[SarahGreen]

I’ve been busy sewing up cute dresses for my 3 and 8 year old girls. The 3 year old has bloomers that I made her with the tea party pattern, but I am at a loss as to what to do for my 8 year old. She wants short that are short, elasticized at the leg- much like her little sister’s.

Has anyone used a pattern for bloomers they like? Also, do you have ideas for fabric choice/ color choice? I’m thinking something bright enough to not look like lingerie when she’s hanging from the monkey bars, but I don’t know if it matters that they match with her other stuff.

[Nicole]

How about if you make the larger size in a knit? They would have more ‘give’ but still look pretty and not like knickers.

My older girls like to wear very short bike pants under their short dresses.

[Jane]

For my daughter I stock pile various colors of bike shorts. You can get them for $3-$5 at places like WalMart and Target. While not homemade it’s an easy solution to girls, dresses, and monkey bars.

Jane

[meleliza]

As we near the end of diapers, I’ve been watching girls on the playground. Little girls underpants alone do not – how shall we say this delicately? – cover everything they ought to cover. I think bike shorts are the way to go. They’re cheap, easy to come by and do a good job of keeping private things private. I’m afraid bloomers would be just a little old fashioned on a 2nd grader, but could also be sweet I guess. Maybe something like cheerleaders wear?

Heirloom sewing stores might have bloomer style patterns for older girls. Like Martha Pullen or something.

Frankly I wish I had some bike shorts like that for summer dresses! Last Sunday at church, my 5 year old somehow managed to put his hand up the back of my skirt and lift it all the way up! While we were up front for Communion no less. I was pretty ticked at him.

[mcholley1]

I agree, meleliza…cheap cotton underpants don’t always cover what they should!

Have you thought about puppet show shorts in lightweight fabric? During the pre-school years I made lots of pairs that coordinated to dresses. That way they were worn under dresses to school but still worked as shorts by themselves.

Just saw “8 year old” …that pattern won’t work. Sorry.

[homefire]

I have used the nature walk pants in a Lycra knit for this purpose before. The key is size down a bit, especially around the legs, or they gape quite a bit and are no better than just undies. I also have a pattern for boy cut boxer briefs that gets used a lot.

[brenda1652]

When my daughter was 10 she was doing a show (she was a child actress at the time) in which she had several dress changes. Under her costumes she had to wear a flesh colored leotard type thing, but between scenes she wanted something to go over that suit so I made her some old fashioned bloomers. For a pattern I traced the bottoms of a pair of PJ pants, cut it to shorts length, inserted the leg elastic such so as to leave an inch ruffle around the bottom and she wore these under all her costumes. She loved them. There were 2 other little girls in that show and I made them each a pair, they all loved them. After that my daughter had bloomers under all her costumes and she also wore them to school under her skirts, even uniform skirts (she was a bit of a tomboy and loved climbing trees, riding her bike in skirts, and hanging from money bars) She also used them as PJ pants with tank tops for the summer and they were quite cute. She probably had a least a dozen of these in various colors and prints, used up into her late teen years, and I have made quite a few for her friends as well. They all loved them.

[mkhs]

I’m about to try the shorts part of the badminton skort as big-girl “bloomers” to go with a tea party dress. I have just enough matching fabric left over, and I think the wide, flat waist will be very comfortable under a dress– not bulky at all. I’ve changed the back waistband so that it will sew up like class picnic shorts. Will report back when I’ve finished!

[KarenK]

I like the little knit “bike shorts” for my older daughter, too. I’ve heard them called “little lady pants”. Kind of cute.

[pippi]

My girls have always preferred bike shorts too. If they were more into ruffles I would buy/make something like these ruffle bottom bike shorts: http://www.rufflebutts.com/white-organza-playground-shorts.html

[with love Heidi]

I was going to suggest the puppet show shots but then looked at He age. How big are her waist and hips? I was also thinking Badminton shorts maybe making them shorter before adding the elastic?

[brenda1652]

What you ladies are describing are “spanky pants”. The name is outdated and has no sexual implications but they are still called by that name! They were originally part of the 40’s and 50’s dress outfit worn under skirts for dancing those swing styles. They can be found at dance supply and cheerleader dress shops. When I made them for the cast for Bye Bye Birdie I used a PJ bottom pattern again but one that was smaller than the size the actress measured, and I used any and all stretchy fabrics I could find, my fav being stretch terry. They fit close and not baggy under skirts (much like bike shorts only shorter) so they were not seen until the girls were being tossed over and under for the dance scenes. I think the O+S PJ bottoms would work fine. Go a size smaller for a more fitted version when using stretch knits. They have an elastic waist but with the stretch fabrics and a closer fit they are not baggy under clothes and are very comfortable for the girls, with little fuss for mom to construct. Interestingly my daughter preferred to wear her baggy bloomer styles under her skirts (and for sleep) and used the spanky pants only for shows and auditions. The first pair of spanky pants I got her for an audition I found at K-Mart, little girl size 6 stretch terry shorts when my daughter was age 12 and took a size 12. (they were much cheaper than anything at the dance shops and I had no time to whip up a pair).

[beachmom]

I realize the original question was for bloomer style shorts sewn out of woven but like a lot of the previous commenters my little girls (8 and 6) wear close fitting knit shorts under their skirts/dresses to school. In the fall, I made 2 pairs from an Ottobre pattern: http://www.flickr.com/photos/27858004@N05/7979700881/ It’s kind of funny…I sent the little girls off to school today wearing them under their skirts!;)

[MimmySews]

Dating myself I know, but we used to were shorts under our skirts on gym day. There was also a marvelous design called a “Pert” which was probably the predecessor of a “skort” Basically it was shorts hidden into a skirt design consisting of two skirt panels (front and back) that were attached in partial side seams. Somehow we got away with wearing the “Pert” to school.

We also had culottes which I loved, and jumpers with culottes.. (Hint Hint, Liesl). 🙂

My granddaughter, who is 5, has special needs, and wears diapers and has physical therapy. Bloomers, skorts, etc. are really helpful for her daily fashions.

[bren5kids]

My daughters also wear bike shorts, or “shorties” as we call them, under their dresses. In colder weather they wear leggings, usually capri length. I usually just get them from Gymboree or Target, they’re too “blah” for me to be tempted to waste my time sewing them 😀 My daughter’s kindergarten teacher has told me that she likes them and thinks that it’s a good idea. Just the fact that she’s seen my daughter’s shorties many times, just in class alone, tells me that it’s a good thing she’s wearing them!