Sewing shorts for the child - pattern for summer trousers

• Material and preparation
  • patterns
• Sew on shorts

Finally, the summer is on the way and the heat will not be long in coming. The summer temperatures outside also make our little ones sweat. Especially when frolicking at the playground or long walks in the blazing sun. That's why it's high time for the matching summer wardrobe and a great, airy, self-sewn shorts!

I'll show you how you can quickly sew the perfect summer pants for your child from just one piece of fabric. And best of all, the shorts look great, are comfortable to wear and can be sewn from almost any stretchy fabric. Since the summer trousers do not need much material, you can use old cloth scraps and smaller parts here.

Material and preparation

Our pattern is perfect for the sizes 74 - 80, but the summer pants can also be extended slightly and therefore fits also for children with size 86 and larger.

You need this:

• Jersey fabric or muslin
• some cuff fabric
• scissors
• ruler
• pen
• our pattern
• a sewing machine or overlock machine

The shorts can be made from a variety of fabrics. In particularly hot temperatures, the currently enormously trendy muslin fabric is recommended. Many may know this product from the cloth diapers or burp cloths for babies. Muslin is usually woven very loosely from cotton and consists of particularly fine threads. That's why it's extremely breathable and perfect for the summer.

Tip: If you use muslin, this fabric should urgently be washed and dried before sewing, as it contracts enormously when wet. Otherwise, the shorts could arrive at the first wash and not fit.

However, I sew our current project with a normal jersey cotton fabric.

patterns

Step 1: First, print the pattern, making sure that the actual print size is set to 100%. Then glue together the parts of the template and cut it out at the lines.

Click here: To download the pattern

Attention: The seam allowance of 0.5 cm is already included in the pattern and does not have to be added.

Step 2: Next, we fold the fabric together right to right and place the pattern at the marked fabric break on the folded edge. Then we use the pen to trace the contours as exactly as possible.

The whole thing is now cut out and put aside for the time being.

Step 3: For the trouser straps, I like to wear the same material as for the shorts, should it be jersey fabric. For this we cut small strips of fabric 5-6 cm long and 2 cm wide. These strips of fabric should always be cut against the threadline so they can stretch as far as possible and curl up.

Tip: For a trouser made of muslin, I make the trouser cords from cords.

These strips are now pulled apart as far as possible at both ends. The fabric rolls together and we have beautiful round bands, which we knot at one end.

Sew on shorts

Step 1: First, we put the pants through the material break right to right together. The Ponaht we close now either with the zigzag stitch of the sewing machine or overlock.

Attention: Only close the upper part of the seam, the lower sides are then sewn as a suture.

Step 2: Now we fold the pants so that the fabric break and the just stitched seam lie right to right on each other. The small bow (the suture) is now sewn or closed again.

Step 3: The pants look almost finished when we turn them on the right side of the fabric. Before we attach the cuff on the ventral side, we pin the two bands of jersey on the front center with pins. Now stitch the whole piece with a simple straight stitch so that the ribbons do not slip when sewing the cuff.

Step 4: To determine the width of the cuff, measure the circumference of the pants in the abdominal area. This amount is now multiplied by 0.7 to give the circumference of the cuff.

Please note Cuffs are usually made of tubular fabric, so the circumference when measuring or cutting is divided by two again.

5th step: Cut the cuff in the just calculated width and a length of about 8 cm.

Step 6: In order for the cuff to make a circle, the ends of the fabric are sewn together right to right. Now the two sides are stacked right to right and pinned on the belly of our pants.

The cuff has to be stretched again and again because the fabric is 30% shorter than the circumference of the pants.

Tip: I always put the seams together first, so that you can sew the cuff clean. Then the opposite side is pinned. So you can ensure that the stretching of the cuff is done regularly and is not stretched too much or too little on either side.

Step 7: The open sides of the pants and the cuff fabric are sewn around with zigzag stitch or overlock and the cuffs are folded up.

Tip: It is advisable to let the jersey fabric run down through the sewing machine, so that you can stretch the cuff with your hand a bit. Sewing the cuff takes a bit of practice, but after a few times it works like clockwork.

Step 8: The last thing missing is the hemming of the trouser legs. I fold in each case the lower side of the fabric about 1 cm inwards and pin everything with Wonderclips or pins. Of course, the ends of the fabric can still be missed with the overlock, so that the substance does not rise. However, I usually leave that step aside with jersey fabric.

Step 9: At a distance of about 5 mm, I now sew around with the straight stitch, making sure that the distance is constant. To make the pant look nice, I use a matching yarn for it.

After that, I sew around the trouser leg again at a distance of 2-3 mm from the existing seam.

Tip: Who has beautiful decorative stitches with his sewing machine, of course, can use a fancier stitch!

Voilà, the shorts are ready and ready for hot summer days. Have fun sewing!