Mud Puddle Splasher Boys Shorts

 This project is for a July charity sewing project at Hopeful Threads to make little boys short.
I chose to make a Size 7/8.    I bought the soccer fabric at Hancock Fabric's today on sale for $2.09 a yard.

I haven't made a boy's pair of shorts since my son was a toddler (he is now a high school graduate) so thankfully the project was a simple one.   I was able to complete this while watching two hour long television shows.

Items used:

• 1 yd fabric
• Scissors
• Glue Stick
•  Straight pins
• Sewing Machine and thread
• Iron
• 22 inches of 3/8 inch elastic

I used the free pattern and instructions for the Mud Puddle Splasher Shorts (through end of July if you agree to make a pair for donation) at Fish Sticks Design.   I printed off the instructions and pattern then pieced the pattern together using the glue stick.  To the left is what it looked like pieced together. 

I decided to make the option without the faux fly front and with pockets, so I only ended up using 3 pieces.

In opened up the fabric and folded each side toward the center and laid out the fronts (cutting 2 pieces) and pocket (cutting 4 pieces) and the backs (cutting 2 pieces) on the other side.

I followed the remaining instructions with the exception of the elastic; I used 3/8 inch as that is what I had on hand instead of the 1 inch in the original project. 






Also linking up to:

Boy Dolly for Donation For Project Hope In Haiti

This fella is made from scraps and is part of a drive to make for crafters to make 132 dolls to send to Haiti for orphaned children by November1st.

The pattern for this project is by Sarah, who is collecting the dolls for donation:  Here is the link
http://dollydonations.blogspot.com/2010/01/dolly-donations-rag-dolly-tutorial-free.html

Items used:

• Fabric scraps - Brown  (longest piece is 8 inches long for the legs)
• Polyester fiberfill or other soft fabric to stuff the doll
• Sewing Machine
• Thread
• Needle
• Scissors
• Printer
• Paper
• Straight Pins
• Pen or marker
• Fabric paints in black, white and red
• Chalk (optional)

Print off the pattern and cut out then cut pieces - it already has the 1/4 inch seam allowance included in the pattern.  Cut out 4 of the legs and and 4 for the arms, 2 of the body and 1 of the face in the lighter brown fabric.  For the hair and back of the head I used left over darker brown upholstery fabric.   Instead of pinning, it was easier to use a pen and draw the outline on the wrong side of the fabric and then cut it out.

Sew hair to face front all around the edges.  Sew arms and legs right sides together.

Turn arms and legs right side out - use a pen or pencil to assist if necessary. Stuff with fiberfill up to a little under 1/4 inch from the top.

Right sides together, stitch head to body on front and do the same for the back for hair to body.

Draw on face with black fabric paint - allow to dry completely.  This is the first every doll I made and after making it I would suggest working out how you want the face to look on a piece of paper and maybe draw it on with chalk before putting on the doll.

Sew on the arms to the front then pin down.  

Sew on the legs  to the front of the body

Pin the front to the back and stitch around all but the bottom edge.

Turn right side out and stuff with fiberfill.

Turn under 1/4 inch on the back, pin down and hand stitch the edges together.

 Use the white fabric paint at the edge of the eye for the whites.  Use the red fabric paint to fill in the lips and dab a dot on each cheek and smear it with your fingertip.