Firstly, I do want to mention how deeply saddened I am for the Sandy Hook shooting victims and their families. Like many, I think I feel really helpless, but I'm hoping that it's bringing to light some important conversations.
If you remember, I made a lovely pair of
pajama pants in October. So today I'm sharing the tutorial on how to make them! The pattern pieces are based off of your body measurements, so if you have kids you can make them some too! Thank you to
Art Gallery Fabrics for letting me use their lovely voile, in
Impressions in Beige & Millefiori in Cream.
What you need:
- 2.5 yards fabric, if you have 54" wide voile, you can possibly get away with just get one yard (I did)
- 1/2 yard contrast fabric, for waistband and binding on hem
- elastic thread
- thread
- 1.5" wide elastic
- small scrap of fusible interfacing
- ribbon for faux tie
- pair of well fitting pajama pants to make your pattern
Make pattern and cut:
{1/2" seam allowance used throughout, unless otherwise noted}
First we'll take some measurements and make the waistband pieces. Measure hip to hip and add 1". Measure around the back side of the fullest part of your body (your hips and butt usually) and add 1".
Make two pattern pieces.
Front waistband will be 6" tall by your hip to hip measurement.
Back waistband will be 6" tall by your fullest body measurement.
Cut one front waistband (fuse interfacing to wrong side of front waistband) and one back waistband.
Cut two front leg pieces and two back leg pieces by tracing a pair of existing pajama pants or using your favorite commercial pattern. ** You'll want to make sure that the front waistband piece will fit your front pant pieces, just hold the front waistband piece up to the front pant pieces and make sure they're about the same width.
Cut two hem binding pieces 2.5" tall by circumference of pant leg + 1".
Cut elastic 1-2" shorter than your back waist measurement.
Sew:
1. Place one front leg and one back leg piece right sides facing. Sew along outer leg and inseam. Finish raw edges (I serged mine, but you could also do a french seam, zig-zag, etc.). Repeat for other pant leg.
2. Turn one pant leg right side out and slip it into the other pant leg, aligning the inseam seams. Sew along that 'U' shape. Finish raw edges. Turn pants right side out.
Next, take the back waistband piece, using the elastic thread in the bobbin, shirr the entire back waistband piece stitching rows approximately 3/8" apart across the piece. Using a spritz of water and and iron, shrink up the elastic thread, pressing gently on the elastic thread side. Press in half lengthwise wrong sides facing. Set aside.
Take the front waistband piece and fold in half lengthwise wrong sides facing. Mark the half way point and on either side make two buttonholes for the tie/ribbon.
Open up both waist pieces. Right sides facing align raw edges of each short side of waistband. Pin. Sew. Now you'll have a waistband loop:
Insert the 1.5" elastic in between the folded back waistband piece. Pulling elastic ends just past the side seam of either side of the waistband, sew "in the ditch" along side seam on either side to hold elastic in place.
Your waistband will now look like this:
Take pants and slip waistband with buttonholes facing the right side, aligning raw edge of waistband with top of pants, and aligning side seams of pants with the side seams of the waistband. Pin. Sew. You'll need to stretch the back waistband as you're sewing. Finish edges.
Finish pant bottoms by attaching bias tape binding as you would a quilt or other project. Insert ribbon or fabric tie into buttonholes. That's it! Hope that this tutorial can be helpful for someone.
Enjoy! ♥
