Cotton Friend Shorts and Sewing Japanese Patterns

I finally managed to finish something this month! I needed an easy project after feeling crummy and I had already tested these in some heavy polyester so I knew the fit and construction.

Pre elastic. 

With the test pair I learned these look best in a lightweight press-able fabric. So I had to go back to the stash and reevaluate my choices.

I found this lightweight twill and a solid meant it would match with all my printed tops and I could do the cute little bow belt. I stash busted almost all of this fabric up which was very exciting! Lying right next to it was an "ugly" cotton floral I've had for years. Suddenly it looked very attractive made up as skirty shorts.

In a lightweight cotton you get the twirly factory even though it's shorts. Can you wear floral and polka dots together? I look like an upside down flower....

Guts and details. 

Pattern Details: Cotton Friend Autumn Edition 2012 vol. 44

I traced the largest size and they fit fine without me adding seam allowance. I do think if I were to make these up in a very lightweight fabric I would add more fullness down the center of the patterns so they would look as full as the magazine photos.

Modifications: 

1. I only ran 3 pieces of elastic through instead of the 4 the pattern called for because of the width of elastic I had. Inserting the elastic like this ensures perfect fit to you and lovely precise gathers.

2. Since the back and front are IDENTICAL I added ribbon tags to center back.

3. I added pockets because who wants to run around summer camp without pockets. You always need a place to stash treasures no matter how old you are.

4. On the solid red pair I added the fold over amount to the pattern again so the crotch drop would be lower so I can hike them up higher when I have painful infusion sets which was part of the point of me making these.

I think these will be a fun addition to my summer wardrobe and am delighted by how much stash they used up! I'm adding these to the Sew Japanese Sew-Along I stumbled upon. I was so excited to find it as I'm always looking for more people who sew these lovely styles. I've realized part of my style is heavily influenced by Japanese styles, specifically mori kei... but I think that post will have to come later...