The Polka Dot Tent

Polka dot frock

Pamela was right. You cannot be too over dressed for fish and chips. Especially not when you're hosting a party, and have spent the best part of a fortnight feeling rather ropey due to dodgy iron levels. The combination of iron tablets (and plenty of steak and broccoli) kicking in, this frock and a new lipstick to go with it were just the thing to get me ready for a lovely night with friends.

Best not to mention the ever so slightly wonky mirror. The husband has already made that mistake. I'll get round to correcting it one day. Let's just say my impatience got the better of me, and this was the result of my best efforts with a pencil, a set square and a drill. That mirror is a lot heavier than you'd imagine, and I am sure it's the factory fixtures on the mirror itself that are a bit out, and not my measuring...

The dress is a beauty to wear. The silk is suitably swishy and luxurious feeling. I don't know why I held off finishing the thing for so long, as I thoroughly loved wearing it. Still, I plan to adjust it ready for next summer, so I can enjoy wearing it when I am about a third of the size I am now if this photo is anything to go by.

Nearly 39 weeks - nothing subtle about this bump...

I don't think I look that enormous - until I turn sideways, that is! And then for the comedy bump, and the realisation that turning sideways to let someone pass you in a corridor just doesn't help.

Honey Chocolate Cake, Nigella's Feast

I am going to make a bold statement now, and say that this cake is the only recipe you need ever bother with when it comes to fulfilling your gooey chocolate cake needs. Nigella has cracked the art of gooey chocolate cake. You won't regret making this. My only regret was that there was only the tiniest slither left for me by the time I'd served everyone else some.

I think it's funny I am pictured here with my friend and running partner Louise, as we are about to tuck into our fish and chips. I've missed our Sunday morning runs together where we put the world to rights, and am looking forward to a return to that after baby is born.

And here is another friend I met through running when pushing our children round the park as babies in prams. Although since those days, Iciar has also become a true queen of crochet - and is regularly seen wearing beautiful cardigans she has made herself.

Her house warming present to me was a fabulous book on crochet squares. And no, it has not taken me long to get started on something, not least because I already had some wool and a hook that I had no fixed plans for beyond `something purple to go in the front room'.

I am trying to slow down and not spend the little amount of time left before birth rushing about the place. Making little squares (maybe for a cushion if I get enough of them done?) may be just the thing to keep me happy on the sofa and save my energy for what's ahead.

A  reminder of a very happy evening with lovely friends

The Making of a Polka Dot Dress - Days 4 & 5

Here you can see the silk tent is almost finished. Well, the bodice and skirt are attached, at least, allowing me to hang it off my shoulders for the photo above. But the back is very much still a work in progress that leaves my rear completely exposed, he, he.

So far, not so bad. I am pretty pleased with the bodice as a whole, although, as you can see from the picture, the gathers at the front have managed to come undone and need securing. I think this should be fine to do once the lining of the bodice has been sewn to the skirt, as there will be less pressure on those gathering threads then.

Hopefully, once I finish the back with a zip, and fix the gathers around the bust, the whole thing will look less droopy, and the overall look less tent like and more gracefully blooming like Kate Middleton. I can but dream! Mum mentioned she had spotted pictures of her sporting polka dots with a jaunty hat for a wedding, so I am clearly onto a trend - albeit in an entirely accidental way.

I've got an evening babysitting round a friend's tonight. Fingers crossed for the combination of sleeping children and me having enough energy to sit and sew the last bits up and have a finished dress to show off by tomorrow.

I am not going hat shopping until this is done and I have a wearable dress. Wish me luck!

The Making of a Polka Dot Dress - Day 3

Progress on the frock today:

Cutting out thin strips of interfacing and applying them to the edges of the neck and arms on the lining; making darts on the front and back of the bodice lining; sewing it together (more French seams!); and, tacking together the bodice outer and lining, ready to be stitched later.

Thoughts on today's efforts:

I am taking the whole process slowly. This is not my usual quick fix finished in a couple of sittings type of project. I really hope the finished dress will be worth the effort. And, more importantly, that it will fit. Oh how I hope it fits!

And, post sewing tea and raspberry jam toast enjoyed, I'm off to collect the littlest girl. Bye for now!

