I feel like Addie is always growing out of her clothes faster than I can keep up! Now that the seasons are changing and the weather is getting colder she is in desperate need of something other than short sleeves and pants. I’ve been on the verge of buying her a bunch of new pants several times, then I finally realized: why buy her pants when I can make them for free with almost no effort at all? I’ve seen many leggings tutorials out there and trust me, they are as easy as they say. So, here it is:
First find a pair of leggings that you can use as a pattern. Fold them in half and place them against the fold of your fabric which should also be folded in half (or in this picture I have my fabric folded in fourths so I can cut out the two pieces at the same time). Make sure that the stretch of the fabric is running horizontally and that you leave about 1 inch at the bottom and 1 inch at the top for a nice hem. Then cut around the shape of the leggings leaving a 1/4 inch seam allowance. You should end up with two of these pieces.
Next, sew both leg seams with the right side of the fabric together. I used a serger to do this but a simple stretch stitch on a sewing machine will work great too.
Now turn one of the pant legs inside out as shown above.
Put the right-side-out pant leg inside of the other and match up the seams. The right sides of the fabric should again be facing each other.
Sew along the seam. Once you have done this you should be able to take the leg out of the other so that you end up with what is shown above.
Now it is time to add the elastic waistband. To do this measure around your child’s waist then cut your elastic 3-4 inches smaller since the elastic will stretch when it gets sewn on. Once you have your electric cut, create the band by zig-zagging the ends together. I used 3/4 inch wide elastic.
Place the band around the waist of your leggings then fold over the top of the pants to cover the elastic.
Flip the leggings right side out and sew around the edge of the elastic using a twin needle. Using a twin needle will give you the stretch you need around the waist and hem. Slightly stretch the elastic as you sew and be sure you are catching the edge of it. Hem the bottom of the leggings while also using a twin needle. If you don’t have a twin needle a zig zag stitch or any stretch stitch will work ad well.
I love this! I have been wanting to try to sew Ellis leggings for a while now and figured it couldn’t be all that hard. Now I just need a fancier sewing machine and a serger. My mom has a serger, so I might just need to borrow it! 🙂
– Katie
http://www.whatsupwiththebuells.blogspot.com/