Selfish Sewing: Maritime Shorts

In case you didn't notice, I am a Featured Stitcher on Made With Moxie's blog today with a pattern review for her and Imagine Gnat's Selfish Sewing Week.  When Jill asked if I'd be willing to review a pattern I jumped at the chance to a) actually make something for myself for fun and b) step out of my comfort zone and learn some new skills.  The Maritime Shorts from Grainline Studio fit the bill on both counts as not only have I never sewn myself woven shorts (or trousers for that matter) but I've also never sewn a zipper fly.  Shocking.

The printing, taping and tracing was a doddle and my measurements corresponded to a straight size 8 without blending between sizes.  Aiming for a wearable muslin for my first time, I used a nice teal thick canvas as it's already very autumnal in Scotland (as evidenced by the mid-shoot sweater addition- let's just say it was noticeably cold).  In hindsight, this wasn't the very best fabric to choose but more on that later.

I absolutely love the two cute pockets to the back; between these pockets and the tiny pocket I sewed on my Tumble Tee I think I've got a burgeoning pocket obsession.  Could they be behind my two cute pockets on the Panelled Pinafore?  Perhaps.  Crisp pressed edges, neat top-stitching, triangle corners... what's not to love?  And now the moment of truth... just how did I get on with that fly?  Not too shabby.  I admit that I had some issues with figuring out exactly how it would work (there is a separate tutorial on the Grainline blog with pictures that helped a lot) and I made some mistakes.  Clue: when she says baste she actually means baste because that stitching comes out later.  Despite knowing in my heart of hearts that no good would come of stitching both sides of a zipper face down, my cavalier attitude towards basting zippers (clue: nobody has time for that) won and my prize was a seam-ripper.  See also: baste the fly shield.

Now that we're looking at the inside, I'll extrapolate a bit about the problem I had with this fabric - it has no right or wrong side.  Not a problem where the main pieces were concerned, but the cutting instructions had the waistband facings in the same fabric as the body fabric so I had two back pieces, two front right pieces, and two front left pieces in the same fabric, looking the same on both sides, and it all went haywire.  Because of the fly, the front left and right pieces are not symmetrical.  First I ironed interfacing onto the wrong pieces and had to cut them again.  And then I assembled the waistband wrong.  Finally I decided to find the precise back, front left and front right pieces needed to do the waistband correctly, set them aside and cut facings out of the pocket lining fabric.  In the end, this was a good idea as the canvas is so thick that a self-faced (with interfacing as well!) waistband would've been very bulky.  While we're talking about the pocket lining fabric, I also want to mention that you might need to notch the curve of the lining before pining and stitching it on, I just couldn't manage it without.

 

I made one final schoolgirl error (entirely my own, no fault of the pattern!) in that I fitted it before attaching the waistband.  I have a tremendous swayback from my long career of standing louche-ly and when I tried it on I ascertained that I should pinch out an inch at centre back.  So I did, amended my waistband to reflect and soldiered on.  What I forgot, however, is that what I lack in the centre back I make up for in the centre front and that extra inch would be desirous at waistband height.   It's not a disaster and they're still wearable but I think I'll go right back to the original pattern for my next go.   Overall, I'm very pleased with how they turned out and I'm looking forward to making more for the summer in snazzier fabrics.

Disclosure: I received this pattern free as part of Selfish Sewing Week. All opinions my own.