Adventurous Burda Style 08-2011-130 shorts, Jalie top, sewing for camp

My younger daughter is firmly of the belief that she requires completely new clothes for any special occasion or trip away, so I should not have been terribly surprized when she announced on the weekend that she had no clothes to wear to school camp.
She fancied these "heavy jersey" trousers in our current Burda Style magazine, and whilst declaring that the corduroy shorts version were ugly, felt that "heavy jersey" shorts would look terrific.

I was a bit sceptical. I am unfamiliar with the "genoa corduroy" Burda advises for the shorts, but it seems to me that a pattern for a knit fabric should be different from the pattern for what I assume is a woven fabric, and the Burda patterns for the two different versions vary only in length. I also thought that the fastening of the knit with snaps over the hip would be prone to bagging.
I offered my daughter a red denim with about 3%lycra, or a mysterious probably poly, heavy and extremely stretchy black and white check that was given to me a few years ago. I was pretty sure she would choose the denim, but know from experience that it is best to offer this particular daughter a choice of fabrics.
I was quite wrong about her choice, she picked the mystery super stretchy woven. As this fabric had been selected from the dress-up pile, I had nothing to lose.



I made no pre-cutting alterations to the pattern (Burda size 36), but cut out the shorts in a single layer to allow matching of the checks - the fabric was a bit scanty for perfect matching at the waistbands, but I did my best.


I added woven selvage to the crotch seam to reduce bagging during wear, and applied clear elastic to the upper and lower waistband seam, stretched very slightly, to prevent excess stretch during wear without recovery.

I made the back darts a little wider during fitting, but the shorts needed no other changes, aside from a tiny extra overlap of the waistband at the fastening that was managed with button placement. This truly makes me appreciate the genetic advantages I have given my offspring by marrying a slim man with long legs ;).




I used the clean facing method I first saw at the Slapdash Sewist's blog for the side opening button plackets. The interfacing is one designed for knits, as I was not sure that the fabric would tolerate much heat from the iron, and the knit interfacing fused at the lower temperature.



I was anxious about the buttonholes, this fabric is really stretchy. I backed the placket with heavy calico (muslin if you are North American) to make the buttonholes more firm, then pinked most of it away.



Next I made a black Jalie sweetheart top. Apparently these shorts look awful when worn with the t-shirt tucked in, and I am under strict instructions to describe the previous photographs as purely for sewing only exhibition of the trousers and to show you how the outfit will be worn properly.



My daughter is very pleased with her outfit.

It even stands up nicely to vigorous activity.