Summer uniform (for a Grainline fangirl)

So far I have spent 2015 eating, watching the cricket (come on Black Caps!) and sewing up a storm. It’s been very pleasant! Wellington has been hot and humid for the past week, so I decided it was definitely time to make myself some shorts. During the post-thanksgiving sale period I bought myself a copy of The Maritime Shorts pattern from Grainline Studio (along with the Linden Sweatshirt pattern, expect to see that sometime soon!). I’m still a bit scared of making trousers, as I don’t know where to start with fitting issues, but I’ve always had such good results with Grainline patterns, and the Moss skirt fits me really well, so I thought I’d give them a crack.

I’m definitely glad I did! The fit is spot on, and they came together beautifully. All the fabric came from my stash (thank god, its overwhelming my sewing corner a bit at the moment!), I originally bought this khaki cotton drill to make a bag out of. Its nice to wear, but it creases like nothing on earth! I ironed them, sat down for about 10 minutes and then took these pictures, and look at the state of them!

Obligatory bottom pictures, sorry about the blinding glare from my pale self…

Looking at that last picture, it does look like theres a bit of pulling towards the inseam. I wonder if thats always there, or if its just the way I’m standing?

I made these exactly as instructed, except for adding 2″ of length to the hem. I originally planned for them to be cuffed, but I actually really like the length with them uncuffed. If (when) I make them again, I might add another 2″ so that I can cuff them! I used some floral cotton from my stash for the pockets, they make me smile when I put them on. I bound the outer leg seams in the same fabric because I thought it would be cute to have that little glimpse of the binding at the cuffs, but now it’ll probably never be seen! It was still good practice though, I’ve never done bound seams before. I have discovered how much I hate making bias tape…so tedious!

I also whipped myself up another Scout tee, just after the epic frustration of my silk velvet adventures. I really do love this pattern, can it be counted as a tried and true pattern after three iterations? I was stoked to find this DKNY lace in the remnant bin at The Fabric Store, after waffling about how expensive it was to buy off the bolt. I had just enough for the tee, though sadly I was about 3″ short of being able to cut the sleeve hems along the scalloped selvage and escape hemming altogether!

Its all french seamed, as I was a bit worried about sewing over the ‘holes’ in the lace, and the sleeve hems are just turned up 1/4″ and stitched. For the neckline, I didn’t want anything harsh like a strip of white bias tape, so instead I put a line of stitching at 1/4″, which eased it in slightly, and then ironed it over and stitched it down. Its really nice and close fitting, no gaping at all, which I’m sure is down to the initial line of stitching. I’m counting on the lace not fraying, or I’ll be in trouble! If I had some sheer mesh or something similar I would have used that to cleanly bind the neckline, but oh well! I love the scalloped hem, its so pretty.

I’ve been wearing these two items so much! The shorts have been worn every day since I finished them (except for today, since its a bit cooler), and I’ve worn the tee several times (again, not today because its in the wash). They’re both such simple, basic pieces, but they suit my lazy holiday lifestyle perfectly.

Hope you’re all enjoying your holiday, if you’re still off work, or that your first week back hasn’t been too much of a shock to the system if you’re already back!