Tuesday, June 28, 2022

Intermediate Sewing Swim Lesson: Making regular shorts into board shorts

Today we've got a tutorial for you on how to use a regular shorts pattern into board shorts!   Here's Audrey from Skirt Fixation with the tutorial.  Be sure to follow her on Instagram to be entered to win a swim pattern from the shop!


You may remember from the Project Jet Set lookbook that I used the Singapore Shorts & Pants pattern to sew board shorts for my boys.  I did this by adding a swim liner underneath using the Saltillo Swimsuit as a starting point.  Here is how you can do the same.


Begin by cutting out the bottom half of a swimsuit pattern from swim fabric.  Here you can see I am using the Saltillo Swimsuit pattern.  I've allowed *more* than I think I will need for height as that will be evened up later, and too much is better than not enough.


Now line up the bottom of the front and back with the right sides together and sew with a 3/8 (1cm) seam allowance.


After the crotch seam is sewn together, sew up the side seams, again with the right sides together and a 3/8" (1cm) seam allowance.


Now it's time to add the leg elastic.  On the wrong side of the swim liner, use a zigzag stitch to sew swimwear elastic to the edge of each leg hole.  (The Saltillo and all the swimwear patterns in the shop have an elastic measurements chart.  You can also just stretch the elastic as you go if you are experienced in sewing swimwear and have a feel for how much to stretch.)


Now turn that zigzag stitch in toward the wrong side again and zigzag a second time.  Repeat these steps for the other leg hole.


Ta da!  Now you have a swimsuit liner!  Let's add it to the shorts pattern. 


Before inserting it into the shorts, you need to trip some off the top of the front.  This is because most patterns are higher in the back than the front and the extra fabric in the front of the swim liner would bunch weirdly.  Also, this is a good time to trim up any excess fabric (remember we allowed a lot extra when cutting out the liner?)  Just measure where the crotch levels are and trim any excess off the top of the liner.


With both the liner and the shorts right sides out, slide the liner down into the shorts.  You can baste around the top edges to keep these layers together as you are attaching the waistband.


This is what it looks like from the inside!  Swim shorts with a liner!  These instructions can also be used with the Bodhi Board Skirt, and now I'm off to make about 10 of those...


The Singapore Shorts is a perfect pattern to use for this tutorial because the waistband can also be made from knit fabric!  We used swim fabric as shown above.

All fabrics shown in this tutorial are from Raspberry Creek Fabrics swim shop.

Remember, all swim patterns in the shop are 20% off!!!  

Use the code swim20 at checkout.  Code expires July 1st, 2022.



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