, playing with the dogs and hanging out with my siblings. I miss those guys.
Anyway, that's the craic there. But I know most of you come here for the pretty dresses, so here's a pretty dress for you! After I hosted that ASOS giveaway a couple of weeks ago, I bought that checked dress I'd been eyeing up. I had a voucher, and I bought it on a day when they were doing free next day delivery, w00t!
Checked midi dress from ASOS and Irregular Choice Mermaid shoes
So, this photo was actually taken a couple of weeks ago. I'm pretty behind! I am glad I bought this dress, and I'm glad I didn't have to pay full price for it. I think with the voucher and free postage, it worked out to about £30 which is more than I'd pay for the fabric etc if I were to make it, but not a bad price at all. The fabric is a reasonably heavy cotton sateen with a bit of elastane in it, so it's comfortable to wear. I really like it - but I am sort of in two minds about whether I need to take the skirt up a bit. It is HELLA long, right? I mean, I like it, but is it maybe a bit too long? I think at this length it'll look great in the autumn with my knee-high boots (I'm thinking here of all of Chris Cagney's fucking fierce midi skirt and tall boots outfits in Cagney & Lacey) but, yeah. It is pretty long.
It feels a bit weird now sharing shop-bought clothes on the blog. This might be because I hardly buy any clothes in the shops now. I had that shopping ban at the start of the year before going to Paris and between that and ramping up my sewing a lot, I'm hardly buying clothes at all now. I think I've bought maybe five dresses this year. I've just lost the inclination, I think, and all of my spending money is now going on fabric and shoes! To be honest, I didn't ever think I'd reach the stage where sewing made me stop wanting to shop, so this is kind of surprising. It does mean the balance of this blog has shifted away from being a personal style blog to being kind of a sewing blog, which is also sort of surprising to me. I didn't see this coming when I started this a few years ago, or when I bought a sewing machine. Either way, I thank you all for reading and being so lovely.
To be fair, I probably won't ever totally stop buying clothes because it's not always possible to sew your own. What really drew me to this dress was the fabric - I mean, I have sewed lots of dresses in this shape, but I have never seen this windowpane type print fabric for sale. It's really cute - it's like a rust-red with blue and red smudges throughout it. It's not gingham but I suppose it appeals to me in the same way that gingham does. I couldn't get the fabric out of my mind, so I bought the dress.
Right folks, that's your lot from me this evening. I've got more business to be takin' on - some ironing and some dinner-making and some cocktail drinking. Got to do the weekend right, right?