Triumph over Plaid

There have been many plaid creations since I began sewing, I recall a plaid wool jumper made in junior high that was scarily mismatched which I wore it anyway.  Later some great plaid items, a few blazers with exceptional plaid matching which I pointed out to everyone, whether they were interested or not.  But perhaps one of my greatest plaid triumphs is today, as I finished a pair of plaid Bermuda shorts for my friend Ashley.

She is abolutely miniature - I recently hemmed a pair of True Religion jeans she snagged at our local warehouse store,  and they were size 24.  So last winter I made a pair of pants for her by using her well-worn pair of khakis as a template to make a pattern.  Khakis she bought long ago at Gap Kids!  And she is 5 feet tall.  Adult woman.  Over 30.  Full grown.  Kind of.   
Anyway - she had remarked that she would love to have some preppy looking plaid shorts.
So I decided to give it a try.   I found this cotton plaid at Discount Fabrics in Berkeley, it is a little bit seersucker-y,   and super soft.    


Here is the side view.

Back view.   OK, even the waistband plaid is centered and that was a lucky accident as I cut it out from scraps, put a center back seam in it and pinned it on without even paying attention.
But those welt pockets, yes, I did cut those out just so they would be all matchy.

Since I made the pattern myself - I had to do some measuring, create notches/marking dots on the side seams and hope for the best.  Getting the front and back center seams right is just a matter of carefully laying out the fabric before cutting.  I do line up the plaids from fold to selvage and put pins in on the lines, then roll back the fabric to see that the pin is at the same line on the underneath fabric.  For the piece above the front pocket, I finished off the short front and laid that onto fabric, and then cut those pieces to match.

So - victory over plaid.   Bring it on, fabric.  I will triumph.

And today's SunnyGal Garden photo.    Maybe because of all the rain we had this past winter, but these Agapanthus (Lily of the Nile) are really blooming beautifully this year.  This is such a common plant here in Northern California, maybe we take it for granted.  I love the shades of purplish blue and how it moves in the breeze.