Monday, July 16, 2012

Tutorial to reversible skirt like shorts, Part two.

Soooo if you read the headline and noticed 'part two' you might wonder what happened to part one....because of course do you not miss any posts on this blog, right!
 Well today we are doing things a little bit different. The cool Justine from Sew Country Chick has lend me her blog for a post's time and she is posting part one. So you have to head over to her lovely blog (click HERE) to get the pattern drafting part and more photos.
And if you are coming from Sew Country Chick and is now ready for part two....welcome!

I have had my eyes on those two fabrics since I a while ago noticed (in my fabric stash) that they are matching perfectly in the colors but the prints are obviously completely different. To me that requires the perfect idea so that it is not going to end up looking like something a first year design student has made....you know like an idea that seemed good....when it was an idea......but ends up looking totally crazy and not really working in real life. (I am sorry if I am offending someone but I think everyone with designer aspiration has been through the process of making ridiculous clothes and over time learned to contain ourselves).
Okay back to the subject....so to me using these two color matching fabric in these reversible skirt like shorts were perfect. Especially because the inner fabric would be visible with movement....and if there is something we can be sure of it is that kids move! 

Even though she did stand pretty still for these shots, thanks my love.

A super simple tutorial to the sewing of these shorts:
Sew side seams and inner leg seams together. Iron. (both fabrics)
Sew crotch seams. Iron. (both fabrics)
Sew the two shorts together in the waist. Iron.
Stitch the waist to make three casings for elastics. (See photo above) 

Measure and cut three pieces of elastic that fits your child and start by pulling elastic through the top casing, sew together the elastic (see photo below) and close the first casing with a stitch (see photo above). Continue with middle casing and finish with the lowest casing.

It is a little bit hard to see in this photo but I use 1 cm in each end of the elastic for seam allowance. Instead of sewing them together like I would with fabric I overlap the ends with 2 cm and use a zig zag to sew those 2 cm together.

Now you have to open a seam somewhere in the shorts so you can sew the two fabrics together in the bottom of the shorts legs. The reason why I did not just leave a hole open when I sewed the seams in the first place is that it is easier to hand sew together afterwards when it has already been sewn and ironed.
Because these shorts are reversible it is a bit tricky to open a seam because you need all seams to be perfect looking...and I don't know about your hand sewing but I know mine is usually not as pretty as the one my sewing machine does.
I decided that low on the back crotch seam would be the least visible place and now you can easily sew the two different fabrics together in the legs, iron and hand sew with your nicest and most invisible stitches the hole in the back crotch seam together again and after you have given the shorts a nice over all ironing you are done. Yay!


Last a little tip for sewing seams together where e.g. stripes has to match. I use 1 cm as sewing allowance and I therefore bend the top layer of fabric in the sewing line (1 cm in) and slide it up or down to match the stripe on the lower piece of fabric again in the sewing line 1 cm in on the fabric. As you can see on this photo above I had not been completely precise in my cutting and I had to slide the top layer like 2 mm down to make it match.


And remember if you like what you see and read on this blog you have several ways not to miss another post. See the right side column for Facebook, Bloglovin' and Google Friend Connect options. I would love to have you onboard! 


8 comments:

  1. This is a brilliant idea!!! I love them. When it warms up over here, I'm going to try this...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Awesome.....idea!!thanks for sharing.
    www.blissfulsewing.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. Love these!!! I was just thinking my girls needed a pair of culottes - I wore them all the time as a little girl! I hope you will consider linking a photo up of these into SewSet, the new on-line sewing directory! I know others would benefit from being able to find your tutorial on these!

    Thanks so much!
    - Jess
    SewSet.com
    MeSewCrazy.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. Super smart idea, thanks for sharing! I've really enjoyed following your blog, and that is why I have nominated you to receive the Versatile Blogger Award! If you have not already received it, you can read more about it here in my blog post...
    http://beingmomme.blogspot.com/2012/07/bloggers-are-best.html
    Have a happy rest of the week!
    Rhiannon

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love this! Great idea :)
    Thanks so much for sharing!
    Consider me your newest follower from Cass Can Sew!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh cool!!!!! You have fabulous sewing skills!

    Thanks so much for sharing this at The DIY Dreamer.. From Dream To Reality!

    ReplyDelete

I love your comments.
Thank you!