Made by Me Monday – Simple Knit Skirt with (under) Shorts {tutorial}

by Sherri Sylvester | May 20, 2013

Here we are, the last day of Spring Shorts Week.  Due to the fact that my youngest got a lot of “photo shoot” attention last week, my oldest is now telling me that she will consent to wearing shorts if I make them for her – and that is amazing! So… we might end up with a size 5 pattern piece soon, I’ll be sure to link back to it on all of the tutorials.

This skirt is very useful if you have girls that love skirts but don’t yet know how to sit properly in them. The shorts are perfect. This skirt can go to the park and to church and still be appropriate in both places! Plus, because it is knit this skirt is super comfy.

Simple Knit Skirt with (under) Shorts

Today’s installment is a bit more twirly than the others, so I won’t be providing any tips on making these for boys. I will say, though, that my daughter’s skirt turned out a bit longer than I had intended – though I still really like it! I have included the measurements that I used for this size 3 skirt – so go ahead and shorten it a few inches if you’d like and don’t have a child around to measure.

 You will need:

• knit material – yardage depends on the size of your pattern piece (read through the tutorial to make sure you have enough material for the pattern piece, skirt and ruffle and the casing)
• regular sewing machine (you do not need a serger to sew knits!)
• 3/4″ or 1″ non-roll elastic
• 8″ twill tape (ribbon) for the bow (match or contrasting your knit fabric)
• tissue paper, paper, or tear-away stabilizer
• ballpoint sewing machine needle (for sewing knits)
• pins/glue stick/scissors/matching thread/other sewing gear
• Shorts Pattern Piece – Make your own in any size: {How To} Make a Kid’s Simple Knit Shorts Pattern OR click on the following link to download the 5 page Size 3 printable pdf

Here we go!

Step 1: Follow Steps 1 and 2 in the Simple Knit Shortwith Heart Knee Pads tutorial to cut your under-shorts fabric and casing. (I pieced my fabric together because my old golf shirt (!) knit fabric was not large enough to cut the entire shorts pattern piece.)

Step 2: Follow Steps 12 and 13 (1) , 13 (2) in the Simple Knit Shortwith Heart Knee Pads tutorial to stitch together your inner leg seam and side seams. You can skip Steps 13 (3) and 13 (4), we will be adding a cuff here instead.

Step 3: Follow Step 3 in the Simple Knit Shorts with Oval Knee Pads and Easy Hem tutorial to cut your cuff bands.

Step 4: Follow Steps 9-11 in the Simple Knit Shorts with Oval Knee Pads and Easy Hem tutorial to apply the cuff bands to the bottom of your leg openings.

Step 5: (1) Now you need to cut your skirt fabric. Cut the length of the skirt to suit your child. Remember that the length does not need to include the casing – but does need to include about 1″ seam allowance. The size 3 pattern users should cut the length at 8.5″ high (this leaves room for the seam allowance) by 1.5 times or double the waist measurement of your child. My fabric (for the size 3 pattern) was about 56″ wide. (2) Sew your skirt fabric down the short side(s) to make it into a tube.

Step 6: Cut your ruffle fabric. My ruffle (for a size 3) is 2 1/2″ tall and about 80 inches wide. I pieced together 3 pieces of knit with a 1/4″ straight seam and then trimmed the seam allowance. Your ruffle should be about 1/5 times the length of your skirt fabric, by however tall is needed to be proportional to the size of skirt you are making. You do not need to add a seam allowance – we will be stitching this ruffle on top of the skirt.

Step 7: Ruffling your ruffle. (1) Change your sewing machine stitch to a long straight stitch. Ruffle the ruffle fabric by sewing a line  about 1/4″ away from the top edge of your ruffle. (Note: I didn’t hem the ruffle because the knit won’t fray.) Some machines will ruffle the fabric if the tension is increased – unfortunately my machine does not do that. I hold the thread as it comes off of the spool to give it added tension and that works great for me. (Though you do need to make sure you can guide the fabric through the machine with only one hand!) (2) Stitch your ruffles into a tube, trim the excess seam allowance.

