I may have gone a little wild. In the past month I have made 3 Arkies, including 1 for Jacob, and 2 pairs of Bailee shorts. Tessuti advertises these as a matching set, so I wanted to give it a go to make this work as a set of not-pajamas.
I fell for the idea of making this out of Merchant and Mills’ Louisiana linen for our trip to the west coast. While I was at it, I thought I would adapt Arkie for Jacob so he could be part of the fun, his is made out of Sweeps Scrim with coordinating cotton buttons.
The matching plaid top/shorts set turned out fantastic. I used the same construction mods as my first version. The fabric is dreamy, and I have been wearing them a set and as separates nonstop during this late-summer heat wave.
Here’s how I adapted the top for Jacob: I went up two sizes and took in about 4″ width at the hips. I also lengthened the body 2″ and the sleeves an inch. If I make this again, I want to make the shoulder area a bit more roomy, perhaps by dividing the back piece into a yoke and a lower back body with a pleat? Overall, though, Jacob’s version turned out great.
I had just enough linen leftover from Jacob’s shirt to squeeze in a second pair of Bailee shorts. At first glance, this shorts pattern doesn’t seem that unique, but they have nice details and I really like how they fit me.
emilyWools 