Plain jane shorts

I'm not a huge fan of shorts, but I recognize that living in California requires I wear such items (and probably with a sweater and scarf in November :).  I've been doing the "sporty skirt with built in shorts" for a while, but a girl needs some variety.  After cutting out the Plain Jane Dress, I realized I had a sizable amount of the stretch denim fabric left (about 3/4 yard, out of 2 yards total.  Yes, I'm indeed short enough to make a dress out of 1 1/4 yards of fabric.).  Quick as a bunny, I downloaded the Iris pattern from Colette, to you know, just see if I could make shorts from 3/4 yard.  And I could!  

I'm not nearly curvy enough to properly fit a pattern from Colette, so using the garment measurements, I decided to cut size 2 for the waist and grade down to 0 for the hips.  Before attaching the waistband, I tried the shorts on and they fit well.  However, the waistband was so incredibly curved, I knew it would  dig into my midsection in a very unflattering way.  It wasn't just a matter of sizing up, so I slashed and spread the waistband and recut my fabric.  I also cut "generously" along the upper side edge.

The resulting waistband fit just right.  No digging in, but still lays properly and doesn't move around when I walk or sit down.

The pattern.  Fitting issues aside, the pattern was fine.  I'd probably make them again, but a couple of things irked me.  For instance, sewing button holes after the pockets are complete was a pain in the buttocks, though I'm not sure there's a work-around for that.  And the front pockets are real, but not super functional. Next time I might make them larger and leave off the buttons. Since I need actual pockets somewhere, I added two functional welt pockets in the back.  

I used this tutorial, which is hands-down the best single-welt pocket tutorial around.  They turned out beautifully, and don't even add much bulk in the back-section.  

Sorry about the wrinkles!  I was wearing the shorts while I was sewing my new pink top.  I lined the waistband in this oh-so-adorable mermaid fabric from my scrap pile.  Love love love, but wish the ladies were right-side up.  *Sigh*

By the way, check out my bracelet!  How cute and summery is that?  My brother-in-law and his wife created Charity Gift Market, which is a marketplace for goods created by charities, and it was gifted to me from there.   So many fun products, and all to support great causes around the world.  

I like these as much as I can like a pair of shorts and will certainly wear them this summer (and maybe even this winter :).  If you haven't already, stop by Shorts on the Line to see the cute shorts folks are sewing up!