Monday 27 October 2014

Board Shorts Refashion...

Refashion a pair of men's boardshorts to a pair of boy's shorts... a very easy project ~ Threading My Way


When packing for our recent holiday, I noticed the elastic had lost its stretch in one of Mr TMW's board shorts. The construction was such that it would be a lot of work to replace the elastic, so I decided to refashion them for Little Mister instead.


The original shorts had a pocket on one side seam and a logo on the other side seam, so I left the side seams intact, just cutting the pre-loved shorts along the crotch seams and the inside leg seams. I also cut off the waistband so the fabric would lie flat for pattern placement.
  • Place the front pattern piece on top of the old shorts, lining up the side seam of the pattern with the pre-loved garment.
  • Place the back pattern piece on top of the old shorts, lining up the side seam of the pattern with the pre-loved garment.
  • Overlap the two pattern pieces by the width of the seam allowance.
I've placed the pattern pieces very close to the bottom hem, because I wanted to include the thick plastic logo on the side seam. You can just see it peeking through the pattern. I suppose I could have used the original hem, but I like to hide the side seams with the hem.

From then on, it was just a matter of sewing up the board shorts as per the pattern. Once again, I used my go to shorts pattern, the Mud Puddle Splashers, by Fishticks Designs. (No, I'm not being sponsored.) I've lost count of how many Mud Puddle Splashers I've made, but this is only my second pair that's a refashion.


Shirley, from Sewing by Shirley, recently refashioned a pair of men's pants into cargo pants for a boy, using the same method. Mine is a simple refashion by comparison. Shirley's pants include several pockets, a back yoke, tabs and a zipper. As soon as I saw Shirley's refashion, I knew it would work in a simplified form, for the board shorts. 

Why didn't I think of doing this? Overlapping the side seams and creating one pattern piece is such an obvious solution. Ha, ha... obvious after you've already seen it.


I've made these board shorts slightly longer than previous Mud Puddle Splashers. I knew I didn't have much fabric for a hem, thanks to the positioning of the plastic logo, but I forgot to alter the pattern accordingly. You can just see the logo on the left leg in the photo above. 

Even though the board shorts are quite old, the fabric has worn REALLY well. I originally bought the board shorts for our eldest son, when he was a teenager. They were then passed on to Mr TMW, and he in turn has now passed them on to Little Mister. I think we can safely say we've had our money's worth out of this garment. Unfortunately, I can't find any photos of either our son or Mr TMW wearing the board shorts.


Little Mister put the shorts on for the photo shoot and didn't want to change back into the clothes he was already wearing. We had a family do at our place and he left them on for the whole day. They definitely have his seal of approval.

The photo above shows Little Mister greeting his great grandmother early in the day. He's wearing long gum boots; perhaps not the best look with the shorts, but I love this photo - just beautiful!!!

If you look carefully, you can just see the bag Mum is carrying. It's the drawstring bag I made her a couple of years ago. It gives me great pleasure to see my family wearing or using the things I sew for them!

It's been a while since I've done a refashion. I really should do more, because I get a lot of satisfaction out of extending the life of a garment, albeit in another form. I'm not sure why, but I'm absolutely chuffed that three generations have worn these shorts.

These little board shorts will be added to both the Swimwear and the Clothes for Boys link parties, here at Threading My Way.

... Pam

10 comments:

  1. Holy smokes 3 generations - that is TRES cool! And the pic of Little Mister with g-grandma makes me sniffly - I love it :) (I got to love on 3 of my greats [niece + nephews] this weekend so I was in a sniffly happy mood, hehe) Love the redo/upcycle - the mom and dad of those 3 greats would actually love this idea, and the mom has recently started sewing - I may try doing this with her :)

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  2. Good reminder to never throw away a good pair of board shorts! These look great.

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  3. Love it Pam! I wouldn't have thought to do board shorts and that is some of the most difficult fabric to find! I have looked for my son and any fabric I have found just wasn't what he wanted. Ah ha.....now I can confiscate my husband's old pairs when he buys new!

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  4. That last photo brought tears to my eyes...it's so sweet!

    Overlapping the pattern pieces so you didn't have to cut in to the existing shorts side seams was very clever to do! The shorts look great on your grandson, Pam!

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  5. Lol, I love kid fashion! Boots and shorts are always a winner. :-). The shorts look great!

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  6. I've been staring at a pile of too-big pants and wondering what to do with them. This post gives me some inspiration. Love the boots. One of my favorite memories is of my oldest boy in shorts and cowboy boots.

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  7. Absolutely cute! I bet he's loving those shorts :-)

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  8. Great refashion! I like when you can reuse elements that are really nice, like the pockets and hems.

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  9. great project Pam, thanks for sharing on craft schooling Sunday!

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  10. Awwww! SO cute! Oh my gosh. You did a great job! Thanks for linking up to Snickerdoodle Sunday!

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