Mr. Social's Plaid Shorts

It seems that summer has pretty well begun here in Toronto. This past weekend was the Victoria Day long weekend, and it was HOT! So, I'm very happy that I was able to finish Mr. Social's plaid shorts just in time for it.

We headed off to the Toronto Island to enjoy the beautiful sunshine with some friends. I was a little worried that these shorts would be too hot for the warm weather, as the fabric is some kind of polyester blend (or maybe 100% poly, I can't recall exactly), but Mr. Social said he was perfectly comfortable.

It's been a while since I've worked with a plaid fabric, so I was worried that the plaid wouldn't match up nicely, but I think I did a pretty good job of it. It even matched up nicely on his bum, which he has no problems showing off...

Because he didn't want any pockets on the back of the shorts, and knowing he never has enough pockets to stash his phone and wallet in, I added two jeans style (frontier) pockets, as well as a welt pocket where a cargo pocket would normally go. I cut the welt on the diagonal to add some interest to the pocket (and because it would have been a HUGE pain in the ass to match the plaid on that!!). I also added a velcro closure to the inside of the welt pocket to make sure things don't fall out when he sits down. I'm pretty impressed with how this pocket turned out, as I've never actually made one of these before.

I have no idea why, but once I saw these shorts on Mr. Social, they made me think of this song and music video

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Plaid Matching Pr0n

That's a good looking seam!

It's not 100% perfect, but it's pretty darn close! Go me!

Expanding Mr. Social's Fashion Horizons

One of the things I love about sewing for Mr. Social is that I get to have some say in how he dresses (it's like playing dress-up!). As a result, I get to push him out of his comfort zone a little bit. Now, I would never make him something I don't think he'd wear, despite constantly teasing him that I will make this shirt for him and he has to wear it because I made it:

I'd make it in gold as it'd be more flattering to his skin tone

So, when we were discussing his summer wardrobe and his need for new shorts, I asked him what his thoughts were on plaid. At first, he said no way. He figures plaid shorts are for old men or golf courses (or old men on golf courses). Of course, I think plaid shorts are an excellent idea, so I went ahead and picked up some fabric for him in the hopes he'd be agreeable...

Wouldn't you know it, he likes the fabric! So it looks like he'll be getting some plaid shorts in the near future. I just need to dust off my plaid matching skills and hope the shorts work out as planned.

Wish me luck!

Nerdy Nails!

This week I'm sporting the third of the Firefly trio I ordered from Nerd Lacquer. Sadly, it seems she is no longer in business as her shop has been removed from etsy. Boo. I really love her stuff! At least I have 2 more colours after this to comfort me.

The colour of the week is "I aim to misbehave" which, I think, is a perfect colour for Captain Tightpants, although I'm not sure he'd love the glitter.

WIP Wednesday: May 9, 2012

I'm still busily working away on my "Magneto Scarf". I've made some good progress on it and am loving the pooling!

It's not the best pic to show off the colours, but I guess that's what I get for taking progress pics at my desk at work.

Having helpers doesn't mean things go faster...

In fact, my helpers tend to slow everything down! But I can never stay mad at them for long.

Spicy likes to help hold my fabric in place...with his body

He can often be found laying across as much of the fabric as possible, or trying to burrow underneath it. he also swats at the scissors as they cut, which could be very dangerous for his wee paws!

Then, there's Penny. She thinks she can help by doing the actual sewing. She doesn't' realize she can't reach the pedal to "make it go" or reach up high enough to guide the fabric through the machines...

When you try to shoo her off the chair, she bites

 Last, but not least, is June. She always has to sit on  the pins.... 'Nuff said

This was the one and only time she was smart enough to sit behind the pins...

Needless to say, I had my hands full while trying to get my sew on this weekend. I managed to almost finish a top I've been itching to make for a while. I'm a little disappointed in how it's working out, but there will be more on that in an upcoming post. I also cut out 2 dresses, worked on the bodice for each, and whipped up a bag. I may or may not have squeezed some knitting into the mix as well.

The Zombie Horde is coming!

These will eventually be parts of 2 dresses

With all this mad sewing going on, you'd think I don't have a life (half the time, I don't think I do). But I still managed a date with Mr. Social (we saw Cabin in the Woods....totally awesome! Check out the trailer below then immediately go to your local theatre to see it!), and drinks with friends. We even did a bit of bar hopping! Oh, and I did some cooking and cleaning, but that's the boring stuff nobody really cares about.

Watch for some finished garments soon!

WIP Wednesday - May 2, 2012

This week has brought about some changes to my job, so I figured I should cover some familiar ground with my knitting. I'm knitting another Baana shawl (I've knit 3 of these bad boys already) using some Alina Shea Creations Sunrises yarn. The colourway was a custom dye for me, which is super cool.  It's called "Andi is Awesome" (which, I kind of am), but when I look at it I totally see Magneto!!! (who is also awesome).

Why do I get my own colourway you ask? Well, the fabulous Shayla, who is the mastermind behind Alina Shea Creations, is testing out a new dyeing technique, and she needed some samples whipped up to show off how they knit/crochet up. I volunteered to help out, and voila! My own custom colours :)

This yarn is meant to stripe, however with the linen stitch and construction of this shawl, I'm not sure if there will be stripes in it, or if it'll just be cool colour pooling. Here's what I have so far:

Stripes or no, I think this will end up a pretty cool scarf!