Tuesday, May 8, 2012

13 by 13 - Floral Denim Shorts

Please don't mind the frumpy shirt. 

Fabric close-up

I finished my first project on my list of 13 by 2013 last week. Luckily, I was able to work on two of my goals at once. #3 - Make a pair of shorts and #8 - Learn more finishing techniques. I used French seams for the first time in this project. I used McCalls 6403 view A in size 12. I had originally made my muslin in size 14 and it was HUGE.



When I was making my muslin, I had some trouble with the instructions until I realized that they were completely wrong. On the cutting layout they don't tell you that you have to use piece 2 (the pocket) for view A. They also don't include view A in the instructions for sewing the pockets. However on the pattern piece descriptions, piece 2 is labeled "Pocket A B C" The pattern piece itself is also labelled "Pocket A B C". Once I figured out that I had to follow the instructions for the other views, the project continued smoothly.


I altered this pattern in a few ways for my final draft. I removed the pockets and moved the front center fly zipper to a side invisible zipper. I also used bias tape instead of a hem on the bottom. For my next version I am going to make the legs a bit longer.

2 comments:

  1. I just came across your blog and again I just want to tell you that your work is really nice. Also to learn new things as you go along makes me think that I should try new things. The shorts are so cute since you changed the zipper to the side they have a great vintage look. Thanks for sharing your work.

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    1. Thank you so much for reading my blog and your comments! I definitely encourage you to try new techniques, alter patterns, branch out. It is so much nicer to finish and project and have exactly what you want instead of just what the pattern gives you. Good luck and I hope you come back soon!

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