Project of the Moment - New Look 6951

About 6 years ago I bought a similar Simplicity pattern to make drawstring shorts for my husband (who was my boyfriend at the time). I never did sew those shorts for him and when we moved into our house I donated the unused sewing pattern. Agh, what was I thinking?!? I don't know why I didn't keep that pattern, I guess I figured he'd never wear a pair of shorts made by me. Pretty silly for me to think that, because he likes my work and he lives in shorts year-round.

I'm not sure what prompted me to ask him if he wanted me to make him shorts, but when I asked he said yes. After mending the wear and tear on his current shorts I decided to look for a drawstring pattern. You see, he has this habit of hanging his heavy key ring off his waistband and it pulls his shorts down and puts a lot of strain on the button and buttonhole area...so I thought a drawstring with a little elastic would be best for him.

Source: simplicity.com via Ashley on Pinterest

So after looking through all of the men's shorts patterns, I thought this had the relaxed fit he would like. Once I cut out the pattern pieces I compared them to his favorite pair of shorts and added 3" inches to the bottom of the shorts so they would fall below his knees (like basketball shorts).

When I saw the fabric I thought he'd probably like it so I bought it...little did I know it would be a nightmare to cut and sew.   That fabric unraveled and frayed all over the place!  Not to worry, I used my serger on every piece!

The pattern was simple but I didn't like the cargo pocket instructions. Maybe it's just me and I did something wrong but the flap and pocket don't look like the picture on the pattern envelope. My husband doesn't care but it bothers me because I don't know what happened there...I mean I cut it out as directed...so what gives???

I expect this pattern will be a staple in our house because my husband grabbed his finished shorts and wore them as soon as he saw them.  His only complaint is that the waist band isn't as tall as he'd like it to be, so I intend on enlarging the band the next time I make these shorts.

Funny story...while I was cutting out the shorts my husband said he liked the material (whoops!  I didn't even think to ask him what fabric he wanted for his shorts...good thing he liked it...), and that it reminded him of the new Mac OSX background....uh yeah, me too...ha ha ha...(what on Earth is he talking about???).

p.s. - Please excuse the wrinkles...

Front View

View of Side Pocket

Back View

View of Cargo Pocket

After I made these shorts I really started to think about how life must have been before ready to wear clothes.  It blows my mind to think of how much work was involved in making clothes back then and how easy we have it now!  I sure am thankful for modern technology!

Double Sided (Reversible) Pocket Square Tutorial

Thanks to my sewing hobby I've become popular...naturally this new found popularity comes with requests to make things.  One such request was from a high school friend that wanted pocket squares to wear to church.  He sent me this tutorial and asked me if I could make something like it.  Although this isn't rocket science, it looked extremely time consuming...and this project probably would have drove me nuts trying to get all the stitches perfect (I can be a bit of a perfectionist).  Thus I decided to try to convince my friend to try it himself since it only required a needle and thread...his response was that he didn't have time to do it himself.  In my head I laughed and said to myself, "Neither do I,"  however what I actually said was that I could give it a try on my sewing machine.

I had never sewn a pocket square before, so I had to do a little research before attempting this project.  Most of the pocket squares I found were hand sewn and made out of silk, but I did find a few that were non-silk and machine sewn (like these J. Crew, Express, and Hill-Side Pocket Squares), which convinced me it is okay to sew using cotton fabric and a machine.

Our friend gave me 3 different fabrics and thought about how I could make a cool pocket square out of the material.  Two of the fabric coordinated, so I thought it would be cool to make a double sided pocket square and add a little flair so the plain color side wasn't so plain.

Here's how I made the double sided pocket square:  

Supplies:

1. 2 Different fabrics of your choice (I'm using cotton fabric)
2. Thread
3. Cutting mat with ruler
4. Rotary cutter (or scissor)
5. Iron
6. Sewing Machine

Instructions:

1. Line up your fabric (on your cutting mat) so you will be cutting on the grain.  Cut out a 13' x 13' square from each of your fabrics, so you will have two squares.

2.  Pin your fabrics right sides together

3. Once you have your fabrics pinned you can sew around the square with a 1/2" seam allowance, leaving a 1"-1 1/2" opening on one of the sides (so you can turn it right side out).  Be sure to use the back stitch function around the opening area.

Use the back stitch function

4.  Clip your corners so they will turn nicely.

4.  Turn the pocket square right side out and use something to help you get those corners nice and sharp (I usually use a chopstick).

5.  Iron the square once it is right side out and pay special attention to the opening area.

6.  After you have the pocket square nice and ironed, go to your machine and top stitch around the edge of the pocket square.  For the one I made, I used a decorative stitch with metallic gold thread to make it interesting and give it a nice pop!

There you go, you're done!!!

(p.s. - this would make a perfect last minute gift for the holidays...wink, wink)