can't think of a witty title today, so just read on....

Well dress number 2 of the summer of the dress extravaganza is complete, but due to the crazy hot then cold weather we've had here in Sydney it hasn't been warm enough to wear it yet, so no photograph to show you.

Thanks for all your comments on the last post - I wore the red jacket and black/white check dress to work on Monday and it was a comfortable and colourful combo so a real winner in my book. I don't know how I managed to sew the shorts and jacket so fast on Sunday, I guess it has a lot to do with using simple patterns that I have sewn from before, but I also find that when I'm not trying too hard the garments come together quickly and turn out perfect (as opposed to those I put real effort into and always manage to stuff up!).

And Vicki I know what you mean about tracing out the Burda patterns, I feel like having a nanna nap to rest my brain and eyes after tracing them out. It has to be the task I like least about sewing, it's even worse than washing the fabric and waiting for it to dry, or cutting out the patterns from a new pattern (that's why I like vintage patterns - someone else has already cut them out or they come like that).

Someone in real life asked me the other day how I managed to find so much time and energy to sew, particularly since I'm now edging towards 7 months of pregnancy. I don't know exactly where I'm finding the energy from, but I'd say it's probably got lots to do with all the lollies (red liquorice is a current favourite) that I continue to consume in copious amounts. As for time, well I don't have kids yet, I've stopped watching tv because there is hardly anything worth viewing anymore and remember the housework I made the shorts to wear whilst doing? Well it didn't technically get done on the weekend because I found sewing far more enjoyable than cleaning (yeah funny that). Lucky there's only the two of us plus the dog, who causes the most mess with his dog hair everywhere and his toys strewn from one end of the house to another, and we don't live in a McMansion so it only takes about an hour so I may clean up tomorrow night (hmmm we'll see).

Oh and thanks for all your reassuring comments re falling off the SWAP bandwagon, it makes total sense to me now to treat the SWAP as the bigger picture but continue on sewing other things as need arises. I'm about to sew some simple cotton pyjamas next since even my old friends the drawstring pyjama pants are abandoning me and my rapidly expanding rear end (damn you red liquorice and all your calories), but after that I'll get back on to the dress-athon.

And finally, since I don't like to post without a photo or two, here's something I spied in the fashion pages of the Saturday newspaper a few weeks ago: a gorgeous striped skirt by New Zealand designer Trelise Cooper. In case you can't read the small print at the bottom of the photo, the skirt is $595 and the top is $425. ahem.....

But of course I would never consider buying it, particularly when I found the perfect fabric over at Tessuti's on line fabric shop, Soho stripe 100% cotton which retails for $32/m. If this fabric is still available when my waistline returns (fingers crossed on both accounts there) I will definately break my retail fabric buying diet to get my hands on a few metres of this: