Blue Wool Check Skirt

My Christmas tree is up! I know its early but in my defence Rikki is at work next week so it was either put it up now or have to wait until a week and a half into December and I'd much rather have it up early than late! 

Okay so this skirt came about by complete accident. Basically my friend came over with some curtains that his mum had picked up for me. This check? Is it a check? Is it plaid? Is it tartan? does anyone know the difference? Anyway this pattern was one of the pairs of curtains and I absolutely loved it! 

BUT their wasn't a huge amount of it. Which left me with a dilemma, try and pattern match a plain pencil or a-line skirt which may or may not work due to the scale and repeat of the check and the fabric limitations OR throw pattern matching to the wind, say sod it and just make a slightly punky mismatched wrap skirt. 

The wrap skirt sold it to me because the front panel is cut on a slightly different angle making the checks almost diamonds which I think is a pretty cool look.

The pattern I used is a prima pattern that I have also used here. I love this pattern and I'm going to make a few more for winter. I'd love to make a version in suede and leather for a cool gothic sort of look.

I finished all the edges with homemade bias binding turned to the inside. It makes everything a lot quicker than standard hemming and I think its neater.

As you can see the pattern matching is totally jacked up. I mean its pretty dreadful from a sewing point of view but it doesn't bother me too much. Mainly because I've got a few Vivienne Westwood tartan skirts pinned on pinterest and I don't think they hold to the whole pattern matching thing.

I'm wearing it with a top I got from my Aunty Mary, it did have floofy bits on the ends of the sleeves but I cut them off. I think its meant to be a cardigan but I like to pull it into a cross over wrap top. I just wish it didn't show my belly!

The buttons are recycled and I even remembered to reinforce the button holes and where I sewed the buttons with interfacing. I need to remember to do this more often because it made my buttonholes go a lot smoother and I think they feel more secure. 

Although the button holes on one side are in slightly the wrong place. I got a bit confused because the front panel only has one dart so I marked and sewed them in the wrong place, and I;d cut them over by the time I realised. I don't think you can tell though?

All in all I think this has been one of my favourite makes recently. I love the style and the fit and the way the cutting layout made the plaid look. That said I haven't worn it much because its so pale. Maybe its just me but I sort of feel like winter is a time where I wear darker clothes? I'm not sure how to style this to make it look cute but still be warm. I think a white polo neck would be nice but what would I do for tights? Or maybe a grey polo neck and some grey tights? Thoughts? I'd love some ideas so I don't have to wait until spring to wear it! 

In other news!

I've started the second Jojo Moyes book "after you" Its a sequel to me before you and so far I'm enjoying it. I was trying to read Oliver Twist but I saw this in a charity shop and knew I had to bump it up my reading list. So I'll be going back to Oliver twist later. 

We popped to the Trafford centre on Monday. Lil man was school so we thought it seemed like a nice idea to go out.  Typically we go to Hanley which is 15/20 minutes away or we just stay at home and relax, but sods law the day we are and hour away is the day Lil man falls over at school and bumps his head. My heart sank when we got the phone call asking us to go in and decide if he needed to go to A and E. Luckily Grandad had a day off so he went and picked him up whilst we drove home and lil man was completely fine once he'd got over the shock. We knew he was fine after he conned Grandad out of a McDonalds!!! 

Much Love

Frankie 

xxx

Monkey PJ Bottoms

Is there sch a thing as too many pairs of pyjama bottoms? I don't think so.

Going to bed, put on some pjs

fresh out the shower, wear your pjs

feeling rough, pjs

PJS PJS PJS 

I would literally wear mine the whole time if I could.

The fabric for these is some sort of poly silk stuff that I got from the car boot. The Fabric is printed with monkeys and the monkeys are on the phone and they say "hanging around"

Needless to say I love it! And luckily I have loads of it!

