Well, we’ve had a lovely little heatwave in london, summer is definitely on the way… with that in mind, I thought I’d better make some shorts.

Let me tell you what inspired me: One of the last pairs of shop bought trousers I own is a beautiful pair of white Hermes slacks, they have been made exquisitely incorporating lots of interesting details… one of which is; the back waistband is made out of elastic! Now, before you start thinking of those two-for-the-price-of-one ‘comfort’ trousers advertised in the back pages of ‘Old Peoples Monthly’ throughout the 70’s and 80’s remember, these are Hermes trousers! The elastic is beautiful in both colour and quality. The back of the trousers is eased in imperceptibly giving just enough hold without squeezing or bunching up the fabric. They really are a classy pair of strides!

Difficult to wear though in my usual circles. They are much more suited to swanning through a 5* hotel reception… in corresponding designer loafers, no doubt. And did I mention that they’re WHITE??? (Not to sound ungrateful but, WHAT was he thinking?!) The last time I wore them was in Thailand, the time before that, Egypt. Sadly, now they are compressed into a vaccuum-bag in a loft in Amersham… How the mighty have fallen!

Still, I loved that elasticated waistband and wanted to try to pay homage to it in something I’d made. I had just enough fabric left over from a trouser and waistcoat set I’d made for a special occasion last year; It’s a worsted wool from Holland and Sherry with cashmere and silver mink (… I still haven’t looked that up…?) it feels gorgeous and is so nice to sew with. I picked it up last year at the Great British Sewing Bee Live event. (In related news, it’s exciting to hear that the TV show will be coming back on in the UK. I hope they do the live event again too…)

I didn’t have a fancy elastic, or at least an elastic fancy enough (or wide enough) to be on show with these shorts. But I did have some very nice cotton jersey ribbing that I’d picked up on my last trip to Goldhawk Road, and some of that nice thick Prym elastic to put inside it.

For the pattern I used my old faithful; Chino Pattern M – from my most used pattern book, Mens Clothes For All Seasons. I don’t mean to go on and on about this book, the main reason it’s so good for me is that everything seems to fit me pretty well from it. Although I’ve only really used a handful of patterns… Did I tell you I had it spiral bound at the copy-shop? It didn’t cost much (… maybe six quid?) and it’s made it so much easier to use as it now sits flat on the table. If you have a favourite book that you use a lot, I highly recommend getting it spiral bound.

I cut everything out for shorts, using a leftover piece of grey linen for the pocket bags… (this was turning into a real stashbuster). The only alteration I made was to cut two front waistbands from the wool and one back waistband from the jersey ribbing. I estimated the amount of negative ease needed for the back waistband (very scientifically) by laying it next to the back trouser pieces, giving it a bit of a stretch and guessing. I decided to cut the seam allowance off (so, 3cm shorter) then, the same with the elastic.

Check out this post if you want to read how these shorts are put together ‘by the book’ but here I thought I’d focus on the pockets and the waistband…

Alas the ‘Inspiration Trousers’ were incarcerated (as previously mentioned) and unavailable for reference. But I knew for certain there wouldn’t be any overlocking on the pocket bags!

Front Pockets;

I folded the seam allowance of the facing pieces and edgestitched them in place on the pocket bags, basting around the rest of the edges.

After sewing the pockets to the front trousers I understitch the seam allowance to the pocket facing to help keep it in place. Then, swing the pocket bags out so that you can reverse the fold at the centre bottom and sew the bag with the wrong sides together. I use 1,5cm seam allowance, so I sew the first time at 5mm, then turn the seam in, press and sew again at 1cm.

This photo from my Ottobre Jeans shows all the stages…

Back Pockets;

French seaming back pockets, now, that was new to me! Of course, it would have been easier to research it first, but I have this weird habit of researching things after instead. It’s not a particularly useful trait, but there it is. After a little head-scratching I decided on this…

Having sewn the back darts and the back pocket welt (I decided on only one back pocket, on the right) thankfully I remembered to put in the buttonhole at this point too..!

I had the back prepared and a separate pocket facing piece to attach so I lined up the bottom edge first and sewed it wrong sides together…

Then I rolled the shorts up and in so that I could pin and sew the side of the pocket…

With that done, I folded in the rest of the shorts…

… and made a little pocket-parcel…

It reminded me of the burrito yoke method, but looks more like a toasted sandwich! Anyway, flip the filling out and give it a good poke and a press…

Finish off with a 1cm stitch all around to seal in the raw edges. And there it is, my first french seamed back pocket…

Waistband:

I sewed in the fly at the front (with two beltloops basted in place) and finished the seat seam at the back. Then I stitched the front waistband pieces on at the waistline. To prepare the back band, I positioned the elastic in the fold of the jersey and secured it with a zigzag stitch near the top on the inside. I was winging it and didn’t take step by step shots, but you can see the zigzag stitch in the pics below…

Next I sewed up the side seams, including the (still ‘open’) waistband. I then overlocked the whole inside edge of the waistband, front to back, all the way around. I finished it off like any other trouser waistband, making the corners at the front opening then stitching-in-the-ditch from the front, catching the overlocked edge on the inside.

There’s not much else to report… the buttonhole went in smoothly (Praise be to the Old Gods and the New…) and I blind hemmed them on the machine to finish them off. The weather is hotting-up in London, so I know I’ll get to wear them soon, and hopefully a lot over the summer. They feel so comfortable, soft and cool. MrA & I have some theatre tickets booked this summer and it can get absolutely roasting hot in these old West-End theatres in the summer. These shorts are going to be perfect for dressing up while keeping cool. And if I really want to go for it I can totally spiv it up with the matching waistcoat!

I forgot to mention, I used the selvedge in the fly and facing…

I’d better iron them before I put them on!

As luck would have it, a sunny day coincided with one of my days off and I got to wear them straight away!

Happy sewing.

Notes to self:

  • Take the front waistband round to the back by about 3-4cm for a more streamline look. (put it on last like normal in this case)
  • Keep searching for that perfect patterned elastic!
  • Get a tan.
  • Please don’t stand on the benches.