Vegas, baby!

Pattern: There was none!
Size: Michelle-sized
Fabric: Heavy silk crepe-backed satin from Beckford Silk

A true fact about me and sewing: I'm not very good at is winging it. Sure, I can change the odd detail here and there but going pattern-less makes me want to quake in a corner. So, when a friend at work asked if I could make her a dress to wear to a very important event she was attending, and this dress was to be a copy of one she already owned, I had my equivalent of 'holding a tarantula to cure arachnophobia' moment. I had a deadline and a person I didn't want to disappoint so I just had to get on with it!

No word of a lie!

Pattern: Ultimate Trousers by Sew Over It

Size: 12/14

Fabric: Poly-viscose twill from Mason's

I hate trousers. Shopping for them has reduced me to a quivering wreck with an excess of body issues in the past. I am disproportionately large on my bottom half, so all they serve to do is make my thighs look massive, my legs look short, my bum look long (yes, long!) and my tummy huge and round. In fact, I pretty much stopped wearing them for years other than jeans occasionally. Recently, however, I've been drawn towards the idea of having trousers in my life but I couldn't bear the idea of shopping for them, so began the pattern hunt.

Crafty collaboration

Pattern: McCall's 6760
Fabric: Crepe back satin
Size: 14

The joy of sewing for yourself is picking exactly what you want to make, in exactly the fabric you want to use. Staying in your comfort zone if you wish, or trying something new. However, I do think it's good sometimes to be thrown out of the comfort zone and this is the second time in a few months that I've found myself floating around outside of mine!

One blog-hopping Minx!

Something a bit different this, time. My lovely girls over at Tea for Two Diary nominated me for Blog Hop which is basically a super way to find out fun stuff about other bloggers. I love that it's not just sewing-related, it applies to any and all kinds of blogs. So, I will answer the same questions below and then tell you a bit about the bloggers I want to nominate. And hopefully they will play along :-)
I don't like the idea of a blog post with no photos, so I shall intersperse some random images from a recent trip to Yorkshire.

I-calypt, eucalypt...

Pattern: Eucalypt tank dress by Megan Nielsen
Size: M
Fabric: Viscose from Goldhawk Road; Chiffon from Mason's

I rather took myself by surprise with this one. I had seen this pattern before but thought it was rather dull and didn't give it a second thought. Then, recently, I had a chat with my good friend and sewing guru, Elena, about being more focused in our sewing: working out what we really need in our wardrobes and what we will wear. This was a very useful conversation for me, because there is a part of me that wants to hope one day I will grow up and start wearing pencil skirts and crisp white shirts. But, I'm 32, have massive hips and spill food on myself regularly, so that's probably never going to happen.