Step 8: (1) Draw a line with a water soluble marking pen 1/2″ away from the edge all the way around the hem edge of your skirt fabric. (2) Make sure your ruffle length matches the bottom edge length of your skirt. Adjust the ruffles as needed to fit. (3) Line up the top edge of the ruffle with the line you just drew on the skirt. Pin all the way around.

Step 9: (1) Change your sewing machine stitch length to a medium width zig-zag stitch. (2) Stitch the ruffle to the skirt by following your ruffling seam line. (3) Take a look at the wrong side of the skirt to make sure you caught the skirt hem all the way around when you were sewing.

Step 10: (1) Ruffle the top edge of the skirt (the same way you made the ruffle in step 7) and make sure the width matches the top of your shorts. Place your shorts inside the skirt. The shorts and the skirt are both right side out. (The shorts right side is next to the skirt wrong side.) (2) Pin the skirt to the shorts evenly along the top edge. (3) Baste.

Step 11: Follow Steps 14-21 on the Simple Knit Shorts tutorial to add the casing and twill bow. Treat the top of your basted skirt and shorts as one piece when following the steps.

All done!

Thanks for hanging out with me for Spring Shorts Week! If you do make any of these I would love to see them. You can post a comment on my Facebook wall and add a photo for everyone to see! I love hearing from you. Seeing the things you’ve sewn with Thread Riding Hood tutorials makes my day!

We’ll have to see if we can do this again next year. Maybe woven next time around? What would you like to have tutorials on?

Simple Knit Sport Shorts with a Lining! {tutorial}

by Sherri Sylvester | May 17, 2013

A very important reminder! Today (May 17th) is your last day to use your 10% discount code for Fabric Spot! Visit Fabric Spot to check out her fabrics, patterns and books. Click here (scroll to the bottom of the post) to find the discount code. (There is more exciting news about the Fabric Spot Giveaway at the end of this post!)

Now… Fourth day of Spring Shorts Week – need I say more? Here’s your tutorial!

Simple Knit Sport Shorts with a Lining

Okay… I tried not to say more… but I can’t do it! I LOVE how these shorts came out.  I think they are my favorite by far, though yesterday’s are a close second and the photo shoot for tomorrow’s skirt was a blast (and involved ice-cream!) These look so professional and the lining works perfectly. They are a great length for a small child to run around in and the fancy curve on the back leg worked out really well to add some needed extra coverage!

Okay – Now you can have your tutorial!

You will need:

• Outer Knit material – yardage depends on the size of your pattern piece (read through the tutorial to make sure you have enough material for the pattern piece and the casing)
• Lining material – I used mesh similar to material that would be used for a sport jersey (yardage same as the outer knit)
• regular sewing machine (you do not need a serger to sew knits!)
• 3/4″ or 1″ non-roll elastic
• Front Bow: 8″ twill tape (ribbon) to match/contrast the shorts
• Side Stripes: twill tape (ribbon) in multiple colours (Size 3 pattern needs aprox. 20″ each of 3 colours)
• ballpoint sewing machine needle (for sewing knits)
• pins/glue stick/scissors/matching thread/other sewing gear
• Shorts Pattern Piece – Make your own in any size: {How To} Make a Kid’s Simple Knit Shorts Pattern  (we will be altering the length to be shorter than the original tutorial) OR click on the following link to download the 5 page Size 3 printable pdf

Before you begin (if you are using the printable Size 3 pattern piece):

• Print out all 5 pages of the pattern piece pdf on letter size (8.5″ x 11″) or A4 paper. Important: Do not select “fit to page” when printing, make sure you print at the original size. Once you have printed the pages, measure the 1″ test square to ensure the pattern is the correct size.
• Cut or fold the pages on the outer gray lines and tape/glue the pages together, matching the letters in the gray half-circles.

Tips on Sewing Simple Knit Shorts for Boys:

• tie the twill tape in a knot instead of a bow
• paint on a freezer paper “sport” number like these
• top-stitch on a fake fly like these
• use a longer length and omit the rounded curve on the back leg

Altering the Pattern Piece (if you made your own pattern piece this way):

These shorts are much shorter than the {How to} Make a Kid’s Simple Knit Shorts Pattern if you followed the tutorial. To alter your pattern piece and make the Sport Shorts do the following:

1. Measure the new length for the inseam on your child.
2. Find the distance between your current hem and the sport short hem you’d like.
3. Make a new line on the pattern piece by measuring UP from the hem evenly across the pattern piece.
4. If the shorts are for a girl, draw a curve on the back leg half of your pattern piece. (Download and look at the size 3 pattern piece for an example.)

