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Completed: Bikey Maritime Shorts

I love it when a single piece of clothing incorporates a bunch of my favorite things at once.

Bicycles? Check.
Maritime shorts? Check.
Roisin? FUCK YEA.

I know they look like polka dots from a distance, but seriously there are teeny-tiny little bicycles all over these shorts and OMG SO CUTE.

I’m a sucker for bicycle printed fabric – this is a true fact, and I don’t think I even need to say it, because most of y’all are probably nodding your heads (and/or rolling your eyes) from how often I mention it. That’s ok, I’ll say it again – bicycle fabric rules! This stuff is extra special, though, because it came as a gift from my homegirl, Roisin. Recently on her honeymoon in Paris, Roisin posted this shit on Instagram after a fabric shopping bender (seriously… she went home with some really beautiful stuff) and I nearly had a heart attack over the BICYCLE PRINTED DENIM. Because she’s an amazing sport, Roisin offered to go back to the fabric store and pick me up my own 3m length. On her freaking honeymoon! Do you see why this lady is amazing? Because she’s amazing.

And because of her, I now am the proud owner of these cute little bike shorts! Yay!

I’ve made this pattern – the Maritime shorts – a million times, so there’s not a lot left to say about them. I cut my usual size, and sewed these up as normal. I knew I wanted to stick with a good tried-n-true to be absolutely positive that we would have no fitting issues here, especially after all that trauma I had trying to make jorts. Speaking of which, I think I figured out the issue with the zipper – after inspecting the zipper of my jeans (the ones I bought, not me-mades), I noticed that the fly extension is tacked down right at the base of the zipper, which takes a lot of the strain when you’re pulling them off and on. It’s amazing that something as simple as reinforcing the extension with a bartack really makes such difference but it does. After realizing this, I checked the pattern and it does instruct you to tack the extension down. I guess I skipped over it in my jeans haste? I dunno. But hey, now you can learn from my mistake! 😀

Sorry ’bout all the wrinkles. I took these photos after wearing the shorts all day, so most of them are from sitting and moving around. While this fabric is a denim, it’s pretty lightweight for shorts, so it tends to wrinkle. The fabric softened up quite a bit after prewashing, and also set a few wrinkles in permanently (such as the one you see by the side seam).

Some additional notes:
– I debated on topstitching with a contrasting thread – either white or gold – but ultimately decided to let the bikes take center stage and kept the topstitching navy. I love how it’s subdued and classy – well, as classy as a pair of short shorts covered in bicycles can be 😛
– My pocket lining is Liberty fabric, left over from my recently Liberty make! I know it doesn’t exactly match the denim, but I couldn’t resist pairing these two special fabrics together – after all, they’re both from some of my favorite bloggers, so it seemed only natural 🙂
– You may have noticed that I didn’t finish the edge of that fly extension. Actually, I did. It’s just up under the waistband because I’m fucking stupid haha. Oh well!

I tucked my chambray button-down in so you could really see the way the shorts look, and I surprised myself because I actually kind of dig the way it looks (even if it does scream ~Fashion Blogger on Pinterest~, which we all know I most certainly am NOT haha!). For the most part, though, I wear the shirt untucked, as in the above photo.

The best part – those lil’ shorts use barely any fabric at all, which means I still have about 2m left to play with! I’m debating what to do with the remaining yardage. It’s too heavy to be any sort of top (well, any sort of top that I would wear) and I’m not keen on making a matching pair of pants… but a dress, perhaps? What pattern would you suggest?

Thanks again, Roisin, for being such a star and making these cute shorts a reality! When I finally get my butt to London, I owe ya a drink 🙂 Or two 🙂

Tags: bicycle, bikey, completed, denim, grainline studios, hot damn this is my jam, maritime shorts, Roisin, shorts, sunni

Comments 57 Comments
Categories completed projects - new

Me-Made-May ’14: Week 5 Round-Up

30 May

Ahhhh, you guys! Me Made May (and thus, the daily photographs) is almost over! Can I get a FUCK YEAH!?

