Pocket shorts & envelope tee.

I sewed the shorts, and the summer did come. Eventually. But remember those green stripey O + s shorts I made for Joe? I can't find them anywhere. They could be under a pile of crap in the car, or they could have gotten mixed in with Dad's laundry (a notorious black hole), or, unfortunately, this is the most likely possibility: they might have been in the diaper bag that Dad left at the A's Stadium by mistake.* Oops.

Well, hopefully they'll turn up (if not, I do have more of that green stripe). But in the meantime, Joe needed some more shorts. Joe and I are traveling to Denver next weekend, and Summer in Denver is a lot more summer-like than Summer in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Yeah, yeah, I know you can get toddler shorts at Target for like $4. Whatever. That's no fun.

I couldn't wait to make another pair of the "Basic Pocket Pants" from Growing Up Sew Liberated.  Why not try Pocket Shorts?

I rummaged in the stash and found two small pieces of linen (note to self: buy less floral quilting cotton and more solid colored linen). With some effort, I was able to eek a pair of shorts out of these scraps.

End result: My eyeballs are burning with cuteness.

I used a narrow binding on the legs rather than the wide pants cuff, and I love the way it turned out. I'm sad to see the last of that mustard linen go, though (note to self: buy more mustard colored linen). Mustard is a surprisingly appealing and practical color, it turns out.

And now, for a slightly less successful sewing project ...

I tried the "Envelope Tee" from Growing Up Sew Liberated as well, using soft recycled knits. This pattern only goes up to 18-24 months, so I lengthened it a bit (I could have lengthened it more). I also very inexpertly applied the ribbing to the top. The fabrics are super soft and comfy, but the knits don't "recover" very well. Joe also seems to enjoy yanking on the neckline of this one.

End result: A shirt straight out of Flashdance.

Those are his Sew Liberated PJ bottoms too.

I think with different fabrics and a few minor alterations, this could be an awesome t-shirt for Joe. This version, however, will be consigned to the PJ drawer. We might also break it out for 1980s dance sessions.

By the way, trying to get Joe to pose for a photo these days is dang-near impossible. There was a time when he would grin, ham it up, and pose like a narcissistic male model the second he saw the camera. Those days are over. Nowadays, half of my photos look like this:

Cute shorts, huh?

And the other half look like this:

I hate cameras. And I want milk.

* ETA: We found the green stripey shorts! In the drawer where they are supposed to be! After my groundless public accusation of Steve, it seems only right that I publicly apologize. Sorry, hon, they were totally hidden by the overalls!