Whilst I was away, I received an email from Maren over at I am Ms. Frizzle telling me about an index of Australian sewing bloggers she has set up. What a great idea - I read blogs from all around the world because we all speak the common language of sewing but when you need inspiration for something to sew right now a local blog is most relevant in terms of the season. Go and check it out when you have time, and if you're not on the list email Maren to be part of it - the more inclusive the better I say!
So I'm not planning to do an end of the year roundup / Top 5 post because it's all been documented here already - I know I had some great hits, a few hilarious misses and no resolutions to break so this year I will keep on with the same. But I will blog one of the last things I made last year. My husband complained that I never sew anything for him and also complained that the elastic had gone in several of his sleep shorts which I had made for him quite a few years ago (see I do sew for him!). So to kill two birds with one stone I decided to make him a few more pairs.
I don't normally blog the boring basics I sew - there's nothing new to say about tracksuit pants or simple pull on shorts for the kids, even if I can get a cute photo of them wearing it. But I decided to blog this to officially record that I do actually sew for him and also to give a shout out to the pattern I used because not only is it free but it's also simple and great.
I used the Darcy boxer short pattern available free to download from the pattern designers site and from The Sewing School at Peppermint Magazine. This pattern is developed by the lovely Susan at Measure Twice Cut Once, who I have had the pleasure to meet quite a few times through the Sydney Spoolettes group. Now I know I have been a bit critical of indie pattern companies in the past, but Susan actually does have industry training and experience so I knew the pattern would work perfectly. And it did.
Since my husband looks more like Yao Ming the giant Chinese basketballer than the delightful Colin Firth as Mr Darcy, I'll spare you a photo of him modelling them. But I made a few small pairs of simple shorts for Toby from the same fabric so here's a cute clothesline photo of the matching daddy and son shorts:
There's not much to say about a simple boxer short pattern, but the fit is spot on and the instructions are very informative with helpful diagrams. I made a few small changes - I did a faux fly instead of an opening button front fly because I was a bit lazy and pushed for time, and I also didn't have any white elastic so instead of an exposed elastic band waist I made a casement for the crazy rainbow elastic I did use. The only small quibble I had with the pattern is that there are separate pattern pieces for the left and right fronts with the only difference being the fly extension on the left front. It just means printing out more paper and extra cutting out which you could probably do without.
If you're in need of new boxer shorts the Darcy pattern is good for ladies as well, and comes in a range of sizes. In fact Susan has a whole range of patterns for essential and pretty underclothes in her shop along with sew-a-longs and handy tips on her blog as well.
It turns out I had a lot to say about a pair of simple boxer shorts didn't it?
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