I hate summer, but I LOVE summer clothes. Shorts and tanks just give me joy, so I'm so excited to be working with a very talented group of bloggers to present to you our shorts mini series.

Each blogger in this series has sewn up their favorite pair (or pairs) of shorts. Shorts, capris, woven knits, no holds barred summer wear.

I would love to share a bunch of pairs of shorts with you, but fitting pants and shorts is hard work (for me anyway). So instead, I picked the most versatile pattern I had, the Pattern Emporium Hepburn Shorts. The advantage of the Hepburn Shorts is that you've got a pair of shorts in 2 lengths, with or without pockets and either an elastic waist or true curved waist band and side zipper. That means fit once and get at LEAST 8 different views. AND they can be sewn up with quilting weight cottons. Pretty much instant love right there. I opted for the play length with elastic waistband. 1 pair with and the other without pockets.

The tops in both photos are the Love Notions Hip Hop Tank in stretch woven. I'll be sure to blog about those some time soon.

You might recognize this quilting cotton from my daughter's Pensacola Petal Top a few weeks ago. I'm so glad I had a little left because I love this color on me. But this was actually my muslin BEFORE I cut into my chambray.

So lets talk fit. To start, I knew I fit into the size 8 based on measurements. I also knew, that wasn't going to work at all. Why? My giant quads and small butt (the opposite of what most people deal with), means my front half is substantially larger than my back half. So I started musling using the size 6 back and size 10 front. Round 1, fail. The back was 1" too big and the front was 1" too small. Also, I didn't have the elastic that the pattern called for, So I shortened the waist band to fit my elastic on hand. The added bonus of that was that I didn't have to fiddle with the rise that was slightly too tall for my 5'1" Frame.

Please note that each waistband was cut to 37 1/4" wide. Why? That is the smallest size I can make my waistband and still fit it over my hips. My high hip is tiny compared to this pattern's drafted waist and anything larger left too much fabric in the front. Since I knew that this pattern was meant to have a structured waist, I knew that the front should fit nearly flat, and not have any bunching. I also know that I'll need to draft my own waistband when I'm ready to make the side zipper version because I'm smaller than the pattern in my high hip.

Round 2 got me this pink pair. Good, but not perfect. Why? This is supposed to be the "Play" length. Well that play length was cutting my leg at the widest part. Not exactly the "play" length I had in mind. Not bad, just not great.

Now that I was comfortable with the fit, I removed 1/2" from the hem and then shortened the shorts by 1/2". Why? If I had just shortened the inseam by 1/2" the hem would have been too long for the inseam. So I removed 1/2" length and then shortened the hem 1/2" which still left me with a nice 1" hem to turn up.

Then I went all out and added the pockets. These pockets bring me joy! They're a 1 piece pocket, which means no scratchy seam running the length of your leg. I love the idea of these. What I don't love is that the pocket is so short. :/ However, the play length shorts don't leave much room for a longer pocket. I may try lengthening it about 1/2" next time.

Now of course you've seen this chambray before on my Colette Sorbetto, but this is the last time I am going to nudge you to head over to Finch Fabrics. These shorts are perfect in chambray and I didnt' even go insane matching up all those dots.Use the coupon code: sewsummer20  to save 20% off your entire order of fabrics (excluding shipping).

Be sure to click through and check out what my fellow bloggers worked on!


Finally, the reason you all are probably here, I've got a copy of the Pattern Emporium Ladies Hepburn Shorts to give away! I am 100% sure you will love these, so click through the rafflecopter below to place your entries. A winner will be drawn on Wednesday May 18!

a Rafflecopter giveaway