The pattern is for the Margot Pj Bottoms by tilly and the buttons and I was going to make a mimi top but for some reason all of the pieces I cut out ended p all jacked up and I couldn't get them to fit together so I just ended up ditching them and sticking with the bottoms. 

For these pictures I'm wearing them with my polar bear top that my Mum and Dad got me from Canada, it says Polar bear in a snow storm and its pretty darn cute. 

Construction wise I used my regular machine and pinked the seams, In hindsight I should have over locked them because these lasted 2 wears and one go through the wash before the seams started to fray! I knew at the time I need to over lock them but I couldn't be bothered to swap the thread in my over locker.

At least I've got enough of this fabric left to make another pair if I want! 

In other news!

I'm exhausted, I had a pretty terrible nights sleep last night and ended up awake at 4am having some sort of panic attack situation. I managed to calm down and get back to sleep but it sucked not having Rikki there because he was on nights. He wouldn't have been very helpful but I'd have felt better if he was there. 

I have a new phone! HOWEVER! Said phone currently isn't working because apparently Tesco need to send through some sort of code to make it work with my sim card and its going to take them up to TWENTY days to send the code. I'm not sure why it's going to take that long seen as everything is digital now days but apparently it will. Luckily Its doing the Internet, and I have my tablet so I'm not too disconnected from the outside world!

And there's a cheeky lil picture of me and my doggy pincushion in the latest issue of Sew magazine on their sew Saturday roundup page! 

Much Love 

Frankie 

x

Minerva Crafts Padded Jersey Review

So this is just a quick post because it dawned on me that I haven't shared the latest review I did for Minerva Crafts!

 

The fabric used was padded jersey which also comes in black and camel. Which was like a super soft snuggly quilted jersey!

And the pattern is an old one by prima. but I loved how it went together! 

Anyway if you want to read my whole post you can find it here.

Also rememeber to check out my Black Friday Deals post for some great deals! Treat Yo Self!!!

Much Love 

Frankie 

xxx

Jackie O Jacket by Simple Sew Patterns

Sometimes you have a fabric in stash and you know exactly what it needs to be. Its just a matter of time waiting to sew it up! 

I've had this textured cotton type stuff in my stash for a lil while and I knew it would be great for making an imitation Chanel jacket. 

I decided to use the  Jackie O Jacket pattern by simple sew patterns. I've made it once before [here] and I found it a really satisfying make so I thought it might be nice to give it another go. Plus I thought that a lil white jacket would be a good wardrobe filler. 

The jacket is sized 8-18 and is marked as an adventurous beginner pattern which I'd say is fairly accurate [However as always the simple sew instructions are pretty sparse]. I made things slightly harder by opting to line mine.  

Its really simple to line it here's a sort of brief guide as to how I do it-

Cut front, back sleeves and all facings from main fabric.

Cut front back and sleeves from lining fabric

Construct facings

Construct lining body

Construct outer body of jacket. 

Place main body and facing right sides together, then place the lining body on top with right side towards main jacket right side. [making a lil jacket sandwich] 

Sew all the way around the bottom , front opening and neck, but leave a small gap to turn through.

Trim and turn jacket through.

Fold a small hem on facing, pin to jacket lining and slip stitch in place by hand. 

The trim came about because Rikki said the textured white fabric reminded him of a sheep...........and he proceeded to baa at me for the whole time I was hand stitching the facings down.

So I added some trim to make it seam a bit less livestock and a bit more nautical. Sadly though I only had enough to go around the front, neck and bottom of the jacket but not enough to edge the sleeves. So I had to improvise by doing these little loop things. 

The ric rac was something I've had in stash for a while and had to be stitched down by hand because the jacket was already finished. Technically if I had though about it I could have sewn it to the jacket body before I attached it to the lining but I think it could have looked a bit odd machine sewn in? With hand stitching you can't really see that its attached at all to be honest.

The fit from the back is pretty good but I am wondering about adding an inch or two of length to the bottom of the jacket? What do you think is this a good length or shall I go a bit longer for the next one.

