Simplicity 5110

 

Women's Shorts

    Here's an OOP classic from the early 80's, Simplicity 5110. The pattern contains about four pairs of "one meter" shorts in different designs. I selected Vers. 3 which features a drawstring ruched side seam. This pattern was only available in single sizes, unlike most of today's patterns which allow you to choose from several sizes. As usual this pattern was four sizes too small  for me and I had to add about four inches overall to get it fitting correctly. 

    I created my muslin (not pictured) using a cotton plaid. The muslin turned out ok, it was easy to assemble and it used very little material. The shorts are high waisted so they have a tendency to ride up the bum and crotch. I'm not sure if this is a fit issue? It seems like all shorts get vacuumed into my butt crack. I have a hungry bum.

    For my final pair of shorts I used some spare crushed velvet from my stash. Between the two fabrics I preferred using the knit. While most of the shorts in this pattern would benefit from a sturdy material, like the recommended poplin or lightweight denim, the ruched shorts work best with knit. I had a hell of a time getting the drawstrings to sit correctly and gather when I made the cotton shorts. The knit was like butter.

    Now there are some obvious design differences, I dropped my waistline to sit beneath my belly button. High waisted shorts and pants often make me look bloated, I have a pooch/muffin top and a tight waist seam often pushes my fatty pooch out even further! Yuck. The drop waist looks infinitely better but due to the design of the garment it still has an almost puffy, diaper like quality to it. I changed from a gathered elastic waist to a flat elastic waist with casing. It makes a difference, it doesn't balloon out as much as it did when I used the gathered elastic waist. If you look at shorts from the late 70's and 80's a lot of them had gathered elastic waists. It's a terribly unflattering look and there's a reason it was left behind, knit fabrics have improved substantially since the 80's, it's allowed us to use less material with all the stretch and less puffiness. 

    I wouldn't say I don't recommend this pattern but I think it's important to bare the aforementioned problems in mind. If you have body issues and you don't want to exacerbate the pooch it might be worth redrafting a new waistline lower down. Otherwise it makes for a good pair of pajama shorts. I'm not so sure I'd wear these out and about, they cling to my booty like something fierce and look a bit scandalous lol, maybe I should wear them with tights underneath.

Whatever, my husband likes them.