Wednesday, February 2, 2011

an attempt at a tutorial - pajama pant edition

For those who have requested a tutorial for the pajama pants, please note that I rarely use patterns, am never true to recipes, and also don't do much with my hair (this last point being completely off topic, but an indication of just how not precise I am). And with that, here goes:

Fold fabric, wrong sides together, and lay out a pair of pants on it. Trace (or just cut, if you can't be bothered to trace, like me) with enough room on the edge cut edge to allow for 1-2 inches of seam on the inside (and any extra give you want them to have), 2 inches on top, and 2-3 inches on the bottom. [please note that the picture below doesn't follow these instruction at all when it comes to the top and bottom. I left no extra fabric because, well, there wasn't enough fabric to do so. so this girl's pj pants are more like really long shorts with a low waistband. but she insisted on the this exact fleece -- what could I do? and also, aren't those pants fantastic? no, I did not make them. but I wish I had a pair for me.]

With wrong sides together, sew from the crotch down to the bottom of the leg.

Sew your first seam with the edge of the presser foot against the cut edge of fabric and the needle in the middle position.

Turn inside out (right sides together) and move the needle to the far left position to sew over this seam in order to create a french (or hidden) seam.

Turn one leg inside out and insert into the other leg. With wrong sides together, sew the curve together.

Turn the outside leg wrong side out, and sew along seam to hide the raw edge.

Measure for your elastic. I usually use about 1 inch wide elastic (but whatever I've got around is the second choice). Fold top edge under 1/4 inch, and then fold the width of the elastic plus a little give on each side. Do the same with the cuffs (your second fold being about 1-3 inches, depending on how long you want the pants to be). Iron the folds for cotton on warm, but be careful with fleece. You have to iron it a little cooler so it doesn't melt. Or (if you're lazy like me) you can just fold and sew without ironing. Sew along the edge of the folded down piece, right on top of the 1/4 inch fold, leaving about 1 1/2 inches open to insert elastic. Sew along the folded edge of the cuffs as well.

Wrap the elastic around the waist of the future pants' wearer without stretching it. Pin a safety pin through the elastic to mark your ending spot, and pin another one to the cut end of the elastic. Use the safety pin on the cut end to thread the elastic through the waistband. When you emerge at the other end, match the cut edge to the safety pin marking your ending spot and sew the elastic together. Cut close to the seam and let the rest of the elastic feed into the waistband. Sew the last 1 1/2 inches of waistband seam.

Et voila.

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for the tutorial, Allyson! I've made pajama pants before, but it seems like I'm always re-figuring out how to do so each time.

    I always seem to struggle with making too narrow of a casing for the elastic. 1 1/2" casing for 1" elastic sounds like a good rule of thumb.

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