Dino Daze

My little baby boy (because he'll really always be my baby) has started preschool.  It's actually preschool/summer camp; a short half-day program to test the unfamiliar waters.  He seems to like it so far and so do I, from what I've seen.  Bonus: they do themes for each quarter.  This quarters theme?

DINOSAURS!!!

I swear they couldn't have picked a better topic if they'd called and asked "So what does the boy really like?  What is one thing he is totally obsessed with and never tires of? If he were to donate the largest collection of something to the Smithsonian, what would that something be?"  That's right.  Dinosaurs.

I went to the local fabric store specifically for dinosaur fabric and was pretty disappointed with the limited options.  This desert camo-esque fossil fabric is the best I could come up with.  There was one other fabric I liked that had stripes of cartoon dinosaurs and now I'm wishing I'd grabbed some of it as we'll because, of course, he loves his Dino shorts!

I got a yard and a half to make sure I had enough to get good placement since this print is very large for such a small garment. It was waaaay more than enough.... Now what to do with the excess?  I'm thinking a pair of treasure pocket pants since obviously summer won't last long (today being a cold, effective reminder of this).

I managed to get a big focal dinosaur on each side: a triceratops on one side and T. rex on the other...  I believe.  I don't have them in front of me and I'm no paleontologist so take that for whatever it's worth.  Unfortunately that's about all the thought I gave to pattern placement.  The back looks a little odd with two Dino tails coming right out of the center back seam.

The front is significantly more unfortunate: there are heads coming out of the seam on both sides!  Awkward...  Almost as awkward as this picture :P

I used the kickin' back sweats pattern from Sewing for Boys and just shortened them to be shorts.  I wish I'd shortened them a bit more since they came out rather longish but hubby says it's fine so it shall stay as is.  Remember if you're making this pattern up in a woven fabric it's got to have plenty of ease.  When I made the Boy's knit shorts I pinched out something like four inches (or so!!) but for these I used the full width of the original pattern. I can't remember now if I'm using the 4/5 or the 6/7 but it's the same size I used last year.  

I sewed up the crotch seams first in the French fashion (are French seams really French at all?) and then flat felled the inseam.  This is pretty much my M.O when it comes to this kind of pattern.  For me it's just easier than sewing the legs first then sticking one inside the other.  I do wish these had pockets but I couldn't work out how to add pockets without messing up or covering up the pattern.  With the dinosaurs being centered on the sides I couldn't add side seam pockets or patch pockets and the Boy hasn't quite got the hang of back pockets yet.  Then again what does he need pockets for when he's got me?

Mission dinosaur shorts: accomplished!