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Since I've made these shorts before and the pattern is already altered, decided to use it again for the shorts portion of my summer mini-capsule wardrobe.
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I ordered this "Navy and White Linked Circles" stretch poly twill that was described as 60" wide. Bought just one yard since I knew I could get shorts with an elastic waist from it. This store only sells whole yards.
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The fabric wasn't 60" as advertised, only 34" from selvage to selvage after laundering and the stretch was mostly one way!!! At least from cut end to cut end was 57". Had to make a strange layout to get the stretch horizontally on all the pieces.
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I managed to get it cut, very little left over and no pattern matching. I know these shorts don't go with the sage palm print and olive tops, but the off-white linen rayon shirt coming up later can be worn with all the pieces.
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The first steps are to stabilize the pocket edges. I cut 1" strips of regular fusible interfacing. Nothing in the instructions for stabilizing the front pocket edges but I always do, with Design Plus fusible stay tape.
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Just like the palm print shorts I recently made, the layers on the patch pocket shifted while topstitching. Had to use my walking foot again. These are the times I wish I had room to leave my Bernina 1008 out. No screws for the walking foot!
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I ran a line of machine basting stitches to help make the curves in the patch pockets. After they dried from steam pressing I removed the basting.
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Patch pockets are ready. I checked before pulling out the basting that they were the same size.
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Next step is to finish the curved edges only of all four front pocket facings. They suggest turning under 1/4" or serging. I serged of course!
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This is the layout of how the facings should be pinned to the pocket bag. Attach by sewing 1/8" from the curved edges, then baste the top and sides of the facings to the bag.
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The pocket bag should be right side up as well as the shorts front, then sew your 5/8" seam allowance at the angled edge.
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Here I have the same pieces turned to the other side to show that I can sew my SA at the edge of the stabilzer tape to get a crisp edge. I had placed the edge of the tape closest to the raw edge at exactly 5/8".
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My fabric was too thick in the seam allowance so I serged it off. Grading would have worked but this was easier! Then press the seam allowance away from the front. I used my clapper several times sewing these shorts as the stretchy twill was stubborn.
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Understitching the pocket bag and facing with an edge stitch foot. This foot ensures an even stitch right beside the "ditch" of the seam. Adjust your needle position to be about 1/8" or so away from the seam.
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Press the folded edge of the pocket opening making sure the facing rolls to the inside. Topstitch 1/8" from the edge. My edge stitch foot was still on the machine from the previous understitching so I didn't have to change it.
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Pull the pocket bag away from the front, fold right sides together, and stitch 1/4" at the lower edge. They want you to trim that down to 1/8" but I don't because that's just too narrow if your fabric frays.
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Turn the pocket bag right side out, press and sew the bottom edge encasing the 1/4" SA you just made. I use a 3/8" SA since I didn't trim down to 1/8" previously.
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Showing the outside and inside of how it looks when the pocket bags are pinned to the front pieces. Match notches at the waist and line up at the sides. It's hard to see anything on this print unless you zoom in!
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Front pockets are done and I have sewn and serged the center front seam. Press the seam allowance to one side and make sure when you press it on the back piece it goes the same direction to match up at the crotch.
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I used my edgestitch foot to topstitch 1/8" from the center front seamline. This keeps the seam allowance down. Sometimes I do it, sometimes I don't, but it is in the instructions.
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Next I sewed the center back seam and topstitched it as well. Using a pressing ham and clapper here on the crotch curve. My inseam is 5 1/4" since I didn't turn the hem edge in 1/4".
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On my linen shorts I left out the darts due to using an elastic waist. On this stretchy twill though, I felt I should go back and sew the darts. This will make sewing the band on easier too. Not much waist/hip ratio on me so it will be fine!
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I lined up the back pattern piece and put a pin at each end of the pocket placement line. Before this I had pinned the pockets matching the print but that made them angled. Didn't look right so figured I should stick with the pattern line.
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Patch pockets are pinned on. The red lines are the places I measure on each side to make sure they're even. A lot of adjusting went on but it's worth it in the end. Crooked pockets.....NOOO! Lol.
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After measuring the pocket placement, one last test. Fold the back piece right sides together, line up all the edges, and take a peek to see if the pockets are perfectly aligned. Just an extra measure to make sure!
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I can't believe I actually remembered this time to put in a white bobbin since the wrong side of my fabric is white. Yay for me! Haha.
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You can still see where the pockets are (tension is off on the thickness) but it looks better than navy thread. Glad I thought to use my dress form to check if I needed darts, because those have to go in before the pockets!
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I really wish I could have matched the print for the pockets but it wasn't meant to be on these. I'm lucky I got all the pieces cut on my one yard of narrow fabric. I don't tuck in tops so they won't show much anyway.
