Best birthday pressie ever....

I have been a bad bad blogger lately but I guess sometimes it's good to take a break. I have had a busy few weeks and although I am not short on topics to write about I was lacking the inspiration to actually sit down and write. I have been working on a lot of orders and didn't get much sewing for myself done. I enjoyed making every piece though.

Anyways, the greatest thing that happened while I was absent from the blogosphere was the return of my husband. He's finally back home for good. More than 6 months of separation are over and we are back to normal. After such a long time apart I am sure you all understand that writing blog posts was not on top of my list of priorities.

But, here I am back with my first post, sharing my awesome birthday adventure with you guys. My husband bought me the best pressie ever. Obviously spending my birthday with him was already amazing enough but would you turn up your nose at this???????

He got me a Schwinn Starlet beach cruiser in mint green. The cutest thing ever and of course I had to go on a bike ride straight away. Off we went to a nearly village and attraction (Layer Marney/ Layer Marney Tower) for a picnic outside and a pub stop along the way back home.

We had such a great time, the weather has been gorgeous lately so I guess I'll be out with Betty Schwinn (I called my bike Betty....I know how original but Betty Bike sounds cute enough) a lot. The other good thing is that this bike is literally screaming for cute cycling outfits so hopefully I will remember to always dress up appropriately for her and take pictures to share with you guys.

On my birthday I was wearing this dress with a cardigan I found in a charity shop accessorised with a necklace from Primark (yes I am cheap and love finding things there) and a sweater guard from my grandmother in law.

Happy Easter everyone and enjoy the sunshine. I hope you are getting as much as we are down here in Essex.

What I am working on

I have been working on a few customer ordered lately that I thought are worth sharing on the blog. It's been all about evening wear lately. Apart from orders on regular day wear pieces from my shop I had some more elaborate requests for custom made festive dresses.

Number one is a 1960s emerald green satin dress I want to share with you today. My lovely customer Katja has had a wedding dress made by me last year (the wedding isn't until this Summer) and now she has a wedding to go to this year as well. This dress is what she's going to wear for that occasion.

She knew exactly what she wanted and bought a pattern for me to use. I like that because it makes it much easier for me.

The chosen pattern was this one:

view 3 with the ribbon detail of view 1 added and a big bow at the back for extra detail.

This is where I am now:

The dress itself is finished and the band attached. I will add a net petticoat underneath the skirt for extra fullness although the material holds itself up quite well. Plus petticoats are cute and skirts can never be too full.

This is the bow. I haven't attached it yet. It'll be on poppers so Katja can choose to wear it with or without the bow. I will also change the tie ends hanging down into wider pieces so the match the bow rather than the band around the dress.

Finished project coming soon. I thought since I never show many work in progress pictures and projects it's about time.

I won, I won, I won....thanks to all you amazing people who voted

Thank you guys for voting for me to win the Mad Men photo competition. I won the 1960s vintage dress from Juno Says Hello, received it the other day and thought I share a picture with you to say thank you.

I am such a lucky girl. I never won anything in my life ever before (at least I can't remember). Thanks again, you guys are awesome!!!

I'm not really that cool, but I wasn't wearing any make up here, hence the sun glasses.