Sunday 13 November 2016

Zebra print shorts

Hello all! So this is funky shorts, round 2. You may recognise Harry from this post, and after seeing Ieuan's Leopard print shorts he immediately requested some of his own, in zebra print.
This is what he has to say about them: Zebra print is a strange one, it can be subtle and quirky, or completely outrageous, yet, if you walked into the lobby of The Savoy wearing a Zebra print 3-piece suit, you'd simply outclass the marble pillars and the mahogany counter tops. Better still you would humiliate all of the bankers in their boring navy Givenchy breakfast suits. Admittedly.. This piece isn't a fully clad zebra print 3-piece, it's better. Functional shorts with impressive credentials.
Out of /10
Comfort: 10
Design: They're zebra print... Obviously 10
All in all, these shorts are a classy way to show your athleticism but also passion for retro garms. The pink lining adds the cherry to the already perfect top of the cake.

HH - "I've worn over 2 different pairs of shorts." - 2016


Then, because the shorts are a pair, Ieuan joined in on the photoshoot.
The shorts themselves were actually a bit of a challenge. The fabric is this zebra print stretch satin from Minerva Crafts and I chose to line the shorts in a viscose jersey in hot pink for the softness next to the skin. This was a mistake. Cotton would have been perfectly sufficient. Putting the two fabrics together was a bit of a nightmare.
I tried to combat the stretch in the jersey by cutting the jersey pieces a little smaller so they would stretch to fit the satin pieces. It was a good concept, but I massively overcompensated and trimmed too much off. I managed to fudge it in the end, but it caused a bit of stress when it could have been avoided.
I used a stretch satin bias binding, again from Minerva and it behaved fairly well with top-stitching. There would have been less rippling if it was done by hand but the finish is acceptable.
I managed to get a really good finish when lining them, and to have no exposed seams makes me very happy. Matching headbands were made to complete the look.
A massive thanks to both Harry and Ieuan for being fantastic sports. Asking you both to get up at 10.30am to meander down to the park and strip down to your shorts is a big ask, and was much appreciated.
Thanks for reading!
Lauren xx