More on Waistbands

I've been working on a pair of shorts for a company called Houndstooth Menswear -- more on that at some point when I have the time to sit down and really write a post -- but I was forced to revisit the waistband dilemna of a couple months ago. After reading Kathleen Fasanella reasoning for cutting waistbands on the straight of grain instead of the crossgrain, (see below) I was convinced it was worth a try. After the first fitting, it was clear that the waistband - initially almost completely straight, had to be contoured to eliminate the little wing-like things that were happening at the side seam and center back. So now the pattern is on the straight of grain at center back, curving into a slight bias at center front.
I'm interested to see how the shorts wash up. I did a shrink test on the fabric, and it shrunk an inch along the grain over 20 inches, and only 1/4 of an inch along the cross grain over 20 inches. Which makes me think keeping the waistband on the straight of grain is a damn good idea.