Lander Shorts for the Garden

Lander shorts for the garden

Here is another pair of Lander Pant shorts. This time I omitted the belt loops and incorporated the button fly instead of the zipper. The fabric is an upholstery fabric for outdoor patio cushions. It's a remnant I picked up on Freecycle a couple years ago. It has so many colors from my garden and the fabric should be sturdy enough to last for quite some time. The pocket lining came from a neighbor who was downsizing her stash.

Short fabric and pocket lining

The floral pattern on the shorts does not seem to have a specific up or down direction so cutting didn't take very long at all. I was not trying to match the pattern on any seams and purposely cut the back pockets from different sections of the print.

Back pieces with darts

Pockets with lining

These shorts were sewn on my Bernina 1120 with a little serging help done on my Brother 1034D.

Having sewn this pattern up a few times now, I don't have to check the directions at every step, but I still had to read closely when it came to putting in the button fly. 

Alternate, smaller buttons

These are not the buttons that I had originally picked for the shorts. I used my Singer 201 to make the buttonholes and I did do a test run, but apparently I did not check that sample close enough and after I had finished 3 buttonholes I realized that the openings were too small for the buttons. Fortunately, I was able to find another set in my stash that worked well with the fabric. The buttonholes are done in a light green thread and then that same thread is used for the hem because I ran out of the yellow I had been using for the rest of the construction.

Hem was serged then folded under 3/4"

Photos were taken in the garden yesterday between rain showers. The lighting wasn't great and it was still sprinkling in some pictures. 

The big pockets in this pattern are a plus

Button spacing turned out well

Side view 

Back pockets don't match

Comfortable for weeding 

No gaping in the back waistband

Sitting on the front stoop

Fabric colors complement the garden

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

Lander Shorts

Shorts, for the 5 days we've needed them so far this summer

These started out as a muslin to test fit, but they turned out very wearable and will be a great addition to my summer wardrobe. The fabric came from a fabric remnant bag I picked up off of Craigslist. I'm not sure what the fabric content is, but it's thick and I think it will be very durable. The pattern is the Lander Short from True Bias Patterns. I cut a size 14 and left out the pocket lining since it was planned as a muslin. All sewing was done on my Bernina 1230 and buttonholes were on the Singer 201.

Front pocket, unlined

The back pockets turned out a bit smaller than the pattern called for because I decided to use selvedge for the tops and did not have to fold and finish the top edge.

Setting pocket before edge-stitching

Back pockets finished

Buttonholes done with Singer 201

 Edgestitching gave the waistband and pockets clear definition.

Attaching waistband

Buttons from the collection

Surprisingly, I found four matching brown buttons in the vintage button box and the hook and eye closures were picked up at an estate sale. The three bottom buttons are functional, but the top one on the waistband is decorative. There is a hook and eye underneath that button.

Buttons and hook & eye closures from the stash

Trying out the fit. There are some wrinkles and creases, but that may be due to having just finished sewing them and not pressing.

Looks good in front

Back pockets are even

I finished these shorts last fall, but they had to sit in storage until just this week. Here are a few pics fresh out of the Rubbermaid bin.

A bit wrinkly

I still like the selvedge on the pockets

Doing a little porch sitting with Stewie