Around the house Girl M wears knit shorts. Short shorts. Now that she is getting taller, very short shorts. I knew I needed to take care of this little problem.
It's impossible to find appropriate shorts at the stores. They are either too tight, too short, too everything. What ever happened to just plain old shorts?
I had this Simplicity 5695 pattern in Girl M's pattern stash forever. Would it be considered a vintage pattern since it's from 1982? Wow I was in the 2nd grade!
The Simplicity 5695 was an easy short pattern. Only two pieces. I used a cut of blue cotton/poly/spandex knit I had 2.5 yards of. I planned on making a cardigan/jacket with it. The shorts only took 8" of fabric!
I don't think I've ever sewn a garment that only took 8"!
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| Simplicity 5695 |
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| $1.50 shorts ($.88 fabric + trim) |
I had a piece of red plaid bias tape to use for the trim and a perfect sized length of 3/4" elastic for the waist. This was pure luck!
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| Simplicity 5695 Shorts |
Girl M couldn't figure out which way to put the shorts on. Unfortunately they are backwards in this picture!
I did sew in a piece of ribbon into the back casing so she would know how they went.
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| Shorts on backward |
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| Back View |
I had some knit fabric in my knit fabric scrap bin to make her up a few more pairs. She didn't like the cotton bias tape for the trim so I just made a 1" strip from the same fabric to add for the trim. I sewed it to the shorts right sides together with a little less than a 1/2" seam allowances then turned the binding piece over the seam allowance and stitched in the ditched along the top side. I trimmed the binding excess along the back. The trim turned out nice and she liked the black shorts even more.
This version was made with a scrap piece of ponte knit. I only had 1/2" elastic so I trimmed the waistband height, serged the edge, folded over the waistband and top stitched.
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| Simplicity 5695 Black Shorts |
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| Not a great picture, she wouldn't stand still! |
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| Candid Shot |
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| Back View |
For every pair of shorts I make Girl M I make her bring me a pair of too short shorts. I've made her three pair so far.
My next project will be making her a muslin for school shorts. A twill or denim style with a zipper and button closure, 12" length, waistband with belt loops and pockets. The things we do for our kids! I think the Butterick 6061 pattern fits the bill perfect.
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| Butterick 6061 |
Until next time..................
Bonnie
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