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hey guys it's Dana from made
everyday.com and today I have a really
simple project for you it's great for
beginners we're going to sew a little
pair of loungy pajama pants with taco
trucks
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I love projects that come together
quickly and that my kids will get tons
of use from and a pair of pajama pants
or shorts well it doesn't get much
simpler than that they have an elastic
waistband which makes them really cozy
and they're made from soft flannel and
with so many cute flannel prints at the
store I mean I just want to make pear
after Paar after
Paar you know how it goes here's what
you need some cute Fabric and 1in wide
elastic for a pair of kids pajama pants
or shorts you only need about a yard or
two of fabric and the great thing about
using flannel aside from the fact that
it's super soft and cozy and snuggly is
that there are so many cute prints
available out there I mean look at all
of these designs I got them all at my
local Joan Fabric and Craft store and
they have bolts and bolts of the cutest
little things I just want to buy all of
it and when it goes on sale sometimes I
buy two or three yards of a print even
though I don't even know what I'm going
to make with it I bring it home I wash
it I dry it and then it's all ready to
go when I'm ready to to sew so let's set
your fabric aside and we'll talk about a
pattern I've shown you how to make a
basic pair of shorts before but as with
any sewing project there is always more
than one way to sew something and that's
what I want to show you right now I am
using my kid shorts pattern which is
available on my website go to m
everyday.com and you don't have to use
this pattern you can use your own or you
can make your own and typically in a
pants or shorts pattern there is a front
and a back which is great if you want to
have a side seam for a pocket but
sometimes you can also find patterns
that are together where it just makes
one large pattern piece and that is
great if you have a fabric where you
don't want to cut into the print you
really want to maximize how that fabric
looks and so that it kind of bends
around the leg and it looks kind of cozy
and cute so that's what we're going to
do today so I'm going to take these two
pieces and combine them together and
I've already cut my piece out here but
let me explain kind of what I did I took
a large piece of paper or you can tape
together a bunch of smaller pieces of
paper which is my go-to method that's
what I do every time I'm making a
pattern cuz I always have paper I'm
going to take these two pattern pieces
place them together with the side seams
touch
and then because these are PJ pants I
want them to be extra roomy so I'm
actually going to give them more space
I'm keeping the side seam so that they
are even with each other but I'm adding
a little bit of space in the middle
there we go and then I'm also adding a
little bit more room at the top just to
make it again more roomy and then I'm
adding more length because I want them
to be pants and to figure out the length
you can measure your child's inseam you
can grab a pair of pants they already
have or you can just make them extra
long try them on and then you'll know
how to hem them okay let's cut out our
fabric
okay I've got my fabric here and you
guys this print when I saw it Joanne
well I bought the rest of the bolt
because you know taco trucks doughnut
trucks
flowers okay it's folded in half so that
I'm going to cut two pieces for my pants
and you can have them right sides
together or wrong sides together it
doesn't really matter but you want the
pieces to be mirror images of each other
so I'm taking my pattern
piece and laying it right on
top I have the top up here and the
bottom down here so it's going the right
direction
and this is great for this size four to
five I can fit both legs if you had a
larger size you might need to open up
your Fabric and cut one piece move down
and cut the other piece but for little
kids this 44in wide works perfect okay
then just take your scissors and start
cutting okay I am done cutting my fabric
now before we sew I want to show you a
quick tip that I love to do because it
helps save time later and it's easier to
press things when they're flat than when
they're sewn around a little leg so
first we're going to hem the bottom of
the pants under and if you're not sure
what length you're going to want to do
you can save this step till later no big
deal I'm starting by folding it under
about a half inch or you can do a/ qu
inch there's no right or wrong with us
press that under that just is going to
keep the raw Edge inside the Hem and
then do it about another I don't know 1
in it depends on what kind of look
you're going for sometimes I kind of
like a more chunky hem on these pajama
pants it just looks really cute the
other thing is if you do a chunky hem if
you cut them a little extra long then as
your child grows you could let the Hem
out of course by the time they grow then
it's ready for summer and then I snip
them off and make them into shorts okay
so there's
one let's do the other
one okay after we've done that now we
want to do the top casing which is well
kind of a similar look this is where the
elastic is going to go through the top
of our pajama pants so first go
over about a/4 to a half of an
inch then we want to go over about
another 1 and a/4 in or 1 and a half I
have a little ruler here you just want
to make sure if I grab my
elastic that it's wide enough for our
elastic to go through so let's see I did
about one and half inch is
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good press that in place give it a
really good firm
press and we'll do the other
pant okay now we want to pin the legs
together and then we're headed to our
machine now unfold those areas that we
just pressed which I know sounds kind of
weird but I promise it's going to help
later we're going to take this leg with
right sides together and match it up at
the top of the inseam or the crotch area
and what we're going to do in this step
is to sew right down the inseam down to
the bottom of the Hem I'm going to pin
it in a couple
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places and let's go to our machine okay
I'm using a 3/8 in seam allowance and
you always want to do a forward and back
stitch at the beginning of your project
this just kind of ties a nod and keeps
the thread from coming and done then
just go all the way
around this is your first project you've
ever made this is a great great place to
start I'm teach you some basics of
sewing garments
without having to worry if it fits
exactly
perfect do a back
stitch and then let's do the other
leg for and back stitch at the end we're
done and we're not even going to press
anything this time I know I'm always
talking about pressing but this next
step is just so fast turn one of your
legs right side out
and then we're going to stick it right
inside the other
leg
so stick it in there and then you want
to match them up right here with these
two little crotch seams come together
and I'm going to place a pin right
there and
then just want to match it up the two
