There aren’t a lot of tween and teen sized patterns out there compared to adult and kid patterns. It’s easy to find patterns with sizes that will fit your kids from baby age through age 10, but after that, the options dwindle. Plus, who wants to buy a pattern and make clothes only to have your moody tween stick up their nose at your efforts?

After my firstborn outgrew my kids’ shorts pattern, I drafted a bigger size for him for a couple of years, but then he stopped wearing them, so I stopped making them.

My ten and a half year old daughter recently outgrew the kids’ pattern, but she still likes the handmade shorts, so I decided to use the free women’s shorts pattern I use for my own shorts to make something that would work for her.

One of my favorite sewing projects is making a pair of shorts. They come together fairly quickly, use a relatively small amount of fabric, are super comfortable, and fit my summer uniform, which is typically shorts and a tank.

I use the free pattern from Melly Sews, which fits S-M. (You can purchase her pattern for the full range of sizes, or use her slash and spread tutorial to increase the size of the free pattern.) I find the shorts fit well, but are too short for my taste, with just a couple of inches to the inseam.