Happy Birthday...s

Hubby & I have our birthdays in December - mine has already happened and hubby's is tomorrow.

We went out last night with our boys for a lovely dinner at Encores restaurant and then a show at the Empire Theatre which is a beautiful renovated theatre in Toowoomba. The show we saw was the Spicks & Speck-tacular (based on an Australian ABC TV show - a hilarious quiz show about music). We had a great time - all four of us - so it was a perfect way to celebrate.

I have just finished making hubby's Birthday pressie. I decided he could have a bit of luxury in the form of a pair of silk boxers. I used McCall's 3019. The pants pattern had to be shortened considerably (about 3 inches) and I also ended up shortening it between the waist & crotch so that it wouldn't sit so high on the waist. The pattern is dead simple. Possibly the only negative is that it doesn't have a fly or imitation fly front, but I know that doesn't bother hubby as they are used for sleeping in. I just think they would look more 'boxer'-like. First up I made a pair in a quilting cotton to check for size. I had to get him to try them on and that's when I decided to shorten them.

Now I have finished the silk version. The silk was beautiful to work with. I got it from our local fabric heaven, Gardams here in Toowoomba.

I put a tag in each of the pants to show the back easily when putting them on. In the cotton pair I simply sewed a piece of ribbon folded over into the seam at the back waist. I forgot to do that for the silk ones so I found a label from the days the boys needed their clothes labelled and just used the surname as a label in the pants. It looks pretty good I think! I am going to investigate having some labels made to put in my clothes as I am seeing the point of it more and more all the time.

Working with silk is getting better. My french seams came out pretty good and I also used a 'simulated french seam' on the crotch seam as I wanted all the seams enclosed. I have found that a walking foot is great to use with these kinds of slippery fabrics. The only negative was that when I inserted the elastic I must have put too much pressure on the back seam near the waistband as it looks a bit pulled around the stitches. I must remember to take more care with things like this next time I work with a delicate fabric like this.

Overall I am very happy with how these boxers have come out and I hope he likes the silk ones when he receives them tomorrow! Anyway now maybe I can start thinking about Christmas more....