Mom-on-the-go shorts

I don't wear shorts very often, preferring skirts (or skirts with built-in shorts) when it's too hot to wear pants.  However, after discovering the Shorts on the Line summer sewalong, I figured I'd try my hand at sewing some.  I purchased the Amazing Fit! pants pattern with the ultimate goal of making shorts, so these pants were actually the "wearable muslin" toward that objective :)  

After laboriously altering the pattern the first go-around, I made a few more changes for these shorts--I lowered the front rise by about 1/2 inch and added fancy patch pockets on the back.

Again, I used an unexpected fabric (dotted cotton lawn) for the pocket bags and the hem, a detail that makes me smile when I put them on.

The original pattern doesn't call for pockets of any kind on the back, but I need something to break up the expanse of fabric in the back there, so I designed these patch pocket for the job which I centered on the back dart:

The fabric is a bottom-weight stretch cotton from Joann's.  It's a microdot pattern, probably from the white elastic threads that run through it (which were a bit annoying while sewing).  

Overall, I'm pretty pleased with these shorts.  They were quick to put together and fit quite nicely, while being comfortable with the bit of stretch in the fabric.  I definitely feel like a stylish mom-on-the-go, like on my fave show "What Not to Wear"...a bit put together, but still able to play in the sand at the park.  Hooray!