I found these shorts during a recent op shop shopping spree for $5. They are made by Country Road (read $$) and are lovely quality so I had to take them home, even though the cut of the legs was rather unflattering, to say the least.
I tried them on at home and played around with pins and elastic tied in various ways down my legs - rest assured I was in the sewing room, nothing kinky I promise! Eventually I decided that a slimmer leg with a ribbed cuff was the way to go. I have done this before with knit and woven fabric (click on the pictures below to read all about it) and posted a tutorial. I do like this look on me, so I repeated the procedure keeping the leg slightly longer this time.
Basically, what I did was to wear the shorts inside out and pin the side seams in to where I wanted the new seams. I took in both side seams, but if one had had top-stitching, I would have only taken in the other and left the top-stitching intact so it looked properly finished. I then laid the shorts out flat and marked where to sew the new side seams, adjusting as necessary to get both legs the same. Once the side seams were done, I just found matching ribbing (I have a large ribbing stash, also op-shopped and always coming in handy), cut it to fit my calf and sewed it on as described in the yoga pants tutorial.
Much improved shorts :)
I kept the original hem on these as I liked the detail. I top-stitched on the shorts fabric side of the cuff seam for a more polished finish. It's difficult to see in these photos, but you can just about see it here.
I wore these on the weekend when we visited Santa Land in Myer, Perth. Father Christmas was very impressed :)
It was a hot day, and the boys had a great time playing in the new water playground in the city...
...and yes, I made their swim shorts. Speaking of swimwear, I have finished my new bathers and will be posting pictures as soon as I can get to the beach and take some!
4 comments:
Those pants are much improved. I really like the boys swim shorts and the mas display. sounds like a great weekend.
Wow, those really suit you (much improved). I find pants so hard to get right and resort to same old RTW jeans all the time.
It's lovely to see you all enjoying the summer, even if I find it a hard to get my head around the possibility of it. (You do not want to be in the UK right now...)
Thank you. The pants are great, I've worn them three times in the last week! The swim shorts are also fantastic - so practical and long enough to give some sun protection. For some reason, it's really hard to find this length in the shops. I made them ages ago but didn't blog about them for some reason :)
You should copy your RTW pants, or maybe try some new styles. I'm sure you are being too hard on yourself about what looks good. BTW, I'm surprised to see you use the word 'pants'. I had to be careful not to say that in the UK or I was laughed at for discussing my underwear! And yes, I am certainly glad I'm not amongst the floods over there. I certainly don't miss that UK weather. Stay dry!
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