Burda 6771 - Wrap shorts in kitty border print

I try to steer clear of juvenile fabrics since I'm in my *cough* late 30's and don't want to appear like I'm desperately hanging on to my youth, but this fabric just begged me to buy it. It's a purple and red cat print bamboo twill from Moodfabric.com, and is still available as of this morning. Mood labeled it as being a "Famous Designer" fabric but I'll just spill the beans and tell you it's from Anna Sui. It's long and thin with a border of maroon and red stripes and I had no idea what I was going to do with it. Inspiration hit while perusing the Burdastyle pattern book and I settled on a wrap shorts style, 6771.

I ended up needing all three of the panels I bought. These are a few inches shorter then the original design due to the narrowness of the print. I cut a size 38/12 and made no adjustments for fit. I finished the edges and pre-washed my fabric so that I could wear these guilt free during the hot Texas summer. This bamboo twill is thin and mostly opaque. I'm living dangerously and will have to avoid getting my picture taken with bright flashes but I really didn't want to add a lining or underlining. Time will tell if I regret my decision.

I had to carefully line up the cats at the center front and back seams, but there are no side seams to worry about so that was nice. These kitties do like to change their direction from time to time.

I used an invisible zipper at the back and cut my facings from a remnant of lavender lining. All exposed edges were finished with the overlocking stitch on my sewing machine. The hems are all narrow and topstitched carefully.

Mood has a yellow color way of this exact print that I was tempted to get instead (as I love all things yellow) but I am trying to branch out and add other colors to my closet. I'm proud of myself for finding a way to use this unusual fabric, but I can't tell you how many interesting border prints I have in my stash that I'm still scratching my head about how to use. I have a hard time passing up unique fabrics.

Note: This fabric was purchased with my Mood fabrics monthly allowance, as part of my participation in the Mood Sewing Network.