This is going to be a longer than usual round-up, because I went on vacation and obviously I had to change outfits a couple times each day. That’s what you do on vacation, right? ps, sorry in advance.

5/24, Saturday
Dress: Lady Skater
Shoes: Keds

First day of our vacation! Here we are en route to Santa Rosa Beach, at a food truck somewhere in Alabama. I knew we’d spend the day in the car, so I opted for a comfy knit dress. I’ve always thought this dress was very fall-like, due to the colors, but the fabric is definitely summer-appropriate as well 🙂

5/25, Sunday I
Pajamas: Lakeside pajamas

I’ve been wearing various other me-mades throughout the month that haven’t made it into photos (workout wear, pajamas, leggings, underwear, etc), so here’s some proof! I brought two pairs of Lakeside pajamas to wear while on vacation – the ones you see here, plus a new set I made a couple days before (I used this cute strawberry print cotton lawn to make them, if you were wondering!)- and wore them all week. In addition to being awesome pajamas, they also make a great swimsuit cover-up! Although, to be fair, I started out wearing the set and ended up in only the shorts(+ bikini top, obvs) by the end of the week.

Speaking of bathing suits…

5/25, Sunday II
Swimsuit: Papercut Patterns Soma Swimsuit (no blog post on this… yet! But here’s the link to the pattern :))
Sunglasses: Franco Sarto
Hat: Scarlet Begonia

Hell yes I came with a handmade swimsuit! THREE, in fact! This is the first – the result of my pattern testing for Papercut Patterns a couple of months ago 🙂 I haven’t had a chance to write up a proper blog post, but here’s a sneak preview 🙂

5/25, Sunday III
Top: Refashioned from a men’s Hawaiian shirt
Shorts: Rite of Spring shorts
Shoes: Keds

After spending all afternoon at the beach (no, really, I laid up on a float and bobbed around in the ocean for hours and it was glorious), I reluctantly put on clothes and walked around the shops with Landon. I didn’t buy stuff, but I did buy liquor. Priorities, y’all.

Also, that shirt. This is the third vacation I’ve dragged it to (and no shit, I literally wore that same outfit last May HAHAAHAHA whatever, it’s good, I’m not apologizing for shit), so it’s basically my official vacation shirt at this point. Unfortunately, it’s also way too big now. My alterations were pretty shoddy (it was a very last-minute job), and I’m thinking I may just need to send it to the nice Goodwill Bin in the sky at this point.

5/26, Monday I
Swimsuit: Papercut Patterns Soma Swimsuit
Sunglasses: Franco Sarto
Hat: Scarlet Begonia

Exact same get-up as the day before, but check out how different it turned out! This is version 2 of the Soma Swimsuit, and the second one I tested (yeah, I tested both. I wasn’t asked to, but after making the first one I kind of went crazy. I almost made 3, tbh). I used this version to play with stripes and decorative elastic, and I LOVE how it turned out. Seriously, my favorite swimsuit ever! Again, expect a blog post on these bad boys soon 🙂

Oh yeah, and that bratty kid in the background is my niece 🙂 I told her she could photobomb my picture and she sure did me proud.

5/26, Monday II
Dress: Sewaholic Lonsdale
Shoes: Fergalicious

I wore this for a dinner out with my parents+Landon’s parents (the first time they met! It went very well :)), and unfortunately forgot to take a photo until right before bed. Oh well! Also, I love this dress and I should totally make it again.

5/27, Tuesday I
Swimsuit: Closet Case Files Bombshell
Sunglasses: Franco Sarto
Hat: Scarlet Begonia

Last bathing suit! This is one I made last year, and I still love it 🙂 Especially good for those days when I realized I’ve just been drinking beer and eating key lime pie all weekend and oh god it’s time for the beach. Hahahaha!!

