Fantasy Land Shorts

These days, time is better spent daydreaming. With new stay-at-home orders in my area, fantasy is what we've got left. I'm dreaming that I'm eating out at a restaurant with takeout from my kitchen table. Remembering the warm weather and late nights. Imagining I'm back in Hawaii with the Pacific wind in my hair. And showing off my cool new orange shorts in the middle of December. 

Pattern: modified McCall's 7789
Fabric: remnant from my fall jeans
Cost: free/remnant

You may recognize this fabric from my fall pants, a much more seasonally-appropriate garment. I had just enough left of this delightfully stretchy denim to make a pair of short shorts. Literally, this was the longest I could make them 

I made these for my last vacation, a real trip to Hawaii. They are big and fun but also comfy and practical for warm weather. They also remind me a little bit of Mickey Mouse shorts and I'm not totally against that. 

The basis for these is McCall's 7789, a dress and jumpsuit pattern with radically wide legs. I have made two pairs of pants from them (here and here) by finishing the top with a waistband. Each time I narrowed the leg just a bit for a full leg look without going overboard. For this version, I folded the front pleat into an inverted box pleat and I like the fullness this gives. I kept the back as a flat pleat because, well, I don't need any more fullness there. 




For closure, I did a side zipper with a fly treatment and fly shield. Essentially, I did a fly front but on the side seam. This took a bit of thought to make sure the fly opened the way I wanted it. Done correctly, it should open toward the back so that the zipper is hidden from the front. I like this treatment because it fully hides the zipper and also protects my skin. It also allowed me to use whatever zip I had on hand, which in this case was a white and silver affair with a fun pull. Perfect for the vibe of these pants. 

I also very much wanted a pocket. But with the front pleats and the side zip, it was hard to figure out quite where to put it. Ultimately, I inserted a right front pocket under the waistband on the side of the shorts without the zipper. If you've made the Colette/Seamwork Clover Pants, it's the same type of pocket. It fits my phone quite nicely and got a ton of use. 


TThese will most likely be put away for the season, but a girl can dream, right?!

2 comments:

  1. yes definitely dreaming now. very cute shorts.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Can’t go wrong with orange.I like the pleats and zip, but I love that pocket!

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...