I made these a couple weeks ago and JUST got around to posting this.... Yeah, I guess you can call me a slacker ;)
I just want to say this is one of my easier tutorials here. You will need fabric - the specific amount depends on your child's size and whether you are making pants or shorts (I made pants). Regardless, you will need enough for four "leg cut outs" (you can see what I mean below), a pair of pajama pants the same size or a size bigger to trace, and if you're doing this for a girl maybe a little piece of ribbon tied into a bow for the front of the waist band. Last, but definitely not least, elastic- enough to go around your child's waist.
To start, lay out your fabric and fold the pants you will be tracing in half, and trace them like this:
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| Picture From Simply Modern Mom |
Apparently I didn't get as many pictures as I thought I did, please for give me. The picture above is from
SimplyModernMom.com
Make sure to add a few inches to the top (we will be folding it over to create the casing for the elastic to go through later) about 2 ish inches should be fine *I used 3/4in elastic*. (I traced a regular pair of jeans and didn't add enough extra fabric to the top and ended up with a waist a bit lower than I like.... So just know this is the worst that can happen lol).
Now after you have traced and cut out your "quarter of the pants" four times (see the picture below) you can start sewing them together, going down the longest side of each. Make sure right sides are together, again see the pictures below...
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Two of the 4 pieces - BTW I these are a size 5
I told you the waist was a bit short... Make
Sure you add those couple extra inches ;) |
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If you look closely you can see where I have sewn
down the right side (longest side) -now do this again
with the other two leg pieces |
Instead of four quarters (four leg pieces) at this point you should have two pieces that look like the picture above.
Now you're ready to sew the shortest two seams - so open up each of the two leg pieces...
Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of this part either so I will substitute with this one from "
My Cotton Creations"
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| Picture By My Cotton Creations |
Imagine there is a seam down the middle of this (because that's what yours should look like), After you place your two pieces together like this you will be sewing the short curvy part ONLY.
DO NOT sew down the legs yet and
DO NOT sew the top.
Now fold this together so that both of those curvy pieces you have just sewn are touching...
You will see on yours that the insides of the legs aren't sewn together yet (this photo of mine they are - didn't get a picture of the before but you get the hint...) You will want to sew them together now. I sewed up one and right down the other so I didn't have to stop and go up the other leg and hope everything matched up etc.
All that's left at this point is hemming up the bottom of the legs, I folded them up twice so that I didn't have another raw edge *exactly why you'll need those extra couple inches*, and creating a casing for the elastic at the top.
The top of the pants I folded over about 1/4 inch and over again about an inch. You'll sew just at the bottom of this ALMOST all the way around. Leave about an inch opening to get your elastic through.
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I suggest using a safety pin at the end of the
elastic to help pull it through. |
Once you have pulled your elastic through, sew the ends together - Thought I had a picture of this too but I guess not. Basically you will pull on both ends and over lap them about 1/4-1/2 inch and do a zig-zag stitch to hold them together. Now you can close up the hole that you used to pull the elastic through.
TADA! Now you have pajama pants :D I had this piece of blue ribbon laying around that just happened to match, tied it in a bow and hand sewed it on. Perfect finishing touch!
Have you made pajama pants yet? Any ideas or suggestions? What should I do next? Please share in the comments section below!
