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now you all consider me a pretty snappy dresserof course. but being that i have the top half of the wardrobe all dialed in, i started thinking,i’ve got to have something great to wear below. and i thought, hey, what about hotpants? but even though i’m a big fan of 70’s music, i wasn’t into pleather. butlook what i came up with. can you believe it? see i told you they were hot. and of course,this new fantastic fabric from michael miller. it’s a border print called flames. it wasmy inspiration. and i just couldn’t resist making this cool pair of pants out of it.now, i want you to focus in today’s tutorial on the actual construction. of course you’regoing to need some sort of a pj pant pattern.
if you’ve got one you like, just use that.like i said, we’re talking construction today. and this is the one i’ve used foryears. it’s from cindy taylor oates. and it’s sew easy pajama pants. and the thingi liked about it was all the sizes were in the book, right? you’ll also need a littlebit of a non-rolling, let me say that again, a non-rolling elastic. that keeps it comfortableon your waistband. and don’t worry, i’ve already filled out your shopping list. allof these supplies are available at msqc. and there’s a link in the description below.let’s get moving into the actual pattern so you know what to do next. let me get thisstuff out of our way. the fun thing with cindy’s book is all ofthe pattern sizes are all full size but in
order to save them all, i’m going to encourageyou to go in and pop your staples out if you’re working out of a book. and go ahead and removethe pattern entirely, right? and safely without damaging the book. once you’ve got thattaken care of the next key is to find it. now pj pants come with a front leg and a backleg and the cut is different so you’re going to be making them individually. and for me,i am a size medium for this particular pant. and i actually took a pair of pj’s thati love and laid it on top of my pants first just to kind of get an eyeball. somethingthat i already knew fit versus something i’m going to try to make fit, right? of coursethis is not a pair of suit slacks either so we have a little bit of wiggle room. now onceyou have it all taken out of the book, this
would happen to be a two page, so you’regoing to find the lower back and the upper back. there’s a nice grain line and thenmark these together. you can tape them or pin them if you need. what i really, reallywant you to hear is don’t cut into this. please do not cut into this. the best wayto do this is now to take a piece of butcher paper or the wonderful pattern tracing paper.lay it out on top. you’ll notice i even put the straight of grain mark. straight ofgrain, while working with garment, is very important because it keeps everything flowingcorrectly. especially if you’re dealing with print and/or stuff that has nap. so somethingelse to consider being that we’re focused on construction today, right? so i’ve gotmy straight of grain. i’ve got this all
traced. this now becomes the working patternfor the size medium. this i can put all the other sizes still together which is fantasticbecause my kids want pj’s too of course. now once that’s done, check this out. now that you have your particular size alreadyprepared, and as i said, you have a back and you also have a front. we’re going to goahead and cut out both legs at once on our fabric. so let me just go ahead and slidethis part now out of the way because i’ve already got those ones cut out. i’ll bringthem into camera in just a moment. something kind of important here. you want to go aheadand fold your fabrics right sides together. as you can see we’re looking at the backside of this fabric, right? and then i’ve
also laid it straight of grain. here’s mygrain line. and i also have the straight of the pattern along the straight open edge andthe fold over here to maximize scraps. sometimes these scraps could be used for pockets orother parts of any kind of project obviously. one of the things i actually really like aboutpj pants, these ones have no pockets and no fly so i don’t even call them pj pants.i call them my yoga pants. now, i’m just going to go ahead and cut this with my rotarycutter. of course, scissors work nice. and if you’re using a pattern at home that haslittle notches or triangles along the edge, don’t cut those off. those are there fora reason. it helps you get things lined up. ok, now one of the things we’re also goingto be doing in today’s tutorial, is we’re
going to be setting up to do french seams.so as i’m cutting this a little bit wonky, it doesn’t have to be exactly perfect onthe edges because it’s going to be hidden and bound within those french seams, ok? somethingelse to point out real quick. i did pin my pattern to my fabric so it wasn’t shiftingas i was working. and the last thing i want to do is i’m going to go ahead and grabmyself a sharpie marker. and on the inside or the wrong side of the fabric, at the verytop, i’m going to go ahead and label front or at least an f and front again. i once madea pair of pants and it had such a high waist set up for the elastic, i accidentally stitchedthe pockets down into the calf. that will be a tutorial for another day. not one i recommenddoing.
