Kid's Pajama Pants

Recently I notice that the pajama pants are getting shorter on my daugther. Or rather, my girl has grown up so fast that her pant is like 3/4 pant handling just below her knee. I felt so sorry and bad that I didn't realised that she needed new pajama pants. Her top still fits so I thought I could make her a quick pants.

And I got just the right fabric for making one. : ) It's Michael Miller Sihouette Kids Double Border fabric that I got on sale from Fabric.com. The sihouette of girls playing on the bottom of the panel makes it just nice as the pant's bottom print!

Measurement
I couldn't take her measurement as she was in school so I took her shortie pajama pants and extend the length. She is a tall 6 year old.  You can do the same as me or just take my measurement.

Length = 26" long. 
Waist = 23" [I make it real comfortable and gave her a bigger ease at the waist of +1"]
Width of leg hole = 6.5"each.
Seam allowance 3/8"

Material
1.5 yard of cotton fabric [with interesting print at leg area will be fun!]
24" elastic band of 0.5" wide

Cutting Instruction
You can refer to the internet for various free pattern or just trace an old pair of pants like me.  After you have the pattern pieces, place them on the fabric at fold so that you have 2 pieces.  Or you can cut out 2 front and 2 back pieces based on Dana's pants tutorial.

Just note that when you are cutting print with lines or checked, you need to make sure that both sides are the same level/height on both leg pieces. So, you can cut the fabric with right side facing up for ease of comparison.

Sewing Instruction
For this pant, I've serged the crotch area (under the pants bottom) for both pieces first or you can sew first and then serge. It's up to you.

1. Fold each of the leg piece together, right side facing. Align side seams and pin the inseam under the crotch area together. 

 Start sewing from near the crotch and all the way down to the hem.

Iron seam open and serge the seam separately.  Do the same for the other piece.

2. Turn one of the piece Right Side Out and leave the other Wrong Side Out.

 Insert the Right Side Out piece into the Wrong Side Out piece, align inseam and crotch.

Pin in place around the crotch area.

3. Sew the crotch area together with the 2 pieces right side facing.  If you have not serged/zig zaged the seam earlier, you can serge or do zig-zag stitches now.  

Turn the legs out and you can see a glimpse of the new pants.

4. To make the waist band, fold in 1" to the Wrong Side of pants and press. Serge/zig zag the waist edges.  

Sew around the waist band near the serged edge, leaving a 2" opening for inserting of elastic band.  Pin 2 pins to help you identify the start and end of your stitches.  You can insert the label if you want at the back of the waistband. I didn't insert as it may be too scratchy for my girl.

5. Pin a safety pin through one end of the elastic band and insert through the opening. Take care not to let the other end goes in as well. Making sure that the band is not twisted, overlapped by 0.5" and sew a zig zag stitch to close the band.

6. Pull the waist band back into the waistband and straighten with both hands, and sew the opening close with straight stitch.

7. Next, to hem the pants. I've used the selvage of the fabric on the hem so I didn't need to serge the hem.  Fold in 0.25" and press.

Sew all around the leg holes.  Here, I insert the label infront of the leg.

I've sewn double lines

Label at front leg to help her identify the front of the pants!

Your new pants! Love the panel print at the leg area : )

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