The Pattern Probe #7: Simplicity 1444 Dance Shorts

First Pattern Probe post of 2021! Already I’m more productive with this blog than I was in 2020 and I was in quarantine too, lol.

Too busy figuring out things to do while stuck at home, I guess.

Anyway, this latest probe into my ever-growing sewing pattern collection was sparked by a friend’s request for some comfortable shorts with a custom phrase on the back. I showed them some options and this one for dance outfits (Letter G) was chosen.

So off I went on another garment making adventure!

Alright so I ran into a bit of a dilemma once I cut out my pattern pieces for this project. Normally patterns will have the finished bust, waist and hip measurements for the garment you’re sewing for a better idea of a custom fit. This collection’s shorts design didn’t have any of those on its paper pattern pieces, so I had a tougher time figuring out the right size for my friend. No worries, I made the best estimates I could with the paper patterns and went ahead with a Size 16.

Shorts Front
Shorts Back
Shorts Back Design
Shorts Tag

Other than that, this was a relatively simple construction process. The seam allowance is 3/8″ so keep that in mind when doing this project. For the phrase design I used my Cricut Maker (awesome machine and worth the money, trust me) to cut a stencil from Freezer Paper, then colored in the design on the back using Tulip’s Red Fabric Markers. This was the first time I’ve ever used fabric markers and I have to say I was impressed by the color vibrancy and the lack of drag applying it to the fabric. Plus you don’t need to heat set the ink and it’s washable too so I’m going to have to get myself a set and really come up with something cool to make with them in the future.

As for fit, the finished size measurements of the Size 16 shorts ended up being about 31″ in the waist and about 38″ in the hips as is. With the elastic band and the two-way stretch jersey knit fabric used, these shorts can stretch up to 3″ all around.

Fortunately the shorts ended up fitting just right and looked great. Always a relief when a hand sewn item works out the first time around, especially with knits, since there’s no muslin-equivalent to practice on and no way of doing fittings in these pandemic times.

So other than the lack of finished measurements on this pattern design, this was a nice basic design to sew that wasn’t very complicated to put together. If you want to get some practice sewing knit fabric, this is a good design to do that with and one can’t have too many knit shorts to wear around the house whether you’re a dancer or a sitter, lol.

Thanks for your time and I’ll see you on the next post!

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