Making an unexpected outfit for my sister + tips on fabric management

Hi, my fellow needleworkers! I hope you all are doing well.
My sister came back from school on a short break. She was supposed to stay for just two days, but she ended up spending more days than she planned. Unfortunately, she ran out of clothes, so I had to make her something to wear. My mum gave me 1.5 yards of fabric to use.

The fabric was little, so there was a limit to what we could make from it. She decided we should make something simple like a top and a shorts. I knew making it would cause me a little trouble because I had to strategize and optimize the fabric when cutting. I personally love to optimize fabrics but I hate to manage fabrics that are not enough, it just takes up unnecessary time.

As predicted, I spent half the total time figuring out how I was going to cut the fabric. I knew using patterns would help me but I ran out of paper so I had to cut freehand. Aside from the struggle of cutting the fabric, sewing was easy. I love the outcome and my sister was happy with it as well. I did little strings at the sides of the shirt.

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Making this cloth was fun aside from the brainstorming I had to face while cutting.
One of the tactics I use when managing fabric is to cut the bigger pieces first, for example cutting the back piece of the shirt first instead of the collar or pocket. This allows me to use the fabric left from cutting the bigger piece to cut the smaller pieces easily.
Another reliable tactic is to draft a pattern before cutting the fabric. Patterning not only helps to optimize fabric it also makes sewing a lot easier especially when sewing complicated styles.

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These are the materials I used:
1.5 yards of fabric
Thread
Buttons
1 yard of 1.5 inches elastic
Fusible interfacing for the collar

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Process:

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I started by cutting the back and front pieces of the shirt.

Then, I cut the short’s front and back pieces as well

I cut the sleeves

And the pockets. Due to insufficient fabric, I used lining for the pocket and cut a small facing to hide the lining.

I cut the collar, and finally, I’m done with cutting.

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I began to join the pieces together starting from the shorts.
I sew the front and back pieces of the shorts together.

Then I sew the pockets
I sew the pockets to the shorts

I cut the elastic and inserted it into the shorts.

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After I was done with the shorts, I started sewing the shirts.
I joined the front and back pieces together

I joined the sleeves and joined the sides

After infusing the collar with an interface, I joined the pieces together and sew them to the shirt.

I made a channel for the strings at the sides and I sew the ropes.

I used my sewing machines to create button holes.

Then I tacked the buttons

This is the final look and my sister was very pleased with it. Hope you like it too

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Thanks for visiting my blog and stay creative ❤️✨

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All images are mine, thumbnail using canva.