I wasn’t able to blog most of my sewing after Thanksgiving because it was all for Doc! First up, a birthday shirt, in this amazing Japanese oxford and the tried-and-true McCalls 6044:

The modeled shot colors are way off, because winter is dark, but the print really pops in person. He didn’t pick this fabric but I thought it was a pretty safe choice for him, based on the last cat print he chose.

Then I made him a Christmas shirt, in a print he did pick back in the summer: this panda cotton lawn from Lady McElroy. I used the New Look pattern I tested earlier in the year for more of an aloha shirt vibe:

I didn’t get a modeled shot of this (I believe the hanger shot is from when I finished on December 23rd, eep),  but he’s worn both and reports all compliments they receive, so I think they were good gifts.

 

Finally, what do you do for a man who wants no material goods but whose underwear is wearing out? You sew him some for Christmas and hope the fact that it’s handmade cancels out the fact that you’re giving him…underwear for Christmas.

These are the Greenstyle Creations Walbrook Boxer Briefs. The gray pair is some leftover bamboo knit I had in the stash (originally from The Fabric Fairy, I think) and the cats are just cotton interlock I got on sale at Jo-Ann.

By dint of some SUPER CASUAL AND NORMAL questioning, I determined I did not have to make him the version with the functioning fly, so they were a really fast sew. I did the optional “burrito” method to enclose the edges of the pouch on both sides and finished the inseams with a faux coverstitch (serge with right sides together and topstitch the seam allowance down with a twin needle).

As you can see, I played with waistband finishes but I think the enclosed elastic is the winner.  Doc reports that they are “comfortable” and would like more pairs, so I guess it was an OK present.