The boots that will never be mine

So the boots arrived and are as I feared too small. :(  Even the foot bit, which should have been a good size 5, is quite tight. There is also no way that those puppies were going to zip up. 
I'm quite sad as they are lovely and were a bargain too, only£26.95 including postage. So I guess I'll start the return process, unless anyone would like to buy them from me for what I paid for them. 
They are a dark blue in colour, almost a navy blue and a small size 5. If anyone local would like to try them, just let me know. :) 

Here are some pics (pics that I was hoping to be wearing them in)

Do let me know if you know anyone that is interested in buying these beautiful boots, otherwise I will send them back as returns. 

Sculpted

I've been playing around with hairstyles to go with the Miss Scarlett outfit at the weekend. 

Here's what I'm most happy with so far:

I'm not sure if sculpted curls are the way to go or not, but I think my hair is too long and wild to just leave it like it is normally. I would like the emphasis to be on the fascinator anyway, I think. 

I'll need to figure out what to do with the bit I've tied up - at the moment it's just in a clip at the back, but if I'm going to do that on Saturday, I may need to find a black clip.  

I may change my mind completely between now and Saturday though...

BOOTS!

I'm all excited, I just received an email from Brandalley saying that they have shipped my new boots! Eep! 
I really want to show you what they look like but can't find a good picture. 
They are knee high and blue! and they are just gorgeous! My only concern is that they won't fit my dancer's calves... I may cry if that happens, but keep your fingers crossed that they will fit. 

I may even be lucky enough to get them before my birthday, which would be excellent, and even more so if they fit. 

I'm soo excited! :)

(Yup, all of that excitement is about some boots!)

Purple salsa

As promised, here is the outfit I wore out to the very special dinner on Saturday. (Again, kindly lent to me by the ever-wonderful Roisin)

It's a wonderful dress, that has the most satisfactory weight to it. It was a complete joy to wear!

I took the weekend off from paperwork, which I don't normally do. I usually just continue to work no matter when it is, but recently I have been feeling like there is more of a need to seperate work time and leisure time. I have been making a more concerted effort to work in set times and then just relax. It was an absolute treat to distance myself from work at the weekend and I really felt like I could enjoy it and relax properly. I really do think it is important to have a good balance between work and time off.  
I am off out to go salsa dancing again this evening - it is my fourth week going and I am really enjoying it.  I have always loved dancing, but it's amazing how just going to this class once a week has improved my coordination and increased my love for dancing again. I hope to start ballroom dancing soon too, just need to find a night when M is free too. :)

I have a party coming up this weekend,  which I have already mentioned, so I am trying to slowly get things organised for it. I need to source a few more games and get nibbles and punch organised. It is fun though! I love parties! I'l post some pics after the weekend. 


That's  enough ramblings for today :)

Red!

So those of you that know me well, will know that I have steered clear of wearing red for most of my life, thinking that it didn't suit me because of my red hair, etc. etc. But not anymore! I think I just never chose the correct shade of red. This week I shall be wearing 2 different red dresses. One I wore today, on loan from the lovely Roisin (- we had a lovely dress-up session on Friday) and the other is one that I bought especially for my birthday party next weekend. It's a fancy dress party and I am going as Miss Scarlett, and I'm so very very excited!
With all that talk of dresses it would be unfair of me not to show you what they look like, so I am going to do something that I haven't ever done before on my blogs - an outfit shot! It was quite difficult to find a pose that suited the dress and that didn't make me look silly, so this is the best one from the bunch.

It's a very cute dress and although you can't see the lovely detail on the hearts ( - they have faces!), I am thrilled that I got to prance around in it today. Thanks Roisin! :)

With that I'm off, we're off out to dinner tonight so I will no doubt have an outfit change shortly. :)

Gathering speed

I have been feeling a little under the weather today, a mix of a cold coming on and a chest infection. I am off to see the doctor tomorrow, but until then I thought I would do some sewing to cheer me up and help me to feel better. 

So, this evening I have been mostly sewing the layers of my petticoat by hand.  I attempted to machine sew it, but it didn't quite work. I love my sewing machine, it is sturdy and mostly reliable. However the major draw back I have with it is that it does not have a longer running stitch (to help with things like gathering).  It has a stitch that is a little longer than the regular stitch but this ended up eating some of my lovely tuile. A little patchwork and mending later, I got to work sewing the lengths and lengths of beautiful teal tuile. I'm almost there, but there is a lot of tuile! 

 The mess of (almost-all-gathered) tuile on my living room floor

I should finish the gathering shortly, then I need to pin and sew the tiers together. (There are 3 in total, so not that many at all). Tomorrow I need to go in search of some twill tape for the top seam. 
Hopefully it will turn out, I have never attempted to make a petticoat before - I hope my calculations were right and it ends up being the right length! 
I intend on posting pics of the finished item, and also the lovely dress that I finished a while ago. 
It's almost sleepytime, so I will post my progress soon. 
Night all.
 

Has a week gone by already...time for a bit of a ramble

It has been a rather strange week and weekend - it has disappeared! I was in London at the beginning of the week and then went on to Colchester for work. Work was good, but I was glad to get home. I had had to stand all the way to London on Sunday, (as Chiltern Trains weren't running and everyone seemed to be on my train to Reading and again from Reading to London) so I was really glad to have a seat on the way back home on Wednesday evening, especially after a long day. 

Thursday through to today has gone in somewhat of a blur... I have baked a little, watched LOTS of Madmen (thanks Roisin!), crocheted, struggled with safety eyes, lost my lovely cupcake pincushion (has anyone seen it around?), cooked a little, and won a prize! I received a sample pack of fabrics from the wonderful Fiona at The Sewing Directory.  I never win anything so I was thrilled - the fabrics are stunning. The range is called Keiko and they are Japanese inspired florals and dots. I am very excited about using them in my next sewing projects. 

Speaking of sewing, I have finally gotten around to putting the zip in my dress, that I (ashamedly) started to make quite some time ago... only the hem to go. I'm not sure about the length though, I think just above the knee might be quite good, although I'll have to pin it and see... I also want to make a petticoat for underneath it (I have beautiful teal tuille that would look very cute peeping out below the hemline of my dress), but that could take months yet! :)

I came across a wonderful blog today - NewDressADay - it encompasses some of my most favourite things: charity shopping, customising and dresses! I have spent far too long this evening looking through back posts, but I just love it. 

I think that's enough rambling for one evening - I am in need of cake and we have ONE more episode of Madmen to go! Better put the kettle on! :)