5/27, Tuesday II
Shirt: Thrifted
Skirt: Tilly’s Miette
Shoes: Fergalicious

Post beach, Landon and I spent the afternoon in Seaside, checking out the cute houses, the shops, and drinking free wine (the best part!). Again, with the top – that’s another unofficial vacation top (that I bought… 3 years ago, at the Goodwill on Santa Rosa Beach, ha!) that’s about to get the Goodwill shaft. It’s just too big 😦

5/28, Wednesday
Top: Cropped Briar
Skirt: Cascade

Last day on the beach! I thought it would be fun to take the photos of my Cascade by the cascading waves (you can’t even tell in this picture but they were AMAZING that day!). The wind was blowing like crazy, and I think it makes for a really cool picture 🙂 This picture also vaguely reminds me of <a href="this picture from the Little Prince, which makes me happy 🙂

5/29, Thursday
Dress: Belladone
Shoes: Sam Edelman
Necklace: Fabu

Back to Nashville! It was at this point that I realized we were almost at the end of May – and I haven’t worn some of my favorite stuff! So out comes the Belladone 🙂 I tried to style this a little differently than usual – I generally wear it with brown or yellow, but I do like the red 🙂

5/30, Friday (today!)
Dress: Simplicity 1803
Belt: Thrifted
Necklace: Chatterblossom
Shoes: Born

My other favorite dress – and our star pattern for the OAL. I love this pattern and I’m glad I finally have a reason to buckle down and make another! Which reminds me – the sewalong starts on Monday! Eep! 🙂

Speaking of which – those of you who are participating, do you feel like you need a post that covers fabric selection? I was planning on skipping straight ahead to cutting and marking, since I figured most everyone’s already chosen their fabric (and thus makes a post on fabric selection a moot point) – not to mention a lot of y’all are sewing different patterns (which means different fabric requirements) – but you tell me!

Sooo I guess that’s almost it for Me Made May! We do have one more day of the month (and you bet I’ll be wearing me-mades and begrudgingly taking a photo, ha), but I’m not going to include it in this round-up because it doesn’t fit with my ~schedule~. Sorry! If you want to view the rest of the weeks, here they are:
Me-Made May: Week 1
Me-Made-May: Week 2
Me-Made-May: Week 3
Me-Made-May: Week 4
I also have a Flickr Album of all my MMM photos, if that’s more your jam.
If you’re sick of looking at me, that’s ok too – I’m sick of looking at myself at this point :B

I am glad I participated this year, because I definitely learned a lot about what’s lurking in my closet – namely, that there is WAY more than I think there is! Seriously, so many pieces didn’t even make it out this month, and that’s kind of sad considering I only repeated one skirt and a couple of tshirts. I’ve had some size fluctuations over the past couple of years, which means a lot of my summer wear doesn’t fit anymore (and while I altered some of it – such as the Simplicity dress I’m wearing today – a whole bunch of it got sold/donated instead). After that giant purge, I was under the impression that I didn’t have a lot left to wear in warm weather – which is clearly not the case! With that being said, despite my overabundance of clothing, there are still tons of pieces that my wardrobe is lacking. I’ve got plans to make more separates, including shorts (gah, I can’t believe I didn’t wear shorts once this month, wtf?) and tshirts, as well as workout wear, loungewear, and more bathing suits! Serious question… how many bathing suits is too many? They are REALLY fun to make, ok.

How did your Me-Made-May turn out (if you participated)? Did you learn anything life-changing about your closet? Are you SO sick of taking photos? 🙂

Ohh, I almost forgot – I promised y’all outtakes! Let’s revel in the unflattery together:

Most of my photos end up looking like this haha. I dunno why, but I always close my eyes when the picture is being taken (not to mention… whatever my mouth is doing. I guess I was in the middle of talking haha. OK FINE I BASICALLY NEVER SHUT UP)

If anyone happens to see where I left my arm, I’d appreciate your help.

Original photobomb did it better

Look at the fear in Amelia’s eyes hahahahahaha

I just think this is cute. Amelia doesn’t care much for being held (despite my consistent grabby hands at her), but she loooves having her butt scratched.

Hey, that’s almost a good picture! Until you zoom in a bit…

That, my friends, is the face of a cat who’s completely given up on life.

Ok, this is my favorite outtake and the one that made me laugh the hardest. This is a really unflattering picture of both of us – I’m pulling some kind of weird face (again, seriously, probably in the middle of talking) and Amelia just looks PISSED.

