Soft and Sweet Knit Pants (Tutorial Part 1)

First off, let me remind you that I am not a professional seamstress.  I haven't been sewing all that long, and I'm teaching myself, learning as I go.  YOU CAN PLAY, TOO!  Experiment.  This week, I'm going to share a "tutorial" on making a little outfit from a t-shirt.  I have been seeing people all around do the coolest stuff with t-shirts and I was itching to do something with that vintage lace I found last week, so . . . I came up with this.  I didn't have a pattern and I wasn't really concerned with doing it a right way.  I'm sharing it with you because I think it turned out really cute, and Addie's pudge needed photographing.  So here are my steps - if you want to play along, feel free to make adjustments to my "tutorial" as you see fit. 

Gather your things - you'll need:

one adult t-shirt (I grabbed a clearance sz XXL from Old Navy - the amount of fabric turned out perfect for Addie's 12-18 month frame.) 

washable fabric marker

lace or fringe

elastic

a pair of the child's shorts or pants to use as a "size estimation device"

paper or template material to create a pattern/template

scissors

sewing machine and serger

Here is the basic idea for the pants.  You're going to use the hem of the shirt (the bottom edge) and repurpose it as the waist of the pants.  This gives you a nice straight, already stitched casing for your elastic waistband.  And using a current pair of the child's shorts or pants, you'll create a little pattern for the shape and width of the pants.  Ready? 

Making the Pattern:

Take a large piece of paper (such as a brown paper bag) and fold it in half.  Lay the folded paper on your workspace with the folded edging running vertically down the left side.  Place your "size estimation device" (I used these cute denim shorts) onto the paper, with the center of the shorts aligned with the fold - you should have the right half of the shorts (facing you) and on the paper.  Trace the shape of the shorts onto the paper.  Cut the template out of the paper.  (Note:  I did not end up making shorts - I decided that I wanted little pants, which was easy to adjust for, but if you like a process that is more exact, please select a "size estimation device" that is closest to your desired final product).   

You'll see that when you unfold the paper, you have both sides of the shorts.  This is your rough pattern. (I think that typically you would cut each side of each half separately so that you'd end up with a seam going up the center of the pants, too.  It would make the fit a little more trim, but since you're using a nice stretchy knit and the shirt is going to cover the top of the pants anyway, this is the EASY way).

Transferring the Pattern and Cutting your T-shirt:

Place your "pattern" onto the t-shirt, matching the waistband of the shorts/pants with the hem of the shirt.  Trace around your pattern using a washable fabric marker.  Since I wanted to make pants instead of shorts, I didn't trace the bottom edge of each leg onto the t-shirt - I just extended the outer and inner pants lines to the length that I wanted and gave the bottoms a little flare once I was cutting the pants out from the t-shirt (sorry!  I was just making it up as I went along, so I don't have pictures of how I should have done it if I'd known I was making pants from the start).  

So, now for the cutting.  You'll cut through two thicknesses of t-shirt fabric (so, the front and the back of the t-shirt) to make the front and back of the pants   Since you're going to gather the waist, you'll want to cut a wider waist than the finished product and I did this by cutting a straight line from the t-shirt hem to the hip line of the traced pattern on each side.  Hopefully, the picture will help here.  When cutting out the fabric, I cut about a 1/4" or so from the traced line and then I just stitch right on the line when sewing the pieces together (since I used the serger, the machine just trims the extra fabric right off for me). 

Elasticizing the Waist:

Next, measure around your child's waist (loosely) and cut a piece of elastic to this length.  Insert the elastic into the "casing" of the t-shirt's hem using a safety pin to more easily work the elastic through.  Continue through the casing on the other half of the pants.  Once your piece of elastic is all the way through both halves of the pants, take each end of the elastic and stitch them together on your sewing machine.  I stitched back and forth a few times and then finished with a zig-zag stitch for good measure.  Keeping your stitched edge of elastic on one side, work your two halves of the pants around on the elastic "waistband" to ensure that you have equal amounts of elastic in the front and back of the pants, so that they're even.  It's kind of exciting because they're starting to look like something!

Piecing the Front and Back Together:

Placing right sides together, pin your front and back pieces together, lining the edges up all the way around the pants.  Serge down each side of the pants and serge along the inner legs; leave the bottom of each leg open!! 

(Note:  If you don't have a serger, you CAN use your sewing machine.  I did a quick google search for how to sew knits and some informative links popped up - like this one from Threads Magazine.  Using a long, straight-stitch and stretching the seam while sewing seem to be the recommendation.  I purchased some knit fabric off the bolt today and will give it a whirl soon.  I'll let you know how it goes!) 

Finishing the Legs:

Grab your lace because this is the part that really takes these pants up a few notches.  And it's easy!!  Start with your pants right side out (you'll need to turn them right side out after serging the front and back together.  Lay the lace face down onto the right side of the leg opening.  Align the edge (unfinished edge) with the bottom edge of the opening and pin all the way around.  Remember that right sides should be together.  Serge the lace and pant leg together. 

Fold down the lace and you can see how the pant leg has been hemmed by the lace and creates a nice finished edge that extends to the lace below.  Next, I topstitched using my sewing machine so that everything stays neat and in place. 

 Repeat with the other pant leg. 

And you're done! Gorgeous!!  Put them on your baby and notice how comfy and soft they fit.  Think about how you'd really like a coordinating top and come back later this week for another sew as you go how-to!

  I'll be sharing this with some of these great sites this week.  And if you DO try this one, please show me, I would love to see!!

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