FO: Movies in the Park shorts by Dixie DIY

So far, I've posted and made a lot of dresses. 

The problem with that is I normally wear dresses about once a month (outside Rainbow or dance).

So my other mission is to make things that go with what I do wear everyday: jeans and band shirts.

Enter this camo fabric from JoAnn's and the Movies in the Park shorts pattern.

This was a pattern that I found in the morning, ran to the fabric store in the afternoon, and was wearing the next day.

I'd never worked with bias tape before, and I hadn't done a buttonhole on a machine since Fashion Studio in high school. So this was a skill-builder for me. I learned that bias tape is fantastic and I love it! (This was what inspired me to put bias tape on the Tattoo dress!)  

There were a couple of weird things about the pattern: no notches to line up the waistband despite them being mentioned in the directions and no bottom line. I'm not sure whether or not that was so you could lengthen the shorts, but it was weird to have to break out my ruler and draw it on. I also have an ample bottom, and could definitely use more room for it in these shorts. I didn't know much about crotch seams when I made them. (I'm doing research, and my next pair of shorts will probably be Thurlow.) 

Despite being a little fiddly to get on and off (because you gotta unbutton), I love these shorts and wear them at least once a week. Usually with a band shirt.  

 

 

 

 

*nothing to disclose

Me Made May week 5 - completion!

And it couldn't come soon enough.

I love my handmade wardrobe, but BOY! I am tired of it. To the point that I missed some pictures this week.

Day 26 - No photo. Worked around the house and wore my first Datura.

Day 27 - (unblogged) Cambie #2 again. I was more excited about it than I seem here. It is so comfortable!

Day 28 - again no photo but Ladybug Datura was worn. 

Day 29 - no photo - Movies in the Park shorts, worn to pick up some really cute fabric. More camo, inteded for the Grainline Studio Maritime shorts. Skeletons for a cute summer dress (they from the JoAnn's Halloween section. But seriously, how cute are they? They remind me of the dancing skeletons from the Merrie Melodies cartoon that was always shown on the Disney Halloween special.) The leopard print is for Simplicity 1884. Which I have mostly done, and I think is going to be a wadder. 

Day 30 - Movies in the Park shorts. 

Day 31 - Cambie #2 again! I really need to make another Rainbow-type dress because having two is not cutting it. I had plans to use the white fabric above to make a second dress for both Rainbow and Daughters of Scotia, that would be reversible. Well, I washed it and it did a weird bubbly thing. Since I'm not an iron-er, it has been relegated to the lining. Now I've got to get some fashion fabric for it. I'm thinking eyelet. How sweet would that be? I'm looking for eyelet that is plainer on one edge and most of the embroidery is on the other (if that makes sense). Anyway, here is Day 31's photo-, featuring a stuffed dove. 

I really enjoyed Me Made May, and will have a better time next year when I have a bigger me-made wardrobe! It's really shown me that I knit a lot and don't really produce wearable things, socks aside. (I do also have a huge carpet beetle problem and have had to get rid of a lot of things that have been eaten. They're impossible here. I have to keep EVERYTHING with wool in its own sealed plastic bag. They got inside a Rubbermaid plastic tote/box and ate a ton of my stash and FOs. They really love wool that isn't superwash. Patons Classic must be carpet beetle caviar. It's good that I live in CA and can wear lots of cotton knits, because that's what I'm going to have to do in the future.) 

The best part about Me Made May is that it showed me what I wear a lot and what I don't, and that really helps to consider going forward. For example, less novelty, more everyday. (I could wear a Datura every day but the shamrock Cambie and Addams Family-inspired dress? Yeah no.) There's no point in putting the hours into a project that's going to languish in the closet! 

Me Made May - week 3 update

Since this post is being written during week 4, let me say: it's getting hard! My "me made" wardrobe is fairly slim and I'm starting to run out of steam. Looking back, week 3 went pretty well.

Day 11 - Mother's Day and the Sacramento Antique Fair (with my mom, of course) wore my just-finished-the-night-before-and-not-even-washed-so-don't-look-too-close-there-may-be-chalk-marks second Datura blouse.

Day 12 - second Datura again! I only left the house briefly (Monday/Tuesday are my "days off") and I wore crappy yard work clothes most of the day. I slapped this puppy on to go to dinner with friends. 

Day 13 - Rainbow meeting night means clothing I wouldn't wear elsewhere. The dress is my first dress ever (how did I not realize that when I made it? I also never named it) and I knit the sweater a few years ago. I love yellow. Could you tell? 

Day 14 - Movies in the Park shorts and a tank top. It was 100° that day, and I work in a kitchen with no AC. 'nuff said. (also, clearly this was before work!) 

Day 15 - This is why I don't wear nice things- because they're covered up with a dingy apron and smeared in grease! Dresses are nice and cool during hot summers (almost literally) slaving over a hot stove. 

Day 16 - On Wednesdays We Wear Black Dress. Worn on a Friday. Still unblogged. 

Day 17 - I wore BOTH Datura tops. I wore the white one to work with shorts and then the red one to a show. I did not take a picture of either outfit because I had a very busy day that included going to a succulent and cactus show, but I did take a picture of the two tops together. Which one is your favorite? 

Me Made May - week 2 round-up

Week 2 meant I had officially run out of (sewn) things to wear only once. There are going to be repeats.

Day 4- Cambie. I didn't leave the house this day, so wearing this crazy-ass dress wasn't too much. I think there is a very finite set of situations that this dress is appropriate for.

Day 5- Stripe Study shawl with everything else RTW. This baby is handspun and handknit. I love it.

Day 6 - (unblogged) On Wednesdays We Wear Black dress. 

Day 7 - Pressure Point (band) hoodie and camo Movies in the Park shorts. 

Day 8- here's where it gets ugly. I just didn't have it in me to find something in the back of my closet to wear. I cheated, by wearing a necklace that I made. (hella cute RTW top from Target.)

Day 9 - Datura, which I ought to name the Friday Datura because I seem to wear it on Fridays. 

Day 10 - Tattooed Grandpa dress with a belt. Will never wear it again without one! 

It was a pretty good week! I have some serious blogging to catch up on with details of some of these projects but most of them are chronicled on Instagram. And like I said last week, I'm trying to get and keep my Kollabora projects up to date, whether blogged or not. It's not totally there yet, but close!

Me Made Made - week 1

 

Day 1: Dixie DIY Movies in the Park Shorts in camo (unblogged) with a Out Crowd (hardcore band) shirt
Day 2: Datura blouse (unblogged) with RTW shorts
Day 3: Simplicity 2444 dress (unblogged) with RTW hoodie from Target AND Tudor setting necklace from the etsy shop.

     

I guess I have a few finished objects to catch up on, huh? I'm trying to also get everything on Kollabora, whether it's blogged or not. It's like the Ravelry for sewing that I've been asking for for YEARS! I'm excited about it.