Major fail on the to-do list...

I started the year by making a list of all the projects I needed to finish. There were 10 things on that list, quite a few, so I did a deal with myself to get them completed before I started on new projects.  A few weeks later I'd whittled it down to 7 and I felt pretty pleased with my progress.

Then those godamn shiny monkeys came along. Have you met shiny monkeys? Those lovely little ideas that twinkle inside the brain, attractive and tempting. Too many shiny monkeys to resist. 

I started a new project.

I made a pair of shorts with a yoga band, cutting the pattern myself and using vintage fabrics from an old table cloth, cushion covers and a piece I found in a scrap bin. A prototype of more to come.

Briefly I thought about going back to that list of uncompleted things but those shiny monkeys got in the way again once a package arrived in the mail. Gorgeous lobster cotton slub, all the way from Maine from Brickhouse Fabrics. I'd promised my husband a new pair of Lobster shorts (his idea) and it was a 3 day weekend, with weather not good enough for going to the beach.  How could I resist?

I just adore this fabric.

After searching for Men's shorts pattern, and finding them frustratingly spartan, I eventually lucked in on an online pattern site Thread Theory with the most grooviest pattern downloadable as PDF. The site also provides step by step sew-along tutorials. Good. Because this is an ambitious tailored project for me including flat fell seams.

This is the first time I have used a PDF pattern, and found it surprisingly easy to layout before cutting. The best thing about this was not having to wait for it to arrive in the mail meaning I could get started immediately.

This is the finished pattern layout before cutting. 

I'm making these slowly, step by pedantic step, in my attempt at perfection. My anal retentiveness means it will take me a while, but with a newly organised purpose sewing room (lucky me) I have the space to return to work at any time.  Of course my other projects have been put aside once again.