A few months ago, I saw an ad for red plaid bamboo pajama! I really like the look of the tulip short and decided to reproduce them for my teenager.
I started with the
Susie lounge set pattern* from 5outof4 patterns. I used the 4'' shorts pattern pieces (front and back) to draft my pattern pieces.
The tulip short from
This Is J features an overlap from the back to the front with a curve opening on the side.
To achieve the tulip design, I started with the following diagram as my base to create my new pattern pieces.
The front piece was redrafted to be 1'5 inch wider at the top edge with a curve side. I used my French curve ruler.
I recommend to mark the original side seam on your pattern piece, we will use the mark later on in step 2. That is the little black triangle you see on my pattern piece. You can also see below my horizontal line which I marked where I wanted to finish the overlapping. I did not want to show too much of the hip!
I used the same image above to draft the back piece. I extended the top edge by a full 3 inches of the pattern piece in order to recreate the overlaps. I used my cutting board to help you with the dimension.
For the side, I extended my horizontal line by 2 inches and drafted my curve using my French curve ruler. Don't forget to mark your original side seam at the top (black triangle)!
I also used the waistband from the original pattern without changes. I had to change a little bit the construction of the short to achieve the tulip style. I started by the hem of the short. With my iron, I folded 3/8'' hem towards the back on each front and back pieces.
This was a great time to use my coverstitch. Which had been collecting dust for a little while! I like the stretch of the stitch, don't have a coverstitch no problem. You can do a stretch stitch instead, you can probably do a regular stitch as well. My second step was to overlap the back piece to the front using the marking. This is the time to use your little black triangles, and overlap them to get your original side seam. In my image below one of the pin is over the top marking and another on the horizontal line.
The third step is the sew the inner legs.
The forth steps is sewing the crotch and continue with the steps in the instructions for the waistband.
The end results is fabulous and I may have more requests from my teenager. She has been wearing my trial version on a regular basis.
Happy Sewing,