Sunday 1 March 2015

A day out with Nettie

When the Nettie dress and bodysuit pattern was released I really loved it however, I was on a pattern diet and resisted buying it.  I'm always on a pattern diet, like most diets it usually fails, however, this time I didn't need to buy it.  I won it as a prize in the repurpose, reuse, refashion challenge!  Winning a prize itself was very exciting but winning a pattern I'd been lusting after was even more amazing.

I made a muslin of this back in November, in a gorgeous deep red. the remnants of which made the ruffle for my refashioned skirt. It was a 'wearable muslin', in that I wore it as part of a fancy dress costume for a 7 deadly sins party, and then never again!
I seem to remember there being more to this costume but by this stage it was probably fairly late and several glasses of wine down. Also it's now months on so my memory isn't as reliable as it might be.  I was meant to be wrath.  I really recommend 7 deadly sins as a theme, it was a lot of fun and people came in some really epic costumes!

However, I made my Nettie muslin up in a very non-stretchy ponte so it was much too tight, and made me look like all my body fat was trying to escape, not a good look.  So this time I used a slightly stretchier knit (although still a fairly stable ponte) and went up a size.


I'm happy enough with the result and I love the colour but a stretchier knit would be a lot more forgiving, I guess I should really pay a bit more attention to the recommended fabric guidelines!  However, I do really like the shape of this dress and am sure that I will make more.  Also I love sewing with knits, they're so fast.  I'm all about the instant gratification at the moment!  I've just purchased the Sew over it cowl neck dress so watch this space for some more instant gratification knit dresses!

I wore my lovely blue Nettie on a day out to Highgate with my mother and sister.
Highgate cemetery has lots of famous people (and non famous people) buried there, including Karl Marx.
 To be honest I'm not sure Karl would approve of the frivolity of this photo, I'm not sure useless, pretty dresses had a place in his manifesto!  By the way, we have not had a heatwave in London, these photos were totally staged, I had my coat firmly on for the rest of the day.  Although it's nice to have sun even if it isn't warm yet.

 I really love old English cemeterys and this one is really beautiful.  It's a non-religiously affiliated graveyard and there are a mix of graves from all religions and non-religions which I find really lovely as it feels really inclusive and it is great to see what people of different backgrounds do to remember their dead.

Anyone else a massive fan of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy?  

As well as a visit to the cemetery, we also had lunch and hit the charity shops.  While I wouldn't say that the Highgate charity shops are the cheapest, they have some real quality stuff, I got some great finds:
This has been on my amazon wish list for a while but at £25 I was holding off on buying it.  I got this in the Oxfam bookshop for £15.  While this isn't super cheap, it's still a saving on £10 on the original.   I have just checked and actually this is currently selling on Amazon for £20.40, however, a) i've still saved money and b) my money has gone to a really good cause.  I might do a snapshot or review of this at some point in the future.

I got this lovely fitted Hawes and Curtis cotton shirt.  You should have heard the comments from my family in relation to this shirt, they are not fans of crazy florals. However, I don't care, I'm a bit excited about this very floral shirt and it will definitely fit into my wardrobe.  This was £8.00 from the Cancer research shop.

More florals!  This is an amazing boat necked jumper.  It's made from silk and cashmere which I'm very excited about.  It's lovely and soft and I think it's going to be super warm.  I'm not a fan of the bow, however that will be a super easy job to unpick, maybe my task for in front of the Great British Sewing Bee this week.  This was £14.99 from the Oxfam shop.

This photo is very rubbish I'm afraid!  This is actually a really cute olive cardigan, from White Stuff, which also came from the Oxfam store for £8.99.

All in all a lovely day out, with photo posing, fun company, some charity support and wardrobe renewal, what more could you ask from a Sunday really?

5 comments:

  1. That book looks good, a good deal at £15. I love that pot of pens at Douglas Adams' grave, it's very touching

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  2. I've been meaning to visit Highgate Cemetery for ages but never manage to get there when i'm in London, next time! I'm very impressed by your charity shop finds, definitely some good stuff in Highgate:)

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    1. Thanks. Highgate cemetery is definitely worth a trip next time you're in town.

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  3. Congrats on winning the pattern! The blue version looks wonderful, and the amount of fun your having in the red version is enviable! xxx

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    1. Thanks, it's always exciting to win something and a pattern like this was even more great. The party was a lot of fun but feels like a long time ago now, must find another excuse for a party...

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