If that doesn’t look like the devil incarnate, I don’t know what does.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Tags: amazing fabric, beach, Belladone, Bombshell swimsuit, briar, Cascade skirt, completed, Deer & Doe, dress, fabulous hat, grainline studios, Lady Skater, lakeside pajamas, Me Made May '14, Miette Wrap Skirt, MMM14, papercut patterns, reconstructions, sewaholic, simplicity, Simplicity 1803, skirt, soma swimsuit, swimsuit, Tilly and the Buttons, vacation

Comments 60 Comments
Categories Me Made May

Completed: Ikat Moss Mini

21 Apr

Since I announced my pledge for Me-Made-May, I realized I better get crackin’ on making some summer-appropriate handmades if I want to actually get through the month as planned. One thing my closet has been missing for a few years is a good, basic mini skirt. I used to wear these things aaalll the time, but all my old ones either disintegrated over time or plain don’t fit anymore. I really wanted to try Grainline’s Moss Mini, but I wanted to hold off on pulling the trigger until I came across the perfect fabric.

That perfect fabric being Ikat. Ow ow!

OMG I love this skirt way more than I should. It’s a new silhouette for me for sure – despite having worn this style a LOT in the past (no lie you guys, I had them in every shade of denim, from white to dark blue. My dreams of being in a Poison video were, unfortunately, never recognized. Perhaps it’s because I only have a pick-up truck to lounge across, instead of a sweet 80s sports car? Dammit, I knew there was a reason why I needed a Delorean.), it’s not something I wear a lot of these days, so the style takes some re-getting used to. I’m liking it so far, though!

Let’s talk about the pattern. The Moss Mini is a cute little mini skirt that includes slash front pockets, a back yoke, and a front fly with a button closure. It sits a little lower than my other skirts – the waistband is right below my navel. The length is pretty short! I didn’t remove any and it’s good for me – but I’m a petite lady, so as always, check those measurements.

I cut a size 0, but I had to take quite a bit out of the waist and hip to get it to fit without straight falling off. Next time I make this, I will probably cut a wedge out of the center back yoke as well – it’s gapes a little, since I curve more there than the pattern was drafted for. Other than that, the fit is pretty good!

I debated adding back pockets (lord knows I’d use ’em), but ultimately decided that the skirt was busy enough without extra pocket baggage also demanding attention. Plus, the thought of additional pattern matching made me want to cry. Print-matching this bitch was rough, but totally worth it.

“Wait a second, Lauren, didn’t I hear you say something earlier about there already being pockets on the skirt?” Yep! Check out those front-slash pockets, so cunningly camouflaged RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOUR EYES.

Like I said, pattern-matching this skirt was way rough. I used my single layer method, which always does the trick. The hard part was getting the pattern to seamlessly continue, so you don’t notice any interruptions in the skirt (as opposed to a plaid or stripe, where you just follow the line). It’s like hanging freaking wallpaper, I guess. I think I ended up doing a pretty damn fine job if I do say so myself, though – do you see the center back seam? No? Good.

Apart from the pattern-matching-hell, the fabric was lovely to work with. This is a stretch cotton twill from Mood Fabrics, emphasis on the stretch. Like I said, I had to take a bit out of the side seams to get this baby to fit close (a close fit is important when you are working with a stretch – negative ease is needed!), but the resulting skirt is also really comfortable and not at all constricted. Be warned that it does like to fray and shed, though. I used flat-felled seams throughout my skirt and it’s held together pretty nicely, although pressing got a little fiddly (tip: use a reeeeally hot iron and smack the shit outta that bad boy with a clapper. Ha!).

As far as how I’m gonna wear this skirt? I dunno. I like the way it looks with my white button-down, but the combo feels a little fussy for a breezy summer. The lower rise is also throwing me off, as tucked in shirts just don’t look nearly as good (and this shirt is long enough to where it needs it; it looks sloppy otherwise). I’m thinking I’ll just make a bunch of plain tshirts that hit right at the waistband seam, and just swap out the colors according to my mood.

Now let’s plaid “find that seam!”

