Dulce Taylor: Basic Shorts -- Sewing Tutorial

It's Dulce here.  So, we've made a basic shorts pattern, now let's make some shorts!!! You will need about a yard of fabric (depends on your measurements), and 7" invisible zipper.

(1) Using the shorts pattern we made yesterday, cut out four pieces.

Make sure you cut two pieces facing one way and two pieces facing another! 

(2) Place your invisible zipper along the long side of one of the pieces. Start from the band line, not the very top of the shorts. Mark the spot on the shorts piece where the bottom of the zipper ends with a pin. 

(3) Place the right sides of two opposite-facing pieces together and stitch up the side to the pin using a 1/2" seam allowance. 

(4) Install the zipper according to the instructions that come with it. 

(5) Now stitch the short straight side of these two pieces together and press open the seams.

(6) Place the right sides of the other two opposite-facing pieces together and stitch along the long curved edge and the short straight edge. 

(7) Now, turn one piece right side out and place it inside the other piece which should be turned inside out. Line up the long curve on both pieces which should be shaped like a "U." Pin the right sides of both curves together. Stitch along this curve using a 1/2" seam allowance. Then pull out the piece on the inside...and you should have something that is starting to look like a pair of shorts!

(8) With the shorts flipped inside out, roll the top of the band down 1/2" and then fold down another 1". Make sure you fold the band over the tops of the zipper! Press the band down and stitch along the bottom of the fold and then topstitch around the top of the band. (If you want your band to be a bit stiffer, iron on a long, thin strip of fusible interfacing before you fold down the band and stitch.)

(9) Finally, pin and stitch the hem on both short legs. Make sure they are even lengths before you stitch them!!!

There you have it! Some cute, comfy, and easy shorts! And let me tell you...they are so comfy!!! I want to make several more pairs for next summer!

Dulce

Dulce Taylor: Basic Shorts -- Pattern Tutorial

I am going to have Dulce guest blog again today and show you her cute shorts pattern.  You still have a little summer heat to deal with and these shorts whip up really quickly.  Here's Dulce...

Hello everyone! Today I am going to show you how to make a basic shorts pattern! Here's what you need:

-Large piece of pattern paper

-Marker

-Straight Ruler and Curved Ruler

-Measuring Tape

First, take the following measurements:

(a) Measure around the place on your hips or waist where you want the band of your shorts to lie (ex. 28")

(b) Measure around your hips (ex. 34")

(c) Measure the distance from the band to your hips. (ex. 3")

(d) Measure from the place where you want the band down past the hip to the length you want your shorts (ex. 11.5")

(e) Measure around the part of your leg where you want the length to be (ex. 19")

(f) Sit on a flat chair and measure from your band to the chair. This is your crotch depth.

Okay....now let's get started! 

(1) On a large piece of pattern paper or poster board, draw a straight line representing about 1/3 of the distance from the right side of the paper. We will start off working on the left side of this line. 

(2) A little ways down the line, mark a dot. Divide your band measurement by 4 (ex. 28/4 = 7"). Draw a line this length straight out from the dot toward the left side of the paper. Measure up 1.5" from this line and draw another line that is the same length. Connect the two lines, making a rectangle. 

(3) Using the measurement from your band to your hip, measure down from the band dot and mark another dot representing your hip. Take your hip measurement and divide it by 4 (ex. 8.5"). Draw a line this length straight out from the dot. 

(4) Now measure down on the vertical line from the band using the length measurement and mark a dot representing length. Divide your leg measurement by two (ex. 19/2 = 9.5") and draw a line straight out from the dot.

(5) Using a curved ruler, connect the lines representing your band, hip, and length. 

(6) Using your crotch depth measurement, measure down from the band and mark a dot on the vertical line. Now divide your hip measurement by 8 (ex. 34/8 = 4.25"). Using this measurement, measure out from the dot on the RIGHT side of the vertical line. Draw a line out from the length dot the same length as the line you just drew. Connect the two lines, making a rectangle/square shape.

(7) Using your curved ruler again, draw a curve from the far top point of the square/rectangle to the band dot. 

(8) Almost Done!!! Now draw a line about an inch underneath the length line. Connect it to the length line. This represents our hem. 

(9) Now add a 1/2" seam allowance on both sides of the pattern. 

(10) Label your pattern and draw a vertical grain line....

...cut out....and you're done!!! Stick around for tomorrow's tutorial on how to sew these super easy shorts!

Dulce

Dulce Taylor: DIY Sun Hat -- Sewing Tutorial

Welcome to Part 2 of DIY Sun Hat!  Monday, I showed you how to make a pattern for your hat, and today I will show you how to make the hat!

You will need 1/2 yd. of fabric for the outside of the hat (if you want a waterproof rain hat, use oilcloth), 1/2 yd. of fabric for the lining of the hat, and 3/4 yd. of light weight fusible interfacing (for a sturdier brim, get a heavier weight interfacing).

For my hat, I will be using a pretty green and black fabric for the outside of the hat and a simple cream fabric for the lining.

Like I said yesterday, you can use the whole pattern and lay your fabric out in one big sheet. For simplicity's sake, I'm going to use only half of my pattern. Use the following layout to cut out your pattern pieces for both the outside and lining fabrics:

Cut out two brims in each fabric, one top (cut on fold) and one long rectangular crown piece.

For the interfacing, you will need to cut out four brims.

Now that you've got your fabric cut out...let's get started! .

