Living in Alabama, not wearing shorts is not an option. It's not even considered fashion here, it's surviving the summer months. We've just entered June and it's already in the mid-90s by noon. So, it would just make sense that I'd need a wardrobe of shorts to rotate throughout my summer wardrobe. That's why this is the third pair of Simplicity 8891 shorts I've made. The first pair was part of the yellow suit; the floral pair I only posted to Instagram; and this pair.

I always like to create an initial outfit that can otherwise work as separates, mixing and matching would other pieces in my closet. So, I needed to make a shirt. The shirt is New Look 6216.

I wanted a t-shirt type of knit top, but not one with a high, tight crew neck. That's why this scoop neck style appealed to me more. It looks a lot more relaxed and flattering.

I found this beautiful striped, ribbed knit at my local Jo-Ann.

I like how wide the stripes are and I was able to use the white part for the neckline and the sleeve bands.

I made the shorts out of a stretch white denim, also from Jo-Ann. 

I added the same style of embroidered topstitching as I did with the yellow shorts. I think I need a couple of more pairs of these to get me through the summer. This pattern only uses a yard of fabric and after making them 3 times, I can probably knock out a pair -- cut to finish in an hour. 

I'd always wanted a sewing machine with the embroidery feature and lots of good decorative stitches. I had a lower end, big box model in the past. But it just wasn't advanced enough for my liking and I never gave it more interest than adding a design or so to my linings in coats and jackets. When I got my Baby Lock Aventura II a few weeks ago, I was determined to learn about embroidery from the ground up... starting with the decorative sewing. I did my research because I wanted to use decorative sewing and embroidery in a sophisticated and polished way. I want my garments to look high-end and not like a craft project.

I wanted an easy-to-make summer suit, one that I could wear together or mix the pieces into my wardrobe. I picked Simplicity 8891. The thing about "easy" is that it can possibly mean painfully plain. And that's how I felt about this pattern. It's simple, but it has good details. I knew it needed some zhushing up.

My fabric is this incredible Italian Canary and Moonstruck Double-Faced Stretch Cotton Twill. This fabric is super soft and has a real comfortable amount of give. It feels like a double knit and it has a really good bottom weight. Really good for a body con dress or fitted pants. I pre-treated the fabric in the washer and dryer. It came out pretty wrinkled. But after a good pressing, it was beautiful.

For the jacket, I cut the size 14 and graded out to the 16 at the hip and added 1 inch to the length. I decided to use the decorative stitches instead of basic topstitching.

I picked this diamond looking 7mm satin stitch which I felt would really pop using embroidery thread.

Using the Edit/Stitch switching key and selecting the elongation key to make the pattern shorter and the single/repeat key to indicate that I wanted this to be a continuous stitch and not just a single pattern. I pressed the memory key (the pocket) to save it, so I wouldn't have to go through all of these adjustments each time, because I was going to be using this stitch throughout this project.

I'm really loving the detail that it added to the jacket.

I used the decorative satin stitching to tack down the pleats in the front and the back.

Additionally, I created a belt. I'm not the biggest fan of self tie belts, so I wanted to make a real belt. I interfaced with weft fusible to give it body and carried out the decorative stitching too.

I've seen the eyelet stitch before, but I never thought to actually use it or what it was for. 

The 7mm width is perfect for stabilizing metal eyelet installation.

For the shorts, I cut the size 16 and made a 1.5 inch full butt adjustment. I really like the length that they are straight out of the envelope.

This is how I used the decorative stitching on the shorts.

I really love both of these pieces and I can't wait to work them throughout my wardrobe.