Menswear Outfit Four: December

I'm so glad I managed to get Darron's December outfit finished and photographed before the end of January.  Only just made it!  The outfit itself has been done for a week but between Darron's work roster, organising Coen for the new school year, and doing my own school enrolment this week, today was the first opportunity to get a couple of pictures! 

Once again I used Threa Theory's Strathcona pattern for the tee.  This one is a stretchy orange jersey with no buttons on the placket.

We may decide to put buttons on it down the track.  He's wearing it now to see if he's happy with how it sits open.

The shorts are modified Thread Theory Jeds.  Darron requested that this pair be a little less tapered in the leg, and plain hemmed instead of cuffed.  The pattern was easy to adjust for a little extra width in the legs.

It's starting to look like I've taken this project on to capture as many photographs of my husband's butt as possible!  Really though, the pattern fits him so well in the rear, and the back pockets are so neat it would be a shame to not show you!

Darron wanted printed shorts for this outfit.  Luckily Spotlight had no shortage of printed drills to choose from.  I was thrilled when he chose this postage stamp print!  It's so fun!

I must say, I'm getting my moneys worth from these Thread Theory patterns.  I still have the Newcastle cardigan for when the weather cools down and they have just released the fantastic Goldstream Peacoat that I'm itching to make for winter as well.  So far, these outfits have been getting plenty of wear too, which is very satisfying!

Outfit Eleven: December

Wow!  I can't believe I only have one outfit left to make and I will have finished 12 outfits in 12 months!

This outfit was a bit of a trouble maker!  I had decided on a particular skirt in a particular fabric right at the very beginning of this adventure, only to have it turn out unwearable because the stripes strobe and give me a blaring headache.  As luck would have it, the search for a replacement skirt that would also fit into my summer capsule wardrobe brought me to a pattern I had traced last year and forgotten about.  So here it is:

The skirt is stretch drill I bought several years ago.  I had about a million metres of it and recently used some for a little 'off plan' sewing so it was sitting out and I noticed that it was the right colour for my summer wardrobe.  It was that fabric decision that brought me to the pattern, Burda 05/2012 118.  

I didn't make the skirt quite as short as the pattern, and I left off the back welt pockets.

I love the a-line shape from the back and pleated fullness at the front.  Since making Darron's trousers  I've become far more comfortable sewing a zip fly.  It's lovely to be able to ignore the exceptionally vague Burda instructions and just do it.  The pattern has buttons on the inside of the wide waistband, but I prefer the buttons on the outside, so I used a pair of jeans buttons instead.

The plain white tee is the Elise Tee from Fine Motor Skills.  A great freebie pattern with relaxed versatile style.

With a wide scoop neckline and capped shoulders it sits just right for me, it shows enough skin without having to be hauled back onto my shoulders every five minutes.

I like how it works tucked or untucked.  The scooped he line is a great finishing touch and one of my favourite design features for tops at the moment.  I think I'll make a few more of these in different colours.  I'd love one in a stretchy sequinned fabric too, because sparkles!

So that's my December!  The skirt has become my Green December project too.  I had planned to make a green swimsuit but my injury set all my December projects back a couple of weeks so there will be a couple of swimmers coming up in January!

Outfit Ten: November

The first week of summer has been very Melbourne.  Hot sunny days, balmy nights, pouring rain and bitter cold!  Obviously I got out on a gorgeous sunny day earlier in the week!  

This is November, or the outfit formerly known as December.  This is one of a couple of outfits doing double duty as a member of the twelve as well as the summer capsule. 

I hadn't chosen a pattern for the top half of this outfit.  The decision was made easy when visiting my awesome friend Tara recently.  She sent me away with a big stack of old patterns, including this 1986 gem, Butterick 3903.  The elastic waisted bottoms and power shoulder jacket were not exactly appealing but a button front tank with a scoop neck and round hem?  Yes please!

I used the leftover navy jersey from Darron's first outfit.  I wanted something a bit fancier than plain navy buttons, and these have been sitting in my stash for several years.  I added a good eight centimetres in length.  The pattern wasn't actually a cropped tank, just a little short for a long torso.

This patterned stretch denim was yet another thrift score, patterned denim is fantastic, and this one is awesome!  The shorts are from BurdaStyle 6/2011 Pattern 111, I love their vintage style.

I had already used the pattern to make another pair of plain navy shorts and I didn't want to make them too similar so instead of an invisible zip I put in a metal one.  Metal zippers and denim belong together.

From the previous pair I also knew I wanted the back pockets lower for this pair.  I added the turned up cuff and bound the seam allowances so the cuffs are nice and neat.  Did I mention that these are stretchy?  Having already made a pair, I made adjustments to account for the stretch, I may have underestimated just how much these want to stretch.  I'll see how they wear and I may run them in a little more.

