Late in the summer for this post, but I finally got the photos finished for it. My daughter needed shorts and a top that was something other than a T-shirt, so we picked out McCall's M6951, which is a blouse with two variations, shorts, pants, and an elastic-waist skirt.
Since the shorts were the higher priority (and the harder item to fit), I opted to muslin them with some navy poly-cotton remnants from the stash. That way, if they needed extensive alterations, I wouldn't be out of pocket. Going by the measurements, I cut the body of the shorts in a size 12, and the waist in size 8. I opted to add contrast topstitching for a denim look (see close up detail later in post).
To size the body of the shorts to the waist, I added small pleats to the front and darts to the back. (The original pattern instructions called for the body to be eased into the waist).
I made the second pair of shorts in a light-weight cotton twill that she chose. I repeated the top-stitching detail, and added pre-gathered eyelet lace trim to the hems. She chose to wear them to summer camp, and apparently everyone wanted a pair. Heck, I almost want a pair myself.
She chose the sleeveless front-tie version of the blouse and a small-scale floral cotton. This was a simpler make, cut in a straight size 8. Instead of using purchased bias tape for the armhole finish, I made my own from a piece of the blouse fabric, but otherwise I made up the blouse according to the pattern instructions. I used my narrow-hem foot to turn and stitch the lower hem.
