It was my birthday last week and I got the coolest gift from the hubby.

With no prompting or even having spoken about my secret desire to get some woven garment labels to insert into my me-mades, hubby outdid himself and produced these.

I feel a bit cray-cray with an almost overwhelming desire to stick these babies in everything I've ever made, the entire back-catalogue. But I'll resist because that all feels a little narcissistic and self-congratulatory.

P did a pretty good job picking the colour and text without any input from me. TBH, I'd probably have chosen a different colour combo, but credit where it's due, P was trying to match the coral colour in my blog header. Choices were limited however and candy pink it is.

You might recognise that denim from my in-progress Alder - yep I'm up to speed with the sewalong.

I've performed my SBA on the pattern and have cut all pieces ready to go. I believe today's sewalong will see the button bands, darts and pocket placement completed. The pattern and instructions are perfectly adequate to get going by myself, but I'm really interested to see how Jen tackles some steps, so I'm happy to keep with the program.

In the meantime, I'm off to work out exactly how I prefer these babies sewn in... tight zigzag, gappy zig-zag or something else altogether?

P.S. In Australia and want your own? www.labelsandribbon.com.au

Alder-Along? Don't mind if I do!

Have you ever had an occasion when a new pattern is released and you've believed fervently that the designer made it specifically for you, reading your hopes, your dreams and everything in between. Oh Jen, you've truly done it.

Truly, madly, deeply do I love this pattern: The Alder Shirtdress.

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Maybe you love everything that comes out from the Indie or Big 4 market. I have to say, rarely if ever does anything truly take my fancy. I think perhaps it's why I've swayed towards vintage patterns in the past - they suit my aesthetic and body type.

Or sometimes a pattern will pique my interest, then I find out it's drafted for a C (!) cup and little old me ain't ever gonna go to the trouble of downsizing that baby - it would all but mean a re-drafting, ugh.

But this dress, oh my, you are perfection. I love both your views, A and B. I love all the additional variations Jen has suggested are possible. And I will have one for my own.

If you haven't heard, there is an Alder Dress Sew-Along starting tomorrow, and I will be catching that train. Will you?

I already have my fabric prepped, pattern purchased and view choice sorted.

View A, in a deep indigo blue mid-weight rigid denim - it is still winter over here and I envisage wearing this with knee boots and a cardigan or long sleeved tee underneath (or maybe both) right now and on its own for trans-seasonal wear. So in other words I'm completing ripping off Jen's View A above.

I've made Jen's Tiny Pocket Tank before and it marked my first foray into completing a SBA. So I know pretty much exactly what size to pick and how to alter the bust darts to fit me. My Tiny Pocket Tank was quite a triumph in that regard. Jen does say she'll be covering how to choose a size, so I'll be reading that with a lot of interest. I really wanna get this baby right as I have no time for a muslin.

And if all goes to plan I see at least two more for summer in both views A and B (which is eerily similar to a RTW dress I bought last summer and adore).

Squeee! I'm so excited!