I really liked the finish on this so it got a special label! 

The lining fabric was given to me by a friend one weekend so all in all the total cost of this jacket was £0 I didn't even buy the pattern!!! And for a bit of extra fun I decided to sew it on my vintage singer 99k. Its a nice project for that machine because it doesn't require a zip foot, or a zig zag stitch or anything complicated!!

And for a bit of fun I videoed a lil "the making of " of this jacket!

In other news!

Its been quite a day...

-For starters we took lil man to the doctors and the appointments were running 45 minutes behind.

-Then we went to pick up his prescription only to find they didn't have it in the doctors pharmacy so we visited two more only to find they didn't have it either [Later on Rikki found it after going to two more pharmacy's] 

-Then we got home to find that my phone was MISSING! [I know another lost phone and only a few months after I lost one in the sea] I remember having it in the first pharmacy but after that I was sure I'd put it in my bag? [Between me and you I'm THAT positive that I put it in my bag and zipped it up that I'm wondering if its been stolen] Anyway after calling it a zillion times , retracing our steps and checking "the find my phone" thing on the laptop, we came to the conclusion that it had either died [By being run over] or been completely wiped. As it goes we have now ordered another cheapo phone and sim card.

- Then we went to pick lil man up from school and it was hammering it down! We all got completely soaked decided to give up with the day and put our pjs on. 

Now I'm settling in with a LARGE glass of wine and hopes that tomorrow will be a better day. 

Wish me luck!

Much Love

Frankie

xxx

BLACK FRIDAY! Crafting Discount Codes and Offers

The words Black Friday pretty much fill me with dread. Especially after watching that woman batter someone for a telly on the news a few years ago! What I do love though is a good deal and I really love it when I can shop online for it! So here's a list of some of the Black Friday Deals I've found!

So go off and treat yourselves! 

Abakhans

Okay so its not Black Friday but they are doing 20% off on the 22nd and 23rd of November!

and they have 50% off all simplicity sewing patterns till the 28th November! 

Craft Stash

Craft Stash are doing a week of crafting deals starting on the 20th of November!

Monday - 20% off all Altenew

Tuesday - Magazine SALE! Lots of top crafting magazines will be on sale!

Wednesday - 30% of Sue Wilson products which are perfect for card making 

Thursday - Crafters companion foundation card packs will be 5 for £20

Friday-Sunday Massive sale! They are having a dedicated Black Friday page with lots of products being added throughout the day! 

Monday 27th - Cyber Monday sale! Even more products will be reduced! 

Plus free delivery on orders over £15!

Minerva Crafts

These codes are valid from Friday 24th till Monday 4th!

50% off clover felting products - FELT50

50% off Prym double pointed knitting needles - PDP50

20% off sewing storage - SEWINGBOX20

25% off pony knitting products - PONY25

They also have 50% off newlook and simplicity sewing patterns which is live now until the 28th of November! 

*UPDATE*



Hobbycraft

Hobby craft are starting their Black Friday sale on Wednesday! This will include huge discounts across their ranges including their sewing and knitting things!

If I find anymore deals I'll try and keep this updated! 

Happy shopping!!! 

Much Love Frankie 

xxx

Disclaimer - This post contains affiliate links as well as MEGA savings! 

Bulbasaur Costume for Children In Need

"As its Children in need on Friday we are giving you the opportunity to send your child into school dressed up as a character from a children's TV show!"

DUH DUH DUHHHHHH! 

Okay so here's the deal, Lil man is not a fan of kids TV [something I thank Jesus for everyday because I cannot cope with Topsy and Tim or Peppa pig]. Instead he chooses to either watch Disney movies [which I LOVE]  or he's a huge fan of sports shows like football and golf and of course for some strange reason he loves only fools and horses! Which left me in a bit of a pickle because what on earth do I send him as? Del boy? A football pundit? I mean the brief said KIDS tv!

