Today we take a look at the Sand and Sidewalk Boardshorts and Skate Pants by Fishsticks Designs. This is a great pattern with tons of options and plenty of versatility. Here is Jessica to give you a full review and tell you all about it.

----------------------------

Hi! It's Jessica again, from Snickerdoodle Stew. Lately I've been doing a little more sewing for the boys in my life. Partly because every time we get a fluffy mail delivery, my six year old pouts because it's not for him! He wears uniforms to school and I don't have many chances to sew for him, so when this review came up, I knew exactly what I wanted to do for my big guy!

If you're looking for a great boy's pattern that has several options, lots of great detail, and multi-season versatility, you need look no further than the Sand and SIdewalk Boardshorts and Skate Pants pattern from Fishsticks Designs. This was my first pattern from Bonnie, and I was really, really pleased with the final result. As was my son! I chose the boardshort version and I I used these great Avengers and polka dot prints from JoAnn. I paired it with the Patrick Curved Raglan, also from Fishsticks Designs, made with knits from The Purple Seamstress.

Here's a brief breakdown of this wardrobe staple:

Spans sizes 12M to 12
Has options for pants or shorts
Details include flat front, elastic back, 2 front pockets, 2 cargo pockets, optional belt loops, and optional drawstring
PDF includes nested AND separated sizes for printing

There are 2 things that I REALLY want to tell you about this pattern. The first is that I LOVE all the attention to detail. I mentioned the pockets and belt loops, but if you like the look of topstitching on boy's items, this pattern is totally for you! A lot of the seams have double topstitching and I really think it takes these seemingly simplistic pants up a notch and makes them look more like something from ready-to-wear. Your friends will all wonder where you got these awesome shorts! I will say that the details do add to the sewing time on these, so if your naptime gives you 2-3 hours, you're good to go.

The second thing is that all of the steps give you a great walk-through and clear pictures. This is especially helpful if you're newer to sewing for boys and all of these non-ruffly details. There are even diagrams for printing and page breakdowns for each size. The only thing I really missed was a breakdown of fabric requirements for main and contrasting fabrics, but this is nowhere near a deal breaker in my book.