New Black Shorts from a Frankenpattern

Chihuly Update: Yesterday evening there was a hailstorm that hit Dallas, and specifically the neighborhoods that included the Arborteum.

View more videos at: http://nbcdfw.com.

Only one sculpture suffered damage. Read the entire story here.


Back to the Shorts!


Just to refresh your memory from yesterday, here they are again:

The basic pattern I used was Kwik Sew 3614, and this is the 3rd time, so I've got the fit down pretty good. The thing that I was never quite satisfied with was the pockets. Behold the new pockets and see if you can guess which pattern I used (I used a flash and fill light to enhance some of the details on the black twill):

Did you guess? How about now:

If you guessed the Colette Rooibos Pattern you would be right! But wait! Isn't that a dress? Yes, but the piece for the pocket area worked great. Basically, I took the original front piece for the shorts:

It's kind of hard to see, but overlaying the Rooibos exterior pocket section piece, I traced the top, curved line, and the right edge, indicated by the left and right arrows. The center arrow indicates the cutting line for the top portion, to the waistband piece that is sewn to the (not seen) pocket facing. I used the Rooibos instructions for sewing assembly.

I did want to preserve my original pattern piece though, so I traced new pieces. The right center piece did have a seam allowances added running down the left side:

Again, the curved pocket piece I used is the original Rooibos piece, shortened to the length of the shorts. Yes, there is a seam from the waistband to the hem that is completely off center, but with my black fabric, it's not noticeable at all. Or at least minimally noticeable. If you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comments, and check back for a reply directly in the comments.


Check out the cute lining:

Days 5, 6, 7, 8

Day 5

Top: Butterick 5495, originally blogged in July 2010
Skirt: originally blogged in May 2011

Day 6


The start of the "gardenia days"...

Top: Life is Good souvenir tee shirt from York, Maine
Shorts: Seersucker, Kwik Sew 3614, originally blogged July 2011
Land's End suede flip flops
Dog: Danny
Lipstick: what was I thinking?!

Day 7

Top: Anthropologie (old)
Skirt: half a Colette Crepe, originally blogged September 2011
Hand out oddly? Trying to get Danny to come on over
What I did: worked from home plus a trip to the grocery. Fun!

Day 8

Dress: Vogue 8553, originally blogged September 1, 2011
Belt: Talbots
Shoes: Land's End chambray espadrilles
What I did: worked from home, plus Parents Support Group at Skyland Trail

Kwik Sew 3614 Shorts

I never got around to blogging about these shorts, a second pair of Kwik Sew 3614. You can see the first pair here. To make the second pair, I tweaked the fit just a bit. They are perhaps just a wee bit tight in the waistband, but they aren't uncomfortable, so I think they're just fine. I give them a Wearability Index of 8!

The fabric is a cotton/poly blend seersucker from fabric.com which I underlined with a white cotton. I underlined for 2 reasons: 1) the fabric felt a little too lightweight for shorts, and 2) seersucker has a bit of stretch, and I thought it would give the shorts more stability as the day goes on. I didn't underline the waistband, but used the cotton (a single layer) as my interfacing. Oh, yeah, the pattern is Kwik Sew 3614 (duh).


Ok, now that I've gotten the boring technical part out of the way, let's get to the fun part. I hated the pockets on the first pair (which I do wear a lot, have 'em on right now), and the back was just boring. It's a wide expanse that could use some embellishment, right?


For the front pockets, I traced around a patch pocket that I really liked on a skirt that was headed to Laura, made a pattern, and voila!

Can you see it? I love the way it blends, but is still useful. For construction, I cut out 2 of the blue, and 2 of the white cotton, put them right side together, and sewed the curved edges. Turned them RSO, edge and top stitched the opening pocket edge and then lined up the side edges and top edges and edge and top stitched the bottom curved line. Easy!


Now for the back I wanted to try making welt pockets, and I decided on single welt. I've made bound buttonholes and so the step of practicing I totally felt was unnecessary. I also checked out some tutorials online, and consulted my Vogue Sewing Book and Singer Sewing Book, basically looking for the best pictures.


Then I decided to go for it! I had enough seersucker to cut out another back piece if I totally screwed up. So, how did it go? The welt part is easy. It was the pocket bag that was confusing me, and the first welt pocket is actually stitched shut. I'm not planning to actually use these back pockets, so I left it. And I'm still not sure how it happened, but it was a valuable learning experience. Here's how they turned out:

Can you tell which one is sewn shut? No? Neither can I. And I'm really happy with them. For placement, I consulted several pairs of capris and trousers that I currently own.


And here's how they look on me:

Kind of hard to tell, but I really like the detail. And for the record, the one tutorial that I didn't use because I remember she had one after I finished, was the one I should have started with. Sherry of Pattern~Scissors~Cloth writes excellent tutorials. She calls them jets instead of welts. Go figure. I'll head there first next time.


So, what about you? Do you throw caution to the wind with a new sewing technique, or do you practice first?

Crescent and Shorts

The crescent skirt is finished!! Actually, I finished it yesterday, but I'll do the full reveal when I give it to Laura and can get some pictures of her in it. I love the voile fabric. It almost feels like silk. But about the zipper. I might give this technique one more try, but I'm just not happy with the outcome. It does look ok, but it's not really hard to get way better results. And I do love the crescent skirt, and how flattering it is, and how easy it is to make (zipper aside). A sneak peak of just the zipper:

If you're participating in Me Made June, you're probably well aware that June is just around the corner! The gaps in my wardrobe are screaming, so I've been sewing like crazy! I won't show you everything before June, because there could be some boring days full of repeats, but suffice it to say there are a couple of "not my usual style" kinds of things that I'm really loving!

One thing I will show you, that I'm pretty excited about is the pair of shorts I just finished. I haven't really made any pants successfully, so I was a little nervous about this project. I chose Kwik Sew 3614, and read the reviews on Pattern Review. Several said the pockets pooched out, but I got my cocky sewing attitude on, and thought "not MY pockets". *sheepishly* Here's ya go:

I used some cotton twill from my stash, that has a teeny bit of stretch. I felt like these were kind of going to be a "muslin" of sorts, and while the fit is pretty good, it does need some tweaking. For one, my next pair will have some different kinds of pockets. I've got a cute idea for them, so stay tuned for that. Next, the shorts are a little big, so taking in on the sides will be necessary.

I think I'll also attempt some welt pockets for the back on my next pair. And I'll make them a skosh shorter. Finally, there's the issue of the rise. Here's the skinny. I traced the size Large. But I have a super short rise in the front, so after tracing the large, I had the tracing tissue over the pattern, and simply traced the XS (yes, EXTRA small) waistband line, extending it out to the side seams. I took out an inch in the back to help the side seams match better. And it still seems like there's a bit too much fabric at the crotch level. If I pull them up as high as they want to go, they are an inch over my belly button. Oh, my. So, a bit more tweaking there, but that's it!

I'm loving the waistband, too. I don't/won't usually wear my shirts tucked in, but this doesn't really look too bad.

Finally, I finished a top today, that I'm not 100% sure about, but I'll talk about it tomorrow. Do you want a sneak peak though?