In this demonstration, I am going to show you how to make pajama pants. It makes a great gift that everybody will love. You can make them soft and cozy for yourself, your friend or make them for the little dancer in your life.
Supplies:
- Older pair of pajama pants for pattern
- Material of your choice
- Thread to match material
- Elastic 1” – 2” Wide
- Embellishments as desired
- Pins
- Scissors
- Sewing Machine
Directions:
- Choosing Your Materials
Your choice of materials is something that is completely a matter of opinion. For the most part, I prefer a very cozy material. It could be a soft flannel, a soft cotton or even a plush type of material. It is all a matter of preference.
- Cutting the Material
Now, I have already cut out the material. You can use an old pair of your pajama pants to create a pattern. Maybe they are ripped or worn out or you just don’t want them anymore. Cut them apart and use them for a pattern. You can also use a short pattern and lengthen the leg. You could even just purchase a pattern for a pair of pajama pants.
- Pinning and Sewing the Pants Together
So, I have the front and back pieces here. There are a couple of different ways to sew them but I am going to show you the quickest way. Make sure you backstitch to catch that first stitch so the seam will not unravel. If you are not real confident with your sewing, you will want to pin the two pieces together. First, I am sewing the two fronts together. Make sure and backstitch the beginning and end of the seam to keep that seam nice and strong so that it will not pull apart when the wearer is bending over and moving around.
Next, I am going to sew the two back pieces together. Make sure you sew the pieces evenly so that the tops and bottoms of the seams meet. Back stitch at the bottom for security. This leaves you with a complete front and back.
Open the front piece and the back piece and then carefully pin them together at the crotch. You want to make sure that the front and back seams in the crotch area match and that they don’t slip. Then continue pinning the seam in both directions to the bottom of the legs and make sure the ends from the front and back match. This will give you one long seam from the bottom of one leg, through the crotch and down to the bottom of the other leg. Pin the seam all the way from one end of one leg, through the crotch and down the other leg.
Let the feed dog pull the fabric through the sewing machine. Do not pull the fabric, just guide it. If you have an overlock, this is a good time to use it. Since I am not using pins, I like to hold the ends of the seam so that the fabric feeds through the machine evenly and make sure that the end of the legs match. If you are not comfortable doing it that way, then pin the front and back together at the inside seam.
As always, at the both ends of the seam, be sure to do a backstitch to begin and finish the seam.
If you are using a professional pattern, you will have little darts or points in the pattern to mark where you should pin or mark the fabric to make sure the fabric stays together at each point while sewing. When you become comfortable and confident, you will not need to pin the legs together all the way down the seam. You just need to mark or pin it where the pattern indicates and hold the fabric together at the ends as you are sewing to keep the ends even.
- Reinforcing the Crotch
There are two ways to reinforce the crotch area. One way is to backstitch a couple of inches over the seam in the crotch area as you are sewing the seam. The other is to sew the seam from the bottom of one leg, through the crotch and down to the bottom of the other leg. Then, go back stitch two to three inches over the crotch area a couple of times. This is just to ensure that the stress on the crotch does not cause the seam to give way.
- Sewing the Hem
If you are using a straight stitch machine for the hem rather than a cover stitch, do a double roll on the bottom. You will first need to determine the length of the hem. First, mark the length of the legs d fold the pant leg at that mark. That will be where the hem of the hem will be. Next, take the end of the pant leg and fold it under so that the end of the material ends up between the hem and the pant leg.
If, for instance, the pant leg only allows enough material for a 1” hem, then fold the hem over 1/2” and then fold it over again. Or, fold it over 1” and then tuck the end in ½”. Pin the hem equally around the leg to make sure that it is even all the way around. Sew the hem about an 1/8” to ¼” from the inside fold. Do the same thing with the other leg.
- Sewing the Elastic and the Waistband
There is just one more thing to show you and that is the elastic in the waistband and the waistband itself.
You need to measure the elastic for the size of the girl’s waist and then add one inch for overlap. Overlap the ends and stitch them together creating one big circle of elastic that is equals the waist size of the wearer. This will create an elastic band just a shade smaller than the girl’s waist. Make sure to stitch the elastic from top to bottom a couple of times to make sure that the connection is tight. If it is not nice and strong, it will split open when you are wearing it. Pin this overlapped area of the elastic to the inside of the center back of the pants and at the top edge of the pants. Using that as the back center, fold the elastic in half and use the other folded end as the center front. Pin that point to the center front seam of the pants. Stretching the elastic out as you sew, sew the elastic to the pants at the top edge of the material. Again, if you are not real confident, you may want to stretch it out and pin the elastic to the pants at a couple of spots between the front center and back center to keep the elastic together with the pants.
Next, fold the top of the pajama pants over the elastic and sew 1/8” or ¼” from the inside edge of the elastic. Again, you will be stretching the elastic as you sew. You want to make sure that the material on the outside of the pajama pants stays flat and does not gather up under the stitches. Folding the elastic over and pinning the outside material to the elastic and then sewing on the outside of the pants is a viable option unless you are very comfortable with not pinning.
For this demonstration, I used black elastic so it was easily visible. I would not recommend black elastic unless the fabric is black or an equally dark color.
- Alternative method
Some people prefer to sew the front and back of each leg together creating two separate legs instead of sewing the two fronts together and then two backs together as I have outlined above. Sewing the front of the leg to the back of the leg and then sewing the two legs together results in a “U” shape seam that goes through the crotch. With this method, you will still want to reinforce the crotch seam.
Obviously, I prefer to sew the pants in the order that I have demonstrated since that is the one that I outlined. I like all the reinforcement that I get with sewing it my way.
- Adding Embellishments
You can add some extra embellishments to the pants like fur at the bottom or sequins. Anything of that nature would make the pants very unique. However, you will want to make sure that any embellishments do not affect the comfort of the pants
If you do not want to actually make the pajama pants but want a unique gift, you can add these embellishments to a pair of pajama pants you have purchased premade.
- Measuring Guides on Sewing Machines
My machine has little guides to show you how to gauge the width of the seam while you are sewing. If your machine does not have those guides, I suggest creating your own guide by putting a little piece of tape on the machine parallel to the feed dog. Usually, seams are 5/8”. So, place the end of your measuring tape under the feed dog and next to the needle and then measure to the right of the needle until you reach the 5/8” mark. Next, place the tape parallel to the feed dog at the 5/8” mark. You can then guide your material next to this piece of tape. This will create a 5/8” seam. You can do the same thing for any size seam you want.
