Guest Post Scattered Thoughts of a Crafty Mom

  Hi readers! 

Today my guest poster is Jamie from Scattered Thoughts Of A Crafty Mom.

You may have seen her featured here before on my link party. Jamie is a genius at making children’s clothing and writing tutorials for sewing her adorable and fun kids’ designs.

 

Today I am sharing one of my favorite projects, these upcycled patchwork shorts I made for my son.

 

 

Do you have a pile of outgrown t-shirts just sitting around, waiting to be given away or tuned into rags?  Well don’t get rid or those tees!  Make something new out of them instead!

 

The shorts may look complicated, but they really are a fun and simple project.  The best part is since you are using knits, you don’t have to finish any seams! 

 

To make these shorts you need:

• 5 or 6 old tees (you could use more or less depending on the size of the shirts and variation you want.)
• Ruler
• Rotary cutter/cutting mat
• Your favorite shorts pattern (If you don’t have a short pattern, I will include instructions to draw your own pattern at the bottom of the post)
• 1/2 inch elastic
• Ball point needle (always use a ball point needle on knits!)
• basic sewing supplies

Cut your t-shirts apart at the seams and use your ruler to cut out 4 inch squares.  Pay attention to the designs on the shirts, you may want to center your squares over certain areas to preserve a design or word.  (Depending on the t-shirt and where I placed the 1st cut, I was able to get 12 to 18 squares from each shirt,   I cut fewer squares on the shirts where I tried to preserve a design or word.)  After cutting the squares, arrange them into a pattern you like.  Use your shorts pattern to determine how big the fabric panel needs to be.  

 

Start sewing your blocks together, using a 1/4 inch seam allowance.

 

  Very Important!!!  When cutting shorts you need to make sure your fabric lays either right or wrong sides together when cutting the 2 front and 2 back pattern pieces.  You can do this two ways.  Either lay your fabric panels out wrong sides together and cut 2 at once (this is what happens when you fold your fabric in half) or lay your fabric out side by side and flip the pattern while cutting one at a time.  That is what I did in the photo below:

 

 

Cut out the 2 front pieces and 2 back pieces.

 

  To hem the bottom of the shorts, fold the bottom edge over 1/4 inch, press, fold over another 1/4 inch and press again.  Sew right along the folded edge. (I used my new ball point twin needle for the bottom hem. I love this needle, the knit fabric did not stretch out at all when I sewed the hem!)

 

  How fun are these shorts?  If you make anything with this tutorial, I would love to see your results!  

  

 

  Instructions on making your own shorts pattern:  Fold the shorts you’re using for pattern tracing in half, with the back of the shorts facing out.  Make sure to flatten out the back crotch seam as much as possible. 

  Trace around shorts on to the paper.  Extend the top of the shorts up, in a straight line as shown above.  

  After you have traced the shorts, add a 1/4 inch seam allowance along the sides of the pattern. Add 1 1/8 inches to the top of the shorts for the elastic casing and 1/2 inch at the bottom for the bottom hem. 

  Fold the shorts over so the front side is facing out, and repeat these steps for the shorts front pattern.   Cut out both patterns.  

  If you like this tutorial, be sure to visit my blog to see what else I have been up to.  Thanks again, Justine for letting me share this project with your readers!