OK, so it’s a long name, but it’s fitting: You take a bunch of shirts or boxers from dad’s closet and chop them up, then put them back together to make a great pair kid shorts. I should have posted this eons ago, but honestly I just plain forgot about it *facepalm*. Sometimes that just happens around here. You know what made me think of it? The fact that he’s wearing them, today, in Florida (we’re here on our annual family vacay). He loves these shorts, mostly because everything in them used to be his daddy’s. Plus they’re supercomfy. Double yay.
This tutorial was published earlier this fall as part of the Fall Issue of Petit Purls, a great online kids’ knitting mag (this was their Sewing Issue) and it’s still fall, so in a sense it isn’t late at all. But in the sense that it’s just now starting to snow in the Midwest, maybe not so much. Ack. Oh well, perfect timing for those of you in Australia, who are just now starting your summer sewing, right? By the way, that will never not be weird to me.
I should also point out that if you followed the tutorial but used a pair of pants for your pattern instead, you could make a seriously cute pair of pants for winter!! Flannel plaids would be SO GREAT for this pattern. One last thought: if you’re cleaning out the husbeast’s summer clothes drawer to make room for sweaters now, start saving a few shirts for a pair of shorts next spring. OK, I’m finished trying to convince you that you need this now. If it’s snowing by you, save it for later.
So the tutorial consists of three parts. First you trace a pattern (you could do this with shorts or pants):
And then you make the “fabric:”
Then you turn them into cute shorts! (or pants!)
Did you catch the incorporation of shirt-pockets to shorts-pockets? Clever, eh?? Can I get an Upcycling high-five?
And of course, you could use the basic instructions with any fabric, even if it’s not pieced. I think you’ll find this tutorial to be really useful!!
For the full tutorial, head over to Petit Purls to check it out (scroll down to find it under the “Patchwork” heading). You’ll also find an awesome interview with Liesl Gibson there as well as plenty of other free tutorials and patterns for sewing and knitting. Fun!!
27 Responses to The Apple Doesn’t Fall Far From The Tree Shorts
Leave a Reply
For you to sew!
about Rae
Hi! I'm Rae, Head Boss Lady of Made By Rae Enterprises. I love to sew. This blog is a showcase for my crafty stuff.
More about me...
Email me!looking for…?
I’m over here too…
I offer licenses for handmade sellers who would like to sell items made with my patterns on a small scale. To see all of the available licenses, visit the 
YAY!!! Love these! such a fun project!
I love these so much!! So so much! What a fun idea!
These are really, really cute! Nicely done.
Very cute! Great job!
So cute! what a great way to use up those scraps from cutting up dad’s shirts!
Oh, these are so cute! Love the idea, and we can TOTALLY still use this in Southern California. It’s freezing in the mornings, but by midday we’ve hit mid-80s.
Please, please consider authoring a dictionary of your Rae-isms. And be sure to include “Upcycling high five.”
haha, that’s a great idea!!
wow, these are so cool! can’t wait to make a pair! I wonder if my hubs will notice his missing shirts…;) j/k!
Nah! Men and their clothes. He’ll never notice.
Love the shorts! Enjoy your time in the Sunshine State ;o)
These are so cute! Love his little strut in that first photo
Love this -and yes, I am reading this from Australia, perfect project for me!
Aw cute. Yeah I bet old flannel pajama pants will work just as well for us fall-winter folks in the Northern Hemisphere! Enjoy that vacation, Rae family!!
Ace.
I have NO EXCUSES not to try something like this.
Time to be brave and start trying a bit of sewing – these are so fab.
And I endeavour to use the word ‘husbeast’ in a sentence today.
hah YES DO!!
i kind of want a pair for me!
They look so cool! I’m in the UK but I’m such a slow sewist, I’m thinking that maybe I should only follow Southern Hemisphere sewing blogs, and that way I might actually finish things in time for the right season. If you carry on posting out-of-season tutorials, I can keep you on my reading list
hah SO TRUE! That’s actually a really great idea…
Love these! I was thinking about making my son some patchwork somethings… I hadn’t figured out exactly what yet, though. These are really great!
Great tutorial!!!, Thank you so much.
Awesome idea. My boys all need new shorts!
awesome! I have about 20 shirts waiting to become shorts!
Here’s two upcycling high-fives: one for each pocket!
Love it!! I have a bunch of shirts awaiting the chopping block and this is such a worthy destination for them! My son also really gets into clothing made with fabric that has been worn by people he loves.
Love these! My grandchildren will be sorted for shorts next summer
Thank you for sharing x