but once i have that all dialed in and labeledso that i can keep all my parts and pieces together, we’re going to start by stitchingour inseams together of a front panel and a back panel. and so we’re going to do itbecause we’re doing french seams we’re going to start with our right sides out. socheck this out, i’m going to set aside one of my fronts right now, ok? and then i’mgoing to find the matching back piece. it comes in here, and when i say matching i meanit’s going to match in the crotch. and because this is now both right sides up, that is thewrong piece. this is. so this comes in real nice like here, ok? and i’m lining up boththe bottom edge and the crotch. we’re just going to do just from the bottom up to thepoint where it would meet. we’re going to
come over here and with a quarter inch seamallowance, i’m going to stitch on the right sides of the fabrics to create that frenchseam start up. ok, so just a nice, really petite seam allowance. and i’m going togo ahead and stitch this on both legs. now that the second leg is done, we’re goingto go ahead and join both pieces to build that front or rear crotch seam. so when wedid a front and back the first time, now you’re looking for your front and front. and it’sgoing to be this horseshoe in here. and yes, you’re doing all of the raw edging firstand then we are doing the french seam final. so by laying in here, it looks correct butmy double check is, it says front. it says front. it says back and back. so i am actuallysewing the correct pieces together. still
with that quarter inch seam allowance andstill on the right sides of the fabrics or wrong sides together right now. so we’restill prepping to be able to do french seams and that’s going to be the next step rightafter this. alright, i have that crotch seam all joined,front and back now. and this is where it starts to form like a giant h. and we’re goingto go ahead and do our french seams. so one of the things i want to go ahead and do ispress nice and crisp. and the french seam is done by sewing now the right sides togetherwith a larger seam allowance. so let me see if i can get you a good angle on this, ok?and i’m getting my iron nice and heated up. and i’m kind of rolling with my fingers,kind of pre-pressing this to the edge here.
just like that. now a lot of times, and ofcourse you all know that i’m much more of a quilt maker than a garment guy, that’swhy we’re starting on pajama pants, right? but garment construction is really best suitedat a little slower pace, lots of pins, lots of pressing, lots of clean cutting, right?so if you want your stuff to really fit nice you should take the time and do it correctly.ok, so i’m setting that seam. now that i have it all pressed nice and crisp, we’regoing to do that french seam with a half inch seam allowance. and we’re going to up theinseam back around first and then we’re going to press and do the crotch second. soit’s a two-part format. and i’m just using the stitch plate on my machine so that i havenow about a half of an inch. so as i start
going here. let me show you how this finishesout. here’s a good close up of those french seamsalready finished. now you can see, it’s enclosed all of the raw edge something andas i wash these, they’re going to wear perfectly. so again, up the inseam first. and then icame around the crotch seam of course. and you can see that i’ve even caught that inthere. that doesn’t make anything that will be uncomfortable or anything. so that is alldone. the inseam, crotch, all finished, ready to go. next step is going to go ahead andthis trick i love. we’re going to the bottom of the legs before we put them together sowe don’t have to use the free arm of the machine later on.
so what i’m trying to say, and because iwas doing a border print i maximized the length of my fabric for my pattern. i’m using theselvedge. of course, a lot of folks, your pants will finish looking like this. you won’thave used the selvedge but i needed it for my size. the selvedge is not going to unravelso i’ve just folded it up and i’ve double stitched it here. let me show you. so i’vetaken that raw edge, once the french seam was done. and i like to, as i said, presswith every step when i’m doing garment. so we’re going to give this a nice littlesecurity push there. a little heated push. now i’m going to go back to the sewing machine.and i first do a stitch across the top edge. and then i’m going to do a stitch acrossthe bottom edge and that is simply just to
make it look cool, a little decoration there.now one of the wonderful things about some sewing machines, you’ve been asking in thecomments, i’ve seen it. look at this thing. i’m talking at regular pace but i’m sewingin caffeinated mode. that’s right the baby lock jane comes with a built in caffeinatedmode. the button is not labeled correctly but i’m pretty sure it’s caffeinated mode.so again, back to the bottom here to make it look cool. and this will definitely finishthe bottom leg. and the bonus thread cutter. so just like that it’s finished. super,super easy. next step of construction and take the timeto unpack it all so you get it right. is going to be set up for french seams on the outerleg seam well. so i’m turning it again right
sides out. or wrong sides together. and i’mgoing to join down here starting at the bottom. and this time i’m going to be able to goall the way from the bottom of the leg and all the way up to the top so it ends up righthere. i’m just kind of organizing it as i get ready to put it into the sewing machine.and again because it’s a french seam, it’s that narrow seam allowance, like a quarterof an inch to start and we’ll finish with a half inch seam allowances. here we go. ok, now that the second leg is all stitchedtogether as well, you should have something that looks an awful lot like this. we getto turn it back to wrong sides out to finish the outer seam with a french seam again. andthen all we have to still finish up is our
waistband, which is going to be super easyas well. so the french seam, as a reminder, is going to be that half inch seam allowance. alright as i’m finishing that second outerseam with a french seam, i don’t know if i pointed out earlier or not but we are certainlyusing polyester thread in today’s tutorial. i like poly threads for my garment work, correct.now it is time for the waistband. and the waistband is going to be two simple steps.the first step, i am going to finger turn and then press with my iron here in a second.just about a quarter inch under. that’s going to hold that raw edge in place whilei build the casing for the elastic. a lot of you may have, i’ll be talking while we’repressing here. a lot of you may have a pj
