Patrones 305/4 - Shorts

Here's something you don't see everyday on this blog - shorts!  In fact I don't think I've even worn shorts for about 10 years, but there is something about vacation dressing that I find quite liberating so I thought I would give it a go.

This is the same fabric that I used for my khaki pencil skirt so it has a bit of stretch to it.  The fabric remnant only cost me around US$ 5 so I was pretty happy with being able to squeeze two garments out of it, and aside from having to invest a bit of time this was the perfect fabric for a bit of experimentation.

To take it one step further I used a Patrones magazine pattern, pattern 4 from issue 305.  I have a couple of years worth of these Spanish pattern magazines and they do seem to like their shorts, this particular style came with a large photograph in the magazine which helped me figure out how to make them.

 I started with a size 42 (the sizing is different to Burda where I am a 38-40) which required very little alteration and I lengthened them by a good few inches.  Not ready for short shorts just yet, baby steps!

I speak practically no Spanish so I just winged it on the construction, but these went together fairly easily.  The only part that gave me trouble was the front waistband detail, I couldn't figure out how to get a neat and bulk free finish with the 3 separate pieces.  Then I realised that since the shorts have a side zipper I could just fake the look of the front.  I redrafted the waistband as a single piece with just a pleat where the buttons are, topstitching the edges of the pleat to mimic the original design.  This worked brilliantly if I say so myself, sometimes having no instructions can be a good thing and make you think for yourself.

These are the last of my Italy modelling photos, I do have a couple more things I made for the collection that didn't get worn so they will be coming soon and I will try and engineer some more interesting Hong Kong photos than the back of my front door.

 

Cats everywhere, I don't know who feeds them but they are all fatter than my own stay at home, do nothing all day moggies.  I realise this is a BurdaStyle kind of photo where you can't see the shorts at all, but well, cats!

This is inside the grounds of the Palazzo Pitti in Florence, one of the residences of the Medici family.