Yellow Corduroy Lander Shorts

These shorts were so fun to make and I'm thrilled with how they turned out. I have used this pattern before, but this time I wanted to concentrate on fitting the waistband. My earlier attempts were mostly too loose and there was gaping in the back. I had also never actually put in the belt loops so I planned to give those a try.
Other than the pattern which I purchased  ago, I was able to pull all the pieces I needed for these shorts from my stash. The fabric is from Lillian, the pocket lining is from a lady in Wilmette who had me service her machine so that she could give it to mask makers, matching thread is from Cedar Rapids when I bought my Bernina 1230, the zipper and snap came from school as they are discontinuing the sewing classes, and the button is from my Aunt Janyce's collection. This was a fantastic example of making do with what you've got.

Fabric has faded areas and a couple stains

Pocket front top, pocket lining bottom

Shorts construction started with the pockets. For the back pockets I used the decorative flower stitch for a little whimsy. For the front pockets, no changes were made.

Matching pockets to lining 

Sewing pockets to lining

Topstitched pocket openings

Pockets attached to short fronts

Next, I worked on the invisible zipper. I tried to follow Kenneth King's tutorial on invisible zippers and while I'm happy with how it turned out, the zipper is definitely not invisible. I didn't have a yellow zipper and ended up using a tan one.

I liked King's process for inserting this zipper

For the belt loops, I accidentally cut twice as much fabric as it called for but this turned out to be a very good thing. It was so difficult to turn the loops right side out after they were sewn and I ended up having to sew up extra loops get enough useable ones.

Belt loops

For the waistband I used some iron-on interfacing that was designed specifically for waistbands. This interfacing was a bit stiffer than what I had before and it held a good shape.

Belt loops and waistband ready to be basted

To help minimize the gap between my lower back and the waistband, I put in a fish eye dart.

Fish eye dart

This fabric frayed non-stop. Every time I got up for sewing I was covered in yellow threads and fuzz. When I was hemming the shorts I decided to serge the edges first to minimize the unraveling. Then the hem was turned up 3/4" and secured with a zig-zag stitch. The button is decorative and there is a large snap underneath it. Both the snap and the button were sewn on by hand.

One-of-a-kind button

Back pockets a bit faded, but have small flower detail in stitching

Pictures were taken in the back yard on a very sunny day. I had been sitting for several hours already in the shorts as I wrapped up school work for the year. There are wrinkles and shadows in the pics, but that's a glimpse as to how the shorts wear in the 'wild.'

Let's see that button

From the back

Side view

Zipper is not invisible, but it works perfectly fine

I did take a couple action shots to show how the shorts move or sit as I'm moving.

No gaping when I sit down

I can bend over in the garden and not show my cheeks

Spring yellow complements the Clematis and the Lilac bush