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Last makes of 2013 and final tally!

So this will be the last post of 2013. I am not going to enter into the hit/misses of the year as I was so distracted by uni and court cases nothing seemed to be the right size. I am promising myself a course in fitting and I hope it comes off early in 2014, but first I need to win lotto or get a job to pay for it!

I seem to have made 324,068,762 pairs of shorts for my son this year - mostly for school, and some only 2 weeks before the school year ended as they simply did not fit even in a 'made do' kind of way (bottle green, YUK). Last week I bought him a pair of board shorts from Kmart as even in home wear, nothing (really nothing - I made him wear the tight shorts to the shops) fit him. I had just bought him some black/grey camo print drill from East Coast Fabrics a few weeks ago ($6 per metre-I got 1.5m and made 2 pairs of shorts and have enough for half a pair) and a Burda board shorts pattern. I made him a pair in some nylon striped fabric (sorry no pic here) and they fit perfectly so I made the camo ones on Monday. I omitted the board short details (velco fly, tabs and fly insert thing), I also channelled my inner Urban Don and made the pockets in the shapes from the scraps. I topstitched in triple stitch mostly and some in normal and I used orange and Alex chose lime green for the other pair.


Front - used the selvage on the pocket edge

This pocket is great for his nerf gun bullets

Close up of pocket - the Star Wars dude is from some patched my friend brought for him in Germany last year.


They fit him perfectly! I love the Burda pattern. It has a curved and shaped back piece that fits the little booty properly. In the first photo you can just see that the back sits higher than the front. In real life they sit about 1.5cm higher but this shaping and the great crotch curve fit make these such nice shorts. All the shorts in the shops have a crotch curve that sits at the knees nearly and I despair when I see them and then can't bear to pay even $4 for some. These shorts took longer than the normal time due to triple stitch topstitching and pocket and tab details but they are really nice looking and importantly Alex loves them. So do I.

I'd like to say that's it for now but I have to add that today I went back to East Coast Fabrics and bought $84 worth of fabric (I DON'T NEED FABRIC!!) but in my own defence it is rayon (my favourite fabric) of nice colours and prints and I plan to make some summer dresses now with them. That $84 bought me 3 metres of a hot pink stretch cotton (I think) suiting fabric which is gorgeous and 4 x 2mt of print rayon plus 1 x 2.5mt of print too. I'll keep that for the new year. 

Last year at this time I was just finishing off my red sparkly dress for a new year function my sister (in black) and my girlfriend (in the middle)were going to. I'd like to update and say that we met these fellows on the night and my girlfriend and beautiful (inside and out) man in blue have been dating. 



I'm not adding to the hits and misses for 2013 but in total I made 17 items - not including shorts of either style, for my son. I made 2 skirts, 6 tops and 5 dresses and two pairs of pj's. I still have some UFO's. I also finished my degree (with distinction,no less), finished painting the inside of my house, finished my court case, covered my office chair, made 2 hats (Adventure time and Urban Don flat cap). All in all, a productive year for me!

Here's to a great 2014 for us all.

Comments

BeaJay said…
Great shorts and the fit is good as you say. Love Yoda. Very cool.

Gorgeous pic of you, sis, friend and boys and a lovely story to finish off the year.

Happy new year.
Summer Flies said…
Thanks BeaJay! Oh.. Yoda.. I haven't ever seen Star Wars despite my son loving it. Happy New Year to you too!
Judith said…
No I didn't do a hits or misses either ~ but Alex's shorts should def's be on your hits list! My goodness, doesn't that boy of yours grow! Enjoy the evening tonight, and will catch up with you in the New Year .... tomorrow ... J
Summer Flies said…
Thanks Judith. It will be nice to catch up sometime before school starts again!
Gabrielle said…
Very cool shorts - and they do look like a great fit :). Have a wonderful 2014!
Rosi said…
Great shorts! I must say I much prefer to make my boys shorts than buy RTW. Especially with an elastic waist and no fussy fly or pockets or belt tabs. Oh, and my boys had better like Star Wars in years to come. Good luck with your fitting course. Might see you some time this year!

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