Bahama Bottoms Pattern Test – Sonia Estep Designs

Another pattern test in the books and a lot of firsts with this one! This project was my first time working with Linen fabric, or any woven for that matter, and the first pair of shorts I’ve ever made. The Bahama Bottoms from Sonia Estep Designs!

This pattern is releasing TODAY July 2, 2020, just in time to grab it and make a pair before the holiday this weekend! And with a new release means it is ON SALE! The pattern is normally $10 but will be 50% off to celebrate this new release weekend. That’s only $5!! Go grab it! The release will be for four days and end on Sunday, July 5th, at 11:59pm EST

Now, onto the post!

The Pattern

I love it when a pattern has multiple options to choose from. It feels like it is a four in one pattern when you can mix and match to exactly how you want the final piece to be.

The Bahama Bottoms are meant to be a relaxed fit using a light to medium weight fabric. As it is a more relaxed fit, woven fabrics or knits that have a nice drape are recommended.

There are many options for this pattern as well including optional front and back pockets, 4 inseam options, optional drawstring, and an elastic waistband.

• 

• 

• 

I wanted to challenge myself for this test as I usually (well… all the time) use knit fabrics with stretch. When I saw that a woven fabric was recommended, I thought this would be a great opportunity to get my feet wet with a linen!

The options I chose for this pattern were Size 6, 3.5″ inseam, and only back pockets.

I love the elastic band for this pattern because it is amazingly comfortable, and fit to my exact measurements. They stay up without being too tight and are a slight high rise (which I really like!) but that can easily be adjusted to your waist rise preference.

Testing

Unfortunately I did not get the chance to take pictures while I was making this pattern but I definitely learned a lot including how to insert an elastic into the waistband of a linen fabric without too much headache! The one area that I found a bit challenging, for myself, were the pockets. Specifically making them look like they were more professional and not clearly homemade. Second time around I think I did will!

This week I was busier with my full time job, so I had to do this test spaced out over several days. If I were to guess how long these took from cut to wearing I would say it took me around 3 hours. I could easily make these faster next time now that I know how my machines behave with Linen!

Will I make these again? Yes! I like that it can work with multiple bases whether it be linen or drapey knits. Compared to most of my Ready to Wear shorts which are buttons and zippers, these are 1000000x more comfortable.

Final Thoughts

I liked this pattern quite a bit. While linen was an interesting new base to work with, I do REALLY like the elastic waistband to make these shorts fit even if I lost some weight, or had thanksgiving dinner 🙂

I will definitely work with linen again, now that I have a feel for the way it behaves in my machines. I would agree with the pattern recommendations that you want a drapey knit rather than form fitting to get the proper look for these shorts if you didn’t have or want to use woven.

Get the pattern!

Pattern: Bahama Bottoms
Designer: Sonia Estep Designs – They still have their 40% off sale through July 4th… Just sayin!

Fabric: Pink Linen from Joann Fabrics

Thanks for checking out my corner of the internet. Did you try the Bahama bottoms? If so let me know in the comments!

---

Outtakes!

• 

•