pant pattern which actually allows for a drawstringas well. so at this point if you’re using a drawstring in the construction of yours,you’re probably putting in some sort of buttonhole. that buttonhole will allow thedrawstring to come out. make sure you’re putting it in the front of your pants. nothingis harder than tying your pants behind your back, right? and there’s also some otherfun elastics out there i know especially with some of the ladies pants, they’re actuallyjoining the elastic on the outside nowadays of the pants. so there’s all kinds of waysto do your waist. and again i’m just setting this little seam. it’s just going to holdeverything in place while we get ready to build that casing to put our elastic in. oncewe have that tacked in most places, we’re
going to head back over to the sewing machineand we’re going to go all the way around. we don’t need to leave any openings in thispart. it doesn’t have to be too pretty either. the top edge should be prettier than the bottomedge. the top edge here better than the bottom edge down here. the other things that this stitch is doingis helping secure those side seams so they won’t get in the way of our elastic and/orour drawstring when we’re feeding them through later on. so that’s another reason i liketo do this. and also sewing around this top band is kind of like the great equalizer toareas where maybe it was a little bit longer at the finish than one of the other sides.again, this will never show as the finished
product but it’s a nice way to make it allnice and smooth. as we’re getting ready to set that top casing. ok, and while we’rehaving follow up information, i bet you i forgot to tell you i pre-washed this fabrictwice before i ever cut it out. and that’s also another fantastic rule of thumb whenyou’re doing garment as well. so you want to find about an inch and a half roll down.i’m using about an inch wide elastic. i don’t want it real tight in there. i wantit to be able to gather nicely. so i’m coming down about an inch and a quarter, inch anda half. and my thumbs and my fingers right now are grabbing the seam allowances on thesides of the legs or those outer seams. so that’s helping me keep everything nice andsecure. then i’m going to come over here
to the, the machine. now if you have a freearm on your sewing machine, this would actually be a great time to go ahead and have thatfree arm off so it’s a little easier. i don’t have a free arm on this machine sowhat i’ve done is i’ve tucked the bottom fabric underneath. i want to make sure i onlyam sewing the layers i want to be sewing. i’ve gone about an inch down from the casing.and i’m going to leave an opening to slide the elastic in in the front of the pant. andi’m actually adjusting myself right now because i don’t want to leave the openingover the inseam for the crotch because it just makes life a little difficult later onwhen i’m pulling the elastic through. ok, i am ready to now build the casing. i’mgoing to take a couple stitches. and we’re
going to be trying these on. so i backstitchto hold it secure. and this seam really does count. notice the pace i’m stitching atis definitely slowed down. this one is important so we want it to look really nice. we’regetting ready to approach the opening that we’re going to leave to slide our elasticin, just to point out one of the things i’m really doing with my fingers is making surethat my seam from the french seam is pressed nice and flat as i stitch over it so i’mnot creating a wall inside of there so it’s hard to push the elastic through. and i’mgoing to leave about a two inch opening. and i’m going to do some backstiching and cutthat thread. and now it is time to go ahead and put the elastic in. once the elastic isin, i want to try these on so i’m turning
them right sides out. let’s do it like this.and then i want to go ahead and open my elastic. now for sizing your elastic, and you neverask a lady her age, and you don’t ever ask anyone their waist size so simply take thesize pair of pants you like, cut your elastic to that length. you don’t have to put thatin the comments below. you’re going to start with it long so it’s easy to fit. and thenwe’re going to size it down on location. i will take them back off to stitch it closedof course. so our big old safety pin. here’s a two-part trick, if you’ve never fed elasticinto a casing before, i would like you to try this trick as well. first we’re goingto start by pinning the elastic that you’re not using that side, to the outside of thepant. so that you don’t pull it all the
way through. now i’m going inside of thecasing with the bigger safety pin and i’m just going to start working this through.and it’s ok if it bunches up and pull. bunch and pull. we’re going to go ahead and trythese on. size them just right. so remember i told you to start with your waist size.and if you start with elastic at your waist size, it’s not going to hold your pantsup, ok? so once you have it there, you’re going to sneak into your pants. once they’reon, come back to the front and get that union of the two pieces of elastic. and now youcan start to cinch it up until it fits nicely, the way that you want it to hold, alright?at that point you will be making an adjustment to the elastic itself. and so what i do isusually it’s about three or four inches
that you’re going to lose. so i’ve alreadyfigured it out, i need that much cut off, ok? now what i’m going to do is i’m justgoing to put these two seams. make sure that your elastic has not twisted around, ok? i’mgoing to come over to my sewing machine and secure these two pieces of elastic. if i canreach it, oh ya, thumbs down and everything. just need a little stitching at first. ofcourse i’ll backstitch to really hold that. and i’ll do it on the other end of the tailalso. right here. drop that presser foot again and just stitching the elastic only i’mhoping. and a backstitch, fantastic. so the elastic is now secure at the perfect sizeto hold your pants up. it goes back into the casing. i take all the extra fabric and massageit out of the way. and now i’m just going
to finish this stitching by machine. and i’mdoing my best to not stitch on the elastic itself. i want my elastic to be able to travelnicely. topstitching this closed. now that that casing is closed, you have one of thecoolest pair of hot pants in town. as a matter of fact, not only could you wear these allaround town but feel free to slide into them, kick back on the couch and we’ll see younext time here at man sewing.