Summer Shorts

Project Interrupted

A little late in the season to make a pair of shorts, but this project sat uncompleted on my sewing table while I trained for Ironman Alaska. Now that the race is done, I figured I'd finish them for next summer.  The Colette "Iris" Pattern (No. 1002) came from the Seamwork website, and the fabric is leftover from when I first started learning how to make pants last year.  The same material was used to make a skirt.  It's slightly stretchy denim that I'm not all that fond of, but at the time I wasn't willing to invest in heavy expensive denim that needed to be shipped from the Lower 48. I no longer own the original pants or skirt, mostly because I lost 10 pounds and they no longer fit correctly.  They were donated to charity.


Searching for A Pattern

Finding a pattern for shorts is harder than you might think. I searched all the major labels, but they all tend to focus on professional and more formal designs or day designs that are mostly comprised of skirts, dresses, and capris.  And while I have nothing against these designs, running around with an active 4-year-old chocolate lab in a skirt or a dress is not the most functional on dirt trails and along muddy flats.  Not to say I don't ever wear these types of garments; I just save them for dog park days when Java is more interested in smelling the grass, greeting people, and leaving within 40 minutes. 


Colette Designs

Though the pattern cover (see right) featured the shorts in a heavier wool fabric, I knew the pattern had enough structure to work well in denim as well.  I love the double button pockets though but after one wear, I definitely will add rear pockets the next on the next pair. Unlike, the other patterns by the big companies (Simplicity, McCalls, etc) this had an invisible zipper along the side, which was nice to finally learn how to install one properly instead of whatever made-up way I had done in the past.  The waistband measurements didn't add up correctly, but I have yet to figure out if that is a design error or a poor cut to the fabric.  Overall a success.

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