Making Pajama Pants

I was hoping to make us all a pair of Air Force print fleece pajama pants for our "super secret surprise Christmas eve gift * this year, but JoAnns has only ugly AF fleece, and it's very expensive.  I may have to settle for a dark blue plaid?  This will be our first year without all of our children home for Christmas.  Luke is stationed near Spokane WA, on the other side of the continent, and cannot come home at all over the holidays.  :-(  I'm making t-shirts that say "Proud Air Force Dad", "Proud Air Force Brother", etc, to go with the pajama pants - which we'll wear when skyping with Luke for Christmas.  Since Luke is 6'5 and off the shelf pajama pants are never long enough for him either, I'll make him a couple of pairs as well.

* Each year our kids have been able to open one gift on Christmas eve.  Every year it has been pajamas.  I used to include crayons and a coloring book, when they were younger.  Because they have always gotten pajamas on Christmas eve, they started calling it "The Super Secret Surprise Christmas Gift", when they were young teens.  

I'm 6ft tall.  With long legs.  I think pajama pants are made for women who are 5'9 or shorter..  they rarely come in a tall.

Pajama pants are VERY easy to sew.  Just lay a pair of your favorites out on the material to use as a pattern.  Be sure to stretch the waistband out, especially if they are elastic, and add a healthy seem allowance.  And if you are tall like me, add 2 inches, or more, to the length!  :-)

Three yards of material

MAKE SURE YOU WASH AND DRY IT FIRST!  That way if they are going to shrink at all, it happens BEFORE you sew them.  :-)

Fold in half by width, then fold in half long ways.

See how the leg seam is lined up on the fold, but the waist is not?  I started with the waist at the fold, then stretched the elastic waistband out.  Where they lay now is how far they stretch - so that is where I want to cut.  

 Leave a few inches extra at the top for rolling over for the elastic.  I gave myself a full inch seam allowance, which is half an inch on this side - because the pants I am using as a pattern are a stretchier material than the flannel. And I added a few inches at the bottom..  even if you do not need to add inches, be sure to leave enough for a hem allowance

Sew the inside seam for each leg, as shown above.

Then turn one leg right side out, like below:

Now put the leg that is right side out INSIDE the leg that is inside out, so that the right sides of the fabric are together.  Now sew the U Shape.  (Ignore the seam difference in the photo below. I got the bright idea to try to make the back of my pjs "longer" than the front..  a good idea, but all I actually did is make one SIDE of my pajamas longer than the other.  LOL!  )

For the waistband I fold over a small bit of fabric and iron it down.

Then I used the elastic to decide how far to fold the material the second time.  Once folded, I iron again, then stitch.  Remember to leave half an inch or so un-sewed and open so you can feed the elastic in.

A pin on the edge of the elastic to pull it through the casing for the waist band

Once the elastic is through, I finish the waist seem and close it up where the elastic went in.

For the hem I do the same fold and iron twice routine, then sew once.  

TA DA!  Pajama pants that cover my ankles!