Vintage Pillowcase Pants Tutorial – making a pattern from measurements…

 

 

After mentioning a possible tutorial for these pants, I had lots of requests.  I made this one with the beginner sewer in mind… lots of pictures and everything detailed.   It’s my first tutorial, so please let me know of any errors or confusing directions!  I’m going to show you how to make the kind of pants I made for my 4yr (Sarah) and 6yr (Lilianne)  old daughters.  I didn’t have any pants that were fitting them like I’d like, so I made my own pattern.  I do want to add in here that most all of my vintage pillowcases had a width of  about 20 inches, so please take into account the size of your child.  Because nobody wants constricting pajama pants!  These will be wide legged pants.  Around a 9 inch width for each pant leg, so I’m thinking this will work best for kids ages 4-7…maybe a thin 8 or 9 year old?  Don’t worry so much about the length because you can always add length to the pant leg as I did with Lilianne’s.  In this tutorial, I’ll be showing you how I made Liliane’s pants, adding extra length to the legs.

 

What you’ll need:  

• 1 pillowcase (vintage is always fun!)
• 3/4in non-roll elastic

 

First, measure your child’s inseam… from the crotch inside the leg all the way down to the floor.  Write that down, it will be your leg length.  Now, measure your child’s rise…from the crotch inside the leg to the small of the back (or where they prefer their pants to sit on their waist).  Now take that measurement and add 2 inches and write that down.  This measurement will be the length of the pants rise.

 

Now that you have your measurements, take your pillowcase and fold it in half length-wise  

 

Now, iron the fold very well to make a well-seen crease…you’ll see why later… 

 

Now, lay the pants with the freshly creased fold AWAY from you (very important…don’t ask me how I know this) and get yourself a ruler of some kind.   Take your rise measurement and leg length measurement and add them together.  Now compare that to the length of your pillowcase.  Is your pillowcase long enough?  Too long?    I found that I needed 34 inches in total length, so I was going to have to add some length to the legs of Lilianne’s…

If your pillowcase is too long, you’ll want to start by taking your leg measurement and starting  from the open cuffed end of the pillowcase, measure out that length.  Mark it on the folded crease of the pillowcase. 

IF you’re adding length to the cuff, like I did, measure out your needed rise length from the pillowcase… I needed 11 in. So I measured starting from the seamed side of the pillowcase (not the open end of the pillowcase meant for the legs!).  Measure down the length of your rise needed and mark on the folded crease with a fabric marker or pencil.   

 

Next, regardless of whether your pillowcase is too long or too short,  on the closed end (not the leg end!) of the pillowcase, measure in from there 1.5 inches from the crease (remember the one you ironed in?) and mark it. 

 

 Get yourself a straight edge and draw a line from the 1.5inch mark down to near where your rise length ends and your pants length measurement starts…

 

You’ll want to make a curve near the end of the rise measurement like this….

 

Now, you’re going to want to cut off the seam at the top of the pillowcase.  Because I need all the length I could get out of this pillowcase, I only cut off the very edge.  If your pillowcase was too long, this is where you’re going to cut off the extra  as I did with Sarah’s.  Lop off, from the top seam,  however many inches you need to make the pillowcase the exact length of your rise +leg length. 

 

Next, cut out that area in the rise that you marked….

 

Now, open up the pillowcase….does it look like this?    I hope so!   OK, see that nice ironed crease you made up the middle there?  We’re going to cut along that line to make two pieces.

 

Like this… now you have two seperate pieces…       Still with me?

 

Now, open up the two pieces and lay them like this…  The first one will be laid out with the underside of the fabric next to the table. 

 

Now lay the second piece with the underside facing up.  Sandwiched with right sides facing.

 

Ok, now pin the two pieces together along the cutout on each side…. OR be lazy like me and just line it up and take it to the machine.  Sew along the lenth of the curved area of the crotch cutout…  Feel free to make french seams if you’re feeling fancy!  I don’t….because…well, I just don’t.

 

Like this…

 

Now sew the curved cutout piece on the other edge…  you should now have 2 matching edges like this….

 

Now, if you’re adding length to the leg, here is where you’ll do it.  If you’re not adding length, disregard the next few steps!  I simply cut off the decorative band at the top of a contrasting vintage sheet that I had (that way I already had a finished edge).  Measure out enough to add to both your pant legs and sew it right to the bottom of the pillowcase cuff of each piece, right sides facing…

 

Now, unfold the cuff and topstitch to make it look nice and lay flat…

 

 

Now,  head to a table and pink the edges so you won’t have as much unravelling when you wash them.  Nobody likes strings in their pants tickling them.  Or maybe you do…whatever floats your boat…

 

Unfold your pillowcase and it should look like this…

 

Now, open it up and adjust it until it looks like this…. still inside out…

 

Now take the hem of one pant leg and line it up front to back…  pin if you like… and head to the sewing machine.  Stitch a straight line up one pant leg right over the crotch and down the other leg…

 

Now it should look like this…pink your edges again..or don’t, whatever…

 

Next, still inside out, fold down the waistband 1 inch and iron it down…

 

Now fold it down over again 1 inch and iron…

 

Head back to your sewing machine… and you’re going to sew down the waistband leaving enough space to thread your 3/4in elastic thru.  Where I am pointing is where you’ll start… 

 

Stitch close to the folded edge all the way around the waistband leaving at least a 1 inch opening

 

 

Now, take your elastic and stick a safety pin thru it like this…

 

Stick the pinned elastic in the 1 inch opening you left in the waist band….work it all the way around the waistband until it comes back out the same hole… be sure it doesn’t twist over while you’re threading it thru….

 

Once it’s thru, pin it to the other end of the elastic and try them on your child.  Unpin and pin as needed to make the waistband fit comfortably…

 

 Head yourself back over to your sewing machine  and stitch the elastic together like this…

 

 

Now, stretch out the waistband so that the elastic goes into the fold and stitch down the opening.  Be sure not to sew over the elastic!

 

Now, turn them right side out and  iron them so they look all pretty.  VOILA !!…Behold the genious of your craftiness!  Pat yourself on the back and run to try them on your child.  I’ve created a flickr gallery for you, so please take a picture for me and post it here so I can see the cuteness too!!