Shorts for the kid who suddenly wears shorts

Clover keeps me on my toes. One day the child lives in a skirt and long sleeved shirt, and the next she insists on wearing the things she was once terrified by.

Enter: these shorts. Recently, a picture she saw of Beverly Cleary's Ramona (we're reading the book series to her right now) prompted Clover to suddenly take an interest in wearing shorts and tee shirts with long white socks. First she had a brief, and surprising, fling with the one pair of jeans she owns, but 90+ degree weather dictated a quick end to that.

 

Her first attempt at getting into the new uniform was a fail. "Short sleeves still make me kinda nervous," she told me after asking to put on a red and white striped tee. Shorts were briefly worn before being abandoned on her bedroom floor. But the in the next few days it seemed to stick. 

Suddenly, a wardrobe piece she wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole was in high demand. One pair of shorts is not enough for a filthy four year old during summertime. 

 

Ages ago I thrifted a big Express chambray dress, which I finally hacked apart to make these Banyan shorts....sans zip fly and button waist band because I pathetically still can't figure out how to follow the instructions right.  Clover doesn't really need a zip fly anyway.

Slant pockets were made with leftover peach shot cotton from Clover's Easter dress (which I apparently didn't take any pictures of and blog about?) 

The shorts still need a button, but I couldn't deal with the pressure of choosing one when I finished these last night. 

 

Being lazy, I decided to use the hem of the dress for the hem on the shorts. It's a pretty chunky hem, which caused a few problems when sewing the rise, but I think it looks pretty cute and throwback on her. 

 

Getting a decent shot of clothes on Clover is pretty.....challenging. She either wants to strike an over the top pose, or jump around hysterically. 

Most of the shots I got of her involved her laying on the floor showing me her "lady legs".

 

Seeing her little four year old chicken legs just makes me happy. I can't tell you how excited I was when I first saw her putting on shorts and those little bruised knees were visible. 

 

 

Following her measurements, I made the 2/3T size Banyan shorts. Instead of making the cuff in the pattern I just cut the main shorts pattern out on the hem of the dress and left it. That probably gave me a little extra length for her long legs since I lost no seam allowance attaching the cuff. 

Thankfully, she put them on cheerfully before church this morning and wore them all day. There's at least one day of good use before she decides to wear nothing but scuba gear, or something.