I debated how to cut the back yoke. Originally, I planned on matching it with the back of the skirt, so the pattern wasn’t broken up – but then I realized you wouldn’t be able to tell there was a yoke there. I stand by my mis-matched yoke (and slightly mis-matched waistband, ah well), but I still think a close match would have looked good too.

There’s the flat-felled seam! Omg you guys, I changed out soooo much thread to make this stupid skirt. All interior seams are white, all topstitched seams are navy. Since every seam gets sewn twice (first the inside, then the topstitching for the flat fell), you can imagine how much I was changing thread to make this. Of course, I have 3 more machines that I could have set up to speed things along. Did I bother? Naw.

I made a couple of changes to the waistband. I kept the extra length that was left (from me taking in the side seams) and used it to create an underlap for a flat button. I’ve found that I prefer this kind of waistband finish, as a non-underlap waistband – on me, anyway – tends to pull funny. I also used a hook and eye to close the front, instead of a button. I dunno, I just like the clean finish of no button!

And here’s the inside! I serged the pocket edges and the fly front/facing, but everything else is flat-felled (with the white thread on the inside – see how good it looks??). I’m really really happy with how the inside of this skirt looks. So clean!

I guess that’s it! Question: What color tshirts should I be making to wear with this skirt? I’m filling up my Mood cart right now…

Tags: completed, grainline studios, ikat, mini skirt, Mood Fabrics, moss mini, skirt, stretch cotton, twill

Comments 53 Comments
Categories completed projects - new

Completed: My First Archer, A Linen Disaster

5 Sep

Remember that Monet of an Archer I posted with my lime green Maritime shorts the other day (which turned out totally awesome, and yes, that’s me tooting my own horn, toot toot)? Remember when I said I was too traumatized to talk about it any further? Well, I think I feel like dishing today. Let’s dish!

(I took these pictures at the same time as my last batch – hence the exact same outfit – but I moved to a different side of the yard so they’d look a little different. That’s how much I love y’all. Also, this is pre-skeeter attack, fyi).

Ok! This is the Archer from Grainline Studio. I cut the smallest size and shortened the hem (too much, it looks). I think my relationship with this pattern has definitely gotten off to a rocky start, but I’m willing to give her a second chance. Funny, I thought this style looked horrible on me when I checked myself out in the mirror, but it’s not so bad in pictures!

I made this using some scrumptious Ralph Lauren linen from Mood Fabrics – doesn’t the idea of a floaty linen button-up in September sound so luxe? Nice and airy for the AM, but you can roll the sleeves down with the sun sets. Also, I just really love navy and I needed a shirt to go with my new aforementioned shorts, so I was feeling pretty confident about myself. So confident, I sliced directly into the linen without the benefit of a muslin or even reading the directions carefully. Oops.

Now, don’t get me wrong here – I don’t think a shirt like this necessarily requires a muslin, so to speak. It’s fairly loose-fitting and very forgiving in that sense. However, I do think a shirt like this requires the correct length when it comes to the body and the sleeves, and I think it is kind of a bad idea to dive into something so precise as shirtmaking without giving yourself a few test runs before you get into the good stuff. These were my mistakes. Had I made a little mock-up, I might have had the chance to try out that collar deal before I done goofed it up, ripped it out, realized that the linen was fraying at an alarming rate and oh god what have I done.

Also, the sleeves are way too long and the body is a bit on the short side (the latter isn’t the pattern’s fault, I just got a little too slash-happy with the scissors).

With all that being said, I actually really enjoyed sewing this pattern – it’s very precise, with all the top-stitching and perfect pressing, the kind of thing that I find SO relaxing to sew. Rather than get bummed that I made a shirt that isn’t up to my personal sewing standards, I consider this a muslin and I can’t wait to start my ~real~ version. The instructions are clear, albeit brief (if you get stuck, there is an entire sew-along with plenty of words and pictures), and every piece fits together nicely.

I know. The shirt looks fine in the pictures.

Which is why I took close-ups of the bad parts. You know you wanna see!