Step 1: Fold your fabric in half, make sure the full width of the pattern piece fits on the fabric! Important: Check the direction of the knit that stretches the most. This direction should be parallel to the top/casing and hem of the pattern – otherwise these won’t stretch the correct direction to fit your child. Cut out your fabric.  If you have made your own pattern piece make sure you remembered to add a seam allowance before cutting!

1. Turn your shorts right side out.
2. Pin the seam allowance to the mesh lining.
3. Mark the beginning and end of the seam you just stitched with pins. (A) and (B)
4. Stitch close to the hemline on the mesh lining. Make sure you are stitching through the seam allowance. Start at your first pin marker (A) and stop at the second pin marker (B)
5. Make sure you do not accidentally stitch through the other leg’s fabric as you are sewing.
6. Stay stitch the other leg.

Step 10: Closing the inseam. Now we (magically!) stitch the inseam together and finish the shorts. Hold tight through this one – you can do it! Read carefully and follow the photos.

1. Fold your shorts so the inseams are together.
2. Fold back the knit fabric and secure it with a pin – do this on both the back and front of the shorts knit.
3. Pin the mesh lining fabric right sides together, matching the centre seam line.
4. Stitch the mesh lining fabric together at the inseam with a straight stitch and a 3/8″ seam allowance.
5. Trim the seam allowance close to the stitching to reduce bulk in the lining.
6. Open the shorts as shown in the photo, here’s how to stitch the knit fabric together. We need to pin it right sides together. Note where the 2 green pins are. Match up these edges right sides together and pin.
7. The purple pin in this photo indicates where the fabric is starting to be pinned right sides together.
8. Continue pinning the fabric together, it will curve around, be patient and match up the centre seams.
9. Stitch the knit fabric inseam with a 3/8″ seam allowance and a straight stitch.
10. Here’s what you should have. The 1″ spaces you left in Step 7 now come in handy. Push the knit inseam into the shorts through the hole. Hooray! You did it!

Step 11: (1) Fold in the seam allowances and pin the two openings in your hemline. (2) Stitch the hemline over the opening to close the seam. This is easiest with the lining side up on your machine so you can begin and end where the stay stitching seams are.

Step 12: (1) Match up the top of your lining and knit fabric. Pin all around. (2) Baste the top of your shorts.

Step 13: Follow Steps 14-21 on the Simple Knit Shorts tutorial to add the casing and twill bow. Treat the top of your basted lining and knit fabric as one piece when following the steps.

Simple Knit Shorts with Oval Knee Pads and Easy Hem {Tutorial}

by Sherri Sylvester | May 16, 2013

Hi folks, we’re finally into Day 3 here at Thread Riding Hood Spring Shorts Week.

If you have been wondering where I was today, you need the Thread Riding Hood Facebook page! A photo of today’s shorts and a status update were posted last night. Like us and access “new post” updates, links to sewing related giveaways, a chance to hear from and comment with other sewing fans and important answers to questions like “Where is the third installment of Spring Shorts Week? I can’t wait to see what it is!” (PS. You also get sneak peeks of sewing projects before they are posted here! Shhh… don’t tell!)

Alright, enough of that! Here’s today’s tutorial:

Simple Knit Shorts with Oval Knee Pads and Easy Hem

It is possible that these are the easiest of this week’s shorts – though I am not sure, seeing as how tomorrow’s shorts use a lot less fabric (for girls) and don’t need a “proper” hem because they are lined. This pair of shorts does not have a “proper” hem either, instead it is replaced with a cuff that matches the oval knee pads. The really great thing about these shorts is that they are a bit more unisex than the others this week. I think these shorts would look perfectly comfy and cute on a boy – you’d just need to tie the twill into a knot instead of a bow.

