I was lucky enough to be a pattern tester for Katy and Laney's first pattern - the tap short. I only made a muslin for the testing phase so I was excited to participate in the blog tour so that I could make them up in some real fabric. I went ahead and sewed up the final pattern (not the test pattern) for these shorts so all recommendations would be for the actual current pattern.
The tap short is a cute shorts pattern with three variations - pleated, diagonal seam lines, and front fly. I went with the pleated as I felt like it was fun and retro feeling. I also like the the other two versions and am especially drawn to the diagonal seam lines version as I think it would be fun to play with color blocking or stripes.
I did make a couple of alterations to fit my body. I took in the side seams by about 1/4" because my fabric has a lot of stretch in it. I am pretty sure that I wouldn't need to take that out in a stiffer fabric though. I also took about an inch off the top. I am pretty short waisted so I found that the crotch fit better that way.
I thought about lengthening them a bit as I have to admit that these are a bit short for me. I played with a longer length in my muslin, but it honestly didn't look great. I think that because they are high waisted you kinda have to commit to the short length. Otherwise they go a little granny. So, in the end, I kept them short.
Congrats Katy and Laney on a great first pattern. Can't wait to see what else you guys come up with.