My first fuck-up was the top stitching on the button band. True, it’s not tooooo bad, but it’s definitely crooked. I’m not even sure how I managed to get that seam so crooked, but a crooked seam means crooked top stitching which means sad button band.

If you zoom in, you can even see an errant line of stitching running straight into a button. What is this I don’t even.

Then I tried to attach the collar stand.

And this is what happened. The fuck is that bump sticking out there? What the hell is going on?

And here is the crowning glory, which I obviously saved for last. This is what happens when you sew the collar stand wrong, then try to unpick it, then realize that the fabric is unraveling and now you have no seam allowances so you just sew haphazardly across a few points and hope for the best. It’s wonky and terrible and I can’t even button the top button. OOPS.

Speaking of buttons, the button holes *do* look nice. Thanks, Bernina!

If you were wondering, here is what I plan on changing for my next version:
– Shorten the length (although maybe not quite as much as this one!)
– Shorten the sleeves – they are WAY too long on me, like, the cuff starts below my wrist. I actually did not even bother sewing the buttons on the cuff here because they are so laughably long, I figured I’d just roll these up 4evs. But for my next version, I need to get the sleeves the proper length.
– Change the placket to a more traditional sleeve placket (such as the ones on the Negroni pattern). The ones on this shirt are much more simple – just a little binding, which isn’t bad, but I like the fancier look of the Negroni.
– I think I need to take out some of the width of the back, it’s super blousey on me.
– Draft smaller pockets; these are a little overwhelming on my frame.
– Get that god-forsaken collar stand under control, I mean, WOOF.

If you were also wondering, here are my suggestions should you decide to tackle this pattern yourself:
– MUSLIN IT. If you feel confident in your fitting skills, you may skip this, but I strongly encourage you to at least make a mock collar/collar stand so you can get an idea of how this shirt gets put together. You may also want to consider measuring the sleeves against some sleeves that fit you, unless you prefer the perma-roll.
– Don’t make your first version in linen. Just… don’t.

Despite an iffy start with this pattern (which I’m chalking up to user error), I think it’s a keeper and I will be making this shirt again. It’s a lovely design and a fun pattern, and I’ve already sourced my dream plaid flannel. I have an entire outfit planned around this pattern in that fabric, ain’t no one gonna stop me.

Tags: Archer, button-up, collar, completed, FAIL FAIL FAIL, grainline studios, linen, Mood Fabrics, shirt

Comments 30 Comments
Categories completed projects - new, sewing fails

Completed: Lakeside Pajamas

9 Aug

Hey look! I made pajamas!

I feel kind of weird posting pictures of myself modeling pajamas, but eh, let’s roll with it. At least I kept my shoes on 😛

These are the Lakeside Pajamas, the newest offering from Grainline Studio. The pattern was given as a gift to me from Carla, yes, the same person who have given me multiple patterns. Thank youuu, Carla, you are the best! I never would have thought to make myself sleepwear (other than a slinky slip), but now I want a million sets of these.

This is a great little set, and it’s SUPER comfortable. The shorts are loose with an elastic waist, and the top is floaty and cool, with some interesting detailing so you don’t feel like sewing it is a total snoozefest (pun intended, maybe?).

Isn’t this fabric beautiful!? I’ve been hoarding it for years, waiting on a ~special~ pattern. Part of what kept me from using it is that I barely had much it – about 7/8 yard – and the print is pretty large. Obviously, I was able to squeeze all my pieces out on that tiny yardage, but I had to make my bias tape with a contrasting fabric. I used the rest of my navy organic cotton sateen and ughhhh shit took forever. The pattern calls for 7 yards of bias tape (!!) and I only had small pieces, so I found myself cutting tiny squares to make continuous bias tape. I ended up using only about 6 yards, but be warned that I also made the smallest size in the shorts and the second smallest size in the top.

Anyway, it was worth the effort because I haaate pre-made bias tape. It’s so stiff! This stuff is nice and soft and the color matches beautifully. Plus, it has that cotton sateen luster. Yummy.