 You will need:

• knit material – yardage depends on the size of your pattern piece (read through the tutorial to make sure you have enough material for the pattern piece and the casing)
• contrasting knit for the oval knee pads, cuffs and casing
• regular sewing machine (you do not need a serger to sew knits!)
• 3/4″ or 1″ non-roll elastic
• 8″ twill tape (ribbon) to match/contrast the shorts
• old pair of pants with worn knees (to check where the knee pads should go)
• tissue paper, paper, or tear-away stabilizer
• ballpoint sewing machine needle (for sewing knits)
• pins/glue stick/scissors/matching thread/water soluble marking pen/other sewing gear
• Shorts Pattern Piece – Make your own in any size: {How To} Make a Kid’s Simple Knit Shorts Pattern OR click on the following link to download the 5 page Size 3 printable pdf
• Oval Knee Pad Pattern Piece – click HERE to download the printable pdf (in 3 different sizes)

Before you begin (if you are using the printable Size 3 pattern piece):

Tips on Sewing Simple Knit Shorts for Boys:

• tie the twill tape in a knot instead of a bow
• paint on a freezer paper “sport” number like these
• top-stitch on a fake fly like these

Here we got

Again, this tutorial is based on the Simple Knit Shorts tutorial from earlier this week. It might be handy to have it available in an extra browser tab or printout. 

Step 1: Follow Steps 1 and 2 on the Simple Knit Shorts tutorial to cut out your fabric and casing. Cut the casing from contrasting fabric that will match your knee pads and cuffs.

Step 2: Cut out your knee pads following the printable pattern piece. Choose an oval size from the printable pdf that best fits the scale of the shorts you are making. I have labeled the size I used as Size 3 – for those using the printable Simple Knit Shorts pattern piece. Give them a press if needed. (If you are wondering why there is a seam at the edge of my fabric, I was able to use an old t-shirt for the contrasting knit in these shorts.)

Step 3: Now we measure and cut the bands for the hem cuffs. (1) Cut a 2 1/2″ high piece of contrasting knit that is the width of your pant leg. (2) Stretch your newly cut band as far as it will stretch and cut off any fabric that stretches past the width of your pant leg. (The cut cuff band on the shorts fabric in the photo is the same length as the one I am stretching.)

Step 4: This one is easy! Tie your short piece of twill tape in a bow (you can use a lighter to – CAREFULLY! – melt the ends of the tape so it will not fray) and check to make sure you have the things in the following picture. (Oops – missed the bow.)

Step 5: Follow Steps 5 and 6 from the Simple Knit Shorts tutorial to find your knee pad placement.

Step 6: Grab your glue stick (wouldn’t be a Thread Riding Hood tutorial without one!) and apply glue to the oval shape. Stick it to your shorts fabric, use the mark you just made to centre it. (Make sure you have at least 1″ between the hem line and the cuff. You will need this space later to add the cuff.)

Step 7: (1) Use a water soluble pen to mark “quilting” lines on your knee pad. I used unevenly spaced straight lines in the opposite direction of my stripes. (2) Stitch (using a ballpoint needle) across your knee pad quilting lines, I used a thin zig-zag to make things more interesting – be creative! (3) Stitch close to the edge of your knee pads with a straight stitch. (4) Use water to remove your water soluble pen markings. Your knee pads are done! (Note: If you have very stretchy or thin knit you might want to place some tissue/paper or tear away stabilizer behind the knee pad while you sew it on – so stop it from stretching.)

Step 8: Follow Steps 12 through 21 from the Simple Knit Shorts tutorial to stitch the shorts together (and then come back!). You can skip Steps 13 (3) and 13 (4), we will be adding a cuff here instead.

Step 9: (1) Iron your cuff bands lengthwise, right sides out. (2) Unfold the bands, fold them the other way and pin them into loops. (3) Stitch them across the short ends with a 1/4″ seam allowance.

Step 10: (1) Re-fold the cuff band lengthwise where you ironed it. (2) Mark the pant hem and the cuff band evenly in 4 places. (3) Match up the seam in the cuff band and the inseam of the shorts. Match up the raw edges of the cuff band and the shorts hemline, pin the cuff band to the right side of the shorts. Match up your other 3 marks on the shorts and band, use them to pin the cuff band around the shorts hemline.

