Almost Iris..... Iris shorts

Almost Iris - With cute pocket.

In case you missed it... Sarai of the wonderful Colette Patterns released her Spring/Summer 2012 range the other day. While I love the 2 dress patterns Lily and Hazel, I am not really a pretty dress kind of girl, although I have to say my taste is evolving as I grow older and learn to sew more complex (ha) garments.. but I digress. Iris, now Iris blew me away......... I had, just HAD to have this pattern and since for the first time ever the 3 new patterns are available for download, I didn't have to wait 2 weeks for the mail to arrive (or pay international postage). How great is that?

So I got busy and downloaded Iris asap.... Now I am usually a board shorts girl because I like the longer length but I like this pattern because Iris just looks so pretty and she has inseam pockets!!!!! Love!!
I was super keen and cut and taped my pattern together right away. Cutting is quickest if you cut away the right hand side and the bottom of each page for easy taping together with minimal fuss.

I cut a size 6 as it corresponded to my measurements. My fabric choice was the left over red denim from my Minoru. I knew the denim would be difficult to sew in some areas of this pattern but I didn't have any other medium weight fabric handy, and well I wanted to make these shorts now!!!!

I was a very busy bee, all day long (beginner Sewist) but the pattern came together easily, instructions clear, pattern pieces match up where they should. It was all fairy floss and candy until I had one leg sewn and was ready to install the invisible zipper, I tried the old one leg in whilst holding the other side to see how they will look and fit - Iris does not fit me in this size. Boo hoo.

It was all downhill from here... I thought "Hey I have come this far, lets finish Iris anyway". I went on to install a faulty invisible zipper, then break the next invisible zipper.... at this point I gave up. The pictures are the way this Iris will remain.

I am not sure what went wrong size wise but no biggie, all I have to do is make the next size up. The fabric is left over from a prior project and if I really want red denim shorts (which I think I do) I still actually have enough left to make another pair.

Yes, that might be a broken (not) invisible zip and chipped nail polish or it could be a really cute inseam pocket with some gingham lining.

The bottom line is this pattern is really great, easy for a beginner, cute as hell and those pockets!!!! I LOVE these little pockets.


Dana