Women's Boardshorts in Athletic Stretch Woven

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I'm sewing right through my Hawaii packing list (there's no actual list, it's imaginary, maybe I should make a list!?), and next up was a pair of hiking shorts. Or are they golf shorts? Yes, we are those people taking our own golf clubs on a plane across the ocean. How can we not??

In the interest of packing light, I hope to bring just one pair of athletic shorts to serve all outdoorsy purposes. I previously made a pair of gardening pants in a Fabric Fairy poly stretch woven. They're capris, and I while they probably would've served my purposes in Hawaii, I wanted shorts. What I like about those pants is how light they are, so I figured the same properties would be helpful in packing for this trip. I also get a lot of compliments on them so they must look fancy or something.

Even though neon pink would've been fun, I ended up with Classic Navy. BORING but oh so versatile. I think the color works with my neon pink golf shirt from last year anyway, so there!

Functionally, this fabric will do all I want it to do. Quick drying, no wrinkles, lightweight. The dark color made it super difficult to see and sew. I'm not THAT old and my vision isn't THAT bad, but I just had a problem with it this time. Maybe the slight sheen combined with the dark color? IDK. I probably need better lighting in my sewing room.

It's surprisingly press-able on a low setting, and easier to sew than you'd think for a slick fabric. But I found myself setting it aside quite frequently and forcing myself to finish them. I'm not sure why. I did get this fabric for free as part of the promo team, and it's my job to promote it, but you know I'm here to dish the truth. It wasn't my favorite thing to sew. Some fabrics are just like that, but the wearing experience is totally different from the sewing experience.

I'm also on the 5 Out of 4 Patterns promo team, and I used their Women's Boardshort pattern (you can also get a family bundle of patterns here). Again, it wasn't my favorite. The options and the instructions were excellent, but the fit was off for me (my own fault, keep reading!). I was surprised, because normally 5oo4 fit me well. The fit issues I had were normal for a fly front (this is a faux fly front with velcro) non-elastic waistband pant on my body. And looking back at these photos, I think you can tell this was a torturous project.

First problem: I sewed a size 4 for my 38" hip. Except my hip is apparently now 37". That still would have put me at a 4, but maybe I would've paid more attention to the hip fit before I put on the waistband.

Second problem: my high hip puts me at a 0. I didn't pay attention, didn't grade, didn't even do proper fitting methods until my waistband and facing were on. Totally my fault. If I had realized the difference in sizing, I would have graded my hip to a smaller waistband. Since I didn't do that to my flat pattern, I ended up doing a lot of seam ripping and resewing, which could have been avoided if I had measured and chosen carefully. Do what I say and not what I do!

One modification I made was to add a back pocket into the yoke seam, which closes with an invisible zipper. I intended to give a mini tutorial on this process, but the fabric was so dark it was impossible to see in my photos what was happening. It's a pretty basic idea of an invisible zipper in a seam with an added pocket bag, which is just a rectangle big enough for my phone.

I did add the included cargo pocket on one side, but no closure so I can easily slip golf balls in and out of it.

I struggled getting the snaps on the waistband, but that's just one of those things that sometimes happens. I think I put three of them on twice, maybe one three times. It was super annoying and contributed to the overall BLAH of this project.

When all is said and done, I'm sure I'll eventually forget the sewing woes and be happy with the shorts. I need to get them out on the golf course on a practice run, but first it needs to stop being in freezing temperatures overnight here. It's been a cold spring and I'm not happy about it.

Do you ever sew fabrics that aren't your favorite, because you know wearing them will be fine? Do I have a weird quirk in this way?