I’ve been sewing a lot all of May but haven’t had the time to take any pictures. I’m hoping to get the rest of my UFOs done in the next couple of weeks so that I can move on to my summer sewing plans.
I finished the Belize shorts from Itch to Stitch on May 20th, but I started them last September. Initially, I had graded up 2 sizes to accommodate my hips, but when I tried them on they were too large overall.
I took out the waistband, the side seams, the leg seams and the crotch seam and sewed it back together much smaller. I took out about 5 inches overall. Sadly, that was about 1 inch too much in the back. When I tried them on again, I found the back was a smidge too tight. I also found both the front and back rise were too high at the centre. The back rise needs about an inch taken out at the centre back and the front needs about 2 inches taken out at the centre front.
There are some major fit tweaks to get this right, but I actually quite like the shorts. The length is perfect and the crotch doesn’t ride up too much while I am walking. Not that I’ve done much walking to test this, because it’s not really shorts weather here yet much to my chagrin.
The fabric I used is a hot pink stretch denim. Leftover from a Snapdragon skirt ages ago.
TL:DR Review
- Pattern: Itch to Stitch Belize Shorts
- Pros: Love the the flat waistband at front with the elastic waistband back. I like the variety of looks with the pattern and the skort option.
- Cons: A good size range, but I do subtract meanly for having to grade up a couple of sizes and then needing to grade down. Makes me not trust size charts!
- Make again?: I might… To be honest, I kind of feel like I found a good casual short pattern with the Oceanside shorts. I also have two other shorts patterns in progress. I doubt I will come back to this pattern this year.
- Rating:
3.5/5 stars
