My final make...for the next 6 weeks anyway!!!....

I did it !!!! and I'm a little bit amazed I did...

I finally finished my last 'Work Dress'.  Enrolment starts in earnest this week and I don't want to have to think too much about what to wear at 6.00am each morning - and I want to at least look 'professional', even if it is going to be an unmitigated disaster zone this year!!! 

Using some gorgeous navy cotton (with beautiful white applique flowers along the border) which I recently ordered from Minerva Crafts and went to my quick n easy 'go to' New Look 6411 pattern.  I've used this pattern a few times now and discovered that although it might be quick n easy to sew up, I really need to work out how on earth you 'pattern match' things!!! on the 3 other versions I've made of this dress, pattern matching has been pretty darn easy on the 'plaid' Christmas Dress, not necessary on my LBD version and the last one made with a black/white abstract flower pattern was so 'busy' that you didn't really notice..... but by golly, I really need to work it out for future reference!!! (Does anyone have any good tips or advise on how to pattern match???!!!) 

It was all pinned, cut, sewn and pressed in a couple of hours - on and off while batch cooking a vat of Chicken Chasseur, Moroccan Lamb, Rich Beef stew and Sausage casserole .... I discovered that my little town has FINALLY got a real butchers!!! O-M-G...those pork sausages where AWESOME!!!! ... so I bought all the meat I needed for a good ole 'survive enrolment' cook up!!! 

I know I've gone on a bit about 'enrolment' but I've absolutely zero control and influence at work during this time of year...and when you leave your house at 7.30am and don't get home until at least 8pm (and the actual working hours are extremely 'intense') the very absolute last thing on earth you want to do is have to stand and cook a meal - well.....its the very last thing I want to do...and I quite like cooking!!! and worry about what to wear the next morning!!!  However, this year, I decided that these two elements at the very start and end my day were actually in my control ..... and I've prepped and planned accordingly.

So, in summary, my weekend consisted of making clothes to wear and food to eat to survive the oncoming storm! 

lol - that back centre seam is truely atrocious!!!! The only saving grace in this appalling pattern matching is that I'll be sitting at my desk for 10 solid hours - so who's going to see it?! 

oh, and I forgot....I also made a loaf of bread !!! 

 

8 days away from 8 weeks of hell....

Yes, it's that time of year again...

Enrollment 

This time last year, when I said "..at least it can't be as bad as last year" I honestly thought that I be right....O-M-G just how wrong can such a throw away statement be?! 

It was just dreadful...the manic hours, manic queues, lack of sufficient breaks, lack of trained staff....all that I can deal with, but the lack of support from 'senior management' was a bit of a slap in the face.  Once we had staggered through it, I vowed to the team that I would never say it again!  And as it turned out .... very VERY shortly after we'd finished .... we knew that NOTHING previous would compare to what was in store for us the next year!!! 

And here it is !!! 

In a vain effort to cheer me up, lift my spirits and generally convince myself that if I could look 'professional', it might help people think I was professional and knew what I was doing, I decided to made some dresses to wear for work - the first one, my 'return to work' dress in the last post, got me off to a good start.  So this weekend I decided to crack on with another.

I had some polyester crepe from good ole Minerva Crafts (I'd ordered it months ago but hadn't worked out what to do with it...) and the New Look K6411 pattern that I'd used a couple of times before and if I remember correctly, came free with the November '16 issue of Sew Magazine.

Once I'd cut it out I decided that as it was quite a quick and easy sew, I'd see what I could finish first - the dress or making a loaf of bread!!! .... bizarrely, the bread was finished first - I think I got a little distracted with its 'proving'.  I'm not the best bread maker and its always been a very hit or miss affair, so I kept having to check it was rising!! Now, it might not have turned out the straightest, prettiest loaf you've ever seen, but by jolly, it's one of the tastiest I've ever made :-D 

 

 After a short sandwich break I got back to the dressmaking.

This pattern is soooo comfortable, due to it being very 'unfitted' !!! and I'm going to need all the comfort I can get, sitting at my desk in a brisk air-conditioned hall while its glorious sunshine (hopefully) outside, from 8.30am to 7.00pm!!

I love the raglan sleeves - so much easier to deal with than an inset one!! and NO zip to trip me up with, just a small loop and button opening at the back.   In fact, as quick and easy dresses go, I might just run up a few more ... for work, this is definitely a 'work dress' pattern!  I might even have a bash at popping some pockets into the side seams .... well, I'll need somewhere to keep the tissues for mopping up my soggy tear stained face and hour in to 'Hell' !!! :-D