… as in, literally, I am talking about my shoes!
So, yes; I have actually had this YouTube channel for aaaaages, and now I’ve added the link to my other social media buttons at top right. It’s been a sad neglected little thing, barely used, except for once six years ago! forgive me father, it’s been six years since my last confession… 😉 when I joined in that worldwide accents and pronunciation thing-y that a lot of bloggers did … that was fun! Although I thought that list didn’t have nearly the variety of words it could have had and there could have been more interesting questions too… the one about throwing toilet paper all over someone’s house still has me going “whaaaaat?” Anyway that lonely little vlog is no longer an only child 🙂 If I sound a bit nervous it’s because I am! Definitely it feels super weird to sit all by yourself, except for one curious pussy cat…! and talk to your computer, just so unnatural. Well more accurately you’re sorta talking to your own reflection really which feels like a very awkwardly self-involved thing to do. Also, one thing that really stands out to me after I’d listened back to myself is that I have to learn to speak up louder! Honestly, I am a very quiet person, but the volume thing? I really should know that by now… I’ve been getting the “speak up!!” feedback my whole life. That Seinfeld episode about the “low talker”? yep, that one hit pretty close to home for me!
HOWEVER! having said that, I think I should do more vlogs, it’s a good self-development tool in my quest to overcome the aforementioned “low-talking” and my shyness, maybe even help with my longterm horror of public speaking… so maybe when I make my next pair of shoes I’ll throw together another one. Yes, I am currently planning another pair of shoes… and steeling myself to cut into some of my precious fish leather that I bought in Iceland *eeeeek!! the thought of cutting into it sounds terrifying! but I think I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.
The design is beautifully breezy and very comfortably roomy… I love the cute little cut-on sleeves with a simple cuff, the petite collar has prettily feminine proportions, and the exaggerated lower hemline looks quite dramatic and really cool, imo. That one big box pleat in the back is fabulous, and a pretty dramatic feature too, yes? love how the folds balloon out and down to that gently shaped back hemline. In fact I love all the features and the shape of the dress, full stop. It’s like the perfect little summer shirt-dress. I’m going to wear this one a tonne, for sure, and and probably going to make a tonne more too!
Partly because I stingily didn’t buy much of the print, and also partly for the same visual grounding reason as having a belt: I cut the pocket bags in a thick chocolate brushed twill, a small bit of leftover fabric harvested from Craig’s old pair of chocolate moleskins and which I used to make 
Above, I spaced it to turn up the hem exactly between two horizontal stripes in the print. The lower edge of the skirt is finished in bias cut black cotton, the same as for the inner waistband and pocket facings. See that little tiny row of mustard stitches along the top? I initially started hemming with black thread to match the bias; but quickly realised that even though I made my stitches as tiny as tiny could be, that row of minuscule black dots did show up on the right side of the skirt if you looked closely enough, and I didn’t like it!! So I switched to the same mustard thread that I’d used in other seams, which disappears nicely into the print.. so they’re pretty much invisible on the right side, which is the main thing!
OH! I forgot to blog about this before, in fact I just checked and I made this back in February! bad blogger! but I also made another little work dress for Cassie, another Named patterns Inari tee dress. This is my fifth Inari made, my third for Cassie, she loves the style just as much as I do! Also it’s like a perfect little design for work, plus being easy and comfortable to wear, and quick to run one up. I incorporated the same 
I cut the neckline and all pieces as is, and diddled about with the lengths to get the look I wanted… as follows:
Hello! I’ve finally finished these black leather clogs; that have been on the go for nearly a whole year now…. eeeeek!!
The last time I went down to visit Mum and Dad: Dad had some pinewood he’d cut himself from a “weed” pine on their block… and he very kindly helped me to shape the blocks on his bandsaw, and have the use of his sander to do some further shaping while I was down there… I’m so lucky that Dad has all the perfect equipment for this!
Once I got home, I sanded down the soles even further, stuck some cork to the bottom and the heels, and applied five coats of satin varnish. Ohhh, wait, getting ahead of myself… before that, I’d fancied the idea of a nice deep, chocolate brown wood, I thought it would play off nicely against my chosen black leather. So I bought some walnut stain and gave them a coat. They looked um, not good, but I persisted (“maybe they just need MORE of it” famous last words) and did a few more coats. Then they looked DREADFUL. A day or so of deep depression later, and I’d regained the energy to set up the sander again and sand it all off. THEN I did the soling/ varnishing thing to my clean, new soles. *sigh* Lesson learned; wood looks better in its natural colour.
