Another work outfits featuring a new handmade skirt. This one was made with some fabric sent to me by the lovely Donna sent to me a while back! I've had it made a while, but my waist measurement was fluctuating like crazy and I ended up making it slightly too large the first time (lesson learnt: measure yourself every time you make something). I took it in at last over the past week and decided to team it with this blue cardigan, which is slowly becoming my new favourite neutral item in my wardrobe. It's funny how, when you're gifted something in a colour you wouldn't have bought yourself, you sometimes discover a whole new colour palette - this blue and red seem to be a frequently appearance in my outfits of late.

Blue cardigan, gifted from M&S
Cami, £4, Primark
Red heart badge, traded online
Skirt, made with gifted fabric
Bow belt, £3, M&S
Red flats, £8, Barretts

Big Beach Bums - outfit

Okay, so my second belated BBB post has arrived! This is what I wore on the day. I had dreams of crop tops and short shorts but sadly the weather called for a shift in my plans. I even had to bring my tights back out for the day!

This dress is my latest sewing project. It's made from a vintage 1960s shift pattern I bought on eBay earlier this year, with some 60s patterned polyester I bought at Brighton Marina car boot sale in January this year for £1! The pattern features a contrasting section for which I used the reverse of the fabric, and added a small bow made from some old white scrap fabric. The collar went a little wrong, and the dress needed shortening to fit me (for some reason it came out calf length, even though the picture argued otherwise. Whoops!). It was a step up from my normal sewing projects, though the stretchy fabric meant I could avoid zip fitting.

Teamed with bright blue tights and clashing red shoes.

Dress, handmade (total cost £7.50 including the reusable pattern!)

Tights, M&S XL

Shoes, Priceless, £10

...and a bonus styling method, from when I debuted it at work earlier that week on a sunnier day:

This time teamed with bare legs and some vintage peep toes I bought from Otley car boot sale in Leeds last year for £1.50!

So onto the evening fun at Plus London! The evening do over at the Strand Gallery involved lots of champagne, cupcakes, and samples from Anna Scholz, Torrid, ASOS Curve and Yours Clothing amongst others (though I was useless and didn't really take many pictures of the clothes). There was also a pop up studio where my friend Caroline and I had some photographs taken (and I pulled my awkward camera horror face for a professional audience).






Annnnnnd, my sewing project in it's completed state! This was a close call, and only got finished on Thursday evening. It's a rehash of the same pattern I used in the summer to make this dress, by Very Easy Vogue (the number is V8615). With this dress I adapted this neckline to make it a round high neckline instead of a bateau as per the original pattern. My drafting didn't quite work, so I ended up pleated the (slightly baggy) neckline and crafting a bow to take onto it, which in hindsight worked pretty well!

I was terrified that a seam would break on the night or something, but it held up really well! Also, the fabric I used seems pretty crease-proof, so definitely suited for my wardrobe and er, lack of ironing skills. I'll definitely be dressing it down later this week. It was great to flounce about in my petticoat again though.



Dress, handmade using a £4 piece of material from the open market in Brighton (the pattern cost me £8 last summer).
Belt, former vintage stock, £free
Petticoat, Vivien of Holloway, £60
Cardigan, gifted by my lovely friend Caroline who found it at the Big Bum Jumble last August.
Tights, £3, Dorothy Perkins
Shoes, £8 Priceless

And also, Caroline's outfit, which I thought was super cute!

All in all, a lovely day, and it was great to get to meet so many amazing bloggers!