StyleArc Jasmine Shorts

It’s no secret that I love my StyleArc Jasmine pants.

I wear both pairs I’ve made every week, as long as it’s pants weather.

But it is not pants weather right now. Sigh! And what I really need are work-appropriate shorts. Or, actually, shorts period.

It took me much longer than it should have to realize that I could just shorten the Jasmines and get a perfectly serviceable shorts pattern essentially for free, that has already been fitted.

So: leftover fabric from the pleated pencil skirt. I had just enough.

I used a rayon challis that is close to my flesh tone for the pockets and stays, per a recent Threads (I believe) article about how this is a better practice to avoid visible pockets from outside the garment. It worked just fine, and it’s comfortable and soft.

My one white pants zipper was just a smidge too long, but I was so not going to go to the fabric store just to get a slightly shorter white metal zipper. I just let it hang down a bit too long.

And this pair of shorts was a three-machine endeavour:

Serger for most seam construction.

Sewing machine to install the pockets and the zipper, hem, and top-stitch the waistband.

Coverstitch to reinforce the side and crotch seams, and attach the pocket facing to the pocket piece.

I made a few more fitting tweaks for this version, mostly in making it a bit smaller in the waist (the last camel version I made is still too big after taking it in by an inch on either side). And it worked almost perfectly, with the minor exception that I failed to account for the 0 length-wise stretch in this cotton sateen (lots of cross-grain stretch), so the waist band is a hair too snug and has no give. But it’s still perfectly wearable, even when sitting at the computer for several hours and having a long, large lunch break. The rest of it is just perfect and I love it to bits. It’s a bright print but the colours all work with tops I already have, so–huzzah! More shorts!