The Making of a Polka Dot Dress - Day 2

Having frittered my child free time this morning with a cafe catch up with a friend (long live squandering of time in that way) followed by some spontaneous bargain grabbing in a sale (new bed linen, in case you're wondering), today's sewing has only just been done.

The pouring rain outside didn't help spur me off the sofa, but the rubbish on TV did (thanks, Embarrassing Bodies). Then followed a good ten minutes or so of procrastination. Cup of tea, check. Texts to friends, check. Faff about changing the needle on the machine, loading the bobbin, and responding to more texts from friends. 

Oh, I realise. I am a bit nervous of actually sewing with this extremely beautiful and oh so delicate silk.

I test the tension out on a scrap. I re-read the pattern instructions. Deep breath. Go on, go on... Don't Muck. It. Up. Final check of phone. Slurp of tea.

Progress so far?

Tonight I have made the darts in the back bodice pieces; gathered the front of the bodice; sewn the sides of the bodice to the front with (drum roll) French seams. Oh, la, la. Feeling on a roll, I stitched the bottom front of the dress to the back pieces, with more French seams, before packing up for the night. Hurrah!

What I thought about as I was sewing:

Don't muck it up. Don't muck it up. 

What was it Julia Roberts said in Pretty Woman. This silk is the fabric equivalent of whatever it was she was eating. 

Slowly, slowly does it. 

Stop moving! (Yes, I am talking to the silk...)

Double check those tacks are in the right place for the back darts. 

Pleasantly surprised at how well they turn out once pressed.

Okay, so the darts weren't a disaster. Next up, the front bodice gather.

Oh, this is going to be really obvious if I sew a lopsided bodice. Must sew in a straight line and get those gathers even.

Will this rain ever stop? It will probably rain like this on special occasion number one (a garden party), won't it?

And, worse still, the baby could arrive early and I could miss both special occasion number two and three. 

Is there any point in making this frock?!

Check of instructions again. Decide against zigzagging the edges on the seams. Didn't Mum advise me to use French seams for a better finish? Think so. Let's do it. May as well push the boat out and try a bit harder than usual. It is extremely beautiful and oh so delicate silk, after all. And, I am sure they did French seams on The Great British Sewing Bee. I shall pretend to be just like those clever sewing peeps.

Wow. One successful French seam done. No ragged edges, either. Wait until I show Mum. Shall we do another one...

Oh my goodness. Now I have sewn the bottom bits together, they resemble the size of a tent. Am I sewing a tent? This dress is enormous. Vast. But look how beautifully the silk tent drapes over my bump. Maybe I rather like making things out of silk after all.

You get the idea. I was talking to myself throughout. Doesn't everyone?

And, just for the record, this evening has confirmed I would be hopeless on the Sewing Bee. Pushing myself is one thing, and turned out to be enjoyable - but doing it under time pressure with cameras watching would have been disastrous. I don't think taking an entire week to make a dress would have made very good TV. 

Good night!

The Making of a Polka Dot Dress - Day 1

Special occasions - and by this, I mean the really fancy ones that give you an excuse to wear your best clothes and maybe buy a new pair of shoes or a hat - are a bit like buses for me.

I can go months, even years, without any. And then, three happen in the space of a few short weeks. And, being the size I am right now, I genuinely have nothing to wear.

There is nothing like a deadline to motivate me. With special occasion number one less that three weeks away, I need to make that dress. You know, the one I have gone on and on about making for quite sometime now.

And so, every day this week, I am going to aim to spend an hour or two on working towards having a finished garment in time. Having the (temporary) luxury of child free mornings whilst the littlest girl enjoys pre school fun and the baby remains in the easiest place in the world for her to be looked after, I intend to make the most of my time.

Progress this morning included: measuring myself (luckily, only bust measurement required as the empire line dress will hopefully just hang and glide over the bump in a lovely flowing sort of way); ironing and cutting out the paper pattern; adjusting it with tape so that it is appropriately sized for my shorter than average height; ironing and cutting out the lining fabric pieces.

With Radio 4 on in the background, it was a delightfully calm way to spend the morning, rounded off with some buttery toast with the last scrapings of the sparkly Marmite on top.

Time's up! And I'm off to collect my lively littlest girl...