Sew Many Skirts, Sew Little Time

The summer that I was eleven years old, my aunt started sewing shorts for everyone.  She made a pair printed with tennis rackets for me because I was taking tennis lessons that summer.  I remember my younger brother wearing a pair covered in lobsters.  I imagine my Auntie Kim at her local Hancock Fabrics digging through the bargain bins in search of good deals on cotton prints.  Did she have me in mind when she bought that tennis racket pattern?  I like to think so.  

Family legend has it that her husband, my Uncle Scott, wore a pair of the infamous shorts to a Company Picnic.  I cannot contain my fits of laughter any time he tells the story.  Think about your own husband wearing a big ol' pair of bermuda shorts that you had lovingly hand sewn as he attempts to retain/garner the respect of his superiors and his coworkers at the Company Picnic.  I dare you not to laugh at the thought.

One morning my cousin, Maegan, heard her mom, Auntie Kim, on the telephone with my mother.  She recalls Auntie Kim exclaiming "No, really!  They're so easy, I can make some for everyone in your family.  It's only ten o'clock and I've already made ten pairs!"  

Heaven help me, but history seems to be repeating herself.  

I've been making skirts.   Stella doesn't want to wear pants or shorts these days, it's skirts and dresses all the time.  I didn't know what else to do, she just runs out of clean options so fast, and I refuse to spend my entire life washing laundry.  I truly detest shopping with all the kids in tow, and my online time is spent looking at blogs, not shopping around for skirts.  Sewing, on the other hand?  Well, I think sewing is fun.  After the kids go to bed and before I crash for the evening I love to get out my machine and create something. 

Yikes, I'm repeating history and turning into my mother-in-law.  Oh, well.  C'est la vie.

Don't worry, I won't be sending my husband to any work functions in these lovely little numbers.  I do wonder if Kim still has the pattern for those shorts, though.

Behold, a sampling of my creations.  Pin a gold star on your lapel if you can guess which outfit I didn't have any say in.