It's alive!

I have returned after my long and suspiscous absence, hurrah! As anyone could have guessed, my fresh faced enthusiasm for a complicated hobby I hadn't started yet soon waned. It wasn't any ordinary loss of morale, however, because I had chosen shorts as my first ever sewing project (I don't think starting a pillow class in home ec class counts). After two torturous days of sewing I had completed them, only to discover they were two sizes too small and had to go out and buy the fatty version of the pattern. Several more days of sewing later, I realised they were a poor fit for my body, not being aware that it is usually a very good idea to make a mock up first to evaluate the fit and adjust it. I'd already put the waistband on by then, so I did what any normal human would do and threw them in to a dark corner in despair.

I ended up getting Wendy Mullins book "Sew U" for Christmas (the same author as the shorts pattern) and I read it about 6 times back to back. Sadly, the patterns included are too small for me (except the shirt) but it's still a brilliant book. I even took her best tip and got some pretty ribbon and kept thread snipping scissors on it around my neck; greatest idea ever and I don't know how I managed without it. When I got back from my Christmas holidays I felt completely refreshed and finally finished the shorts. If I wear it with a belt no one can tell it's got a bit of a daggy gap at the back.

So here they are! Finally! I made them out of the croffy drill Spotlight has and cut them on the crosswise instead of the lengthwise grain because I didn't read any instructions. I only just learnt how to reverse the stitch direction today, so hopefully my nanna won't examine the seams too closely. In the picture below I'm wearing them with a pair of leggings I made today, from some blue lycra I got at Good Sammys, $1.50 for 3 metres. It's even bluer than the pictures show and I can't think what I'll wear them with but I love them so much! So blue!

I think they illustrate my first blog lesson: don't take pictures that you are going to put on the internet in front of the messiest part of your house. For the curious, the shorts are Simplicity 3850 and the leggings are McCalls 5394 (they're actually fashion leggings, unlike the grandma sports leggings the other pattern companies had).

Now please enjoy some pictures of my favourite aquistions of the last few months.

Some shoes with owls on them and a wookie t-shirt!

This post brought to you by Original Star Trek menu music.