The "shapris" pant

Capris can be modern and sharp or they can be terribly aging. I saw a young girl in a beige pair yesterday that would be too old for an 80 year old.

In the shops here I saw a really nice pair of light denim capris that the stylist had rolled up to the knee. I thought that was a fresh way to wear them, 17 or 70 and have knicknamed them the "shapris" - the short capris.

I used Ottobre magazine, 02-2007-14 , but hemmed them without adding the cuff so I could roll them up. I also used the pattern for the bird styling, but because it is only for one pocket I decided to make a little story and add something else to the other pocket.

I followed their instructions and traced the pattern onto soluable stabiler which I pinned to the fabric and top stitched over. This is what it looked like before I ran it under the tap. That stuff is amazing - with a bit of water it breaks down and washes away.



I showed them to my husband and said, "can you make a story out of these 2 pictures?"



"hmm, is it a ball and a bird - a Christmas direction?"
"no"
can you give me hint?"
"freedom"
"huh?"
"let me spell it out to you - c - a -g -e + c - a - n- a- r- y"
"Oh I see now."

I'm not sure he did. Doesn't matter. I'm pretty sure the pockets will be mostly covered by light tunic tops anyway.

I wasn't able to get the back crotch right - the length is good, but there's both a smidgin of "pouf" and "wedgie" which I could not remove by scooping out the curve more, taking in the back or side seams, so I throw up my hands and say, "good enough".
I'm going to get out my favourite best fitting Burda pants and draft the back off them next time.



Burda are famous for their fit and I've totally worked out how they fit me now, but I do have a little more work on my hands sorting out the Otttobre - the amount of wearable ease added to base measurements seems greater if this pattern is anything to go by.

At any rate, with the heat and high humidity we've been experiencing recently (temperatures in the mid to high 20's (high 70's) and humidity in the 90% range) a smart short that is not too short is just the ticket. I can see me running these to the ground over the next couple of months, that is if pre-school holidays and an adventurous toddler at home doesn't beat me to it.