Friday 22 July 2016

THOSE Baseball shorts

You may remember that when I made my first set of baseball shorts using the Carolyn Pajayjay pattern, I asked Trevor if he wanted a pair, but like, using a men's pattern (No. The answer was no.).

Well, that didn't pan out but a friend Dwayne wanted some!

I used the Jutland pants pattern to make these awesome baseball shorts for Dwayne. I used variation two because I really didn't feel like learning how to make welt pockets just yet. Plus, if I made welt pockets, I couldn't have made these:
OOOOOOOOOOHHHHYEEEAAAAAASSSS. I bought some really nice white quilting fabric and hand embroidered the baseball stitches on to the pockets.
I'm actually a little jealous I didn't think of doing that for mine. The pattern was at times a struggle, but I've never made something like this before. Most confusing was actually the markings for the pockets, so one came out just a wee bit funky, but it isn't really noticeable.
I used the leftover fabric from my own baseball shorts, and interfaced everything because I didn't think that the fabric would be strong enough to withhold the wear and tear otherwise. I was also worried because it is pretty thin, I didn't want them to be see through. The outside looks a bit crinkly as a result, but overall I think strength is more important. (You can see what I mean below.)
I consulted with Dwayne and we purchased some amazing buttons that went with the theme.
I found the zipper fly instructions to be a bit confusing and I didn't find the picture helped as much with zipper placement, so I had to unpick the bottom where I caught the zipper guard (or maybe I was supposed to? I don't know.)
It still turned out pretty good, but I ended up stretching the fabric out just a bit during this fiasco. Also, I had to stitch over some lines on the fly, so it's not as pretty as I would have hoped, but again, I'll take strength over looks, because these will actually be worn during baseball. See the inside of this trainwreck:
I mean, it is functional, so that is all that really matters.
Ooooh, check out how well the inseam lined up:
I went ahead and did all the top stitching and made the little bar tacks too.

Now, for the best part.......I bought labels!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Ignore the quick and terrible stitch job on them.)
I went through the Dutch Label Shop and am SO pleased with how they turned out.


{My jam}

Sunday 10 July 2016

One year.

It has been a year tomorrow since our niece came into this world, and although it took me until last September to have her literal "birth day" quilt done (two months late), I managed to get her first birthday present done in much less time (and on time for her party!).
You may recognize the fabric and pattern from the dress I made for my cousin's little girl back in January. The fabric I bought at my favourite local quilt fabric store, Modern Bee, and the pattern is the Georgia Twirl Dress.
Not a ton of changes for this, but I did make the same size as last time, 3T, so that Henley can grow into it. I overheard mom complaining about snaps on baby clothes, so I swapped out the snaps on this one for a nice big orangey-red button that I got from a bunch of vintage notions my sister gave me.
Instead of making the two layers of skirt different lengths, I went ahead and make both layers the same so the dress could be reversible. We really wanted one side to be cutesy.....
....and the other side to be badass.
I used the same Force Awakens First Order fabric as the inside of one of my Portsides.
I finished the dress by basting the skirts together and binding the two layers with some vintage bias binding (also from Jamie). I thought it would be a nice way to ensure that the skirt doesn't fly open, but it would also allow the dress to be put on very quickly and easily with a squirming toddler.
Trev and I are really happy with how it turned out and my sister and brother in law seemed to like it, so another baby dress FTW!

What have you been sewing?
{On Repeat.}