DIY leggings or pants from an old Tshirt

I love love LOVE Saturdays! That might sound a little funny coming from a Stay-at-Home Mommy but Saturdays are my one day that I can drink coffee all day, watch movies while Carter naps, craft to my content...all guilt free! Monday-Friday I'm taking care of the house, chores, meal-planning, cooking, cleaning, etc. Sarurday is my one day that I don't do a thing except for what I want to do.  So again, I love love LOVE Saturdays!

Today, I've been at my sewing machine. I love the embroidery and appliqué side of my machine, but I first loved to sew. I whipped up my baby boy a Ca-yuuuute pair of pants out of one of my hubby's old t-shirts.  It has been in the donation pile forever, it doesn't fit him anymore but was otherwise in perfect condition! Look.

Cute, right?!?! Your silence speaks volumes, don't worry. I'll give you a moment to catch your breath and come back................................you good? Ok. Let's get started.

I'll begin by saying that this tutorial is every I-struggle-with-written-instructions-give-me-pictures persons dream. I'm visual. I need to SEE what you're doing. So let's start with the shirt. Jersey knit is a good material because it stretches and moves with your little one, it's my fave but this particular shirt happens to be 100% cotton, and it worked great!

You'll want to start off by cutting front of the shirt at the seam line where it connects the back, like this: 

Go all the way around the shirt cutting at the seam line only, you'll go past the arms, over the shoulders, up around the neck and down the other side of the shirt. When you're finished, it should look like this:

Take either piece and fold in half, long ways so that the folded part of the shirt is on the left hand side, like this:

I traced a different pair of my sons pants on to a piece of wax paper, first folding them in half long ways, like this: (use a pair of pants or leggings that you want this pair of pants to have the same fit, tight or loose)

Once folded in half like this ^^, trace using a black pen or marker on to a sheet of wax paper. Then cut around the traced pants leaving an inch all around for seam allowance. When through cutting, lay on the shirt with the straight side of the pants up against the fold of your shirt, like this:

You can see where I originally traced, and then the seam allowance I left.

Cut around the wax paper to get your pant form. Like this:

When you're finished, unfold the shirt and it should look like this!

Now take the other half the shirt, the front of the shirt in my case, and follow the previous steps to get the other side of your pants, you should end up at this step with two identical pieces like the one pictured above!

Now take the skinnier end of each piece and fold over the fabric 1/2in-1in, and pin in place, this will be the hem for bottom of your pants. Pin and stitch each piece separately, don't sew them together.

After you've sewn your two leg hems, turn the pieces to get to the top of the pants, where it's wider. Place one piece of the pants, right side up (where you can see the print) and place the other piece directly on top of it, right side down (where you can see the inside of the shirt), the two "right" sides of the shirt should be facing each other. Match them up as best you can, focusing on the  two "points" each piece has, that's the crotch and you want that to line up for sure. Starting from the wider top, pin each piece together going down until you get to the "points" (crotch) and stop. 

Stop at the "point" or "notch". Sew each side together, again, stopping where the fabric is pointed.

Now, take the sewn waist and open it up so you can fold the pants in half the other way. Make sense? Look.

Fold the other way so that the two running seams are in the front and back, and in the middle. Once you do it should look like this:

Eek!!! They're starting to look like pants!! That's a GOOD thing! It's what we want.

Now, pin up along the inside of each leg to get ready to stitch the legs, keep in mind that where you stitch, either close to the unfinished edge or further inside, will determine how loose or tight the pants are.

I didn't want mine tight or baggy so I pinned a little closer in, but not too close.  Don't forget to curve around the crotch, if you have to stop to lift your presser foot and readjust a few times it's ok. I like to stitch, back stitch, stitch, back stitch several times around the crotch, just for reinforcement.  After you've stitched the legs, you're ready for the waist! But first, your pants should look like this:

Next you'll pin all around the waist so you can stitch your waistline.

Stitch around the waist, stopping before your two stitches meet. Keep that opening to insert your elastic.

 Pin a safety pin on the end of your elastic before you run it through the waist, it makes it easier to grab while your pulling it all the way through

Here's a picture of what I'm referring to.

When you're finished pulling it all the way through, take the two ends of the elastic and run a stitch over them to keep them together inside the hem. Again, I do stitch, back stitch, stitch, back stitch over and over for reinforcement. 

Once that is stitched, you can sew up the closing that you left open earlier for the elastic. 

This next step is completely optional. I took my elastic that was already sewn in the pants and stretched the pants to where I could get a straight stitch on TOP if the elastic that was already in the waist line, all this does is prevent the elastic from twisting and turning in the wash, during wear, etc. it also just gives the pants a more "finished" look. 

See? You can see the two stitches and it just looks better in my opinion.

There you have it! Wallah! Your little guy (or gal!) will be super cute in his very own, one of a kind. pair of pants!!! That's all for today, until next time!! 

XoXo.

Brooke