Get shorty

I made good on my promise to little M to sew him a pair of shorts. I loved that he chose the material himself and knew exactly what he wanted doing with it. We were at a needlework fair in the village hall and I was hunting for blue and white fabrics for a quilt when he spotted this turquoise and orange 'sea creature' fabric and asked if I could make shorts from it. How could I refuse!

I love seeing boys in cheerful colours and patterns instead of navy blue and beige all the time.

I had a lot of fun making these. I didn't follow a pattern which was actually a huge relief. Instead I took a pair of shorts little M already owns and made my own pattern pieces from them. Two identical pieces for the front and two for the back. Here they are laid out on a folded piece of fabric. I've got the front pieces upside down but with this fabric it didn't really matter.

I could have done with making the waist even higher as later on you have to fold it over a couple of times to make an elastic casing round the back. Here are the four cut out pieces ready to be turned into shorts!

 And here they are again sewn up at the front and back where the tummy and bottom go.

 Next job, iron out the seams. 

Then join the two pieces together along the inside legs.

I started sewing from the bottom of one leg, up to the crotch and down the other leg in one fail swoop.

Next I sewed up the sides then ironed out all my seams.

Looking good!

To make the waistband I folded the top over twice and ironed. Once to tuck away the raw edges and again to make a casing for the elastic. I wish I had allowed more fabric for the waistband. It was a tight squeeze threading the elastic through and I had to use slightly thinner elastic than I would have liked.

I sewed along the bottom of the waistband around the back only first.

I cut a piece of elastic about the width of my shorts.

Then with a safety pin in one end I threaded it through the waistband pinning it at one end so it didn't pull it right through!

Next I tried the shorts on my boy and adjusted the elastic to get a good fit.

Then I sewed on top of the waistband side seams to secure the elastic in place and hold the waistband down.

I snipped of the excess bits of elastic then sewed the waistband down around the front. After a few wears I am seeing lots of creasing in the front waistband so maybe a bit of interfacing could help with that? Next time.

And finally I hemmed the shorts and they were good to go.

Okay the fit is not quite Saville Row but they are light and comfy and lots of fun.