Tag: homemade shorts

Summer Sewing Projects: Halter Top, Sailor-Style Shorts, and Vintage Romper

On By qplourdeIn Sewing Projects, Travel Fabric, Uncategorized1 Comment

Summertime sewing is always difficult as the weather is more geared to outdoor activities. However, I have had some luck in completing some anticipated summer projects. This year I’ve been trying to make a conscious effort to use up my stack of fabrics acquired during my past travels.

Going through my stash, I happened to find a stretchy knit with pretty flowers that would be perfect for a summer top. I had picked up this fabric as a last minute addition when I was in Montreal last summer. It caught my eye as I was about the leave the store. I’ve been seeing a lot more flowers in fashion lately so I thought it was time I made something with it. I felt the perfect top to try was the Seamwork Jovi halter top, which has a built-in shelf bra and back ties.

I really enjoyed sewing this one and the shelf bra was a nice extra challenge. I like that is has a built-in bra, although I’m not sure it looked very flattering on me without an additional bra. For this one I had to acquire plush-back elastic for the shelf bra, which was not the easiest notion to find. I think I have enough left over to make another one of these tops, which is something I definitely want to do. For the next one, I think a fabric with more stretch will work better.

The only really tricky part was attaching clear elastic to the front and back. You had to cut a notch in the elastic so that it can fit around the v-shape in the front. For my first attempt at this, I think I did pretty well. It’s not a perfect V, but the front looks pretty smooth and did not bunch up.

For my other summer makes, I finished up some nice sailor-style shorts. I had bought these cool anchor buttons on a trip to NYC a few years back. Looking for an excuse to use them, I realized they would go well with this chambray anchor fabric I had on hand. I’m not really sure where I got the fabric since I’ve had it forever, but I’ve been waiting for the perfect project to use it on.

I had tried the Kwik Sew pattern on some scrap fabric and struggled to get the front to lay flat and not puff out when I wore the shorts. I took my time with this second attempt, laying it out and basting it to make sure I saw how it would fall on me. Even with all the extra work I did in fitting it, it still doesn’t lay perfect and sometimes I need to adjust it on my hips to get it to look right. I think I did the best I could with this one and I like the overall result. The pattern is a bit challenging though.

I may have gotten lazy with the bottom hem, which I just stitched a blind hem on the machine. Hand sewing a hem is not for me. I think it still works, even though the thread wasn’t the perfect color to match the fabric. I showed this one off at a classic car show in Andover, MA. A boat show may have been better to stay on theme for these shorts, but they proved to hold up in the sweltering summer sun.

My final project is probably my favorite. A few years ago on a trip in Maine, I found a 1970s vintage pattern for a cute summer romper. I wanted to make it with retro-looking fabric and through an exhaustive search I found this rainbow terry online. The pattern called for fold-over braid and I had no idea what that even was or how to find it. I did search online and I was able to get a fold-over knit binding on Etsy that worked really well.

I love the results of this, which is an extremely comfortable summer casual outfit, perfect for lounging. There is elastic in the back and ties in the front for some slight adjustment in the waist. I went for it without making a test outfit. I figured I could just cut another one if it didn’t work out, since it didn’t use up too much fabric. I ended up nailing this one on the first try and I am especially impressed with how good the neck and arm holes look with the fold-over trim. It was stretchy and very easy to work with, which was great since I usually struggle with binding edges in general.

Matching all the stripes was slightly challenging, but not too bad since you are only cutting out 4 pieces. I did pretty well on the front and sides, the back was more of a challenge because I was sewing in a zipper.

The garment has a cute and comfortable look, but the main issue with rompers is they are a pain when you need to use the bathroom. Oh well, I still love it and may even think about making this again if ever find another fabric that will fit the project.

As mentioned, I’ve had some challenges getting the time to sew this summer. I started my quest of making cross-body bags and my first attempt was not too bad. I did struggle with binding the inside seams, especially around the zippers. I think the main issue was using bias binding that I already had, which was maybe not quite wide enough to work with. For my next attempt, I think I will make the bias binding recommended, which has an initial width of 2.5 inches. This section of the pattern instructions was very confusing to me and the instructions were not very complete, but I will review it again and try to figure out what works.

