Shorts Weather

I love wearing shorts. They’re my favourite clothing item to wear. Living in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, its warm enough to wear shorts about 9 to 10 months of the year, and for those other two cooler months if you're active and moving around you can still wear shorts!

I have a variety, mostly second hand, and some I've had for many years. One pair of running shorts I bought brand new I’ve had for about ten years. Hardly new anymore! I love that they’re still going strong, helped by the fact they have a waist tie as well as elastic (which is long gone).

Back in 2020, I tried my hand at sewing a new-to-me style of shorts: dress shorts. Before COVID times, my old team at work did ‘Dress Shorts Friday’ at the end of each year before everyone went on their holiday break. This project was my first attempt at pushing my sewing skills beyond the basics I had done so far, at the same time impressing my colleagues with my stylish clothing item.

About the project

• Purpose - who doesn’t love shorts and want to wear more styles? Practice fly closure, practice pant construction
• Pattern - Vogue Easy Options V9008, View C
• Second hand material, zip and button!
• Thread bought new to match the fabric

I did my mock-up, or toile, and was reasonably happy with the fit. Oh, how far I’ve come now, I spend so much time thinking and playing with fit to make items better! The oatmeal coloured fabric is so lovely and I really like the slight side curve and top stitch detail.

I did a decent job on these shorts - however! A bit more than a year later and they’re really a bit big around the waist, and too roomy at the front of my hips. They are currently sitting in my mending basket for a #garmentrenovation. I already know how to take in the waist, and I'll do some research about how to remove the roominess from the front before I get started. 

The absolute most annoying mistake I made on these shorts was sewing the button hole vertically instead of horizontally! The button pulls and could possibly pop out, most likely at an inopportune moment. Lesson learned! Maybe I can fix that too, I’m sure there’s some kind of button hole search results that would be helpful.
The second annoying thing about these shorts... is they don't have pockets. I know, I know, I made a project without pockets and they're not even a style of shorts that you can insert them and have them look good. Can't fix the lack of pockets on this one.

​Since my oatmeal shorts project, I’ve made both long and short pyjama pants so now I have a couple of pant construction approaches under my belt to use in the future. The next pair of shorts I have on my project list is from the same V9008 pattern, I’m going for View F in a lovely navy blue crepe style fabric I bought second hand years ago. They're going to be soft, drapey, and flattering, and they've got pockets!