The rare Flea Market Leopard has been spotted (haha, get it?)

It's funny how I'm doing loads of things but didn't really have anything to post about. I'm working on a Kelly anorak and another, MASSIVE project, but those are still literally small bits and pieces. I did finish a quick sweater dress in time for a trip to London, and proceeded with the most awkward photo shoot I've ever done.

Yep, that's right, we were at a flea market near Brick Lane and just decided to take pictures there. With lots of PEOPLE around. I felt a tiny bit silly but hey!

The dress is a Linden from Grainline, with 30 cm extra length added. I had done this before but decided to trace a smaller size this time. The previous version was quite large already and I'm swimming in it now. For this one I went with my bust measurement and made sure the bottom part would fit my hips.

The fabric is a sweater knit I got from the shop I work at (in exchange for making something out of it and wearing it at work). I forgot what it's made from but it seems quite synthetic! This is also the first leopard-printed thing I've ever worn. I blame Hanne and the fact that this is sparkly.

I lengthened the pattern by eyeballing how much longer I wanted the dress to be and adding this to the pattern pieces, minus the hem band. Totally legit, guys. Instead of trying to find matching ribbing I just used the wrong side of the fabric for the bands, and think it works really well to break up all the glittery leopard!

I also had an assistant for this photo shoot:

That's right, Roisin from Dolly Clackett happened to be in town that day so we went for pizza and a stroll. It was great to see her again and catch up! We also got a cheesy picture together as definite proof:

We were in London for just two days, to see the Welcome to Night Vale live show at the Palladium (it was AWESOME!). Our friends Ed and Aisling were going to the same show (and Aisling's parents kindly let us stay at their house and made us an amazing breakfast) so we met up on Saturday for huge burgers and fun:

It was a really nice day so we took some time to visit the new Tate and admire the view (and the neighbouring appartments.)

And that was our weekend, basically! Hope yours was just as nice!

Please, just stop it with the shorts already.

After this, no more shorts for a while. Promise!

I found the fabric for this pair of shorts on a trip to a fabric outlet in the suburbs, and it was a really unexpected find. I sometimes go there because they have super cheap light cottons that are still nice quality (good for lining!) and was pleasantly surprised when instead of the usual poly horrors they had loads of other fabric I actually wanted!

I picked up a few pieces, including this roughly woven fabric, and used it to make some more shorts for the summer. The pattern is the same Burda pattern I used for these and my dungarees. Versatility! This time I omitted the pleats and cuffs, added back pockets and changed the front pockets to curved jeans-style pockets.

And this is how they got worn: on the streets of Mérida, feeling slow and overheated, with remnants of a sunburn gotten at Teotihuacan on my back.

My crotch was also eating my shorts. I have to teach the photographer boyfriend to notice things like that.

These are pretty short, but I felt fine in them. I find that there jsut aren't many lengths of shorts that I like, anything longer than the first Burda pair I made just looks super awkward on me. Skirt lengths seem a lot more forgiving! Or is that just me?

Sewing these was pretty uneventful. The pockets are lined with quilting cotton and the waistband is faced with a heavier blue cotton to avoid bulk. I used a bias facing for the hem for the same reason. The fly-front zipper went in without a hitch (still relying solely on Burda instructions, yay) and I used a jeans button and hand-sewn buttonhole (this fabric FRAYS and I wanted buttonhole stitched all around the edges) to finish it!

Here's a close-up picture of my butt so you can see how carefully I matched the pattern on the back pockets. The side seams were equally well matched but then I decided the legs were still too wide (the fabric has no drape so it looked like my legs were wearing individual skirts or something) and fixing that messed with the stripes a bit. Ah well!

That's it for projects photographed in Mexico! Since I got back I've been doing a lot of knitting (and sleeping) but after some major cleaning in my workroom I'd like to get back to sewing because SO MANY IDEAS!