Luckily I remembered that a few weeks ago him and Rikki binge watched the first few seasons of Pokemon and he really enjoyed it. We did try and find a ready made costume but the only ones we could find either cost upwards of  £20 or wouldn't arrive till December. So it looked like it was done to me to try and whip something up!

So I had a quick look through my fabric cupboard and found a piece of jersey that's roughly the right colour for Bulbasaur. And set about trying to make something [I started two days before he actually needed the costume because I'm a maverick like that!] 

And to make matters even harder the school had added their own list of specifications! 

1. Children must wear suitable footwear.

2. The costume must be comfortable to wear all day.

3. The child must be able to remove the costume themselves if they need the toilet/have PE

4. The costume must be warm and all children should still arrive at school with a coat! 

No pressure then!

I decided the easiest thing to do would be to send him in jeans [I added a few patches/scales to these] and to make him a simple hoody he could wear over a tshirt and to make the bulb part as a rucksack he could take on and off himself.

The rucksack/bulb is a ball of stuffing covered in "leaves" made from some green fabric I had. The leaves are lined in a salmon colour because that's the colour of the flower Bulbasaur has when he evolves [Pokemon evolve as they get bigger, its like the whole thing in the TV show].

For one brief crazy moment I did consider making it with a flower underneath so he could evolve throughout the day.... But then I realised that would be massive overkill for a costume that's only going to be worn once.  

All of the leaves are stitched on by hand to try and achieve a more natural shape and look. 

The straps are made from some webbing that I had in my stash, luckily It was a dammed near perfect colour match. And after much pinning and adjusting we found a good strap length so that Lil man could take it on and off himself. 

The pattern for the Hoody came from Freesewing.org  and saved me from having to draft a pattern from scratch. Luckily I already had most of lil mans measurements on the website the only ones I had to add were how big his head it and his wrist size. Both of which I had to guess, which is why I think the hood came out a bit shallow. But I just added a piece onto the front so I'd have enough room for Bulbasaurs face. 

I also didn't use ribbing for the cuffs etc like the pattern said because I didn't have any which is why the sleeves are a touch too short. In stead I chose to fully line the hoody with the same fabric [Luckily it was pretty thin so it needed lining to keep the shape] and them to top stitch around the edge. 

The jerseys is from my stash and I;m pretty sure it came from my friends Nans house and the darker patches are from one of lil mans old t shirts that was getting a bit scraggy. I appliqued them on using a zig zag stitch and it took blooming ages! The eyes are made from some small pieces of felt and the nose and mouth are black wool. 

I even remembered to insert some cute little ears into the hood. Although I am gutted that they don't stand up very well. 

All in all I'm really pleased with it! Even more so because it cost NOTHING! Even the zip was recycled from an old hoody! #winning

I was a bit worried that he'd be a bit obscure but lil man was really happy with it and some of the other kids immediately recognised him as Bulbasaur so that's a plus.

Now I just need to start planning for the next costume day! 

Much Love

Frankie 

xxx

7 Responses to "Will You Make This For Me?"

We've all been there. After telling someone with pride that we made our skirt/dress/jumper/quilt they immediately ask if we can make one for them? Sometimes they follow it up with an offer of payment [Although I'm not sure they ever really know how much these things cost to make!] And then you have to scramble for a response whilst trying to work out if you actually want to make this person an item..... Well here's some ways to say yes or no to their request.

1. No but here's the number of someone who can.

This is my most used response. Since pretty much everyone I know on Facebook knows I sew, I do tend to get quite a few requests to make things / alter things. I now have to name of a brilliant crafter who can make all kinds of awesome bunting who I recommend. And one for a seamstress who can do alterations, the terrifying thing is that most of these requests are for wedding gowns and I am just not comfortable altering something that potentially cost upwards of a £1000 in my living room....Ya know where my messy 5 year old hangs out.

2. Yes but I charge XXXXXX

This is actually a good idea if you want a spare bit of cash and you don't actually mind making the thing. Just be sure to factor in the cost of ALL of the materials and the cost of your time. 

3. Yes but you will do XXXXX for me

I've never used this one but I've heard of people exchanging a sewn item for having their car washed, or their ironing done or their gardening. 

4. No but I can show you how to make your own

I use this a lot too! Sadly I've only ever had one person take me up on the offer and that sort of died out anyway. I'm always happy to teach people who are willing to learn. 

5. No I don't alter other peoples clothes in case I wreck them

I'm a fairly competent sewer now but I still live in fear that one day someone will ask me to do something and what I deliver won't be what they had in mind. So in my eyes its just safer to avoid it!

6. It would be cheaper to buy one

Some people are still under the impression that making clothes is cheaper than buying them! Which just goes to show that people don't understand how expensive fabric is! So in the case of a simple jersey top its far cheaper to buy one but in the case of a wedding dress it may well be cheaper to sew one. [Depending on whether or not you actually want to sew a wedding dress]

7. No bugger off!

I'll admit being a bit of a pansy I don't use this one very often but I do like to reserve it for certain types of people IE. People from high school who picked on me for years but now think its okay to ask me to hem their jeans or people who personally offended me......Yes I hold grudges and I hold onto then hard! My general rule is that I have to REALLY love someone if I'm going to make them something.

Most importantly remember that people are asking YOU to do something for THEM with YOUR free time so you are perfectly within your rights to say Yes or No as you see fit! 

How do you respond?

Much Love 

Frankie

xxx

Paisley Print Dress - Simplicity K1418

Sometimes I find a fabric that I LOVE but I just have no idea how to use it. 

This fabric was one of those times. I love a good paisley print. In fact back when I was 14 I spent a good portion of my time wearing a men's paisley print shirt with a waistcoat and a pair of skinny jeans so it became all puffed up! Sort of like Adam Ant but with more black accessories! 

This paisley print threw me though, because 1. Its a very small print and 2. It kind of looks like old man pyjama fabric. 

I let it sit in my fabric cupboard for a while but then I bit the bullet and decided it might work for Simplicity K1418 which is a project runway pattern.

I decided to do the strappy view but I knew I wouldn't have enough fabric for the box pleat skirt so I went for a gathered one instead. I did bias bind the seam that joins the gathered skirt to the bodice though just to make it look neat and I'm definitely going to do that again as it gives an added level of security as well as keeping things tidy.

I've already made this pattern twice before here and here. So I knew I needed to take 3cm off the length of the bodice so it would sit on my natural waist. Now the waist sits a lot more naturally however I am going to have to take a bit off the back seam of the pattern and I've got some gaping in the front of the bodice above my boobs so I'm going to try and remove a wedge so it sits flatter to the chest. 

Its a looser fit than my nautical version but its a more casual dress so I'm not sure that's a problem. 

Although if it does start to bother me I'll just adjust the back seam. The zip is recycled from either an old coat or an old hoody. Lucky I love the look of a metal zip and they are so hard wearing you can recycle them quite a few times. 

The bodice has facings which I don't love I wish I had gone to the extra effort and just done a full lining. I also wish I had put the straps where I wanted them rather than following the pattern instructions as they don't sit quite right.

The fabric itself is a lovely cotton that I was given by the lady at the car-boot. There was only a metre and a half so I had to play some serious pattern tetris. Luckily it isn't a directional print so I got away with it. 

All in all I love it I just need to keep tweaking the fit until I've got it perfect, by which point I'll have decided I'm bored with it and move on to another pattern. 

I think my favourite part of the dress is how versatile it is. Its great for summer but it doesn't look out of place with thick tights and a big cardigan. 

In other news!! 

We are plugging away with Christmas shopping. Ideally I want it all done before December because I CANNOT cope with Christmas shoppers!!! 

