Aggie Night @ The Astros

Week of June 7 through 13

Normally, I'm not one who enjoys entertainment of the sporting variety. Don't get me wrong, I respect athletic ability (as I certainly wasn't blessed with any) I just don't really like watching overpaid athletes compete for show. The Husband, however, loves him some baseball. Specifically, The Houston Astros.

Slowly but surely, The Husband is teaching me to appreciate the game and all of its statistics-driven, pitcher-vs.-batter, nine-tediously-long-inning glory. I especially like Milo Hamilton, the hall of fame announcer for The Astros, and Hunter Pence, the lanky right-fielder who made his major league debut a few days after The Husband and I got married.

While I am more able to appreciate and understand the game, thanks to constant education from The Husband, and to Milo Hamilton's radio commentary (which we listen to endlessly while doing projects around the house), I am still hesitant to spend an evening at the ball park watching a game. When The Husband learned that The Astros would be hosting an "Aggie Night" at Minute Maid Park, he saw it as the perfect impetus to get me to a game. With promises of hot dogs, beer and ice cream served in tiny Astros helmets, The Husband convinced me to accompany him to watch The Astros take on my other favorite team, The Chicago Cubs.


Now internet, I am aware that this baseball game did not actually occur "all around our house" and therefore has no place on a blog about our domestic endeavors. And to that I reply: you didn't really think I would go to a baseball game without clothing that properly displayed my preference for sporting victory, did you?!

Of course not.

I seized upon the opportunity presented by this baseball showdown to spend some time in my craft room making an Astros t-shirt dress. Comfy, cute and full of team spirit. I used McCall's pattern M5423, a screen printed Astros t-shirt and gray jersey knit. I really wanted to use a Pence jersey for the bodice of my dress, but couldn't find one in red.

front

back

The dress itself only took a few hours, but then I had the inspired idea to embroider the front of my dress with the Astros' team patch. Pre-sewn, official team patch: $20. Opportunity to pull my hair out while trying to replicate said patch with less than stellar digitizing software: priceless. I spent longer working on the emblem than I did on the dress itself. And then my final stitchout got a little wonky. The practice stitchout was perfect, go figure. Still, I think my makeshift, copyright-infringing, bootleg version of an Astros patch came out pretty well.


Needless to say, we were the best dressed couple at the game.


Turns out, Aggie Night wasn't much more than a half-hearted singing of The War Hymn before the game by a few Aggies scattered through the crowd, and a first pitch thrown out by Texas A&M's quarterback.


Aggie Night or not, we had a great time. (I really did!) We ate hot dogs. We listened to Milo Hamilton on our tiny radio. We drank beer. We ate chocolate ice cream from a tiny retro-orange Astros helmet. And we got to see Hunter Pence.


And the Astros won.