Step 11: (1) Stitch the band to the shorts with an aprox. 3/8″ seam allowance. Stretch the cuff band to the width of the shorts hemline between your pins as you sew. (2) You will end up with a wonky looking hem line! (3) Turn out your cuff – amazing! It looks so cute!

Hooray! You are finished!

And… another one tomorrow – Simple Knit Sport Shorts with a Lining! (or today, as I am about 15 minutes into Thursday right now!)

Simple Knit Shorts with Side Pockets {tutorial}

by Sherri Sylvester | May 14, 2013

Day 2 of Spring Shorts Week coming right up!

Simple Knit Shorts with Side Pockets

Today’s tutorial is largely based on yesterday’s shorts’ construction, you will be omitting the knee pads and sewing on side pockets instead. Use THIS tutorial for the bulk of the construction, so it might be nice to have it available for easy reference – but don’t worry, I will walk you through it!

These came out super cute, I’m really happy with them! I had an old t-shirt that worked perfectly for the pockets and I used some brown double-knit that was hanging around from another project.

 You will need:

• knit material – yardage depends on the size of your pattern piece (read through the tutorial to make sure you have enough material for the pattern piece and the casing)
• contrasting knit for the pockets
• regular sewing machine (you do not need a serger to sew knits!)
• 3/4″ or 1″ non-roll elastic
• 1/4″ braided or knit elastic
• 8″ twill tape (ribbon) to match/contrast the shorts
• tissue paper, paper, or tear-away stabilizer
• ballpoint sewing machine needle (for sewing knits)
• pins/scissors/matching thread/other sewing gear
• Shorts Pattern Piece – Make your own in any size: {How To} Make a Kid’s Simple Knit Shorts Pattern OR click on the following link to download the 5 page Size 3 printable pdf
• Pocket Pattern Piece – click HERE to download the printable pdf

Before you begin:

• Print out all 5 pages of the pattern piece pdf on letter size (8.5″ x 11″) or A4 paper. Important: Do not select “fit to page” when printing, make sure you print at the original size. Once you have printed the pages, measure the 1″ test square to ensure the pattern is the correct size.
• Cut or fold the pages on the outer gray lines and tape/glue the pages together, matching the letters in the gray half-circles.

Tips on Sewing Simple Knit Shorts with Side Pockets for Boys:

• tie the twill tape in a knot instead of a bow
• Use tall rectangular pockets instead of pleated ones
• don’t use elastic on the leg hem, use a straight hem all the way around
• paint on a freezer paper “sport” number like these
• top-stitch on a fake fly like these

Step 1: Follow Steps 1 and 2 on the Simple Knit Shorts tutorial to cut out your fabric and casing.

Step 2: Cut out your pockets using the printable pattern piece. Also cut 2 Pocket bands that are 2″ tall by your pocket width (these will be cut shorter later, so if you are short on fabric read on and cut them when you do your “stretch test”).

Step 3: This one is easy! Tie your short piece of twill tape in a bow (you can use a lighter to – CAREFULLY! – melt the ends of the tape so it will not fray) and check to make sure you have the things in the following picture.

Step 4: Locate the front on each of your main shorts pattern pieces and lay them out. If your knit does not have an obvious “right side” make sure you mark the outside of your material so you have two opposite pieces (see photo).

Step 5: (1) Mark the pleats on your pockets with pins. (2) Fold the pocket in half right-sides together and mark where the 2 pleat pins line up. Also make a mark 1″ down from the top near the fold. (3) Stitch 1″ down the pockets at the pleat marking, stop when you reach your 1″ marking and back-stitch to hold it in place.

Step 6: (1) Fold the pleat open evenly on both sides of the stitching and pin it open on the wrong side of both pockets. (2) Fold your Pocket bands in half lengthwise wrong sides together and give them a quick iron to hold it in place. (3) Stretch the pocket band as much as it will stretch and cut the “fully stretched” length to match your newly pleated pocket width. (See the photo – the band I am stretching is the same length as the band above it when it is not being stretched.)

