A while back my good friend Ieuan asked me to make him some 80s 118 style leopard print shorts and I was happy to oblige him, for a small fee of course.
The fabric is a polyester knit from Minerva Crafts, although I can't find it on their site anymore. The fabric was very slinky and quite see through so I underlined it with a nice soft cotton jersey. I used this stretch bias binding for the first time which was an adventure.
I started with a basic short pattern, shortened it considerably and curved the side seams. In retrospect, I might have curved them a little too drastically. I planned to topstitch the bias binding into place but when I tried it was stretching more than the already sewn side making a very ripply seam. So I unpicked that and handsewed a large proportion of it in Starbucks instead. I used the white jersey for the waistband so it would co-ordinate nicely with the bias binding.
I gave Ieuan a little questionnaire to answer so you can hear about these shorts from his perspective. Enjoy!
What inspired you to commission a pair of 80s leopard print short shorts?
Who doesn't want a pair of leopard print short shorts.
How do you feel about your shorts?
I love 'em. Dream Pair of shorts.
Are they comfortable?
Top Notch, keeps you cool in hot weather because they are shorter than your average pair of shorts.
How is the fit?
Marvellous, they hug me in all the right places (especially round the genitalia area;) which means no inappropriate slips.
What would you change about them?
Zebra print silk on the inside, to make these bad boys reversible.
Were they a worthy investment?
Most definitely...
Would you recommend them to a friend?
Yes. Of course. Very practical. Good for lunging and other sports, but also incredible for when you want to come home after a hard days work and want to light the stove, feed the Labrador, whack on the kettle and tune into Gogglebox.
Score out of 10?
Due to these being completely out of this world of amazingness, I hereby award these leopard print short shorts in the style of 118 118 running man... an outstanding 10/10. That's a bingo.
Signing off me, the one and only, highly esteemed,
Ieuan Newman
Professional Lunger/short shorts wearer
Thank you for reading and a thousand thanks to Ieuan for being such a good sport.
Lauren xx
