Bubble Shorts: Part 1 of 4

Okay, so the several family members that I have been looking after can now lift again, walk again and aren't throwing up or sneezing all over me. That means I can stay at home and sew! Yay!!

It's been over two months since I fired up the old Husqvarna and to get back in to the swing of things I decided join in on the Flip This Pattern event at Frances and Suzanne.

This month, the challenge is to "flip" the Bubble Shorts pattern by Elegance and Elephants.

So I bought and downloaded the PDF pattern and taped it together right away.
After the pattern was taped together, I could see that the two side pieces (front side and back side) would be a perfect template to play with the bubble pocket.

Tracing out size 5/6 and cutting the pattern using khaki twill, I stitched the two side pieces together.
Instead of cutting the full width of 13 1/2" (34cm) for the bubble pocket, using a contrast fabric I cut a piece 10 1/2"  (27cm) wide. Then followed the instructions on how to fold over the top edge, insert elastic which I cut down to approximately 5" (13cm).

Gathering the bottom edge of the pocket and spreading out the gathers evenly, I pinned it to the bottom edge of the two side pieces as well as pinning the sides of the contrasting pocket up to the elastic section.

Next, I cut a square of the main fabric approximately 6 1/2" X 6 1/2" (17cm X 17 cm), folded it on a diagonal to make a crease...

...then cut off the excess leaving about a 1/2"(1.5 cm) to fold over and topstitch.

Here are the 4 triangular pieces topstitched and ready to stitch on top of the contrast section of the pocket that is pinned to the front and back side pieces.

And here is one pocket section stitched down along the bottom and on the sides.

From that point, I followed the instructions which were basically to sew the front along the centre seam then the same for the back, then attach the sides to the front and back making a large circle of all 8 pieces.  (2 fronts, 2 sides (made up of 2 front sides and 2 back sides) and two back pieces.

Easy.

But when t came to attaching the leg cuffs and the waistband I found the pieces I cut were far too long even though I followed the cutting instructions perfectly.

No matter.
I cut them down, made them fit and was happy with the results.

They are cute little bubble shorts without a huge bubble pocket.
Maybe I should call them 'burst your bubble shorts?'

I really like this pattern and the instructions were easy to follow.

But I was mystified as to why the waistband and cuff sections were so out of whack. Maybe my absence from sewing made me rusty or my eagerness to get going on a project caused me to do something wrong.
So I decided to make another pair, go slower next time and try something different with this pattern.

Part 2 of Bubble Shorts to follow tomorrow.