Summer Sewing – Shorts
Recently I decided I needed to get rid of a few old pairs of shorts so that gave me a reason to sew up some new ones. I made these shorts using the Bernina My Label program. It is a pattern drafting program based on your measurements. The patterns fit pretty well for the most part but I have had to tweak some things on them. For example, on these shorts I had to add some to the crotch area – a crotch extension – on the back side or they tended to pull in the back and I hated that.
The printed shorts above were the first ones I made to test out the pattern since I had only used it once before. At the time I didn’t have enough solid color fabric to make any shorts and decided this cotton print would be okay to just wear around the house or on the weekend. I also added one pocket on the side of these using a pocket pattern from another book I have on skirts called Sew Serendipity by Kay Whitt. I have not made anything from the book yet, just used this pocket pattern on my shorts since I liked the style. I only put one because I wanted to see how it looked and if I liked the style.
The tan pair I made using a lightweight cotton fabric. I decided to sew the pockets on both sides of this pair. I have already gotten a lot of wear out of these in just the last couple of weeks since finishing them.
The red pair of shorts I made with stretch twill fabric I bought at Hobby Lobby. The fabric has a nice drape and is easy to wear. It is a bit stretchy and requires a little patience when working with it as it will stretch as you sew if you pull it – kind of like working with knits. I decided to not do any pockets on these as I figured with the stretch factor they might not look too good. I also just finished another pair in this same fabric yesterday in the sky blue color.
Overall these shorts turned out well and I like how they fit me. They sew up very quickly with an elastic waist band so they are a pull on type of short. For the types of fabrics I used I thought this style was the best choice and often an elastic waistband is much more comfortable than a traditional waistband with a zipper, in my opinion. Also, depending on the type of shirt or top you wear I think this style of short can be more slimming if you have a good fit.
I think I am all set with shorts now and ready to move on to some other projects. Thanks for visiting my blog. To receive regular updates please subscribe via bloglovin, email, or RSS feed in the sidebar. Have a great day!
Those are all so nice!! Great job!
Gina @ Gina’s Craft Corner
Thanks, Gina!