I went to a life celebration yesterday which is sort of like a funeral. It was for a lovely, funny man who I'd known for a few years. It sounds weird but it was the nicest "funeral" I've ever been too. There was a lot of singing and people talking about his life and his achievements and reading his poetry. There were even a few jokes cracked! It was really really nice to see it as a celebration and to hear people talk about how much they loved him. 

I got highly commended in the dressmaker category of the the simplicity sewing challenge! I know it says Frankie Knits but if you click on the link its definitely a picture of lil ole me! 

I've finished some more books! I FINALLY finished "eat love pray"! Which I can safely say I don't think I will ever read again!!! Then I read "the couple next door" which I would highly recommend for anyone who enjoyed "girl on the train" or "gone girl". Then I read "me before you" I'd watched the film on the way to Las Vegas [well most of it I couldn't make it too the end because I don't want to ugly cry on the plane], The films okay but the book is much better and I really enjoyed it!

And now I'm starting "the fault in our stars" which I've read before. I am annoyed though, I brought the book from a charity shop ages ago and the bloody idiot who owned it before has only gone and written in every available free space!!!  And I mean every space! The front pages, the back pages, the margins, the gaps above the chapters!!! Its infuriating! and do you want to know whats shes written? 

HER NAME! 

HER ACTUAL NAME OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN! 

Nothing else just her name!

I mean seriously? Because what? You might forget it?

Much Love

Frankie 

x

Wool and the Gang Double Trouble Jumper, Take Two

Hands down the best part of winter is the jumper. Jumpers are my favourite item of clothing for winter. 

1. They go with everything, jeans? yes! A skirt? Yes! A dress? Yes! pyjamas??????? YES YES YES! 

2. Technically if it a loose enough fit you don't need to wear a bra and I am all about the no bra life right now! Although is it true that if you don't wear a bra your boobs sag quicker? Is that a thing or is it just some rumour created by the head of Ann Summers to keep us spending £30 on bras? 

3. Cosy. I mean I wouldn't go as far as the say I wear one and turn the heating off. But it certainly adds an extra level of snugness to those cold winter nights. Other snugness levels can be achieved by drinking hot chocolate and lighting candles.n

This is the Double trouble jumper by wool and the gang which is one of their free patterns [find it here] .

I've made it before and even though it was suppose to be a red jumper but ended up being orange, I still wear it all the dammed time! 

So I decided to make a another, that hopefully I'd wear a bit more.

But it took me ruddy ages! I must have had this wool since last year? First of all I had other projects to complete, then I finally cast on but it just took me so long to get through the pattern! I swear the last time I made it it took a week or so? This one must have taken a month and a half maybe? And I'd made some changes to speed things up!

First of all I knit a small the same as last time. I did this because I know it will eventually "grow" from being in the washer. Although I have already vowed to wash this one on the special knitwear cycle we appear to have and to try and avoid putting it in the tumble dryer. 

Changes wise, I opted to knit the tops of the sleeves in garter stitch. Mainly to save time but also to echo the garter stitch that's used on the edge of the flappy bits at the back [Omg just had a 10 minute laughing fit at the phrase "flappy bits" nice choice of words Frankie! ]

I also crocheted the collar instead of picking up stitches with knitting needles. I have a fierce hatred of picking up stitches because I can never do it evenly. Crochet is a lot quicker and easier and by some miraculous chance it made it so I could wear it as an off the shoulder jumper. Which I know kind of defeats the object of wearing a jumper because LOL now my shoulders are cold! But it does look fabulous!!!! 

Here's the flappy edge bits! I still love this feature. I just think its so nice and comfy to wear and it makes the jumper a bit "trendy"?

I like this version a lot better than the first one. Probably because I feel like the colour suits me a lot more? I used Hayfield Bonus chunky in sandstorm. Wool and the gang do recommend using their own brand of wool for making all of their patterns up in, but I've never seen a ball of their wool in real life which makes me a bit cautious about buying some. Although I have heard very good things about it from other knitters. 

