Making the Dani Shorts by Trie Bias & Upcycling

I hope everyone had a great Easter weekend. It was a busy one around here as the kids had different schedules. Some days there was school and other days no school. But I got to sew and I was able to finish my Dani Shorts from True Bias. They are amazing!

I did make two toiles on it to try and check the fit as I made the first toile I realized the pants would have looked too big based on my fabric choice. Which is a Kaufmann stretch Twill (it is actually quite nice!), it doesn’t drape or behave like the usual twill that drapes just a little more. But it has a little bit more body since it stretches ever so slightly. So I went down a size and then made another toile, I decided to go down to a size 16 for these shorts and I’m glad I did. Although they have an elastic waist they fit JUST the way I want them to. Keep in mind the Dani shorts pattern are meant to be a lot looser around the hips and the waist is meant to be a lot more gathered with an elastic. I kept the elastic but since my fabric was a little “stiffer” I decided to pull things in quite a bit.

If I make it in shorts again, I will most likely do a linen and go up a few sizes so it drapes a tad more. If you want to do a pair of similar shorts try S9549… but beware the sizing goes up to 18 on this pattern, and that’s it. Hence why I returned the Simplicity pattern and I went with the Dani shorts. They go from 0 - 18 and 14 - 32.

I may try making a longer version later on but I will do a toile again to make sure I like how the legs taper and such. I added a button the back pockets as I didn’t want them to pull out as some pockets do some times. It was not hard to do at all. I may even do a rounded corner next time.

I’ve also been looking thru some of the leftover fabrics I have…. some are really just that scraps! Then there are some other nice pieces that you can call remnants that are just sitting in the fabric stash. I was looking at this dress… that I love but that I don’t wear and thinking, can I “up cycle” and repurpose this in another way. Sure enough I did. Do you guys remember this dress? I made a sew along for it! Great dress but I don’t wear it, honestly I don’t know why. Perhaps because its now too big on me.

So I decided to detach the bodice to the skirt and make a wrap with the top and different top with the bottom portion along with my scraps of fabric.

You could use either the Pearl by Tilly and the Buttons to create something similar or you can also use S8424. Both patterns are similar. I will say the Pearl pattern has three different sleeves and its perfect for a beginner as TATB are great at explaining things in detail.

I still had some more fabric left… plus around 3/4 a yard so hey why not keep going since that skirt is good fabric. So I also made M7812…. I think its still a tad big on me around the neckline and I can most likely pick a smaller size.