It's a shorts kinda day on the blog today!
These are the brand new Xanelé Shorts (pronounced shan-a-lay) from French Navy and I was lucky to test this pattern out back in winter. There was a call out for the more bootylicious amongst us to test the pattern and well...what could I do but assist.
Shorts inspired by hiking Table Mountain sound like excellent shorts to test. They have an elasticated waistband, pleated front, cuffed hem and best of all - are a good length!
The size I went for on the chart was H at the waist grading to I at the hips. I went into this expecting full well to make a load of changes to the crotch curve but not so!
This is the first incarnation in some cotton and everything fit where it was supposed to. It's a shorts miracle.
My second test pair were in stretch linen that I had left over from 1st for Fabrics. The pattern does not need stretch it was just coincidental as I was trying a drapier fabric. On this pair I added some eyelets and a drawstring to the waistband for detail and practicalities of fluctuating weight.
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| Yes that is Clyde with a small tracker on his ass |
Enter the comfiest pair of shorts ever.
The pattern instructions are for top stitching the elastic (I don't like doing this so I can have the option to adjust elastic after the fact) however there are the drawstring and belt loop options too!
Test pair three consisted of 100% woven cotton, just to be sure that a non-stretch would actually be comfortable. It is.
Same shorts, different substrate. I like how they fit at the back, despite being entirely elasticated they don't bunch (I have a 12 inch difference between waist and hip so that does tend to happen). The length of these is so practical for roaming around and not flashing too much upper leg. Just my preference but there's options to go short as you like!
Nice big pockets for collecting rocks, sneaking sweets, hiding your phone camera clicker or just a place for awkward hands.
The final incarnation was a pair of 'smart' shorts made from Flow Viscose Linen - buttery soft and airy. Since the testing phase there is now a belt loop option so I obviously had to try that too.
Same shorts, no drawstring this time, just added belt loops and a much softer fabric.
Shorts win.Would 10/10 recommend this pattern.
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