Last week I had the privilege of helping with a local Fashion Camp. I teach kids to sew regularly, but this event was special since I taught 5 girls at a time to not only sew for the first time, but to make a piece of clothing as their first project. While most chose to make a simple skirt, two girls made shorts.
For the skirt pattern, I followed the tutorial of Dana Willard from MadeEveryday.com. She has such a simple formula for taking your waist measurement and multiplying it by 1.5, and that’s your skirt length. Then you measure from your waist to where you want the length of your skirt to hit, and add 3”. That gives you the width. The girls chose their material from a selection of calicos and solids. The only other notions you need are thread and some 1” non-roll elastic.
For the two girls making shorts, my go to pattern is from purlsoho.com. The City Gym Shorts are a free pattern, accurate to cut and wear, and fits from children through adult. I use it all the time! Their pattern for the shorts directs you to cut curved side seams and apply bias tape to the edges. I have made some like this and they are cute, but when I teach for a beginner, I omit the bias edging and square off the curved side edges. Download the pattern today!
Typically, when I am in my sewing room, it is to work on projects for others. Working on projects for others is a joy, but I find I don’t often leave enough room to make myself, or my kids, something fun!
After completing an alteration the other night, I went right into making a pair of City Gym Shorts for myself out of this amazing rayon blend my friend Debbie had given me. They are such a quick, 1 hour project, that my soul can often be satisfied! They are so comfortable in fact, that I wore them the entire next day!
If your wardrobe is lacking in shorts or summer skirts, I highly recommend you make yourself a pair!
Sewing a pair of shorts is one of the easiest sewing projects to get started with. I created this pair for my niece to wear in Paris last summer. The patterns are so easy to follow that my son made a pair for the neighbor down the street!