In other news!

CHRISTMAS IS NEARLY COMING! I try and make a new decoration every year but this year I'm stumped! I'm wondering if another Christmas quilt would be overkill? 

I'm still plodding away with Eat Pray Love. Its a bit of a mixed bag really sometimes I'm finding myself bored and then every now and again the writer will say something so bang on that I feel like I need to keep reading! 

I need to decide what to do with my hair. Preferably before Christmas so I don't look like a tatty head on any pictures. So far I'm thinking of going shorter again but part of me wants to go Icy blonde [A La Debbie Harry] Or pink like.......ummmmm nurse joy from Pokemon? I'm terrible about my hair I hate having it the same style for too long! 

I've started a new knitting project! I'm currently making Mr Fortywinks from Jean Greenhowes knitted clowns book. So far I'm enjoying it, its a nice combination between easy and hard enough to keep my interest. I am annoyed though because the wool I'm using for the face is the only peach colour I had in my stash and its a lot stiffer than I thought it would be. I'd decided that it would be a stash busting project which is why I haven't brought any wool but now I'm worried it might throw off the gauge? Or give him a really heavy floppy head!!!! 

Much Love

Frankie 

xxx

Mr Men Orla Dress

I often get asked why I sew. Yes its cheaper to buy clothes and its less time consuming.

BUT 

It does mean I get to make myself a Mr Men dress!

Mr Men guys! MR MEN! The fabric for this dress came from my friend Steve during his loft clear out. There was about a metre and a half? Which meant I had to be careful what pattern I chose. I was tempted by the Lilou pattern but I;m trying to get a few different dresses in my wardrobe so I opted for the Orla Pattern by French navy Now [You can down load it for free here]  

The Orla dress only has waist darts so its pretty perfect for making sure you don't spilt up busy patterns like this one. 

Pattern placement wise, I tried to make sure I didn't have a Mr Man on my boob but other than that I just tried to get all of the pattern pieces out of the limited fabric I had. Although the sleeves are cut on this opposite grain due to shortage. You can't really notice tit when its on though. 

I did ignore the instructions though as I chose to fully line the bodice. I think the actual instructions call for bias binding on the neckline but I'd rather have everything tucked and tidied away. 

I also swapped out the zip in the back for some buttons. I think I'll do this the next time I make it too.

Unlike my first version this one is a lot looser due to me using the 1cm seam allowance rather than trying to ramrod a 1.5cm seam allowance in there. [You wouldn't think that 0.5cm would make that much difference but it does!] This dress is cut in a size XL, which I confess I'm struggling not to let bother me. I know size doesn't matter and realistically looking at this I could go down a size but The XL label is just...... I dunno maybe this a throwback from all my days of shopping and how having to size up could seriously put a downer on my day. 

On the plus side though the XL size and the button back means I only have to undo one button at the waist to get in and out! Which is a huge bonus because it means I don't have to ask Rikki to do up the back buttons whenever I want to wear it. 

Incidentally the buttons also came from Steve's house, I think they were his mums? [Who's also an absolute babe!]

It turned out to be a pretty quick make, I even hemmed the sleeves and hems by machine rather than hand stitching them down. 

So all in all I LOVE THIS DRESS! And little man thinks its hilarious that mummy has a Mr Men dress because he loves the books! He likes Mr Bump but I like Mr Chatterbox because I find him very similar to myself...... No seriously if we ever have to good fortune to meet in person you will see that I can talk for England, hell I could probably throw in Ireland , Scotland and Wales in for good measure too!  

In other news! 

Its freezing - I've invested in some thick tights for the school run but its still chilly!

I've been reading Eat pray love and I'm just not into it. I dunno why but I'm just not relating to the lead character at the moment. I might try a few more chapters but so far its loving like a might have to ditch it off in favour of something else.  

Much Love

Frankie 

xxx