The making of McCalls M7726 shorts – an unexpected triumph!

M7726 shorts made by ooobop
M7726 shorts made by ooobop

One of the many reasons I wanted to sew my own clothes was so that I didn’t wind up wearing the same as anyone else. Not to stand out from the crowd necessarily but just so I could be me. 

But every so often the sewing community manages to turn that ideal on its head and makes me want to sew the things other people have made, haha… oh the irony!

M7726 shorts made by ooobop

In particular McCalls M7726 shorts. As spied on Giorgia’s Insta feed over at @1stitchforward. I mean, come on…. super classy matching fitted jacket and all! 

In between then and now, I have been careful not to overbuy fabric. It’s crazy to think that I’ve never got the right kind to use, despite a toppling stash. But when I saw a little Chanel suit on the YouTube FF Channel – a fitted jacket and shorts in their signatory bouclé, I think – I remembered some fabric I was saving for a ‘particular something’!

M7726 shorts made by ooobop
M7726 shorts made by ooobop

Now I’m not trying to pass this awful fabric as bouclé. But I did envision it as giving a similar vibe. Ten out of ten for naivety…!

I’ve no idea what this fabric is. But I’m sure you can see from the flat lay below, just how vulnerable to pulling it is. It didn’t take long before I realised it didn’t have a straight grain either! I sulked for a bit. And sweated over countless placements of the pattern pieces. Didn’t matter how I manipulated those bunched criss-crossed threads, they just did as they pleased. So I followed the selvedge for the ‘straight’ and ignored the ‘grain’ because there wasn’t one… seriously frustrating!

M7726 shorts made by ooobop

Once the pieces were cut. I had another sulk because I was convinced they were going to look so wonky. And the fraying! More like unravelling! It is such a loose weave. I abandoned it at this point knowing no amount of overlocking would hold those edges.

And then a brainwave. A roll of Prym seam tape to the rescue. Literally a whole roll! Every edge of every piece I taped down. And then overlocked for good measure. I’m still yet to wash them so I don’t know how well it will hold.

M7726 stabilised pieces

After I did this it was more enjoyable to sew. The impending feeling of failure was much reduced and I serged on. But I definitely ruled out the prospect of a matching jacket!

M7726 shorts made by ooobop

Tailor tacks were many and necessary to align all pieces. Though not fun to pick out at the end! I had to be super careful of not pulling out threads of the actual fabric!

But as the shorts started to take shape, I began to love the project. And I felt pride in not giving up.

I love how neat those pockets are. Probably due to the stabiliser tape. But the edge stitching gives a sharpness too.

No such word as ‘cant’ !

All was going well and then I had a wobble over the belt loops. How on earth was that going to work in this fabric? With lashings of Prym Fray check. Thats how!

The instructions were to make a long tube and then cut to size. ie: sew along the long edge, trim, turn, edge stitch and cut into 3 separate pieces. In fall-apart fabric? That was going to be a joke. I considered other options and with some great suggestions from IG followers as a safety net, I went ahead to try – just in case it did work. Thanks to that stinky stabiliser, it actually did.

M7726 belt loops for shorts

Though the bodkin wanted to poke out between every thread of that fabric tube along the way. Boy I’ve become a determined soul in my old age!

And finally the leg hems. My initial thoughts were not to roll them them up as suggested as I think its a bit of a scruffy finish with the side seams showing and all. I sewed another pair of shorts here – sadly outgrown – whereby bias cuffs were sewn as turn ups. It’s a much neater technique that hides all the raw edges and side seams. But then I had a little think and noticed that the open seams are kind of camouflaged so I opted for the more casual look to the turn up as per instructions.

M7726 shorts made by ooobop

For such a little project there were plenty of painful and lengthy processes but lots of new lessons learned too: Believe it or not, this was the first time I’d sewn a fly zipper, and belt loops! And I’m pretty damned chuffed with the result. I genuinely thought they were heading for the recycling bin so soon into the project and yet now I have a great pair of shorts for all seasons!

