Moto Maxx Shorts with Flat Piping

 

Pattern - Love Notions Moto Maxx Set
Skill Level - Confident Beginner
Fabric - Polartec Neoshell from Discovery Fabrics
Skills - flat piping, ironing

My mountain biking grandson doesn't often ask for me to make him things, but when he does, I jump right to it!  He asked me to make him some long shorts "out of the same stuff as the cross country skiing pants" that I'd made him.  They were actually for mountain biking but apparently they're excellent for skiing as well!

I decided to use the same pattern - the pants from the Moto Maxx Set - that I'd used for his pants.  It's a slimmer fitting pattern, which is perfect for biking - and skiing, apparently!  I had the Neoshell in black and tomato red, so I thought I'd try out a technique I'd seen for flat piping.  Polartec Neoshell with Stretch/Ease is an amazing fabric which is "waterproof" yet breathable and perfect for the purpose.

I cut strips 1.25" wide with the grain, which when folded over and sandwiched in the side seams, would give me .25" piping.  

And of course, I practiced first.  

I pressed the strips using a pressing cloth.  This allows you to press fabrics you can't iron.

To get the sharpest press possible, I used the clapper my husband made me.

I clipped the raw edge of the piping to one side seam of the shorts and then carefully laid the other pattern piece on top, clipping the pieces together.  The strip was sandwiched between the front and back with the folded edge in.

Then I serged the side seam being careful to make sure all the raw edges were together.  On my serger, 3/8" is right at the edge of my presser foot, so getting the seam exact was easy.  It's important that your seam is consistent.

Then to make sure that the piping would lie to the back, I coverstitched down the front beside the piping.

Once these steps were completed, it was an easy matter to finish sewing the shorts.  Now my grandson has his cycling shorts as requested, with a little extra pizzazz!

If you don't already have the Moto Maxx Set in your pattern library, you can get it from my link below:

Moto Max Set sizes 2T - 14