My quest to use up my travel fabric stash continues as I have my eye on a summer dress using fabric I bought in Hawaii. It’s not likely I will finish for the summer, but I may have something coming up it will work for. Yes, another trip! Maybe I’ll skip the fabric shopping on that one.

It’s Summer! Time for plaid shorts

On By qplourdeIn Sewing Projects, Uncategorized1 Comment

Pattern: Megan Nielsen Flint Shorts

Currently the biggest gap in my wardrobe is shorts. I live in New England so I guess the season to wear them is shorter than in other places, but even still, wearing the same 3 pairs over and over again is very boring. Especially since my work wardrobe has gotten a lot more casual and I’ve been trying to limit the air conditioning. Last summer, I got an email from one of my favorite fabric stores that they had some madras plaid fabric on sale and I thought it would be fun to make some cool shorts from it.

I’ve always loved the look of plaid shorts. I remember when I was in middle school, I bought these brown plaid shorts at a discount clothing store. It was the first time I remember getting compliments on my wardrobe, since I was never really fashion forward growing up. But in practice, I totally forgot that when working with plaid, it always means matching the plaid. Also this fabric was not as stable as one would use for bottoms, so it did tend to have a lot of give, which maybe didn’t cause the best results. The front here looks pretty good, but the matching is far from perfect everywhere else.

Not much else to say about this. I was a little worried about the front pleats, but I think they look pretty good here. These shorts are interesting as you actually enter them from one of the pockets, and then the side is fastened with 2 buttons on the waistband. No zippers or fly construction. I have to admit, even though it took a bit to figure out how these would be assembled, it did make these faster to sew up.

These shorts being so lightweight make them great in the warmer weather. Temperatures last weekend approached the 90s (Fahrenheit) so I made them not a moment too soon. They do look a bit on the big side, but I think it’s due to the stretchy nature of the fabric. I wonder if another fabric would allow me to make a more fitted version. These are definitely one of the most comfortable pair of shorts I own now.

Somehow the back is never as matched up as the front. I’m not sure how this happens, although it might just be more challenging taking into account the back crotch seam.
Taking them for a spin in Martha’s Vineyard on one of the oldest carousels in the United States

February & March 2019: Getting the hang of pants, part 1

On By qplourdeIn Sewing Projects, Uncategorized5 Comments

Pattern: Sewaholic Thurlow Trousers

Despite my lack of energy with writing blog posts, I did have a very productive February & March. I was able to finish up my two button-down shirts (well one is mostly done) and get my pants project underway. In order to figure out how to sew a decent pair of pants, I started out small – meaning shorts! What better way to figure something out by taking the whole leg out of the situation. Not only that but you waste less fabric this way.

The thing about pants is that it tends to get complicated with the fly. I always feel like I’m following the pattern, but somehow I miss some important detail and I end up with mutant pants. The first time, the fly was not centered. One time I couldn’t get it to lay flat. And the main thing I always forget to do is enclose the fly facing within the pants waistband so it sticks out unfinished and looks completely unprofessional.

The first pair of Thurlow shorts I attempted actually seemed to be going along as planned. One of the main thing I learned was in order to make sure the fly ends up in the right spot, you need to pull the left side over to the notches on the other side. This will help you avoid pulling it too far over (which I’ve done) or not over enough (which I’ve also done). I actually perfected the whole fly & fly facing thing on these shorts and I was extremely excited that these could be the shorts where it all came together. However, when I sewed the wasitband on, somehow the left side did not match the right side and I couldn’t figure out a good way to fix them. That and due to a careless error, I ended up having to cut the sides down more than I wanted, resulting in bad fit problems. This was not my day.

 

When I went back to attempt the 2nd pair of shorts, I was much more meticulous about going through each step. I think those mistakes also helped, as I breezed through the back welts and pockets (another confusing step from my first attempt) and fly construction. This time, the waist lined up pretty well and I was ecstatic.

I wish I could take all the credit for figuring this all out, but actually my main cause for success was discovering this sewalong blog post. I had a very frustrating time trying to Continue reading “February & March 2019: Getting the hang of pants, part 1” →