Pattern Emporium Blog Tour: Featuring the Little Honeybuns Shorts

Miss P and I were recently invited to sew up a pattern from the Aussie design company Pattern Emporium, and of course we jumped at the chance! Since we're optimistic that summer will arrive here in the Northeastern US eventually, I picked the Little Honeybuns Shorts to sew for her. Miss Legs has grown a ton in the past year, and I'm really bugged by the super short inseams on all of the girls' shorts that I keep seeing in stores. The Honeybuns have a great size range (2y-12y) and three different lengths (shorties, play, and bermuda) so I knew we'd be set for awhile with these.

Based on P's measurements, I sewed up a straight size 5 in the play length, which had about a 3" finished inseam. The overall fit was fantastic. I used one of the new printed denims from Art Gallery Fabrics (purchased from PAB Fabric Shop), which really feels more like chambray than denim to me. It has a very soft hand though, and was nice and comfy for Miss P. I used quilting cotton for the pockets (LOVE the construction of those) and picot edge bias (from here) for the pocket binding. I used just a half yard of fabric for these shorts, too, including the back yoke and patch pockets - the AGF denim is a 58" bolt. So economical!

I decided to modify the Little Miss Sweetie Pie dress to be a knit top to coordinate with the shorts, and my flutter-loving girl was a huge fan. I used the center back marking on the back yoke pattern piece to cut the knit yoke on the fold, and then just used knit bias for the neckline and armscye bindings. I did end up having to take in the sides quite a bit, but that's not completely unexpected as this pattern was drafted for wovens.

I'd like to make the top as the dress it was intended to be, but first I'll be sewing up a stack of these shorts for Miss P. The construction was fantastic and the instructions were easy and straightforward. The finished product, with the yoke, topstitching, and flat front (elastic back) waistband, looks quite professional and fits very well. I may increase the height of the waistband next time as the shorts were a bit low rise on Miss P, but she has a long torso height and is also taller than the size 5 chart. Other than that, no changes are needed at all - who doesn't love a great fitting and well-constructed pattern??

Thanks again to Kate and Marnie for inviting me to participate in this blog tour - I'm so glad we got to join in the fun! The patterns were given to me in exchange for my post, but all opinions are mine (and Miss P's). Please make sure to stop by the other blogs on the tour this week and next, too. I can't wait to see what everyone else has been up to!

This is what our photoshoots have looked like lately. At least she stands still. Sort of.

Pattern Emporium Tour Schedule

5/2 Sew Sophie Lynn


5/3 Handcrafted By Red


5/4 Sprouting JubeJube


5/5 That's Sew Kari


5/6 Simple Blessed


5/9 Wally And Grace


5/10 Free Notion


5/11 Horris And Deedle