The pattern was surprisingly easy to follow. I had a small snafu with the shorts, but it was 100% user error (note: the front and back seams are not the side seams, Lauren! I basically made a huge circle of fabric and spent like 10 minutes trying to figure out the crotch seam until I realized I’d done goofed loololol. What was not lol-worthy was all the unpicking I had to do after that, wah!).

I LOVEEEEE these shorts, though. They’re pretty low-rise (you can almost see my belly button; it’s right where the tank top hem is hitting). I am totally going to make a couple more pair for running and general house-lounging – they’re like the perfect 70s running shorts, except they’re not knit (although I think these would work beautifully with a stable knit, and that is something I am totally going to try). I really want to make a classic red with white trim.

I was a little hesitant at first to use my beautiful hoardy fabric on a pair of PAJAMAS, but I’m soo glad I did. I can actually wear these every day (or just one piece at a time), unlike my regular clothes – which means I get to look at the fabric all the time! Seriously, they are so pretty I want to hang them on the wall when I’m not wearing them 😉

A big part of the reason why I decided to make pretty loungewear is because I am scheduled for a minor surgery on Monday. It’s not anything serious – hence the “minor” – but I am going to be in recovery for about a week. Including no work, no biking, no… sewing 😦 (we’ll see how long that lasts lolololol) (seriously, tho, I’m gonna plant my ass on the couch that whole time because I do NOT want to do this twice!). I bought myself the prettiest kelly green yarn and plan on knitting and watching lots of those ancient Egyptian documentaries that Landon hates! Oh god, this means I finally have a chance to watch the Great British Sewing Bee too!

With that being said, thanks to everyone who purchased something from my Etsy shop – combined with some aggressive saving, I think I have enough to pay everything off up front 🙂 SUCH a good feeling!

For those of you who were interested in taking local sewing classes taught by yours truly, obviously that’s on hold for a short time. I will be sending emails when I get my life figured out, ha. For those of you who are interested in taking a sewing class taught by me who are NOT local, I’m working on that too 😉

Wish me luck! I’ll be around next week, but apologies in advance if I start talking painkiller-induced nonsense 😉

Tags: completed, fabric hoarding, grainline studios, lakeside pajamas, pajamas, pjs

Comments 87 Comments
Categories completed projects - new

Completed: Maritime Shorts, Straight Outta the 80s

28 Jun

As I mentioned at the end of Me Made May, I really have been wanting to try my hand at a different shorts pattern. Not because there is anything wrong with my beloved Thurlow pattern – but I want to change it up! Try something new! So here’s my first stab at trying something new.

So, check these babies out~

This is the Maritime Shorts pattern from Grainline Studio. I only just recently discovered these and immediately decided that I wanted to try them. I like that they are similar to the Thurlows but a little more casual – patch pockets instead of welts, no cuffs, and the detailing is a little less fussy. While I was summoning up the courage to buy these (only because I didn’t want to have to assemble the PDF, ha!), Carla contacted me and asked if I would like the pattern as a gift. Yep, same Carla who also gifted me the pattern for those glorious culottes. So not only is she a sewing saint of gifted patterns, but she can also read my mind. AMAZING.

Also, just for the record – taping this pattern together was not difficult. I was surprised at how smoothly it went, actually!

Putting this pattern together was interesting. I’ve slapped the Thurlows together more times than I even want to count right now, so much that I really think I could assemble a pair in my sleep. Jen’s instructions for these is totally different though! Not in a bad way, however, I did have to pry myself away from what I thought was ~the right way~ and let myself at the mercy of the instructions. Turned out ok in the end, though, as you can see!

The only thing I didn’t like about the instructions was inserting the front fly. I don’t know, maybe I’m just stuck way too much up my own Thurlow ass, but I found them a bit confusing. Fortunately, Jen has a whole tutorial on assembling these shorts, from beginning to end, and that includes inserting the zipper! So that helped. I do think that in the future, however, I’ll probably go with the Thurlow instructions just because they make more sense to me.

I wasn’t sure what size to make, since I usually base mine off the finished measurements. In the end, I decided to go with my actual measurements and cut the size 2. The shorts were a little big at the sides, but I was able to pinch those in nbd. However, the back gaped a LOT at the waist. This was super easy to fix – I just pinched out the excess and stitched a new CB line before putting on my waistband. Easy!

