Birthday Presents: The Mushroom Lady and Guitar Hero

Pattern: hers-Goldfinch & Eagle's Port Elizabeth Top; his-self-drafted
Fabric: hers-quilting cotton; his-rayon jersey + quilting cotton pocket
Cost: hers-$12; his-$10

Lately I have been in the mood to sew for other people. And this rarely happens (see my rant on sewing for others if you want to know why). Luckily for my brother and his girlfriend, this giving mood struck me right in time for their 21st birthdays. While you might think I'd buy them some... let's just say, '21-and-over appropriate' drinks, I think a 21st birthday means I no longer have to be your alcohol-buyer mister! So, the two of them will be getting some themed shirts instead.

The idea originally struck me to make my brother's girlfriend a shirt, because she is just so cute and quirky. After taking a California Mushrooms course at Cal, I have deemed her the mushroom lady, and she gets a shirt to match.


I was lucky to find such a cute mushroom print, and couldn't resist the stripes! And while I've had the pattern in my stash for years, this was the perfect opportunity for the Port Elizabeth top. The whole thing came together in only a few hours, with minimal seam unpicking mistakes on my end.


This, of course, left me with a dilemma. I couldn't make her a top without making my brother one, too (their birthdays are only a week apart). While guys can be just as fun to sew for (and I have a few more projects up my sleeve!), generally men's patterns are all about the tailoring. I love you, kid, but I wasn't about to make a collared shirt when my own latest blouse sits half done on the dress form. So I scourged the local fabric stores and the internets for a fun boys' knit fabric to fit the bill. I settled on a guitar print in shades of grey from Etsy. It was disappointing, to say the least. Even more disappointing was when it arrived in the mail and I realized it was a woven cotten! D'oh! After some head banging I picked up some rayon jersey, folded the cotton into a pocket and was done with it. Sorry boys, there's just not as much on the sewing market for you!


Here's a close-up of the pocket. I guess the print is kind of fun, in a grey sort of way.


I have to mention that it was also much more difficult to sew for a guy than a girl, as I had no way to fit what I was making--he's so much bigger than me that I look ridiculous even trying it on! I traced the t-shirt off of a guy's shirt I had laying around, so here's hoping it fits!





Happy birthday, kids!

And thanks to SpiceUpYourBlog for the incredibly easy mouse-over tutorial (top picture--on blog only)!

You can read my review of this pattern at PatternReview.com.

1 comment:

  1. What sweet thoughtful presents, I bet they both love them, and maybe wear them at the same time their " made by meg" tops. I love your clover pants too ...very impressed they look such a great fit! Nice colour too :-)

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