Step 7: (1) Stretch and pin the folded band evenly to the right side of the pocket. (2) Stretch and stitch the band to the top of the pocket with a 1/4″ seam allowance. Use a ballpoint needle and a thin long zig-zag stitch. (3) Open up the band and press the seam allowances down to the pocket side.

Step 8: Place the pocket on your shorts. If you are using the printable size 3 pattern, use the placement lines on the pattern piece. If you made your own pattern, centre the pocket on the centre of each shorts leg piece. (Again, make sure you have 2 opposite leg pieces!) The pocket is 2-3 inches above the hem-line.

Step 9: Stitch around your pocket, leaving the top “cuff” open. I used a double needle and stitched about 1/8″ away from the edge. These pockets have raw edges and won’t fray because they are knit. Back-stitch a little extra at the beginning and ending of your stitching so the pockets don’t tear out when they are used. Place tissue/paper/tear away stabilizer behind the pocket so your stitching does not stretch the fabric and cause a wavy seam line.

Step 10: Follow Steps 9 through 21 of the Simple Knit Shorts tutorial to finish these shorts.

Hooray you are done!

And… There’s more to come tomorrow – Simple Knit Shorts with Oval Knee Pads and Easy Hem!

Oh… and before I forget – don’t you forget to enter the giveaway from Fabric Spot. It’s over on Friday and you’ll miss out on that Tsuru! Go and get it!

Made By Me Monday – Simple Knit Shorts with Heart Knee Pads {tutorial + printable pattern}

by Sherri Sylvester | May 13, 2013

Welcome to Day 1 of Spring Shorts Week! Ready to go?  Today is the full tutorial on how to make a complete pair of shorts. The rest of the week we will cover off different variations based on this tutorial. You can do this – and then you can make 4 more pairs based on the same pattern! They get faster the more you make, hooray for easy!

Simple Knit Shorts with Heart Knee Pads

 You will need:

• knit material – yardage depends on the size of your pattern piece (read through the tutorial to make sure you have enough material for the pattern piece and the casing)
• contrasting knit scrap for the heart knee pads
• regular sewing machine (you do not need a serger to sew knits!)
• 3/4″ or 1″ non-roll elastic
• 1/4″ braided or knit elastic
• 8″ twill tape (ribbon) to match/contrast the shorts
• old pair of pants with worn knees (to check where the knee pads should go)
• tissue paper, paper, or tear-away stabilizer
• ballpoint sewing machine needle (for sewing knits)
• pins/glue stick/scissors/matching thread/other sewing gear
• Shorts Pattern Piece – Make your own in any size: {How To} Make a Kid’s Simple Knit Shorts Pattern OR click on the following link to download the 5 page Size 3 printable pdf
• Heart Knee Pad Pattern Piece – click HERE to download the printable pdf (in 3 different sizes)

Tips on Sewing Simple Knit Shorts for Boys:

• tie the twill tape in a knot instead of a bow
• switch the knee pads for ovals (coming on Wednesday!), or don’t put them on at all
• don’t use elastic on the leg hem, use a straight hem all the way around
• paint on a freezer paper “sport” number like these
• top-stitch on a fake fly like these

Here we go!

(Lucky you, you can see my fancy pattern weights – empty kids paint containers filled with beans!)

1. Grab the fabric shorts piece you just cut and stretch the top as far as it will go, note the measurement – this is “A”. (photo 1) – My double-interlock knit stretched to 21″, but all knits are different
2. Measure your elastic width and note it – this is “B”. (photo 2)
3. Casing Length is: “A” + 1/2″  for seam allowances
4. Casing Height is: “B” x 2 + 1″ for seam allowances

Step 3: Cut out your knee pads following the printable pattern piece. Choose the heart size from the printable pdf that best fits the scale of the shorts you are making. I have labeled the size I used as Size 3 – for those using the printable Simple Knit Shorts pattern piece.

Step 15: Take your casing pieces and stitch them right sides together into a large tube with a 1/4″ seam allowance. Fold the casing in half lengthwise and pin it together evenly at 8 points. Do this by following the folding technique that you used to mark the top of the pants in Step 14.

Step 16: (1) Pin the casing to the top RIGHT SIDE of your shorts matching your pin markings. Match up the seams in your casing to the side “seam” pin markers. (2) Mark a small 1.5″ section with different coloured pins to indicate where to leave an opening.

