Burda Style 06/2014 - 116 Shorts

Shorts!  I know, what is happening round here, it used to be dresses dresses and more dresses.

I wore these shorts earlier this month on a weekend trip to Langkawi in Malaysia for my birthday which is where these photos were taken - of course they are black shorts and you can't see the details, but never mind!

I used a drapy silky unknown content fabric that looks and feels a bit like brushed silk twill that I found in the Sham Shui Po fabric market, whatever it is it was a dream to work with and wear.



I made a very plain version of these shorts, most similar to view A without the hem binding and side splits.   They are super easy to make, but sometimes when things are easy the old brain disengages and you do something silly.  I am still fairly inexperienced with pants and shorts and when I looked at the front piece I couldn't envisage how roomy it was going to be round my thigh, in fact it looked really small so I added extra seam allowance to the side seams (I traced a 40), figuring it had an elasticated waist anyway so roomier was better.  But, duh, Allison, the waistband casing still needs to be sewn onto the top of the shorts and of course I hadn't added any extra onto that piece.  I could have cut another one, but at that stage I had already made two buttonholes for the drawstring and sewn it together and well I am lazy.  So after checking that I could get the waistband over my hips I took in the shorts at the side and front and back seams till it matched.

Continuing on this theme, I also hadn't taken into consideration the width of the elastic I had available and should have made a narrower waistband.  I just added a row of stitching at the top and bottom of the waistband so the elastic channel was narrower.  Having 2 channels would be an alternative.

I aded a couple of beads onto the ends of the drawstring, which is really just for decoration as the elastic does all the work.  I've had to lighten these pictures considerably to show the detail which also shows how badly these have been ironed after washing ha ha.

So keep your brain engaged even when sewing easy stuff is the lesson learnt here.  I am really happy with how they came out though and next time, if there is one, I will know just to cut a straight 40 and be done with it, you can of course shorten the elastic in the waistband to pull them in a bit there.

Next up, more previously unchartered territory - workout clothes!