Housewife, cheapskate, crafter, mum. Trying not to go crazy, trying not to go broke.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Big Ugly Pants

When I bought these pants ($1) I thought I could make jeggings for myself, but after seeing this before photo I quickly changed my mind!
So I decided to make jeans for my little boy.
 First, I cut off the waistband (but kept the elastic for later), and cut the inseam and crotch seams.  This leaves a the side seam, which we will use for the side seam of our smaller pants.
Next, I use a pair of the kids pants as a pattern (because I'm stingy and they grow so quickly I don't want to buy every size pants patterns).  Just make sure your inseams (marked A and B)are both the same length, because they will be sewn together.
From here on in, you just make them like a regular pair of pants (inseams, crotch seam, finish the waistband).  I was able to use the original waistband elastic, but it depends on the construction of the original garment.
  Finished, at the moment they are still a bit big.  I'm sure it won't be long until his super-grow legs catch up!
One of the advantages of using 'plus' size garments, is that there is plenty of fabric!  I looked at my leftovers, and thought I might just have enough for a pair of summer shorts for my little girl.
  You can just see the pattern I have drawn on, with the little B at the back, and the pockets (obviously too big at the moment) at the front.
All I did was stitich a line to form the new pocket bottom, and then cut away the excess pocket.
Then, I just finished off the shorts as normal, except that I made them flat front and elastic back, because I only had a short piece of the elastic left!  I also used some thrifted braid from my stash so that they could be as long as possible.
I think they turned out better than the pants!

2 comments:

  1. You, my dear, are a genius, full stop. LOVE the pants, NEED the shorts! When I grow up, I wanna be you.

    ReplyDelete

Hello! I love that you've had a rummage through - let me know your thoughts! Feel welcome to use the 'Anonymous' choice, but please leave your name, I have an overactive imagination!

Related Posts with Thumbnails