I made some pocket squares for my dad to wear to a Red charity event. He sent a photo of the tie and suit that I needed to match, and left the rest up to me.

pocket squares pocket squares

I think you can all tell that I have a colorful sense of style. My dad, however, tends to be a little more conservative in his dress. I could not trust my own judgment as to which fabrics went with the tie! I agonized over the fabric selection for a while, but then reasoned that if he wanted a boring pocket square he could have gone to JC Penny, but since he asked me to handle it then he knew what he was getting into.

tie and suit to match tie and suit to match

painting polka dots

I picked two printed cottons from Joann, but I wanted a fancier option as well. I went to a few other fabric stores looking for a silky print with no success. I even hit up thrift stores, planning to cut up a men’s dress shirt for the project, but no luck there either. Finally, I just decided to paint my own silk!

I chose two different ABC silks: one is a dull blue, the other is a neutral gray. I didn’t entirely trust the accuracy of the colors in the photos, so I wanted to cover my bases. I used a simple red paint pen, and the 10×10″ square took almost no time to decorate. Hemming was also a breeze of course.

my dad all spruced up

I haven’t seen my dad in over a year! He lives a few miles in from the Atlantic, and I’m a short bike ride to the Pacific. We could hardly be further apart. He and his wife just booked their flight to New Orleans for our wedding reception, so it’ll just be another 6 months.