This weekend was packed full of family gatherings, which turned out to be excellent opportunities for wearing some of my creations. On Thursday evening, I wore my red dress, which all the comedians around here called my “Little Orphan Annie Dress.” Whenever I walked into the room, someone invariably hummed or sang “The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow” or “It’s a Hard Knock of Life.”

Ha Ha Ha. Very Funny

On Friday, I had the honor of being part of the wedding party for my brother-in-law and his bride. I wore my fancy black dress

It was unbearably hot in that get-up, but the dress garnered a lot of compliments and my goofy hat provided a lot of amusement. One of my awesome sisters-in-law (Hi Robin!) put my hair up in hot rollers earlier that day–and man, was my hair curly.

I think it turned out pretty cute, but it was a mess in both of these photos. The heat, wine and a lot of clowning around didn’t do much for my appearance. I’m a little worried that my lipstick may have been dripping off my lips and down my chin during the official photoshoot–but oh well–if so, people will have something to make them laugh for years to come. That’s an excellent wedding gift, isn’t it?

Finally, I got to parade around in my leopard print dress, which I finished in the nick of time to wear out to dinner on Saturday evening. I seriously love this dress and will take clearer photos of it someday soon. For now, you’ll have to be content with the snapshot my son took while we were waiting for the rest of our family to show up at the restaurant.

The pattern for this dress is Simplicity 2369. It’s quick and easy to make. I had a hard time finding a decent belt buckle at any of the fabric shops I frequent, so I went to Ross, a discount department store and bought a $0.49 belt and cut the buckle off that. It worked out great!

That evening, my husband teasingly referred to me as his trophy wife and adopted a Tony Soprano-esque accent whenever he addressed me. The family was highly amused. I just drank my wine and smiled.