Shorts – Nikki Nicole Sew

Whew! Where has the time gone? I’ve been in an energetic headspace where time doesn’t seem to exist, because lately I honestly haven’t been aware of how much time has been passing. It felt good to find myself suddenly back in my sewing room and putting my hands to fabric and sitting in front of my sewing machine. This was a thoroughly enjoyable make from start to finish. I’d planned on making a matching top, but mid-way though realized I’d sewed the back of my shirt backwards, ha. So much for that matching set, but at least these shorts came out fantastic!

PROJECT DETAILS:

Cargo Style Summer Shorts: Vogue 1958. I’m not even a normal short wearing person, but I must say these are the best drafted shorts sewing pattern I have ever ran across. It is currently my favorite short pattern and has been added to my list of tried-and-true patterns. I literally love everything about this pattern from the gusset cargo pockets to the old 80’s mom shorts feel of this pattern. I don’t know why, but in all my years of sewing I had somehow never sewn gusset pockets before now, but thanks to a great YouTube tutorial my fears were unfounded. I will definitely be sewing the pant version of this pattern in the future.

FABRIC – This summery goodness of a fabric is a striped navy and white cotton shirting from LA Finch Fabrics. This fabric was gifted to me in exchange for a review/blog post, but I honestly would have done this for free, because I plan on going back to purchase more of this fabric. LA Finch Fabrics is one of my favorite and rare Long Beach local fabric spots, and Josie the owner is one of the nicest people you could meet. While it is a predominantly online store, there is also a brick and mortar store for anyone that wants to pick up their purchases locally or pop in to purchase in person.

STYLE – Almost zero styling here, as I was going for a paired down casual look. I had on a pair of white Van’s, a graphic tee and prescription sunglasses.

This past month I have been moving a bit slow sewing wise. While it was not a complete loss of sewjo, life took priority. I also seem to have too many things that I want to sew, as I couldn’t decide what to sew next for the longest. I finally decided on a menswear pattern. We have so few of them on the market in comparison to the women patterns, but I really love what the new sewing generation of men have been doing. They’ve really been knocking the designs out of the park. I love the eye for detail and tailoring that the men patterns tend to have, and I’ve noticed that their patterns tend to be far better drafted than the women.

PROJECT DETAILS:

Men’s Wear Matching Set : Simplicity 9758 , view B and view C. This is the quintessential summer set designed for men, but clearly can work for the women as well. The first thing that I noticed right off was how well drafted the pattern pieces were, even in the construction directions, it was the eye for ease of sewing that I loved the most about this pattern. I love wearing Bermuda shorts, on the rare occasions that I wear shorts, so I knew that I wanted to go with view C for the shorts since those were the longer version.

FABRIC – Cotton and Linen is the “IT” fabrics of the summer season, so I’m always thrilled when I can find a cotton/linen blend that combined the best of both worlds. I’d discovered this fabric quite by accident. I popped into the brick and mortar of LA Finch Fabrics looking for rayon challis for an upcoming jumpsuit. While I picked up the rayon, my eyes flew to this fabric, which had just been received in the store. I’m so glad I bought some, as this has been a dream to sew with and I love the watercolor design so much, it definitely screams tropical vacation look.

STYLE – I had on a pair of Schutz Gold Sandals, with my usual gold hoop earrings and stacking gold bangles bracelets and a Target tank.

Category: Shorts

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