Nautical Cambie, and feeling a twunt in public

The sun was shining, it is Me Made May and today was just screaming out for something girlie.  Something nautical. Something that was still sitting in my UFO pile waiting for a zip and a hem.

No worries, I don’t work Fridays and as my body clock hasn’t quite caught on to this I was up at five thirty hand picking a lapped zip before the school run. I machined a narrow hem as I was running out of time and annoyingly ‘Sorry, I had to finish making my clothes before I could leave the house’ is not considered an acceptable excuse for lateness at my daughter’s school.

I started this dress before I went away at Easter,  Cambie, by Sewaholic, of course. My first. I got the fabric on sale at Minerva Crafts and I think I got the last of it. Anyway I nearly finished but ran out of time and I’m afraid I can’t remember what size I traced but I did my usual small at the shoulders, going up a size at the bust and up another for the waist and hips.  Hundreds have said it before but this pattern is an absolute breeze to sew. And I love it!  The only adjustments I did were to lower the back, because I like a low back. If I was to make this again I would probably make the straps a little shorter. Oh, and I didn’t use the pattern pieces for the full skirt, I just cut rectangles.

Buoyed by my success in completing it and realising that I love love love this dress more than I can put into words I decided it was time to bite the bullet and take it outside for some pictures. I stuffed my gorillapod and my camera into a bag and headed for the beach.

I had a conversation with Katy of a Sleek Silhouette about photography at the meet up. We were both wondering a) how other bloggers manage to get decent pictures of themselves with no one else to take them?  b) how to do it without looking like some weird self obsessed freak? and c) how you manage to do it without feeling like a complete arse?  I notice that Katy has clearly managed to overcome at least some of those problems as she has done a great photo shoot outside for her latest stunning make.

As you can see from my efforts I have succeeded in overcoming exactly….none of those problems.  I gave it a shot though:

Camera, what camera? No, I’m just walking on the beach (and waiting for you all to feck off and stop staring) …
Oh, that camera. Who put that there?
If I stand here and put the camera really close then maybe no-one will notice me…
Right, they’ve gone, quick! Smile….
Nautical – that means boats. Look, a boat! I’ll stand by it. Please don’t look at me like that Mr Dog Walker, you’re making this really difficult….
And the back….
And the side….Can I go now?

To say that I wasn’t very comfortable with this photography lark is an understatement. It did get easier though. I will persevere. I also took a couple of shots indoors as the sun was so bright it is quite hard to see the actual dress in some of those pics. Note how by this point most of my make up has slid off and I am looking decidedly windswept. I have also stopped caring.

The zip doesn’t actually show when I am standing normally but it looks crap here, especially at the waistband. I think my hands on my hips made it pull apart. And I had no idea my feet were that grubby – sorry.

Oh well, No Fear No Shame – I have felt a Twunt and done it anyway. That deserves a treat or two.