Simplicity 3743 - View C

As promised, here is a closer look at Simplicity 3743 - View C.

I made 3 pairs of these for DD to take to camp. The first I made as a muslin. For that I used an olive-colored denim I had already. The only alteration I made to the pattern was to lengthen it by about 2 1/2 inches.

The back fit DD pretty well, but as you can see, the front is on the large side. I didn't really have time to get that taken care of, but definitely will if I make them again anytime soon.

I will also tinker with putting some pockets in, since there were none included.

The other changes I made fall into the category of "embellishment". First, I mock-felled the inseam and the crotch seam. Then, I hemmed the bottoms with decorative stitching.

I used a leaf stitch on the green pair and a loopy kind of stitch on the two tan pairs. If you stand back a bit, the loopy stitch looks kind of like a decorative coverstitch.

This pattern was really quick and easy to put together. I was able to get all three pairs finished by the Sunday before DD left for camp.

Normally, this would be a pattern that I would highly recommend for a beginner, and it might be OK for the top (dunno really, didn't make that), but the bottoms are missing any instructions on how to make the casing for the waistband. I think a beginner might find that disconcerting, although you could get an idea of how to do it by following the instructions for the casing on the sleeve.

I know though that if this had been my first pattern, I would have gotten really confused.

Anyway, here are a couple of shots of the tan shorts and the stitching I did with those.