It's been a long time since I was comfortable wearing shorts this short.  I'm happier with my body now than I was, even when my legs were in considerably better teenaged shape.  So while I look at them critically, more than any other body part, I'm kinder to myself about showing so much of them.  These are running legs, kicking legs, they're my greatest physical strength and if it's hot, I'll be wearing shorts!

Once again looking to the left.  There's always something interesting to gaze at to the left I'm sure.

Menswear Outfit Three: November

It's the first of December!  The first day of summer, and a very important day at our house!  With Bing, Dean and Frank crooning Christmas songs in the background, our tree goes up and gets sparkly.    We thought we'd use the opportunity to grab some pics of Darron's third outfit.

This sailboat shirt is from the same Style pattern as last month's shirt, 3789.  This one just has a single pocket.  I love the little sailboat print so much.  So much that I very carefully cut this shirt so there would be enough left for another for me!

The sleeves are full length, so he has the option to dress it up or down.  Darron prefers a rolled up cuff to short sleeves as a general rule.  A shirt has to be a very particular style for him to like short sleeves.  I am trying to find the right style and fabric to meet with his approval for a short sleeved shirt.

Once again I used the Thread Theory Jedediah pants pattern.  This time it's shorts in a mango coloured canvas I picked up from Ikea a couple of years ago.  

The pockets are light grey poly-cotton and the seam allowances are bound with grey bias binding.  After three pairs of Jeds, I'm getting a bit more proficient at their construction.  It's still one of my very favourite patterns.

We went with the cuffed hems for a casual style.  I like the way it shows off the neatly bound seam allowances.  It's fantastic to be able to give Darron shorts that sit at the exact length he likes.  It can be a struggle to get the length right in RTW shorts when you're a tall dude.

The shirt is a lovely lightweight fabric, so to protect his modesty, as well as for casual open-shirt wearing I made a plain white tee.  This one is the plain tee option from the Tread Theory Strathcona pattern, in plain white cotton jersey.  Every man's wardrobe needs a plain white tee or two!

A man of many skills and talents, Darron is can juggle all kinds of things, including hand knitted Christmas characters!

I think this is my favourite of Darron's outfits so far.  It's bright and fun, and suits him perfectly.

Thanks for joining us while we put up our tree!  

Outfit Nine - October

My October!  A little later than anticipated, but as we regressed into wintery weather it took a while for my cardigan to dry.

One of the great things about this project has been that I've finally used some of my favourite fabrics.  The beautiful fabrics I have been hoarding and saving are now becoming garments that I love even more.  I bought this fabric a couple of years ago, it was love at first sight, there was only a couple of metres left on the bolt, I bought the lot.  It's a light gauzy voile, always destined to be a summery frock.

Because it is quite sheer, I chose a dress pattern with lining and lined it with ivory coloured lawn.  The pattern is from BurdaStyle 5/2013 125, it's one I'd been planning on making since it was released.  I lengthened the bodice midriff by 15mm, and made the skirt fuller by using up as much of my fabric as possible.

I love the combination of romantic feminine shape with the bright graphic print. 

October is a fickle month, weather wise, in this part of the world, so I knew I'd need a cardigan to go with my dress.

I had planned to make a Myrtle Cardigan, but the combination of all over lace cardigan and all over printed dress was far too busy.  And the yarn just did not want to be a Myrtle!  I went with my back up pattern, Soay and it is perfect.  Just right for warmer weather, it will be in high rotation.

This is a seriously great pattern.  Very cleverly constructed, no seams, and beautifully fitted, everything I was after.   It is perfect with all my dresses and looks great with jeans and a tank top as well.

This was my first foray into the wonderous world of Wollemeise.  I admit I had my doubts, the cottony stiffness had me worried, but washed and blocked it is a different creature altogether, soft and springy, and the colour is so intense!  

I plan for this outfit to get me through a few celebrations in the next month or so.  Birthdays and Christmas functions are coming up in abundance, and it's always nice to show off something special and handmade!

The dress has already had an outing.  The weather was so awful and cold on the day of my interview for school that I needed something that would work with my navy blazer.  So the outfit I had prepped to wear was out and this dress was in!

This tank is in a park fairly local to us.  The kids had a ball clambering all over it while I grabbed some quick shots.

Menswear Outfit Two: October

I can't believe that we're two months down already in the menswer department!  Darron's October outfit is done, and once again we're happy!  This month we brought along a photographic assistant, the resulting photos show Darron in playful dad mode.

Once again this outfit started out with some great Thread Theory basics.  A Strathcona Henley in beautiful light weight merino knit.  

We wanted to add a contrasting placket for this one and Darron picked out a dark stretch denim.   It goes so nicely with the colour and texture of the wool.  I had a go at using the denimfor the neckband as well but even though it had quite a bit of stretch, it didn't have quite enough give to go onto the the super stretchy wool body.  I was concerned that the neck would be to wide with the wool neckband but it seems to be just about right for wearing over a collared shirt, so it works.

