One of my goals for the next 6 months is to make some clothes for my one year old, Joseph. I found the free Sunny Day Shorts pattern by Oliver+s online and, since we have indeed been having quite a few sunny days recently, decided to whip a pair up.

I’ve had this colourful cotton for quite a while now and had been thinking about what to make with it. It’s called YIKES! Ocean and is by Alexander Henry. These shorts are perfect and I only used half a yard for the 12-18 months pattern. Joseph is almost 14 months and although he is quite big for his age, he’s not a giant. These shorts are just about at the edge of fitting him and I would need to go up to the 18-24 months size pretty soon I think. Just something to bear in mind if you fancy running these up too. The sizes run from 6 months to 12 years.

Amongst other things, I love the fact that kids’ clothes are so fast to make. I had the pattern printed and taped in 20 mins, and the shorts finished in an hour. I also decided to use the opportunity of mini-clothes to practice another seam type. I used flat fell seams on the side and centre seams (great to strengthen kids clothes anyway) and I really loved how they turned out.

I simply pinked the crotch seam as it was the easiest thing to do. The flat fell seams look so nice on the inside too! Man, I’m turning into a seam geek. It’s addictive, haha! Okay, well, apart from the seam geekery, the waistband is elasticated, run through a channel, and there are nice deep hems, which gives a jaunty little look to the shorts I think.

It’s the first time I’ve used an Oliver+s pattern, although I do have a Lisette one to try soon. Based on this I wouldn’t hesitate to use their patterns again. This was a fairly easy pattern, but the instructions were exemplary, and I’ve just noticed they have a full photo sewalong on their blog although I didn’t use it. The instructions were clear and really super. And it’s free! I really had fun making these and I feel there may be a few more pairs in Joe’s future. Great stuff!