Dear Love Notions sewists, it’s Chloe @no.idle.handshere on the blog with the very first Tinley Shorts/Skirt/Skorts $5 Feature Friday! Tinley was a big hit when it was released last summer and that’s no surprise with all the possibilities packed in one pattern. Suitable for both woven and knit fabrics, Tinley offers 4 versatile options: straight shorts / skirt and full skirt / shorts. All views come with sleek flat front waist, comfortable elastic back waist and roomy anchored slant pockets. In addition, the skirts can even be made with optional built-in biker shorts. It’s the one bottom pattern that can see you through all spring and summer. I have made 2 versions of Tinley: the straight skirt in viscose linen and full shorts in viscose challis. Both are wonderful versatile pieces to pair with tees, blouses, and cardigans through the seasons. I especially love the full shorts, which twirls like a floaty skirt yet so practical for active days. I couldn’t help but wonder – how fun would it be to have a jumpsuit/romper with the full shorts of Tinley?! So today in celebration of the first Tinley $5 feature, let me introduce you to the fabulous Tinley-Willow romper mash-up! Or shall we call it… Winley or Tillow? Made in knit fabric, it has the classy wrap bodice and flutter sleeve of Willow, mashed with the full shorts of Tinley complete with the roomy pockets. It’s my dream summer romper in every way! Want to get in on this fun and easy hack? Let me show you how!
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– Light weight knit fabric with good stretch, recovery, and drape. I used a lovely floral viscose jersey from the Minerva Exclusive Collection. You can see all their gorgeous prints here.
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Tape measure, pencil, scissors and glue
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Your favorite machine(s) and notions for sewing with knits.
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Optional: narrow clear elastic
The Bodice
The Willow wrap dress has a fitted bodice with negative ease and is perfect for supporting the weight of a swishy bottom half. The faux wrap in knit fabric also means easy in-and-out, which is super important for a romper/jumpsuit. So the great news is – there’s no hacking needed for our romper bodice. You can sew up the Willow bodice in your usual size as is.
The Waistband
The next step is drafting a simple straight waistband that connects the Willow bodice and Tinley full shorts. Because we are using a knit fabric, no elastic or casing is needed and we are going to rely on the stretch of the fabric to hold things where they belong. If your fabric doesn’t have great recovery, you might consider adding some clear elastic to the waist seams. We’ll get to that later.
To determine the length of the waistband, I measured the waist line of my Willow bodice pattern piece in XS, which comes to 13 ½ inch for either the front and back. You would take the same measurement in your size and use that as the length of your waistband.
A shortcut: find the finished waist measurement in the Willow tutorial and divide it in half. If you want to be precise, also add on the seam allowances of 3/8” twice. For example, as you see in the chart below, the finished waist measurement of L size is 34”. Divide that in half and your waistband should be 17” + 3/8” x 2 = 17 ¾” long.
The width or height of the waistband can be anywhere between 1.5-2.5” depending on your sizing and preference. If you have already made Willow and Tinley, put them on together and measure the distance between the two waistlines. I made mine 2” wide and it’s just right.
So now we have the waistband piece once you have decided on your length and width. Mine is a rectangle of 13 ½” by 2”. A size L might could use a waist band of 17 ¾” x 2 ½”, etc. You would cut 2 of these (1 front and 1 back). This will replace the original waistband that comes with Tinley.
The Shorts
[/heading][vc_column_text]The Tinley pattern is designed for both knit and woven with elastic in the back waist, so the waistline is naturally longer than our new waistband drafted from Willow bodice. In order for it to fit in our newly drafted waistband, you have several options:
1. Gather up the Tinley waistline all around to fit the waistband. This is the easiest method stand no pattern adjustment needed.
2. Add a couple of darts or pleats to the Tinley waistline to fit the waistband. You can do that either by manipulating the pattern pieces if you are precise, or just wing it directly with the sewn shorts.
3. Adjust the Tinley pattern pieces for a new waistline. This is what I did this time, for a sleek waistline that flares out into those swishy full shorts.
Here’s a simple tutorial for my method:
Step 1.
Print out the back leg piece of Tinley full shorts. (I’m using a smaller scale pattern piece for this demo so it’s not tiled). If you’d like to add some length to your shorts, here’s the place to do it. You can use the lengthen/shorten line on the pattern piece. I wanted some extra swish to mine so I just added 1” directly onto the hemline as shown. This naturally adds volume to the hemline as well.
Step 2.
Mark the quarter points on both the waistline and hemline. Connect the quarter points vertically and slash the pattern piece along the lines.
Step 3.
Overlap the 4 pieces at the waistline, evenly tapering to no overlap at the hemline, so that the new waistline (shown in pink below) is half the length of your new waistband. For example, my waistband is 13 ½” and half of that is 6 ¾”. If you want to be precise, add the allowance and call it about 7”. The original waist seam of my Tinley back leg is about 10”, so I needed to overlap about 1” three times to get there. (Don’t sweat over being super accurate here because a good stretch fabric covers a multitude of slack!) Tape down the overlapped pieces and smooth out the curves. There you have your new back leg piece.
Step 4.
Repeat step 1-3 for the front leg. Make sure you take into account the width of the pocket when measuring the waistline.
Now you have all the pattern pieces for the bottom half. Construct as per the Tinley instructions. Don’t you just love those roomy slash pockets. Now that you have both the Willow bodice and Tinley shorts sewn up, it’s time to connect them with the waistband.
Take your 2 waistband pieces, lay them right sides together and sew the shorts ends on both ends to form a loop. Pin it to the bodice right sides together, distributing evenly matching side seams and sew/serge with a 3/8” seam allowance. Repeat with the other side to connect with the shorts. My viscose jersey has excellent recovery on its own. If your fabric does not have enough recovery, you can add clear elastic to both waist seams for some extra support. It is also possible to cut any extra layer of the waistband to form a casing and thread some wide elastic through.
My finished Willow + Tinley Romper
[/heading][vc_column_text]In the excitement to finish my romper, I forgot to grab photos of the waistband construction! But I trust that if you’ve gotten this far, it’s a piece of cake for you so I don’t have to bore you with more details. Here’s the inside of my finished romper if you’d like a visual confirmation of the simple construction.
I think this might be my very favorite mash-up sew of all times and can’t wait to wear it throughout spring and summer this year! I used the deeper pleated neckline of the Willow which is my favorite non-gaping wrap bodice. I chose the flutter sleeves to echo the twirly full shorts of Tinley, and they are made for each other! And did I mention the pockets – which no romper is complete without, right? A bonus tip – try taking advantage of those stretchy wide legs for bathroom breaks instead of taking the romper off. I love my Tinley hack so much and can’t wait to explore more ways to use this pattern. Here are some of the ideas I’m contemplating – let me know what do you think?
- Tinley in knit mashed with the bodice of Sunday Romper instead of Willow – Tinley in woven mashed with a button-up bodice like Ballad, Lyric, Melody or Aria, with elastic waistband
- Tinley lengthened to full length either as palazzo pants or hacked to a jumpsuit
- Saving my favorite for the last: Tinley romper/dress in swim fabric with built in biker shorts for modest athleisure/beachwear – how cute would that be?! Something like that last picture in the gallery below.
Try this easy hack for yourself
I hope you enjoyed reading about my Tinley-Willow romper mash-up and get inspired to sew your own! To see it in action, find me on Instagram @no.idle.hands along with my Love Notions Ambassador promo code. Meanwhile, grab a copy of the Tinley shorts/skirts/skorts pattern for $5 TODAY ONLY, and enjoy sewing!
