Kwik Sew 2840 – City Shorts…Completed

So, I now have pictures to share with you. Here's my "city shorts". I know they look a bit long (below my knee). I did not adjust the length of my shorts as I wanted to see how the basic fit would be straight from the pattern. The inseam length is about 10 inches.

I just love these shorts. The front pockets, the curved waist band, and the zipper application made these shorts fun to sew. I love Kwik Sew for their great pattern instructions and drawings.

The zipper is installed further in from the center front. That way you can't see the zipper at all. Even when I'm sitting down. I could have used a hot pink zipper with these shorts and you would never noticed. lol!

As I mentioned in the previous post, I had issues with “smiles” in the back of my shorts. Here’s a before and after picture. The before picture (left) represents the actual fit with no adjustments. You can see I have pinned the back seam to see what the fit would look like. On the right, is the after picture which includes the adjustments I made to the shorts. I re-sewed the inseams using 1/4 inch seam allowance. I sewed the back crotch deeper than the 5/8 inch seam. Once I got towards the back of my shorts, I tapered back to 5/8 inch seam allowance up along the back and through the waistbands. It does look a little better.

Sorry for the shocking rear end picture (left). DH was using my new camera and it must have been in "macro" mode with the flash turned up. lol! Well, I guess it helped that you all can see the rude details.

Here’s a picture of my back waistband. It’s nice to have a back seam that goes through the waistband area. Makes it easier if you have to take in or let out. I tried to make sure my seams matched up.





Here’s a picture of my front pocket with the topstitching details. It is true what some say, never stop topstitching while going around a curve. I kept an even sewing tempo going around the curves and created a smooth stitching curve. The edge of the pockets are also topstitched (double rows).

And I must not forget a picture of my zipper sewn into the center of my shorts. So, I didn't use hot pink after all. I went into my zipper stash (thank you...Vogue Fabrics) and found the perfect color. Of course, it was miles too long. After I sewed in my waist band to the top of my shorts, that's when I clipped the top of my zipper off.

I used my serger to finish most of the raw edges and seams. For the hem, I serged around the bottom edges of each leg. Then I pressed a 1 inch hem. I then pressed the serged edge into the hem. I topstitched around the hem.

I am pretty confident that I need to adjust my back pattern piece by adding to the crotch/inseam area. Any suggestions on how to get rid of the rest of the “smiles” would be greatly appreciated.