I decided to sew Christmas gifts for my parents.
I had the Ellie Whittaker Harbour Printed Fabric earmarked for a hat to be gifted to a loved one. My Dad saw the fabric and mentioned he liked the bright print – especially because it was Australia-themed. The fabric is from Ellie’s Around Oz collection with Spotlight, and my favourite fabric – the Harbour Printed Fabric – features iconic parts of Australia.
I resolved to make Dad a pair of pants and went with the Elbe Textiles Trigg Shorts. I’ve used many of the Elbe Textiles patterns before and found them really easy to work with.
I went with view B, which is a slightly longer version. I followed the pattern exactly. It’s a quick and easy sew, and the instructions are very clear. I used more elastic than was recommended because I wasn’t sure on the size (and I didn’t want to ask and ruin the surprise) and I also know Dad prefers a more relaxed fit. The pants have a drawstring as well as elastic, so I wasn’t concerned about them being too large.
The end result resembles Santa on a post-Christmas beach holiday.
My favourite part of the pants is the prawn pockets. Dad is a huge fan of prawns, so I cut out the pocket piece to display The Big Prawn.
I tried to lay out the pattern so I got as many of the different icons as possible. This meant there were heaps of odd-shaped pieces of fabric left over. I sewed these all together to make a drawstring bag to be used instead of wrapping paper. This meant less waste and packaging that is basically an extra gift.
The fabric patterns don’t match – I decided to prioritise my sanity and sleep (obviously I made all my Christmas gifts at the last minute). I’m happy with this decision as I don’t think this detracts from the pants.
The review from Dad is that he is 11/10 pleased with his pants. The pants were a great gift, and I’d happily sew the pattern again – I’m on the lookout for bright fabric to make board shorts.
c.sews 