Shorts On the Line - Menswear Inspired

I made myself some Jeds!  What better excuse than Shorts On the Line to make my dream of Jeds for women a reality? If you have been hankering to make some shorts or have already done so in the last year, head on over to the Shorts on the Line Sew-Along on Kollabora to join in!  There are some awesome prizes up for grabs and there is a tonne of great shorts-sewing inspiration already posted. My Jedediah shorts are super comfy.  I made them in our smallest size (Size 30) which was too big for me at the waist but fits quite well when worn lower on the hips.  I love this classic, casual chino style - it is perfect to pair with feminine blouses if I want to be dressy or (probably more realistically) to wear with a t-shirt or button-up when I'm working on the garden or riding my bike! I used an organic cotton twill for this pair which was left over from a pair of Jedediah pants that I made for Matt...so we could match if we wanted to (but we don't want to :P)!  I shortened the pocket bags because when I went to hem my shorts, they were hanging out well below the hem.  As much as I loved their french seams and pretty floral fabric, I couldn't bear to display them to the world! I made a bit of a Jedediah production line and sewed some Jedediah pants at the same time that I sewed my shorts.  It really didn't take too much longer to sew two pairs instead of one! I LOVE the fabric I used for these.  It is a stretch cotton sateen with all sorts of flowers, birds and even butterflies printed on it.  It is pretty light weight and quite cool to wear in the summer heat.  Because it was stretchy I made two small pleats in the pants front (positioned half way between the fly and each pocket) before attaching the waistband and then cut off the excess waistband once one side was attached to the pants.  This resulted in a much snugger (and probably much better) fit than the shorts version and they sit where I would normally wear my jeans or pants - not too high waisted but not low on the hips. I took a little bit of width off of the knee area so they wouldn't look so baggy (probably only about an inch) and shortened the hem considerably.  I left off the back pockets on both the shorts and the pants to create a bit more of a feminine and maybe dressy look.  I like the fit that the back yoke created but I didn't get any pictures of the back view without my hands in my pockets.  Unfortunately, my hands are creating drag lines in both of these photos but you'll have to trust me that they aren't there when my hands aren't in my pockets! My favorite part of these Jeds is the cuffed hem I created.  I serged the raw edge, turned approximately 3" to the inside, stitched it in place and then folded the new hem upwards to create a small 1" cuff with no wrong side visible. Well, there you have it!  Two menswear pieces never even intended for a man and proudly worn by me!  Thanks, Carla, Rachael and Kollabora for the excuse to spend some time sewing for myself! This post is part of the Shorts on the Line sewalong.  Shorts on the Line 2014 is sponsored by: Britex Fabrics, Hawthorne Threads, miss matatabi, and Soak Wash.  Hosted by imagine gnats, small + friendly, and Kollabora.