pieces around like
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this okay now you can see here we're
going to sew from one side side down
around and back up the other side I'm
using the same seam allowance here at
3/8
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in pour it and back
stitch and then just go right
around when you get to the spot where
the two inseams come together just kind
of do your best to lay it flat and to go
through all those layers at
once there we go
do a back
stitch and let's see how our pants are
looking so far if we pull the whole
thing out you're going to be amazed at
how quickly these come together I mean
they're basically pants already right
okay let's see ah awesome I love it okay
now I want to create the casing for the
top that the elastic is going to go
through and this is why we pressed it
earlier cuz it's so easy to just fold
under and fold under again and then just
put a little pin there if you can't see
your creases anymore just grab your iron
and press it again but it should fold
over pretty easily I'm pinning all the
way around and then it's important you
want to leave an opening in the back for
the elastic to get in and out so if you
think you might forget to stop sometimes
I like to place two pins so that I
remember oh yeah this is my
opening just need to leave about I don't
know 2 or 3 in which is nothing
big now let's pin our hem as
well I'm doing the exact same thing I'm
folding
under and then I'm folding under
again and I'm going to just place a few
pins and then we'll go back to our
machine I'm going to S the Hem in the
pants first which I know sounds a little
backward but there's no real right or
wrong way
here I'm using about a 1/8 inch seam
allowance which means I'm just a smidgin
over from the folded Edge and do a
forward and back stitch
and then I'm just going to ride
around now again if you're not sure the
length for your child you might save
this step till the very end and sew the
waist first and try them on your child
and then you'll know for
sure but as I said I've made these many
many times for my
kids which makes this project so simple
once you have your pattern ready to go
and you know all the lengths and all
that kind of stuff I mean you can churn
these things out for Christmas birthday
is
anytime do back stitch at the
end and then let's do the other
leg okay back
stitch okay now let's sew the top casing
go back to our waist and remember that I
have my start and stop Point here soz I
want to leave that opening for the
elastic start right there again I'm
using a 1/8 inch seam
allowance forward and back
stitch and then just go all the way
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around okay I'm getting to my stop Point
here do a forward and back
stitch and now we're ready to string our
elastic through I'm using 1in wide
elastic which you can also find at
Joanne and they sell it by the yard or
in these little pre-cut packages and I
like to buy knit elastic rather than
woven or braided I just feel like it
stands up straighter and stretches
really great now the length for your
elastic is going to be your waist plus
an extra inch so that you can overlap
the two ends so for my little daughter
Clara who is actually turning five I'm
going to cut this 21 in as her waist so
I'll do
22 okay just like
that set this
aside now you want to take a safe pin or
a B can if you have one of those safety
pins work great stick it through the end
and then we're going to string this
through the little casing that we made
so find the opening right there stick it
in and
then you just want to push it all the
way through you want to make sure that
your elastic is not getting twisted
inside as you go if it does no big deal
you just pull it out and do it again
look already getting
twisted
okay kind of flatten it and then what
you want to do is secure the other end
so that as you're
going your whole elastic doesn't just
pull right through with pajama pants
it's less likely cuz you're not
Gathering as much fabric as say like a
simple skirt with a skirt for sure you
got to do that
otherwise you're doing this again and
again then wait till it comes back out
the other end there it is pull that
through okay sh me this
around okay and then if you have the
convenience of trying this on your child
I like to actually just safety pin these
two ends together before I sew
everything together and make sure that
it fits right that maybe it's too loose
or maybe it's too tight if it's too
tight just cut another little piece of
elastic sew it to the end and then you
can have an extra long piece or you
could start over and string a new piece
through either way so I would pin it
like that kind of go like this try it on
my child but we're going to go to our
machine and sew it together take the two
ends of your elastic and overlap them
about 1 in and then come to your
machine and we're going to sew it in
place just with a couple stitches well a
couple lines of
stitches forward and back
and you could use a straight Stitch or a
zigzag
Stitch one then just scoot over and sew
another one you don't have to I just
feel like I like things to be secure
inside
here okay elastic is good let's see how
it looks looking awesome okay now we
just need to sew the casing closed so
come right back to your machine fold
over that area and we're going to sew
right along this little opening right
there just go back to your
machine and just start at the same spot
that you stopped at before try to match
it up the Stitch line forward and back
stitch make sure you're not sewing any
of the
elastic and sew right
down and you are done with your cute
little pajama pants but let me show you
one more fun addition I like to add a
little faux drawring or tie at the top
again it's purely accessory but it looks
really cute so you can also find some
fun trims at Joanne and they have
awesome cotton twill tape which I like
to use white or color or sometimes when
I'm working with knit Fabrics I like to
cut the Salvage Edge or just a strip of
fabric and You Yank It And it creates
kind of like a little tube of fabric and
that's what I'm going to use I'm going
to cut about I don't
know 24 in I like to do about 12 in for
each side of the little tie so I'll cut
a string right here
perfect the nice thing about knit
Fabrics is they don't phrase you don't
to finish out the edges anything like
that and then I'm going to start in the
middle of the top casing and I'm going
to sew make sure these are even going to
lay it like that and just sew one little
line down there sew simple or so
simple okay go to your
machine and just do a little for and
back stitch that's all you need
and there you
go let's tie a little bow and then let's
see how it
looks oh perfect if it's too long just
cut the ends a little
bit and look at that congratulations you
just made a pair of pajama pants your
kids are going to be thrilled in fact
I'm going to go try these on my daughter
clar right now for more ideas and
tutorials visit my website made
everyday.com and for flannel elastic and
other needs head to your local Joan
store or go to jan.com I'll see you next
time bye
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