[Cat75]

I made some Sketchbook shorts for my 9 year old son. He measured an almost perfect size 8, but the shorts are huge on him. Now, I am newish to sewing so I maybe measured something wrong. His (very skinny) 12 year old brother can wear them OK. They are little baggy on him also so he says they are around the house shorts.

My question is, What do I need to do to make some shorts that fit? I just measured the 9 year old’s hips and they are 28 inches. Maybe make a size 7? For the 12 year old make the size 8 with added length and maybe cut an extra half inch or so on the side seams? or maybe just wider seam allowances on the sides? My boys are drowning in these shorts.

Also, are these shorts just baggy? My boys usually wear shorts with zipper flies. So those I’m guessing are a little more snug so maybe our expectations are off.

[Sarvi]

Hm, I’ve only made the smaller sizes, but definitely didn’t find these to run baggy… but it looks like the finished hip measurement for size 5 is 28.5 and for size 6 is 31.25 — how much ease do you want?

[Cat75]

The finished hip measurement for mine was close to 36 but is supposed to only be 33 3/4. I did check the pattern I cut out against the original to see if I just goofed up and there was an added 1/4 inch on the back pattern piece.

I think I may try making it again with an inexpensive quilting cotton. He can wear them as night shorts and I will hopefully be able to figure out where I messed up.

Thanks for the reply Sarvi. It gave me a place to look.

[Sarvi]

Sorry it wasn’t more helpful! Hope the next pair goes a bit better. Maybe check a pair of shorts or pants of his that fit well and see how they measure? My kid has some size 2 and some size 4 from different lines of clothing that seem just about the same…