I don't usually indulge in post-holiday posts (apart from when I'm shamelessly gloating about fabric finds), but I've had such a fantastically varied time in Portugal that I thought I'd share some of it.
What I think will horrify interest you the most, is that in between sunbathing and eating, I had a dress made by my mum’s favourite seamstress…which curiously isn’t me!?! I realise this is such a sewing taboo, but I couldn’t help myself as she’s fantastic and I needed a special dress to wear to two weddings next year. I hope you don’t judge me too harshly…
Anyway, I handed over some beautiful silk fabric and a picture of this pattern from my stash...
and got this in return:
Please excuse my beach whipped hair and clammy face...it was hot in Portugal!
I'm reassuring myself that I could of course have made it just as well with my own fair hands ;o) To help ease the guilt that I’m feeling, I’ve reminded myself that I do actually have a 'to sew' list as long as my arm:
- Pinnies, lots of them to help me fulfil my ambition that I moaned about here.
- Skirts and trousers to help me close my wardrobe gaps.
- Sewaholic's Lonsdale sew-along, because I'm a sucker for pretty summer dresses.
Ooops, I digress! Whilst on holiday I also went on long bike rides with my dad - a total of 38km / 24 miles to be precise - after almost 15yrs of mounting nothing but stationary exercise bikes. The Portuguese views were stunning and I surprised myself with just how much I enjoyed the challenging terrain.
Lastly, I also indulged in a professional eye makeup tutorial. In my Uni days I used to experiment a lot with eye makeup, but in recent years I've become incredibly lazy, opting mostly just for a simple feline flick. The makeup artist was brilliant and she went through a daytime and evening look, the principles of which can be applied to all sorts of colours of course.
I was surprised that the smokey evening look (left) made the eye look so much bigger than the simple day look! The makeup artist also highlighted my cupid's bow for the evening look (left) and it made such a difference!
Day look...
Evening look...
All in all, a great holiday was had, thanks to my mum and dad's awesome hospitality!
How about you lovely people? Any holidays planned for this summer, or maybe you've already been? Care to share some photos?
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All that really matters is that you ended up with a beautiful dress. You can also live in the knowledge that your dress wasn't made in a sweatshop, so you shouldn't feel as guilty as all those people who buy RTW clothes made in such places. Really love the dress and I hope you post some more pictures when you wear it to the weddings.
ReplyDeleteThe dress is gorgeous. No need to feel guilty, rather than shop in Portugal you've brought home a lovely handmade dress. Win, win.
ReplyDeleteWhat a dream it would be to cycle in the country. Thanks for sharing your photos and planting a seed in my head for what to do during our holiday in Cornwall next month.
I love the dress. It's even better that it was made just for you. Custom is always better...in my opinion ^_^
ReplyDeleteI would love to do a professional makeup class. I suck at eye makeup. I usually just wear mascara and that's it. Love the dress!
ReplyDeleteLove the dress! It's such a flattering shape!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the lovely comments about the dress ladies, I feel a whole lot less guilty now ;o)
ReplyDeleteMelizza, hope you do go cycling on holiday...it's so much fun!
Kat, I loved the tutorial...you should so go for it!
Love the post - and the DRESS!!!! wow. Oh, and the bike ride section ;)
ReplyDelete