1/2 hour baby sweater pants tutorial

It's winter now and my babies' cotton leggings just aren't warm enough. Living in an old house does have its merits but central heating isn't one of them. Southern California does get cold too, and when I hear the electric windmills going on at night on the ranch next door I know the temperatures have dipped down into the thirties and it's time to bundle up at night. O.K. , so these baby pants might take you more like 45 minutes to an hour to make as they did for me because I  had some fitting issues on my baby as you will see. Under ideal conditions you can make these pants in a jiffy. Those ideal conditions would be having a little baby a couple of months old and not a big cloth diaper wearing eighteen month old. First you have to get an old sweater . The sleeves will become the pants. Cut off the sleeves of the sweater at the seams so they don't unravel. I put my sweater in the washer and dryer to felt it so the pants can be extra warm for winter. It also makes the pants machine washable once the sleeves are shrunk

Lay some pants that fit your baby on top of the sleeves to measure the waistband and inseam placement. Trace onto the sleeves and cut. Cut the curved part off the sleeves so they are straight across at the top. 

The cut going down the long seam in the sleeve is where you will sew the pants together. The part below it that you didn't cut will become your babies inseam, the seam on the inner leg of the pants. You should make sure they will be the right length before you sew the two cut pieces together. The straight part at the top will become the waistband.

Put the right sides of each pant leg together and sew the two slits you made together, right side to right side.

Sewing the two seams together, above.

 Once you have sewn the two seams together try the pants on your baby. If you have a little baby they should fit. But if you have a baby like mine who  wears cloth diapers you will probably have to add some extra fabric from the rest of the sweater that you cut the sleeves off of. Cloth diapers definitely add some junk in the trunk! Those cute little skinny jeans for babies you find at the Gap aren't going to fit over this butt! Vintage baby clothes are designed for big cloth diapers like my baby wears so they usually fit her.

Measure from the top of the pants to where the waistband should fit on your baby. My measurement was 5 inches.

I cut two pieces the same width as the pants and six inches long to add to the pants. I sewed the two pieces together at the sides which actually becomes the crotch seams on the pants. Line up the crotch seams on both pieces and sew together along the waistband.

This is how the waist area should look. You still have to make the casing for the elastic at  the waist.

I used half inch wide elastic for the waistband and sewed a casing a little larger than a half inch to put the elastic through. Leave a one inch opening to thread the elastic through. When it comes to these kind of home sewing projects for myself I just eyeball it. But if I'm making them to sell or give away, I would do a neater job. I wonder what that means? Hmm..

Measure the elastic around your babies' waist to fit and thread the elastic through the one inch opening you have left in the casing. Sew the elastic together at the ends.

Put them on your baby and she's ready for some new adventures in her warm leggings. As far as getting her to keep her socks on, that's another posting...