Sunday, June 23, 2013

Shorts Out of Thin Air

Well, hello.  We have been away, and I will tell you more about that later this week.

In the meantime, let's talk about kids' shorts.  Ben has plenty of hand-me-downs.  Genevieve has plenty of sundresses, but she now, suddenly, prefers shorts and pants.

I scrabbled around and put together some shorts for her.  When we were away in the woods, I realized just how uniquely makeshift the shorts are.

 1.  Knit shorts for school field day. 

These are the most successful pair, maybe because I used an actual sewing pattern.  It was a generic shorts pattern written for woven fabric, not knit, but I just used the mock serger stitch on my machine and hoped for the best.  You do need to know which way the knit stretches before you cut and sew!  This fabric was in my stash from who-knows-where and it suits Genevieve's eye-screeching combinations perfectly. 




2.  Cut-offs with bias tape. 

I had a slew of hand-me-down jeans for Ben in Genevieve's size.  I found the pair with the most ripped-out knees and made them into these shorts.  They are too baggy.  They look funny.  The bias tape is not evenly sewed down.  She wears them and likes them.  Oh well.




3.  The balloon shorts.

 I searched around on Pinterest for an idea here.  Then I stumbled across a beloved old pair of my pajama pants in my stash and poof, made the elastic waist smaller and gathered the legs into a band.  I think they look fabulously Frenchy, but Genevieve is less fond of them because she says they inhibit her movement. I told her to consider them her least-favorite shorts and wear them when the other 2 pairs are in the wash.  Which they always are.




She is clothed most of the time, I tell you.  Maybe I should scrounge another pair of shorts for her?  Like, at a store?  But so far I have not spent a dime on summer shorts and I was planning to keep it that way.

8 comments:

Jennifer Jo said...

You are a magic maker!

Sew Blessed Maw [Judy] said...

What cute shorts. I absolutely love the balloon shorts with the band around them-- Adorable.
Great job making them, and not having to spend money on shorts.

Polly said...

You are such a genius. Now I know what to do with Finn's holey jeans....bias tape, shorts time!

I LOVE the Frenchy pair too. Darling. Maybe she'll like them more as summer progresses?

Inspiring sewing, my friend!

Jo said...

I love that you are making shorts, not buying them. Looking at these makes me think maybe I could sew something one day..
I love the denim cut-offs. Reminds me of the gorgeous tomboy in the movie My Girl.

Rebecca said...

The jeans pair are gorgeously 90s. I think of my freshman year of college. Which I guess is so long ago that we can start to see it as vintage.

jenny_o said...

If she loves the jeans shorts, maybe there could be another pair "taken back" from the pass-along pile ...

I love the phrase "eye-screeching combinations" ... but I think she is right in style this year!

BLD in MT said...

Stores?! Bah! Not when you've got such a clever and handy mother! I quite like the balloon shorts. They look charming and vintage. But, I do dislike anything that inhibits my movements, too, so I can see why they become "least-favorite." :)

Julian said...

Your kids are blessed to have such a talented mama! I love all the shorts and love it even more thst you didn't spend any money!
Christina