Skip to main content

Made by a Fabricista: Last Shorts of Summer

There are so many things that I love about summer; shorts, sandals, warm sunshine, cold ice cream, and fireflies, just to name a few. It pains me to admit that summer is drawing to an end. To celebrate my love for summer, I decided to sew one last pair of shorts and a coordinating button-up.

Fabric Mart recently started carrying Megan Nielsen Patterns, so I jumped at the opportunity to make my last shorts of summer. I've been eyeing the classic Flint Pants & Shorts pattern for years now, so I knew this was the perfect time to snatch up the pattern and start sewing. I picked a Cream and Navy horizontal stripe viscose Suiting fabric to make my Flint Shorts. 


The pattern recommended woven fabrics ranging in different weights depending on the look that you are going for. I wanted a nice structured pair of shorts, so I thought that this mid-weight woven suiting fabric would do the trick. 

While the Cream and Navy horizontal stripe suiting proved to be a bit of a challenge to work with due to its thickness, I was happy with the end result after a few modifications to the original pattern. I added a row of topstitching across the top of the waistband for added stability. I also added a row of topstitching on the front of the pockets for added stability and crispness.

Did you happen to notice any other pattern modifications, from my photos? Would you have guessed that the buttons on the front of the shorts are fake? Due to the thickness of the fabric, normal buttonholes just wouldn't work as waistband closures for these shorts so I decided on a sneaky closure instead. I added three plastic snaps to the inside of the waistband and then sewed those two cream buttons on the outside of the waistband as decoy buttons to trick the eye into believing that the buttons are real!

Even though I made so many modifications to my Flint Shorts, I am happy with my new shorts, fake buttons, and all!

Once I wrapped up my Flint shorts, I grabbed some Dark Navy Rayon Voile fabric from Fabric Mart to make a Seamwork Aster shirt. I made the Seamwork Aster shirt once before in a very structured woven fabric, so I knew that this time, I wanted to make it in a flowy, comfortable Rayon. Aster is such a great choice for beginners because it is a collar-free button-up blouse. I made version 1 of the pattern which has short, cuffed sleeves because I knew version 1 would pair well with the Flint Shorts. 

The only modification that I made to my Aster shirt is that I used slightly wider bias tape on the inside of the neckline because I wanted to use a pretty pink and blue bias tape from my stash! I'm very happy with how this Aster shirt turned out because it is the perfect addition to my handmade wardrobe. 

I know that my Aster Blouse and Flint Shorts will be the perfect pair to carry me through the final days of summer into the cooler fall weather to come! Thanks for reading, now go soak up the rest of that summer sun!

SHAINA   @shaina_sews 


Unfortunately Fabric Mart Fabrics sell out quickly!
You can find similar fabrics by shopping the following categories: SUITING & VOILE.
You can also shop our entire collection of Megan Nielsen patterns HERE.

Comments

  1. Your shorts and top are very nicely made. I love the shorts hack to use snaps instead of buttons.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Your outfit is the perfect close for summer and it is a perfect fit on you. Buttons over snaps make a great closure for sure.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks for leaving a comment! All comments are reviewed before posting to help us eliminate spam. Your comment will be posted within 24 hours.

Popular Posts You Might Like

Made By A Fabricista: Why Sew A Muslin

Here it is, my September blog post featuring Newlook N6692 and this pretty rayon challis from Fabric Mart! This pattern style is so in right now. The square neckline, cute puff sleeves and the tiered skirt are all exactly what I was looking for in a summer dress. As always I started with making a muslin first!  Let’s get into why it’s important to start with a muslin.  A muslin is basically a practice garment. It prevents you from cutting into your good fabric prematurely.  I usually use a muslin fabric (natural cotton) but you should also consider using a fabric that is the same weight as your fashion fabric. This will give you a truer gauge of how the garment is going to lay in the final fabric. Anytime I try out a new pattern company I make a muslin. This was my first time using a Newlook pattern so I need to know what the ease would be like for this pattern. Also I need to see how the bust would fit me and where I would need to make adjustments. Plus there were some new techniques

Made By A Fabricista: The Love of Sewing - Basic Pieces for a Beginner

Happy Friday All! It has been a while since I made myself a dress. I am excited to sew after not making anything since my last post (whew) and finally sharing some photos.  This past summer has been a roller coaster journey with plans to release a small collection and then deciding that right before the launch to postpone. Sewing has brought me joy over the past 8 years and the mere fact to sew daily for orders had me in a panic mode. I really don’t want to walk away from my craft due to burn out  and decided that if I do sew for others, it would be only for local clients. Moreover, If next year I decide to launch, it would be seasonal and not year round. I really want to share my talent and love for sewing with others but don’t want it to be a full time job and lose the passion in me.  After a bit of soul searching, teaching and sharing my talent with my community will always be my first love. For the past 2 summers, I was blessed to partner with two nonprofit organizations’ local sum

Made By A Fabricista: End of Summer

Summer is nearing to an end but here where I am in Texas the heat isn’t letting up any time soon!  I still have plenty of time to get a few more summer looks out of the way.  In this blog I will be sharing two separate projects. The first project is this denim set; I had the inspiration saved on my list of makes to make.  For this project I got this gorgeous denim and matching thread to start my project. Yes, Fabric Mart will match the thread to your fabric perfectly and with my favorite thread brand Gutermann.  The denim had a very great weight and wasn’t too stiff.  It was very starchy when it arrived, so I did a prewash before working with it.  I’m so glad I did because it had a lot of dye saturated in which would not have been great for the skin and other clothes. For the first part of the set, I drafted a corset with the scallop edge cups, such a cute detail!   To start I used my bodice sloper to make the corset, I was not worried about the design details and focused more on