My oldest son, "The Potus", is LONG and LEAN. I have problems finding pants for him that are long enough and also skinny enough at the waist. He has recently outgrown ALL of his pajama pants, seemingly overnight. (by length obviously...he has yet to outgrow a waistband lol). I decided to whip him up a few pairs. I hardly ever use "new" fabric. I feel like it is less of a challenge. Plus I like to reuse as many things as I can. I do have quite a bit that I have accumulated over the years that I've picked up on sale along the way. I got this fabric for $1 a yard. I'm going to be trying to use up a lot of my raw fabric the next few months just to get rid of it...so there are more "raw fabric" projects headed this way :)
I started these the other day, but have been SO busy I didn't get a chance to finish them until tonight. They are SO UNBELIEVABLY easy. It's ridiculous.
STEP 1: Lay your fabric out (folded in half). You can pin it if you'd like...I don't. Use an old pair of PJ's for a rough pattern. Turn them inside out and make sure they're laying flat. Then trace around them using something. BTW, this is the FIRST TIME I've EVER used tailors chalk. I finally bought some and retired my trusty sharpie. We'll see if it lasts. These old PJ's are WAY too short so I made sure to add a bunch of length at the bottom. And don't forget to leave room for a hem! Once you have traced the outline move them over and trace again.
STEP 2: (not pictured) Cut out your traced pants. You should have 4 pieces.
STEP 3: This is VERY important. Take one of your scraps and tie it around your head like Rambo. And don't forget to make a goofy face. I was lucky to have "The Tao" around to help me with this.
STEP 4: Put two of your pieces right sides together and sew up the seams. (I sew and serge...just because I can...it's not necessary though) There's probably a "right" way to do this. But I am self taught and I do what works for me, so by all means do what works for you. I sew up the back and front seams first. Meaning crotch to waistband. This will give you two pieces now instead of the 4 you started out with. And they are now "pants" shaped. Then I put the two "pants shaped" pieces right sides together and sew up the inseam and then the outer sides. Again, you can pin if you'd like or if you feel more comfortable. I don't. You will now have a constructed pair of pants! (as pictured above) All that's left is to hem the bottoms and make a waistband to put elastic in.
STEP 5: (not pictured) Turn the bottoms of the pants up and run them through your machine. Easy.
STEP 6: Fold the waist over a bit. Then fold over again. I folded mine down about an inch. You can iron for perfect crisp results. I'm not that worried about it :) It would certainly make things easier, but I am lazy with things like that and just do it on the fly. I did pin it though, quickly, this time because it kept unrolling and pins were within arms reach. Don't forget to leave a little opening to feed the elastic through.
STEP 7: Measure your piece of elastic. I just put it around "The Potus'" waist and added a little bit as a seam allowance. I used 1/2" elastic.
STEP 8: Attach a safety pin to the end of the elastic and feed it through the opening you left. Once it's all the way through make sure it's laying straight and sew the ends together, making a loop. Try very hard to ignore the ugly thumbnail. You can do it.
STEP 9: (not pictured) Sew the opening closed and turn your new pants right side out. DONE!
And here's the finished product! He loves how they fit (he likes things a little higher waisted) and he's got some room to grow. These were SO easy!!! Took just a few minutes and they only cost $1! Now "The Potus" is ready to wear them to Pajama Day at school tomorrow! He is so excited. He's ALWAYS so impressed with my projects and shows them off to everyone. Always proud of his Momma. He's such a sweetheart. And did I mention handsome?
Now I gotta make some for "The Tao" and some for myself. They're so comfy!
These were done just in time to eat some stuffed peppers
And cinnamon rolls! Yum!
It was a good day.
