Shorts on the Line by Sew Well Maide

Today, I'm excited to have Karen from Sew Well Maide as part of the Shorts on the Line Sewalong! Karen has an amazing quilting talent, which she informed me is very addictive if I ever get into quilting, which  I do plan to try at some point! I really love this bag she made and her store has some amazing quilting patterns in it. My favorite is this Rainbow Quilt Pattern, which I will have to try sometime! Thanks for coming over Karen and sewing up some totally cool boy shorts for us!

Hi everyone - I am Karen from Sew Well Maide.  I am primarily a quilter so when Rachael from imagine gnats asked me to participate in this great sew along I was both excited and terrified!!  However, because I am a Woman (you know -  'hear me roar' and all that) I decided to 'have a go' (an Aussie expression!) and enjoy expanding my skill base. Since I own no shorts patterns of my own I turned to the generosity of those in blogland and found the wonderful Dana of made and I have used her Retro Racer Shorts tutorial to make these shorts for my son.

As luck would have it I had in my stash some Pirates fabric by Emily Taylor for  Riley Blake - just perfect for this - and look how the 'stripes' in the pattern match up - I am sooo clever I did this without even trying.  Lol! I found Dana's tutorial collection fantastic.  In fact, because my son is six and the pattern was intended for a 2 - 3 yr old and I wanted to change the front to a flat finish instead of having elastic all the way around the waistband, I combined a few different tutorials offered by Dana - you know, as a beginner, let's just up the ante!

I referenced her Make Your Own Pattern tutorial to make the pattern for the larger size shorts.

 and I referenced her Kids Pants with a Flat Front tutorial to have the elastic only in the back of the shorts and the front nice and flat.

 However, the primary pattern style I chose was the round edged, bias binding encased leg of the Retro Racer Shorts.  The pattern instructions were very easy to follow and well photographed.  I purchased some lovely grey checked pre-made bias binding, although a tutorial for making your own bias tape is offered on the site.

 side leg view

I can now say that I have now been well and truly bitten by the 'clothes making' bug.  My 9yr old son has put in his order for shorts for summer (it is winter in Australia - only 8 deg C, 33 deg F here today) and now I am looking at all kinds of sewing patterns - maybe a skirt for myself next???

 Sooo, thank you Dana for your know how, thank you Rachael for presenting me with an opportunity to expand my skill base and thank you Vanessa for openning your blog to guest posts for the fantastic Shorts on the Line Sew Along.  

For those unfamiliar with me you can find me here - blog, etsy, facebook, twitter, craftsy.

Until next time, happy quilting, knitting, sewing, crafting .... 

Thanks so much, Karen! I'm so glad to have a new friend come on over and share such fun boy shorts! I think you should do more clothes sewing, for sure! And I'll be coming to you for quilting advice, haha!