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Boy Shorts – Cargo Pocket

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This is the 4th shorts I sewed for my kids and it will be the last one until I sew this boy shorts pattern again from my old blouse.

kids pants sewing pattern

Though I still have some new ideas for making them a little different with some re-styling from the basic pattern but, I have to make a temporary halt and proceed with my other crafts. Well, it won’t be too long for me to sew them again 🙂

cargo pocket shorts

This pair of cargo pocket boy shorts have the same basic sewing pattern as my recently published toddler jersey shorts (for 3 years old) and kid shorts (for 6 – 8 years old), Pre-teenager shorts, the difference is… just add a cargo pocket on it.

Since these boy shorts use fabric recycled from my old long-sleeve blouse, I utilized one of the sleeve’s cuffs to sew the cargo pocket. It is a straight corners cuff and not the normally rounded corner cuff, you can adapt this method for the rounded type just that the height and the corner will look different.

boy cargo pants

Get the sewing tutorial on how to add a cargo pocket to the boy shorts after this jump.

boy cargo pants

What’s Next

kids pants sewing pattern

Boy Shorts - Cargo Pocket

Yield: Boy Shorts with Cargo Pocket
Active Time: 3 hours
Total Time: 3 hours
Difficulty: Intermediate
Estimated Cost: $10 - $15

This pair of cargo pocket boy shorts have the same basic sewing pattern of my recently published toddler jersey shorts (for 3 years old) and kid shorts (for 6 – 8 years old), Pre-teenager shorts, the difference is… just add a cargo pocket on it. It is a straight corners cuff and not the normally rounded corner cuff, you can adapt this method for the rounded type just that the height and the corner will look different.

Cargo Pocket
Download basic sewing pattern: Toddler shorts (3 years old), Kid shorts (7 years old), Pre-teenager Shorts (12 years old) [update in 2016]

Enjoy sewing them!

Materials

  • Cotton fabric, 3/4 yard or a woman long-sleeve blouse with straight sleeve cuff (at least a USA size 10 or UK size 12)
  • Denim fabric or coordinating print, fat quarter
  • Prong snap buttons or equivalent
  • Embroidery iron-on patch (optional)

Tools

  • Sewing machine with matching thread
  • Serger/overlock machine or zigzag stitch
  • Printer, letter size (8.5″ x 11″) paper 2 pcs. & glue
  • Pencil & ruler
  • Carbon and tracing wheel
  • Scissors
  • Sewing kits
  • Iron
  • Safety pin
  • Prong snap installation tool

Instructions

  1. a. Cut near the seam of the sleeve cuff and clear out the sleeve’s seam allowance inside the cuff.
    b. Cut a denim fabric to 10″(L) x 3″(W) or follow the width of your cuff add 1/2″ for seam allowance.sleeve cuff cargo pocket


  2. Choose the side you want your cuff to be the right side of your pocket.
    a. Place the cuff on to denim piece with right side facing each other.
    b. Align the centers and you should have a 1/4″ extra on the sides for the denim to be the seam allowance.
    c. Starting at 1/2″ from the corner, sew 1/4″ from the edge, stop at 1/2″ of another corner.sew cargo pocket out of sleeve cuff


  3. Trace side seam lines on the denim fabric with carbon and tracing wheel.tracing wheel


  4. a. Fold the denim piece into half with right side facing each other.
    b. Adjust the cuff corners so that the side seam of the denim piece can be aligned and sewn.
    c. Sew side seam of denim piece, stop at the seam line that is attached to the cuff
    d. Repeat the same to the other side seam.sew denim seam


  5. a. Turn the denim piece right side out. Adjust corners so that they are at a right angle.
    b. Fold the seam allowance to inside and make sure it aligns with the seam of the cuff. Press and pin.
    c. Topstitch with denim color thread.sew cargo pocket band


  6. I made the pocket into 2 compartments, a narrow pocket with 2″ wide, and a bigger side of 7 1/2″.
    a. Make a 3/4″ fold at each side of the bigger pocket and stitch 1/2″ down from the top edge to shape a deep pocket.
    b. Press to make a crease line on the folds.sew on fold


  7. a. Place the pocket onto the side of the shorts.
    b. Align the center of the bigger pocket to the side seam of the shorts. Top edge just at the bottom of the shorts pocket.
    c. Pin.
    d. Sew a vertical line between the narrow and the wider compartments on the cargo pocket to the boy shorts.sew cargo pocket to pants


  8. Sew 2 lines around the 3 sides of the cargo pocket with about 3/16″ spacing.sew dual cargo pocket to pants


  9. a. Install prong snap buttons and attach your kid’s favorite iron-on embroidery patch.
    b. Complete the rest of the shorts sewing.
    ~DONE~cargo pocket with prong snap button

Notes

Get full articles at https://www.craftpassion.com/sew-boy-shorts-with-cargo-pocket/

Did you make this project?

Please leave a comment below or share a photo on Instagram. Don't forget to tag @craftpassion so that we can see it.

Author bio

Joanne Loh

~ Founder and Editor ~
Born into a creative family, Joanne Loh has over 40 years of experience in sewing, crocheting, and knitting. Well-known for her creative approach to DIY crafts, her creations demonstrate a strong dedication to quality and spreading her enthusiasm among the crafting community.
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Amy

Thursday 2nd of November 2023

Thank you so much for offering this pattern free of charge, I am passing it along to the ladies in my church as we are looking at sewing boys shorts for Christmas boxes to go overseas Girls dress patterns are plentiful for this purpose, but little boys shorts ( especially with pockets) not so much !! These are perfect as little boys NEED cargo pockets! This site and your information was a real blessing to find today !!!

Bettina

Wednesday 26th of May 2021

Dear Mrs Craftpassion, today I finished the toddler shorts for my grand son, 2,5 years old. Thank you for thé pattern. (You can see the short at Instagram account of « lieblingsfarbegelb ». And only at the end of sewing I saw that sizing was « for asian build ». Now I hope the short will fit. I Hope, I am note impolite, but would it be a Good idea to note this very important information on the pattern sheets? TGreetings from France Bettina

Tamara Mitchell

Wednesday 10th of June 2020

Perfect for my 2 year old grandson who wears size 3, thanks! I'm making a ton of those for him. They sew so quickly :)

Anne Ahmad

Wednesday 4th of December 2013

Hi, i found out about your blog recently and kept returning to find more stuffs. your blog is so inspiring especially this tutorial, makes me want to grab a sewing machine right away after this month's pay day. btw, what type of sewing machine that u use?

Craft Passion

Wednesday 4th of December 2013

I am currently using Bernina Quilting Edition since I love to quilt. I used to use basic sewing machine like Singer and Jenomi :)

Craft Passion

Thursday 6th of June 2013

I am sorry to hear this, Maryann. The basic pdf patterns are at another tutorial, please choose the right size (3 years old or 6-8 years old). I have checked that I have no problem to open all the pdf by using Mozilla Firefox, Chrome and Safari browsers. If you are using Internet Explorer, it could have the problem you mentioned as IE browser is slow for big files. Please try again, and let me know if the problem persist. I will get technical stuff to check on the root cause. Thank you for the feedback.

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