Take your two outside brims and place them right side down on your ironing board. Iron on two pieces of the fusible interfacing according to the interfacing instructions. Do the same with the inside lining brims and the other two pieces of interfacing.

1. It's sewing time!  (a) Start with your long, rectangular crown pieces. Lay the outside piece right side down and then place the lining piece on top, right side up. (b) Fold the pieces in half with the outside piece on the inside of the fold. (c & d) Pin the ends together and stitch along the line you pin using a 1/2" seam allowance. (e) Finish seam. (Whenever I tell you to finish the seam in this tutorial, you can either use your serger, or, if you don't have a serger, you can use a zig-zag stitch on your sewing machine.)

2. Now, (a) pin the wrong sides of the two circular top pieces together. (b) Stitch around the edges using your serger or a zig zag stitch. (c) Pin the crown piece to the top piece with the the right sides together. (d) Stitch around the edges, using a 1/2 inch seam allowance. Finish the seam. (e) Press the seam allowance down along the crown and clip any curved edges.

3. (a) Take the two outside brims and place them together with the right sides facing each other. (b & c) Sew along the two straight edges and finish the seams. (d) Do the same thing to the two lining pieces.

4. (a) Open up the lining brim to make a full circle. Lay it with the recently sewn seams down. Open up the other brim and lay it on top of the lining brim, right side down. Make sure you line up the seams. (b) Pin around the outside circle of the brim and stitch using a 1/2" seam allowance. (c) Turn inside out and press. (d) Topstitch over the edge of the brim.

(a) Serge both brims together on the inside circle. (b) Also serge the un-sewn sides of the crown together. (c) Now, pin the crown to the inside circle of the brim. (If the brim is too wide for the crown, try pleating the brim evenly around the crown so that it does fit.) Make sure you pin the right sides together. (d) Sew along the inside of the brim using 1/2" seam allowance.

And there's your hat! Wear it proudly!

Dulce

Dulce Taylor: DIY Sun Hat -- Pattern Tutorial

You guys loved my daughter so much last week with her cute skirts that I have asked her to also show off her totally awesome DIY Sun Hat.  So, here's Dulce....

Hi guys, Dulce here.  Today and Wednesday, I’m going to show you how to make a cute little sunhat!  Today, I will show you how to make the pattern for the hat, and Wednesday I will show you how to make the hat!

Use measuring tape to measure the circumference of your head. Don’t hold the tape too tight; you want the hat to be a little loose! My measurement was 23 inches.

Okay, now it’s time to do a little math. You just measured the circumference of your head. Now we need to find thediameter. The diameter of a circle = the circumference divided by pi. Any one remember what pi is? Cause I honestly don’t....okay, I looked it up. It’s 3.14. (I had to look up that diameter formula as well. College calculus completely ruined my basic math skills)

D = 23 / 3.14

D = 7.33

If your diameter turns out not to be a whole number, try to round it up to the nearest quarter or half of an inch. (Mine will be 7.5 inches)

Not let's make our pattern. You will need a piece of poster board or a large sheet of paper. Lay the paper on a flat surface and make a dot which will represent the center top of the hat. 

Using a yardstick or ruler, draw a line straight across the paper through the dot. The line needs to be centered on the dot and should be the length of your diameter plus 1 inch for seam allowance. (For me, 8.5 inches. The radius of my line is 4.25)

So, this is the way I make my circles (because I'm slightly shape impaired when it comes to drawing). You may find it a bit complicated and come up with a better way. If so, good for you! Or, you may have a circular shaped object with the same diameter as your measurements that you can trace around.

But for the heck of it, here's my way of making a clean circle:

Take a piece of ribbon or string and tie one end to the top of a pencil or pen. Measure out the length of the radius on the remaining ribbon. At that measured point, tie the string to the pen you are drawing your pattern with.

Now, place the first pencil standing up on your middle point, and your marking pen at the ending point of the line you have already drawn. Slowly start to move the marking pin in a half-moon shape to the other ending point of the line, while keeping the pen on the middle point steady. Continue all the way around until your circle is complete.

It's time to decide how wide you want the brim of your hat. Remember, the wider you make your hat, the floppier it will be. I decided to make my hat 4 inches wide. Line up your ruler on the same line you drew earlier. Extend both sides of the line by your brim measurement, adding an inch to each side for seam allowance. (5 inches to both sides)

Use the same method you used making the smaller circle to make this larger circle.

On the edge of your paper, draw a line the length of your circumference, plus an inch for seam allowance. You may need to tape two pieces of paper together to get the desired length. 

Decide how tall (deep) you want your hat to be. I want mine to be 3 inches. Using that measurement - plus an inch for seam allowance! Haha, did you think I would forget? - draw a rectangle with the length measurement you have already made.

And now you have your pattern! Cut out all the pieces, and make sure you cut the two circles apart. You can leave them in one big circle, or you can fold them in half for easier storage.

Stick around for Part 2 of DIY Sun Hat!

Dulce

Dulce Taylor: The Gathered High-Waist Skirt

So, I do not have a tutorial for you today. Sorry :( I am still working on the pattern and the process. 

But I absolutely love it! It is for sure one of my favorite things I have made so far. I am obsessed with the slimming high waist and the extra deep pockets!! They are perfect for storing my super cheap wallet (I got the idea from my mom - find her version here).

I will either be sharing the tutorial or offering the pattern as a PDF in the next few weeks, so be on the lookout. In the meantime...have a beautiful day!

Dulce