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Large Gingham Plaid Shorts

Pattern: Simplicity 1887
Fabric: "Apparel" fabric from Hobby Lobby (cotton)
Notions: elastic
Total Cost:  $6 including pattern ($1 dollar sale)
Size: 8 (made slightly narrower)
Age: 13
[Top: H&M; Cardigan: Banana Republic XS Petite; Shoes: Keds]

This is one of the first fabrics we got when we decided we needed to make a bunch of summer clothes --shorts were the first priority. I think at one point, we decided it was going to be a top instead, but eventually came back to the shorts. And this was just the right pattern for this super fun, fresh summer fabric. Monkey Pants, became even more obsessed after we found Emily Hallman on instagram and couldn't stop swooning over all the large gingham. Suddenly she fell in love with dresses, skirts, ruffles, and even big bows! I know!! I was like --what the heck is going on here? Who are you?
Had I had more fabric, I would definitely cut the waistband and tie on the diagonal to take advantage of this fun print. However, I had just barely enough fabric and that was with making the inside of the pocket from a white fabric and making the front and back pieces a couple of centimeters narrower to get it down to her size. I think we had just 1 yard and the pattern calls for 1 1/2 yds at 45" wide in the smallest size. It was a miracle I managed to sort of match the pattern on the front and back seams.
I would say, these are pretty easy to make. But still, nothing beats the Burda Shorts for simple, fast, and sophisticated. The double elastic on the waistband was a bit fidgety. Trying to feed it through with minuscule safety pins, admittedly, probably isn't the easiest method, though. For some reason, I kept wanting the ties to come all the way from the side seams but they start about where the pocket edge is. Not really sure, why the pattern tells you to sew the ties onto the waist band at the end instead of just including them in the seam between the front band and the elastic one that wraps around the sides. I did what it said. But, I didn't want to. I have the tendency to question pattern instructions a lot, but many times, it is not for the best.

Even though, this cheap, cotton fabric from Hobby Lobby isn't exactly on the luxurious side, I'm pretty happy with these shorts, and she loves them too. So much better than the tired, tiny shorts options at the regular clothing stores available in our area. Options are limited at her age/size right now, and we can never manage to find anything in the girls departments and things don't quite fit in the womens'. So for this teen girl, a home-sewn, summer wardrobe is working out swimmingly!

I'm hoping to make a top to go with these shorts too, but for now, this graphic t-shirt, revived with purpose, and the bubble top are working great.


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