DoGuincho Pattern Tour: the Bubble shorts

I can’t tell you how much happy (and proud) I am with this pattern 🙂

Marta from doGuincho is a Portuguese crafter, windsurfer and mother (not necessarily by this order, as she points out, lol) and I’ve been a long time admirer of her work (check it here and here. Amazing, right?)

Although we live quite close by, we have yet to meet personally, but that doesn’t stop us from emailing and exchanging sewing tips 🙂

I was secretly hoping for a shorts pattern, when Marta posted here, but I was far from guessing this would become her first commercial pattern.

And that I got to test it, before it was released?

Marta send me the draft pattern before the summer holidays and I managed to sew a pair of Bubble shorts for my girl before we left for the beach …

For this version, I used a beautiful floral print from my local shop (can’t really remember the collection, but it’s a collaboration between Tilda and Green Gate and I fell in love with this print).

The Bubble Shorts pattern (pdf) is so easy to put together with only 5 pattern pieces (beginner level, for sure) and you really need to check Marta’s instructions (love the drawings and talk tags). It’s quite an impressive work for a first pattern.

As expected, these Bubble shorts got a lot of wear during our summer holidays (she still wears then now as he weather is still quite hot around here) and she got so many compliments on them – the “bubble” effect is amazing and hard to pass unnoticed.

She also loves them as they are so easy and comfy to wear.

Nevertheless, when Marta send me the final version of the pattern a couple of weeks ago, I knew I needed to test it again.

You have to, right? Just to make sure everything is okay …

Yet, since I’m already in “fall sewing mode” I picked an heavier fabric from my stash.

For the “fall” version, I used a Liberty Twill and to be honest, I wasn’t quite sure if the Bubble would still work with an heavier fabric. Well, it did!

Again, the shorts were a breeze to sew (took me a bit over an hour, and I’m pretty sure it was because I kept being interrupted by some family members (aka. my adorable children) that still need to grasp the concept of “sewing time“.

As the shorts are fully lined, there’s not need to worry about seam finishing so it really makes sewing a lot faster (at least for me …).

As for the additional action pictures, let’s just say that “someone” was not in the mood (these were taken shortly after this, and so her mood didn’t change much. As well, as her willingness to try the wool thighs and boots…)

And she was not willing to compromise …

Yes, she’s moving away from the camera (smart girl) …

Despite my best efforts (bribery was not working anymore, as if it ever worked), she decided to leave “faster” (at least she put her helmet on. She switched for the sneakers, when the camera had already been put aside).

Still, I think we have a winner, right? (I’m talking about the shorts, as clearly we still need to work on her model skills)

And just in case, you need a reason to purchase yet another pattern (I know I do), you can buy the Bubble Shorts PDF pattern for 4 dollars (about 3,80 euro) until the end of September!

The Bubble shorts are available at the DoGuincho Etsy shop. Just insert the discount code RELEASE1 when checking out.

Don’t you just love Bubble Shorts?

And be sure to check everyone else versions on this tour until the end of the month! I know I’ll be checking 🙂

Thank you so much Marta for having me as a pattern tester (love it) and congratulations on your first commercial pattern (I can’t wait for the second one)!!

Happy sewing,

xx, Ana Sofia