Easy Pajama Pants from Upcycled Bedsheet

I like to bribe my older children to come visit me by making them stuff. I sound like a retiree in the nursing home, ha ha! Anyway, I made one of my girls some pajama pants! I wasn't sure if this was a recycling project, or up-cycling...So, I looked it up. Here. Recycling generally turns stuff into a lesser quality stuff....down-cycling. Upcycling, on the other hand, turns something that *might* be trash, or at least discarded, into something as good as, or BETTER. So, these are UPcycled. Enjoy.

I don't have a pattern, but I used a pair I already had.

I used kraft paper to trace the old pair on. It's important to notice the difference in the back and front crotch seams.

See? the front crotch seam is very shallow compared to the back.

Trace the whole thing, but just the outside half.

Flip over, and do the other side. See how the back crotch looks on the pants? The outside line is the front crotch seam, drawn for comparison. It's important to get these right.

Viola! I added a seam allowance to the inside leg seams and crotch seams. To the hem, I took the amount folded up, doubled it, then added it to the traced line. I did the same with the casing at the waist. You can draw in notches for the front and back...as small one for front, and larger for back.

I made the pants out of this old sheet. It was Egyptian cotton and so soft!

Pin your pattern to your fabric. You need to cut two of this piece, so double up your fabric.

Ta-da!

I serged mine, doing the crotch seams first.

Then, I matched up the crotch seams, and pinned the entire inseam together, from the bottom of one leg, up to the crotch, then back down the other leg. I sewed that in one go.

The whole inseam sewn.

Hem up the bottom of the legs.

Make a casing for elastic or a drawstring. Tutorial for Drawcord Elastic Here, or wait until Tuesday for a tutorial on how to use regular elastic sewn into the casing (rather than threaded thru). I sewed in a fun label for the back of the pants. Donny Moda would never make PJ pants such as these! Ha ha!

Here are the finished pants! Even w/ making a pattern, these were done in less than an hour. It's a super easy project, with great results. Love this kind!

Go make your own!