Dressing children in beautiful clothing is such a fun part of being a parent. Even if the rest of the day sucked - at least that onesie made you smile and those pants were super soft.
And if those beautiful clothes were made by hand? Made, even, perhaps, by you? What an amazing feeling. Making your own baby clothes can give you a sense of power and ability in a time when you might feel disempowered and struggling just to get your teeth brushed every day.
When I tell people I make my kids’ clothes (one’s 3 and one’s 5 months), their first reaction is usually “How?? When??” I’m here to tell you sewing up a pair of baby pants is 1) very fast and 2) very easy. All you need is a sewing machine with a zigzag stitch, thread, scissors, and some beautiful fabric.
In this post I’ll guide you step by step to make a pair of baby pants from knit fabric. Let’s go!
Supplies
- Sharp scissors
- Thread (polyester or “sew-all” is best so the thread won’t break when the fabric stretches)
- Sewing machine with a zigzag stitch
- Baby pants pattern (I’m using the pattern for these free leggings from Spoonflower)
- ¼ to ½ yard knit fabric, depending on the pants size you’re making
- Seam ripper (just in case *fingers crossed*)
Step 1: Prep Your Fabric
Unless you plan on your baby never peeing through or spitting up on her new pair of pants (good luck!), you’ll want to prepare your fabric so you can wash and dry these just like you would any of her other clothes. I usually wash on cold and dry on low, but when I prewash my fabrics I turn up the heat a little to get as much shrink out of the fabric as I can. Follow the care instructions for your fabric and wash separately to avoid dye bleeds.
Once your fabric is washed and dried, you’ll want to give it a good press before cutting. With stretchy fabrics and a simple pattern, it’s not a big deal if you don’t have an iron or don’t want to spend the time pressing. Just know that it’s best practice to get all the wrinkles out before cutting.
Step 2: Cut Your Pattern Pieces
If you’re using a PDF pattern, you’ll print all the pages and tape them together, then cut out or trace the size you want to make. If you’re tracing, make sure you mark down any notches or other markings, especially the straight line indicating the grain or direction of greatest stretch.
Lay your pattern pieces out and line up the grain line on the pattern piece with the selvedge of the fabric. With many knit fabrics, you can see the direction of the grain pretty easily because the rows of knit stitches on the right side go in a straight line up and down the fabric.
If you have a rotary cutter and mat, you’ll need something to weigh down the pattern piece (cell phone, can of tuna, kids’ toys are all great options here) then cut around the edges. If you’re working with normal scissors, pin the pattern paper to your fabric and carefully cut around each piece. When I’m working with normal scissors, I like to trace around the pattern piece rather than pinning because it’s a little more precise.
Step 3: Stitch the Legs Together
Real quick before we start sewing: Set yourself up for success by changing your needle (ideally you’d use a ballpoint needle, like a jersey or stretch needle, but a regular needle will work too!) and setting your machine to a narrow zigzag stitch. On my machine, I choose option 3 for a zigzag, then set the width to 0.2 and the length to 1.8. Test out a few different stitch lengths and widths until you find one that gives you a good stretch while looking even on the outside of the seam.
Ok, on to sewing!
Fold your first leg piece in half, then stitch along the longer edge (the inseam) to make each pant leg. In some patterns, the inseam looks almost the same as the crotch seam, so make sure you’re sewing the right one!
When you have two legs sewn, turn one inside out and place it inside the other leg.
Line up the inseam intersections and stitch the crotch seam from front to back. 
Step 4: Attach the Cuffs
For the cuffs, first take each cuff piece and fold them in half width-wise (short end to short end) and stitch along that edge. Press the seam open, then fold the cuff in half again along the seam you just sewed to make a pretty little cuff.
Then, with your pants inside out, place the finished cuff inside the pant leg opening, matching raw edges, and line up the seams.
Pin the cuff to the leg opening, evenly stretching the cuff as you pin. Sew with the cuff on top so you can more easily stretch it as you go around. I'm using a serger here, but a regular sewing machine is just fine!
Step 5 (Optional): Sew in a Cute Label or Tag
If you’d like a tag marking the back of your pants or leggings, now is a great time to baste one in. Find the center point of the back and pin your label (or ribbon, or scrap jersey fabric) in place. Sew with a very long basting stitch about ¼” from the edge.
For these pants, I'm just folding the top edge down once because it's softshell fleece so it won’t fray (these are outside pants for my toddler). For a cleaner edge, you should fold and press 1/4" first, then baste the tag in.
Step 6: Create the Waistband/Elastic Casing
One nice thing about this leggings pattern is that you just fold the waistband over to create an elastic casing. If your pattern calls for an attached waistband, it will work in a very similar way to what you just did with the cuffs.
For this simpler pattern, we're going to fold, press and pin, making sure the casing is even all the way around.
Then sew from the top side of the fabric with a slightly longer stitch length about 1” away from the fold. Stop about 2” from where you started to leave room to insert the elastic.
Using a safety pin, guide your elastic through the channel. I like to snip off the corners of the elastic first to make it glide easier. Pin the other end to the opening so you don’t lose it!
When you’ve reached the opening, pin and make sure the pants will fit your kiddo (or look about right if the kid isn’t handy). Pull both ends of the elastic out and overlap by about an inch, then sew together with two lines of zigzag stitch.
Pull the elastic back into the channel by stretching the pants out, then topstitch the waistband closed, being careful not to catch the elastic.
Tada! You did it!
We hope you enjoyed this tutorial on sewing baby pants! Show us what you’ve made by tagging @tangerineoriginals on Instagram, or add your projects in the comments!
A Mini Bundle is a great place to start to sew up some adorable baby pants!