I bought the Nina Lee Carnaby dress pattern at the Fibres West garage sale. I’ve been wanting it for a while, so was thrilled to find it for $1. It is such a simple shape, and it has pockets set into a front horizontal seam, which I really like. It comes with short sleeves, no sleeves

It’s a great shape and the instructions are fabulous. It comes with short sleeves or sleeveless and has pockets.

I’ve been itching to make it and the time came this week when the Magamsewalong challenge on IG had the theme “December donations”. The pattern had been donated to the garage sale, as was the silk ribbon I used for a zip guard, I found the lovely piece of orange linen a few years ago in an op shop, and the zip found its way into my stash somehow. I see it cost 10c and was an Embassy brand (now Coles) – it’s the orange one, and is the one I chose from all the ones I was auditioning. I’ve included a photo of one of my boxes of zips – I have five, all different types, and nearly all of them are donated or thrifted, and they are all this messy!

the zip is exposed and the instructions for sewing it are excellent. I had a scant metre of the linen and it wasn’t very wide, so I made the sleeveless version, and had to piece one of the facings. I didn’t have enough fabric for the pockets, so found some linen scraps that I had previously dyed with onion skins. Here is a photo of the pockets, nicely sewn onto what I thought was the front of the dress, but when I looked, I had sewn them onto the back! See that zip up there – gah.

I pondered whether having pockets on the back could be a thing, but decided that there was nothing for it but to unpick them and resew them where they should be!

Having got them into the right position I noticed that they drooped a little bit and the different colour showed, which I couldn’t live with.

I resolved the problem by sewing some press studs inside. I can still get my hand in with them closed, but can open them should I need to. When the press studs are closed, the pockets sit perfectly.

I I wasn’t certain about the sizing for this pattern. The size 10 is for a 91cm bust, and mine is 92cm. I decided to make the size 12, which is 96cms and I’m really pleased I did as the fit is perfect, with no adjustments needed.

I wore it out for coffee with a friend, and it can still be a bit cool in the mornings, so I found a lovely Itch-to-Stitch Lisbon cardigan, made several years ago, to go with it. I really like it with a cropped cardi, but a long one will look good too.

And an obligatory seated pose. It’s very comfortable to sit about in.

I was trialling this dress for a challenge I’m about to participate in, but I don’t think it will work, however, I’m sure I have several more of these in my future. The pattern doesn’t require too much fabric, it goes together beautifully and I love the shape.

We had a lovely afternoon with Miss G. I took over a rocking horse we’ve had kicking about for a couple of years (found on a verge throwout) and, although she has a lovely wooden horse, which I found in an op shop, she was obsessed with this one. I couldn’t resist showing this video. My sons are discussing the fact that there should be a rocking horse in the shape of a motorbike – of course they are!

I’m showing more of her than usual, but I could not resist – particularly when she blows that kiss at the end!