But hey, it’s fixed! And I managed to avoid mount crackatoa in the process! TAKE THAT.

Oh, so, now let’s talk about the fabric I used!

It is awesome, yeah? I’ve actually been hoarding this for over a year… it was a gift from Sonja during the 2012 Summer Sewing Swap. I could never figure out what exactly to make with it, but I knew a good fabric when I saw it, so I hoarded and waited patiently. I’m happy to say, it totally paid off! This fabric looks perfect as shorts.

I’m tempted to use the rest (assuming I have enough – I haven’t measured my remaining yardage) to make a matching Victoria Blazer, like the most amazing summer power suit you ever did see.

The only change I made to the pattern was to swap out the hook & eye closure for a button. I did originally sew on the hook & eye, but it was pulling the waistband really weird, so I decided to do the button instead. I think the pulling is actually because all the stress is on that ONE closure, so next time I will extend the back of the waistband to be long enough where there can be a second button the inside, as with my Thurlows. Just a personal preference!

I’m also a little bummed about my topstitching choice. Wish I’d gone with a darker thread. Oh well!

The pockets are lined with a super soft purple voile I had in my stash. With such a loud outside fabric, I wanted to keep the inside plain!

And because you guys love inside shots as much as I do, here are some pretty serged seams for ya.

Finally, this is what happens when I get bored with taking pictures of myself:

If you’ve been hesitant to buy the Thurlow pattern because you’re not as curvy as the pattern is drafted for, this is a GREAT alternative. You could even follow the Thurlow Sew-Along for extra hand-holding, since the construction is mostly the same.

Psst! That’s one of my white tshirts I made with fabric from Organic Cotton Plus. I just wanted y’all to know that I am wearing a BLACK bra underneath it in these pictures. Pretty cool, huh?

Also, I have a few updates that need to be mentioned:
– I don’t know if I have any local readers on this blog (well – I know there’s at least one because I met you the other day! 🙂 Hi, Beth! haha!), but I am going to be teaching sewing classes with a local dressmaker 😀 We are still nailing down details, but it will be a small, open-workshop class where people bring in what they want to sew (so you don’t get stuck sewing something you have no interest in ever wearing) where we will be on hand to demonstrate techniques and answer any and all questions. Classes will be on Tuesdays, last 2 hours, and will start in August. If you are interested in attending the class, please email me at lladybirdlauren at gmail dot com. If the days don’t work for you, we may be able to offer a different class day. Right now I’m just trying to figure out if there is an interest 🙂 So, please, let me know! Teaching sewing has been a longtime goal of mine and I’d love to see it actually happen this year 🙂
– Theodore has now gone to his new home, and I MISS HIM, but I’m also very pleased that he is in such wonderful hands! Thanks everyone for your support and comments. He’s a little stinker (literally – he stepped in his shit every single morning, and got an emergency bath every single morning as well), but he’s a CUTE little stinker! He is now with my brother and sister-in-law, which means I should still see him from time to time 🙂
– My other little brother, Matt, won’t be going to England this summer! So sorry to everyone who offered to show him around 😦 He actually made it across the ocean, but when they asked him for his work visa and he didn’t have one (he told customs he was there for an internship, even though “internship” really meant he was fixing this place’s website in exchange for a free place to stay), they put him in a holding cell for 22 hours and then shipped him home. I’d say poor Matt, except he’s now planning a road trip around the US and some parts of Canada, so I’m actually quite jealous. Ha!
– I finally stepped up and got my own domain! You can now find my site at WWW.LLADYBIRD.COM. No need to update all your readers and whatnot – the wordpress.com site should redirect to the main domain. If it doesn’t, do let me know! GOD, THIS IS ALL SO EXCITING.
– As most of you should be aware by now, Google Reader is dying a tragic death come Monday, 7/1. If you haven’t already started moving your blogs to a different reader, better hurry up! You can follow me here on Bloglovin.

WHEW that was a big ol’ wall of text! If you managed to read through all that – yay! Your consolation prize is another kitten picture: