Mood Sewciety, Piper Shorts

Recently I've been browsing the Mood Sewciety website on pretty much a daily basis - who knew there were SO MANY FREE patterns on there?? I feel like I've been missing a trick here, there are patterns for everything from underwear to overcoats, all with clear, illustrated instructions. 

In search of summer patterns, I landed on the Piper Shorts - a paperbag style short with elasticated waist and cute tie belt. You're right- that means minimal fabric requirements and no faffy fastenings! 

This lush mocha coloured twill fabric was from my birthday haul (thanks moma!) from Hillsbrough Fine Fabrics in Sheffield. It was £7.99 a meter and I managed to squeeze these shorts out of 1 meter by cutting the tie belt in two halves instead of all in one. 

I made a toile from my brother's old curtains (!) and found the shorts a bit too long? Did anyone else find this? Compared to the piccy on the website my toile seemed a bit more pantalon than cheeky shorts! I took 6cm out of the crotch length so that the waist channel sat on my waist and the crotch sat comfortably. I also altered the curve in the front crotch a little so that it didn't look so baggy. 

After taking some length out of the shorts I also took some out of the back pockets too so they would still fit happily on my bum without disappearing into the turn-ups. This was my opportunity to do some crazy top stitching, but I chickened out! I think I'm gonna perfect an AH embroidery logo then have a stab at this next time I do back pockets. 

The good thing about the elasticated waist is you can shuffle the fabric round to allow for more fabric where you need it. This helps create a really good fit - the 'paperbag' bit at the top helping to create a flattering silhouette. I guess the lower you have your waist channel the more paperbag you get? 

Also helping to create that silhouette is the addition of this cute little bow belt. I made sure to interface my belt so it didn't get creased up and held onto its structure. Due to fabric restrictions, I cut it in two halves and attached together. 

I strayed from the pattern and added three belt loops at the side and centreback seams to keep the belt in place when I moved (had a habit of riding up off the shorts at the back if I didnt). To do this I just folded a strip of fabric in half to the belt look was 1cm in width, trimmed the seam allowance then turned. I cut the strip into 3 equal pieces, about 6cm in length, then top stitched the edges of each loop. I turned under roughly 1cm and stitched down close to the elastic, but without actually sewing into the channel. I love these as a finishing touch. 

I turned the bottoms up three times to create these chunky turn ups and secured with a few stitches in three places around the top of each. I think there is probably a way to turn these up so the right side of the fabric is still showing? Maybe I'll experiment with this next time. 

x

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