M7726 shorts made by ooobop

We took a little wander at sundown with Dan to shoot under the flyover at Hammersmith. In truth we didn’t have the energy to go further afield – it was very hot!

I can’t wait to sew these again, in a more stable fabric of course. It will be a breeze. Breeze! Oh how I want actual real life breeze right now. Bring on the storms!

Camping it up in a Burda Maxi

Burdastyle Maxi DressThis is the Burdastyle Maxi dress from May 2014 issue and it literally took an evening to trace and make, plus a morning to finish seams and hem.

I love the gathered front loop detail created by some clever drafting and a drawstring. The straps are a lovely and incredibly practical feature too. Each strap is folded in half and the fold is attached in position to the front bodice. This creates a double strap which separates over the shoulder where the visual is 4 spaghetti straps at the back. No irritating slips off the shoulder. No embarassing wardrobe malfunctions!

And I have to mention the fabric. I went in asking for linen lawn. I knew it was a bit of an ask and I’d anticipated the screwed-up-face response that I got in each and every shop. I even predicted the suggestion of cotton lawn instead. No, no, no. Burdastyle definitely stated linen lawn. Kind of a contradiction of terms really, so I’m wondering if its a translation thing. Anyone know?

So with no linen lawn and an urgency to make this dress before I went away, I asked if they had anything soft and drapey. No not polyester. Eewww sweaty! Though to be fair it was very soft and drapey. No not cotton. It’s not nearly drapey enough. Too crispy and neat. Apart from the lawn, possibly. But oh the creasing. I was tempted by tangerine muslin. Really tempted. But I’d have to have lined it for modesty purposes and I really couldn’t be arsed. I was about to give up when the viscose was presented as an option. Only in black or white but also only £4.99, with all the softness and drapeyness I could ask for. Bargain! Done!

And what a joy to work with. I took my time to cut it out because it did move around a bit on the table. especially when I was cutting on the bias. It has got a little natural stretch to it. But to be fair. It is drapey, black and relatively casual so no glaring errors are going to cause a stir here.

I made it a couple of weeks ago when I last went camping so this was it’s second trip out into the wilds of West Sussex!

So there I was, minding my own business, floating around the campfire in my new maxi dress, relishing the soft swishes of viscose around my ankles with stars in the sky and Mr O at my feet. Doesn’t really get much better than this . . .

. . . then this happened . . .

Burda Maxi Dress photobombed

Right on cue!

It’s a small miracle I got the first picture sans bombing to be honest!

I was going to leave out the in-seam pockets to hurry the process. I never really got the excitement when other people go on about pockets. But I’m glad I did and boy do I understand now! Torch and lighter in one, cash and phone in the other. Look, no bag!

And who wants serious posy photos any hoos?!

Burdastyle Maxi dress photobombed

You get to see how the straps separate at the back in the picture above. Clever, no?

You can also get an idea of how the elastic at the waist cinches the bodice in to create a much more flattering silhouette than it would have done otherwise!

You must also be feeling my delight at the depth of my in-seam pockets!

The bombing barrage came from nowhere. Actually it came from all angles. Sabotaged good and proper by a gang of onesie-clad cheeky girls!

Photobombed by onesie girls

The absolute cheek of it!

photobombed by the girls

Hang on a minute. Remind me whose shoot this was?

There was only one thing for it . . .

Maxi dress bombs the children

Seriously ladies, this dress is great for camping. It’s great for slinking down the shops too. And methinks in a drapey sandwashed silk it would be super sexy and glamourous, no?!

If you don’t have May’s Burdastyle mag then here’s a link to where you can download a pdf pattern.

And for anyone who is keen to know more about the delights of viscose, here is a fine clarification of the making process and its properties.

Hope you all had fun sewing times this weekend. Or maybe you were out camping it up too?