Remember that white skirt I was wearing a few weeks back? The one from Old Navy that was so short it was scandalous, except that it had shorts underneath so it was okay? I've had that skirt for more than a decade, and for that long I've wanted another exactly like it. I intended to draft my own pattern and even bought the fabric, but, life. Laziness pays off, I guess, because now I can use the new Shenanigans Skort from 5 Out Of 4 Patterns!
This pattern is packed with options. Three lengths of skirt, each skirt can have a flounce added, three rise options, and three lengths of shorts underneath. And of course you can make just shorts or just a skirt. I'm no good at maths but even I know that the amount of combinations is...a lot. For my version, I measured the aforementioned ON skirt and picked the closest options. That meant the low-rise waist, with the safe length skirt, and 3" inseam shorts. No flounce.
The patch pockets were my own addition. I traced the shape of the pockets from the ON skirt and added seam allowance to make my own pattern piece. In hindsight...I should have been a bit more careful. The ON skirt is fitted through the hips, and this one is more A-line. It means that the pockets are not parallel to the hemline and appear kind of wonky. Of course I didn't notice until the skirt was done. Oh well. Live and learn. The pattern does come with a small patch pocket option or a ball pocket, but I stubbornly went ahead with my own idea.
If you've never used a 5oo4 pattern you'll be happy to know that it's layered and no-trim. Cue tears of joy! The instructions were excellent and the only tricky part included a link to a YouTube video. The shorts contain a gusset and this was the part shown in the video. The gusset makes the shorts SO comfortable with that extra bit of room. And it wasn't really that difficult to sew.
Can I gush about this fabric for a second? It was a designer overstock from Girl Charlee and I bought it at least two years ago, explicitly for a tennis skirt. It's cotton/modal/spandex. YUM! Soft, stretchy, and great recovery. I hope it holds up over many washes. The color is "chrome grey" and I do wish it were a bit more true grey, but only so it would fit better into my wardrobe. It's a great neutral either way.
The waistband is meant to have 2" elastic. I happened to have some on hand, although I can't remember at all where I bought it. Wawak maybe? I tried my skirt on before I added elastic and you *might* be able to get away without, if you have a stretchy enough fabric with good recovery. After wearing this skort a few times, I might go back and coverstitch through the waistband for some extra stability. My elastic is folding a bit through the center when I sit. It would be a cute, sporty addition.
Be sure to check out all the tester photos for this pattern, they're each labeled with the options they used so you can see all the possibilities. This was a FAST sew and I'll be making more, for sure!
What a great skort I like your pockets next time you just need to reshape the bottom a bit. Thanks for sharing I had never heard of this indie pattern company. They have some nice patterns.
ReplyDeleteSuper pattern, I love the idea of not worrying about flashing random people when I'm out with my kiddies, it fits you really well and looks great on. I've not heard of 5 out of 4 so going to check them out
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