This month's Jedediah pants are in a chocolate brown drill.  Lighter weight than September, and in the smaller size, they are a slimmer fit and great as the weather is warming up.

The pockets are plain in these Jeds, and I used leftover fabric from the shirt to bind all the seam allowances.  I love the finish inside these, the binding is so neat, and with the flate felled seams as well there are no exposed edges, fancy!

Darron wanted this shirt to be casual.  He was after something a step up from his standard tees that was still light, comfortable and wearable.  He chose the fabric too, the man has style and is showing a talent for colour and pattern choice!  

I picked up this pattern from the op shop when we first started throwing around the idea of making 12 outfits for Darron.  It is Style 3789.  It turned out to be exactly what I needed.  A basic, slim fitting attern with several collar and pocket options and two sleeve lengths.

The sleeves didn't even need lengthening to fit his looong arms which was great.  I made a muslin from an old floral bedsheet to check the fit, and was pleasantly surprised that it didn't need any work.  Obviously they were designing shirts for his body shape in the mid 1980s!  

I really enjoyed sewing this outfit, I had thought that a mens shirt would be trickier than it was.  It helped that the pattern was excellent.  Easing the sleeve caps was my biggest concern and they came out neat, and pucker free which was a bid confidence boost as it's something I've struggled with in the past.  I'm looking forward to starting his next shirt, and shorts!  

My October outfit will be coming up in the not too distant future, I'm knitting sleeves at the moment so we're nearly there!

Eleven More Menswear Months

The next eleven months of Darron's twelve outfits are starting to take shape.  We rummaged through my fabric and picked out a few bits and pieces that he likes.  Adding that to the bit of shopping we've recently done and here's where we're going:

October:  Another pair of Jeds, this time in light weight, chocolate brown drill.  A white, green and blue checked shirt.  The pattern for this is a Style pattern from 1984.  It's a great simple slim fitting shirt with different sleeve lengths, collar and pocket options.  I made a muslin to check the fit and all important sleeve length, both of which were spot on.  Joss then claimed the muslin and wore it shopping.  Finally a Strathcona Henley jumper in a gorgeous olive NZ merino knit.

November:  A pair of chino shorts with a contrast check pattern turned up cuffs and pocket binding.  This will be the first modified Jeds of the project.  A raglan long sleeve tee, possibly with a henley placket in this blue slub jersey.

December:  A pair of mango coloured canvas shorts, Jedediah of course.  A plain white crew neck tee from the Strathcona pattern and a sailboat print shirt from the same shirt pattern as I used for October.  The short will have long sleeves to fold up to elbow length.  (I am making myself a shirt in this sailboat fabric too, matching his and hers.  We're one step away from matching tracksuits!)

January:  Another pair of shorts, maybe cargo shorts or denim and an interesting tee.  We've been looking at colour blocking and interesting patterned knits for this one, but haven't come to a final decision yet.

February:  A short sleeved Starthcona henley with contrast placket and pocket, possibly in this rusty coloured jersey.  With a pair of wider legged Jedediah pants in a summer weight fabric, I'm looking for a nice linen blend for these.

March:  I'm going to have a go at mens jeans in March.  They will be joined by a mustard V neck jumper and a button down shirt.

April:  Heres where we really get challenging!  A three piece navy wool suit, with a dress shirt and tie.  This will be a big month, there is a lot of work in tailoring a mens suit.  I am searching for a pattern for this, it's difficult as there is really not a great variety of menswear patterns about at the moment.  Maybe Vogue patterns will release something, but I'm not holding my breath. 

May:  May's outfit will be based around a Newcastle Cardigan.  We haven't planned the details of the last few months outfits, just key pieces at this stage.

June:  Pump Jockey.  This is the only knit for the project so far.  There is a possibility for some accessories along the way, but we need to see how they fit in.

July:  Winter pyjamas and a warm hooded robe.  I have a pattern for the robe already, and mens PJs are the one thing there are plenty of patterns for!

August:  The final month!  For August we're looking at a button down shirt with contrast under the collar and inside the cuffs and button bands.  A waistcoat and maybe another cardigan.  Pants of course, we just haven't decided what type.  If March's jeans are a success, there could be another pair of jeans here.

So that's our outline!  I have accumulated a bunch of patterns in my travels, there are some decent simple patterns from the 80's, some poorly styled but versatile patterns from the 70s and even some interesting pocket details on a pants pattern from the 60s.  

With the Thread Theory patterns as well (they're releasing a beautiful coat pattern soon too!) I've actually got a good variety of garments covered.  Menswear seems to be variations of the pants/shirt/outer layer combination, so mixing up detailing, layering, fabrics and styling seem to be where the variety lies.

Has anyone else found some great menswear patterns?