{How to} Make a Kid’s Simple Knit Shorts Pattern

by Sherri Sylvester | May 10, 2013

Here to announce… (drumroll please!) Next week is “Spring Shorts Week” on Thread Riding Hood! (But you already know that if you snuck a peek on Facebook!)

The plan is (if all goes as planned… !) to post a tutorial for 5 different versions of Kid’s Simple Knit Shorts – one on each week day – starting on Monday. I’ve got two of them sewn already – based on these ones I made for my daughter last week. The others are all planned and the fabric is waiting!

If you are going to sew along, you will need a pattern and that is what we are going to cover today. I know there are versions of “how to make a pants pattern” all over the internet, but maybe you will like mine the best?! This pattern has a separate casing that we will stitch on later, so that is not included in this drafting “how to”.

If you don’t want to draft this and your child fits in a size 3 you are in luck! I am going to post the pattern piece for a size 3 on Monday along with the first tutorial.

All the shorts will use the same basic pattern piece (that you can draft by following this post) and I will provide downloads for any additional pieces that are needed for each tutorial as we go.

Here’s how the week should shape up (I will update this list with links as we go):

• Monday – Simple Knit Shorts with Heart Knee Pads (and size 3 downloadable pattern)
• Tuesday – Simple Knit Shorts with Side Pockets
• Wednesday – Simple Knit Shorts with Oval Knee Pads and Easy Hem
• Thursday – Simple Knit Sport Shorts with Lining
• Friday – Simple Knit Ruffle Skirt with (under) Shorts

You will need:

• large paper – freezer paper/tracing paper/newspaper (I use the large rolls of kids’ paper from IKEA)
• pencil(s)
• 1 pair of pants/shorts in the size you want to copy (more on this below)
• a pair of shorts or a measurement from the bottom of the casing on your kids pants to just under their knee
• long ruler
• scissors

Step 6: Label this half of the pattern “FRONT” and include the size and date and child it is for. It is good not to forget these things when you need it later!

Step 7: Fold the pants (BACK side out) in half along the seam lines. Make sure they look like the photo. Line up the pant leg and the centre back crotch seam along the other half of your paper so they are roughly parallel to the line you drew in step 1. The  corner made by the back crotch curve and the start of the inner leg seam should line up with the line you drew in Step 5.

Step 8: Trace along the inner pant seam and crotch seam up to the casing. Make the centre back line parallel to the line you drew in Step 1 if you need to (see photo). Mark the top of the casing.

Step 9: Match up the casing lines with your ruler and draw a line across the top of the pants pattern.

Step 10: Add your seam allowances – I used 3/8″. There are two ways to do this. (1) Use a sewing guage or regular ruler to mark a seam allowance on all sides of your pattern except the hem. Now draw on your seam allowance using those markings. (2) Use this fancy trick from Pinterest by taping two pencils together. (BTW – this is found on my Pinterest board: Sewing Tips and Tricks, if you want to follow!)

Step 11: Mark the BACK on the back side of the pattern piece and cut it out all around the seam allowance you just drew.

Step 12: (1) Fold your pattern in half along the centre line. (2) Mark a straight line along the bottom hem edge at right angles from the centre line. (3) Cut the pattern on this line to even up the hem-line.

Hooray you are done! I can’t wait to share the tutorials next week, these shorts are really cute and easy to sew! I’m going to be making them for a girl, but providing tips so you can make them more boy-friendly, except for the skirt of course! As usual – let me know if you have any questions.  Leave them in the comments or email me: sherri (at) threadridinghood (dot) com

AND! Not to ignore Mother’s Day – which is VERY important! (If I do say so myself!) If you want to check out my super-duper new and fancy re-styled Tutorials page – you just might find something your Mom would love! And might I suggest:

Hope you have a wonderful weekend! Happy Mother’s Day to all of you that are or are soon-to-be moms! I know my family’s got something planned – my youngest spilled the beans after I had been out at work – “Mommy… I can’t find your cards…?” Umm… “Someone must have hidden them, honey.” Secrets don’t work out so well when you are tiny!