Little Ivy

It’s the month of birthdays for the kids in mother’s group and I really wanted to make them all some handmade goodies.

Since it is summer I thought shorts would be perfect, so I looked around Etsy and I came across this great little pattern. I must admit, at first I was a little put off as the fabric really wasn’t my thing but it had great reviews so I thought I would give it a go.

I struggled a bit with the first pair I made. I managed to sew the shorts completely the wrong way around so that the legs became the crotch and vice versa. I had even zigzagged all the edges (I know, rookie error – turn them the right way around to make sure there are no errors before you do that). It then took about 40 minutes to unpick it all. However, once I understood the pattern, it was really easy to use. Exactly the kind of pattern I need.

I made the short shorts but with one exception – I didn’t really like the trim so I made little cuffs on the bottom of each leg. Even though I winged it, I think they came out pretty well and they were pretty cute little shorts.

To make the cuff, I -

1) followed the pattern until the hemming point, then (with right sides together) I folded each leg down 1/2 centimetre and ironed it
2) rolled each hem a further 1.5cm and ironed it
3) turned the shorts the right way around and rolled each cuff up about 1.4cm (or just less than the previous roll) and then sewed twice around the bottom of the hem.

You can see it in the pictures below…

Cute boys clothes are so hard to come by so it is great to have a pattern I can rely on. It is also good that the sizing seems much better than the reversible sunhat that I made.

What do you think?

PS. Sorry about the awful photos – I was in a hurry to finish the shorts and didn’t have time to set up my shots!