I don't wear shorts a lot but I like having a few basic pairs. I know I need to sew some Sequoia pants (by Itch to Stitch) soon, but the ones I currently have are a bit snug. The paper pattern has been adjusted here and there, and my initial print job was terrible (accidentally printing on paper that I had printed another pattern on the other side). I thought it was time to re-print and start fresh. Shorts would be a great way to refine the pattern without the fabric commitment of pants (I mean, I'm pretty short, so it's not THAT much of a fabric commitment but you know what I mean).
These are made of the same fabric as the
Sequoia pants I made. I love those pants, but they're a smidge tight and I think there's a stain on one thigh. I wear them a lot.
When I make the pants, I don't do the back pocket. I do the cargo pockets on pants but since the shorts don't have those, I thought I should add the back pocket. I narrowed it in a bit. I believe the pattern uses the same size pocket for all sizes and I just thought I could do with a bit narrower of a pocket.
I made the inside of the self-drafted yoga band waist with power mesh. However, the band is a little too big for it to have any actual effect. I had done this on the skirts I made last year and liked it, but those were not self drafted, and they were much more snug. The power mesh is also very slippery! I added a narrow elastic which I sewed to the seam allowance of the top of the waistband.
I love these shorts, though I felt they could be a little bit longer--just an inch or two. Mainly because in my truck, I have leather seats and no air conditioning. I decided to make a blue pair. I do have a pair of blue linen shorts but they're cute and shorter. I think I used the same fabric as the blue Sequoia pants that I made, but I'm not sure because as I was putting away the left over, I found even more blue cotton-ish fabric and these actually feel a bit more crisp.
I laid them out and it seemed like I had enough. I cut the fronts, not on the fold, but with the fabric folded. I had folded it only enough for the fronts so then I opened it for the backs and cut the first back. And then went to cut the second back and uh...it wasn't long enough!
My first thought was I could draft a back yoke. Then I came to my senses, and carefully laid the pattern piece down, trying to get as much length as I could. It ended up being only 1/4" too short. I had made the other pieces about 1.25" longer than the pattern, so I was still going to have a pair slightly longer than the grey ones.
It was all going really well, until I tried them on, before adding the waist. I had some doubts about what size I had made for the grey pair as I could see marks from the tracing wheel on the smaller size in some places. When I tried them on, I decided the back thighs needed to lose about 1/2" from the hip down as they were pushing the seam outwards. Because there's the pockets on the front and I didn't want to lose any pocket width, I started to take apart the side seam. Then I realized I had serged the seam allowances together! I was not about to take out the serging, so I opted to just re-stitch the seam about 1/4" smaller from near the bottom of the pocket and be done with it.
I put together the waistband (taking off about 1/2" from each end of each piece) and went to sew it on. I got about 3" serged to the shorts and I realized I hadn't added the elastic! I unpicked what I had sewn. Of course, I had none, other than narrow elastic and I prefer something wider. I also realized I hadn't done the drawstring holes! Then I realized that I had actually been sewing the waistband to the shorts upside down! I had serged the inside and the outside bands together along the top. Previously, I had also serged, or basted the bottom, to make it easier to catch all edges when adding to the body. I just wasn't paying attention!
I found this bias tape that I had made for a pair of shorts for Lucy or Megan, and just stitched it closed to make a drawstring. I'm not sure I'm all that keen on it, though I think it's actually the waistband colour I'm not fond of. I went to Wal-Mart and got some wide, non roll elastic, and got these finished last night.
Ohhhh, the snaps. The snaps that made me get a new iron LOL. I had my big bag of snaps on my ironing board. I don't have any dark blue ones, just royal blue which had the Captain America (I think) symbol on them. I knew these were not a match (and are actually more teal that I realized), but they have a My Little Pony on them, so I had to. I rarely tuck my shirts in and probably won't because the waistband doesn't match all that well, so it's just a little secret I'll have.
I'm debating adding a loop for clipping keys to, or a small snap pocket on the front. Also, I now have 2 different puffers, and I think I need a little pouch with a clip for the "rescue" inhaler.
I LOVE these shorts too. A bit more body than the grey ones, they fit amazing. They do however, attract lint! They also remind me a little of a Girl Guides uniform, but that's fine. Classic and long lasting!
