First Draft: Colette Iris Shorts

At first, I wasn't really sure Colette's Iris shorts were quite my thing.  I don't wear shorts all that often, and didn't feel that I was missing out much.  But then, over Memorial Day weekend, I found myself really wishing I had some great shorts, and my gym shorts weren't cutting it.  So the next time I was at Sew to Speak, I decided I should just go ahead and buy it.

A couple months ago, my aunt gave me a bag of fabrics that she wasn't using, and this berry print fabric was one of them.  It's the right weight for shorts, and was free, the perfect combination for a first try.

As this is a first try, I'm a bit on the fence about the fit.  Just based on the slight wrinkles on the front, I think I need just a bit more give through the hips.  It's a little easier to see in the photo below:

Joanna was being artistic with camera angles when she took this one!

I have a ton of this berry fabric, so perhaps I'll alter the fit just a bit before making it with fabric that actually costs money. For this particular pair, I only paid $2 for a zipper and used Lotta Jansdotter fabric to line the pockets.  I already had this blue and white stuff in my stash.

Side view

The side view is a little bit fuzzy, but you get the idea.  I like the fit from this angle.  Aside from wanting to alter the fit a little, the zipper was the only bit that caused a couple problems, mostly because the seams at the waist are so thick, it's hard to zip past this part.  I may rip this out and fiddle with it a bit.  On the one hand, I want the zipper to be invisible, but on the other hand, I don't want it to get stuck in the very thick fabric.  This is obviously not my strong suit, even though I follow Colette's very helpful tutorial. (And this one!)  I'm a bit annoyed, because the zippers for my Meringue skirts have been going in like a dream.  The problem that I'm having is not really the zipper itself, but the way the zipper fits in the place where the waist pieces meet the body of the shorts.

Lotta Jansdotter in my pocket!

I'll certainly be making more of these shorts.  Once I play with the fit a bit, I could see myself wearing these all summer.  Also, Joanna loves this pattern too, so I want to make a couple pairs for her.  She's so thin - I think I'll have to cut a size 2 for the waist and grade down to a 0 in the hips.  You'll certainly hear about it when I try it!