Carrie Shorts - Let the Kids Do It Themselves!

I released the Carrie Shorts as a PDF only pattern last Summer, and didn't really do much to promote it. I'd designed it for a reason, and the reason was this: I needed a pair of shorts that would straddle that awkward age from just before you reach double figures, to right when you step into teenagerdom. I was teaching a class of kids (at The Eternal Maker) of this age range and got a bee in my bonnet about wanting to make shorts with them: it's a super accessible first clothing project to make. But could I find a pattern that was this age? Everything was either younger kids, or jumped straight into womenswear. The kids ones may have fit some of the skinnier girls, but also the shape was very childlike and boxy, I wanted something that had just a little more shaping to it, something that felt a little more grown up (but not too grown up).

Enter the Carrie shorts. They sit nice and comfortably on the waist, and have a gentle curve on the hem which gives them a prettier shape than their boxier childs compatriots.

I tried them first with my after school club - these kids have made quite a few things with me, so I knew they would be able to cope as long as they cut it out well (the bane of sewing club, like many adults, these kids HATE cutting out! Unlike many adults, they don't give it the attention it deserves!)

And yes, they sewed up some really cute and successful pairs of shorts. They did some super fun things with the designs - mix and match colours for each legs, heart shaped pockets, oh the joy of a young imagination.

So now the real test - a mixed class that included some kids that had never used a sewing machine before. Would it be too much?

As suspected, once the hairy part of the cutting out was done, it was so much fun!

Once again, they all chose such cool fabrics, and added their own flair.

Even kids that had never sewn before picked it up super fast, after all, it's just a couple of seams and a couple of hems, really.

And the good news is, I'm TOTALLY going to teach it again - because even if you have one pair of shorts, you can never have too many, right?

Anyway, all this is really to say, make the Carrie Shorts a project for you and your tween kids this summer! Let them choose some fabrics, and let them get sewing! I promise you, it'll be so much fun.