Learn to sew: making shorts

I am learning to sew. I want to do something that need concentration but still fun.  Doing something different from the office or house routine. Actually, I knew already the basic of sewing by hands since I was in my elementary school, my mother taught me to do so. She said, a woman should know some basic stitches, in case she has to fix ripped clothes or sew some loose button back to the shirt. And many decades later, I want to explore more the fun of sewing. I am not just sewing by hands, now, more advanced, using sewing machine (the automatic one). It was kind of intimidated, the sewing machine seller told me, it just like driving car, the more you push the pedal, the faster it will go. Easy, he said. He said. It’s different with the fact I faced.

In my first attempt of sewing project, I managed to make this simple skirt with elastic waist.  I started at 07.30 pm and finished at around 12.00 pm, including learning how to  overcast the fabric, confused what shoes I should use (I’m talking about the sewing machine use, not my shoes…), broke the machine’s needle, felt a bit panic, went to google how to replace it, then practiced that.  After the skirt was done, I realised it was just too short, so I added some centimetres of frills.  This skirt is for my second daughter, Ami. She said she wanted a nice flowery skirt.

My second attempt of sewing project is a simple shorts for my first daughter (Andra). I used one of her old shorts as the basic pattern.

That I made two mistakes. First, the waist measurement, I should have stretched the waist first, but I did not (obviously). When I had cut the fabric, I realized the waist would be too small for Andra.

Working in the family room, the table is usually used for eating (by one or two of the family members, because we just like it), working or blogging activity (because that is the actual purpose of this table), and now its function is added up: cutting and sewing table. By the way, the table was made by my husband a few years ago.

The cutting fabric with some rows of elephant. I and Andra went to the Market Clothes to find some nice but cheap one (I’m still learning to sew, no need of expensive fabric). She picked this fabric by herself. However, as the waist measurement was too small, I changed the plan, I cut again the waist, so it became wider, then I sew the fabric into shorts and put elastic into the waist’s hole.

Ha! The finished shorts. I haven’t told you my second mistake. The elephants. I had put the pattern in wrong direction on the fabric. That the elephants are upside down.

The shorts were still too small for Andra. So, again Ami got the shorts. She was quite happy and said this shorts were lovely, she did not care whether the elephants were upside down or not. It fit her and it was ibu’s handmade.
Anyway, I think, I like sewing.

Let’s hope, the elephants would not getting some headache.