Denim Maritime Shorts







fabric - loose weave denim, spotlight
pattern - maritime shorts, grainline studio

I'm trying to take the time to sew the things I wear on a daily basis. And with a little boy to follow around all day, these Maritime Shorts from Grainline fit the bill easily.

Like a few other sewers,  I had to adjust the centre back seam. After making a wearable muslin, I sewed a size 10 & changed the back pieces accordingly:
  • took in approximately 2cm from the centre back seam
  • added 2 darts, both in the centre of the two back pieces (approximately in the middle of where the top of the pockets sit). I made sure I didn't sew on the pockets until I could try the shorts on to fit. Both darts take in about a 1.5cm each.
  • I then adjusted the length of the waistband to fit the changes made.

 Because of the loose weave of this denim, I knew these shorts would stretch & loosen during wear. I usually wear a belt but I wanted to do something to keep the fit snug all day long. In a favourite pair of RTW shorts, the back waistband has elastic added to it. I thought this was a great idea that would fix this problem - and I was right! I added some 3cm elastic into the back portion of the waistband. I didn't stretch it too much, you can't really tell it's there. And because these are fairly casual pants I think it looks ok, and practically makes for a snug fit all day long.

I don't really love sewing fly fronts. There, I've said it.
I added belt loops following a Colletterie tutorial.
I also made them slightly longer (?3cm).

I bought a decent yardage of this denim so of course had to make a matching pair for my son (with the promise to never wear them at the same time. That's a bit too matchy-matchy for me!!). I used the MADE kid shorts, racer variation.



The final pic shows me wearing these shorts, in my best mum-pose (making sure the kid doesn't fall off) on the jetty on Fraser Island, Australia's largest sand island.

 

Popular posts from this blog

Almada Robe : a Lovefest

Image
Dressing gown, robe, kimono, cover-up, wrapper.  Call it what you will but I am a total sucker for them. I get so much use out of my Nani Iro kimono robe (it is total double-gauzy-dreaminess) but was instantly taken with the lastest Almada Robe from the February Seamwork magazine. I made two in two nights, both gifts sadly. Sadly because I want to keep them for myself. I have dreams of a liberty version... Wouldn't that be perfect?  Some notes I made up the XS as both my recipients are quite petite. It fits me pretty well so I think I will stick to that size. As this style is a fairly generous fit it makes sewing for a gift pretty easy! This pattern is drafted so beautifully. The gorgeous curves of the seams and cut-on sleeve means using French seams is a breeze. (I always get caught on how-to French seam the right-angle corner of the sleeve/body in a traditional kimono pattern. This pattern negates that with a beautiful curved seam. )  Fa...
Read more

striped ruched maternity skirt

Image
My new motto in life is: "embrace the bump" . I've definitely hit that stage of my pregnancy where the bump is obvious & (in my opinion!) cute. I'd bought the Ruched Maternity Skirt pattern by the fabulous Megan Nielsen a few months ago & I'm so glad I did. It really makes getting dressed in the morning pretty easy, in a stage where finding things to fit is a bit hard! The beauty of this pattern is that this skirt covers the bump. Which means I can wear non-maternity tops (that wouldn't otherwise fit) very easily by tying a simple knot in them.  A few notes: I bought the PDF pattern and it goes together SO easily- only two pattern pieces (there's a third only if you add the optional frill) I cut a size medium, and with this fabric is a great fit. Like Megan mentions in the instructions, you need a pretty stretchy knit fabric for this make (minimum 40% stretch & she explains how to figure out what % your fabric is). If your kn...
Read more

ikat maxi dress - self drafted

Image
  I'm always impressed when I see someone's make with the word "self drafted" in the title. I'm good at following  pattern directions, but always get a bit sloppy when I have to pave the way myself. I've self drafted a few kids clothes, but never ladies so this was a little experiment with a happy ending. I do have the Sewaholic Saltspring pattern and originally thought about using it but I didn't think the gathers at the waist would work for this fabric.  For me, a maxi should be loose and flowing. I have a RTW maxi (Target, 2 yrs ago) that I liked the bodice of so I loosely copied it for this dress. I used a lovely ikat blue rayon from Spotlight. It has a lovely drape and is cool to wear. I used 2.5m and had to use a centre back seam to fit the pattern in. (So very little pattern matching too). A few more notes Front is self faced. I used some slight gathers in the top neckline to give some shape instead of darts. I cut the facing to fit ...
Read more