Hello sew-friends! The Summer Sweatsuit sewalong is starting off with a video! Both the tank top and shorts from the Summer Sweatsuit are fairly easy to sew, so I decided to just do one video about each. This week, I’m showing you how to sew the knit sweat shorts and next week will be the tank top. I'll be reviewing the pattern pieces, chatting a little bit about fabric and most importantly, showing the step-by-step process of sewing the shorts.
To learn more about the Summer Sweatsuit, check out the introductory blog post. To buy your own copy of the pattern, head over to the shop.
Watch the video above or if it’s not working for some reason, you can watch the video on YouTube here.
If you’d like to skip ahead to specific steps, here are time stamps:
Pattern piece overview 1:08
Sewing the first 3 seams (crotch curve and waistband) 5:30
Sew the inseam 8:55
Pressing the waistband 9:40
Sewing waistband to shorts 12:30
Insert the elastic 13:44
Topstitch the waistband 17:12
Hem the shorts 20:44
To make these shorts you need just a few supplies. First off, you’ll need to get a copy of the Summer Sweatsuit pattern. If you have never downloaded a pdf pattern before, I recommend checking out this post.
Next, you’ll need fabric with at least 35% 4-way stretch. When you stretch 4” of fabric, you’ll want it to be able to stretch to at least 5.4” inches.
For notions, you’ll need 1.25” wide knit elastic. For those of you in the US, I do have some elastic in the shop. If you’d like to use a different width of elastic, there are instructions in the pattern booklet on how to alter the waistband pattern piece to fit.
Additionally, you’ll need thread and a ballpoint or jersey needle. If you’d like to finish the hem of the shorts with a twin needle, you’ll also need one of those. Alternately, you can use a zig-zag stitch to topstitch the hem, as I do in the video.
I hope that you enjoyed this video and found it helpful. I encourage you to visit the sewalong for more help sewing this pattern and sewing knits in general. You can check out the main sewalong page here or click through the links below. Happy sewing!
