We re going to start by sewing a simple pair of lounge-around-the-house, no-one-ismaking-me-take-these-things-off,

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1 We re going to start by sewing a simple pair of lounge-around-the-house, no-one-ismaking-me-take-these-things-off, stretch jersey, comfy knit pants. We ll just call them Comfy Pants for short. And, I m even going to show you how to make your own pattern using an existing pair of pants that fits well. (If you re just a little brave, you can even use a pair of slightly outgrown pants and add a little bit here and there where you need it.) Hi, there! This is Bonnie from Fishsticks Designs, and I have a serious love for sewing with knit fabrics. I sort of have this plan to get all the sewists around the world to fall in love with sewing knits, too! Don t be afraid. With a little experience, the right tools and a few simple tips, you ll be reaching for those beautiful and comfortable knit fabrics, too! These pants are quick and easy to sew, thanks in part to taking advantage of some of the great qualities of stretch cotton jersey (cotton/spandex blend). First, we ll skip hemming and let the jersey roll up into a modern, funky cuff. Second, we re going to make the waistband with no elastic you can choose a standard 2 waistband or a wider fold-over waistband. Ready to get started? Here s what you ll need: FABRIC & NOTIONS (These measurements are approximate and may vary based on your chosen pants.) For little kid pants (Sizes 2T to 6): 1 yard cotton stretch jersey For big kid pants (Sizes 7 to 14): 1 ¼ yards cotton stretch jersey For teen/adult pants (sizes small to medium): 1 ½ yards cotton stretch jersey For adult pants (sizes large to x- large): 2 yards cotton stretch jersey For all sizes: ¼ yard of cotton stretch jersey for a standard waistband, OR ½ yard for a foldover waistband One pair of elastic-waist pants that fit well ½ seam allowance included.

2 To create your pattern, start by folding the finished pants along their front rise. Place the folded pants on your fabric (or on pattern tracing paper if you plan to make more than one pair). Draw a line ½ from the hem, the inside seam of the legs and halfway up the rise (one third of the way for teen/adult pants). There s no need to make this absolutely perfect. Knit fabrics are very forgiving! To add ease through the hips, draw the remainder of your rise line straight up from where you stopped originally. We ll be adding a waistband, so stop your line about 1 ½ below the original waist. Before flipping the original pants to draw the back side, place a small dot at the opposite side of the waist.

3 Unfold your original pants and refold them along the back rise. Line the waistband up at the dot you made before flipping. Line the hem edge up ½ above the end of the hem line. Follow the same method to draw the pattern for the back of your pants. The rise in the back of your pants should be slightly higher than the rise in the front. If it s not, just raise it up about an inch from the rise in the front for kid pants, 1 ½ for teen or adult pants. Pants fit much nicer if the rise is higher in the back than in the front. (Our backsides generally need a little more room.) Use a straight edge to draw the waist. Looks like a pants pattern, right? You just need to draw in the waist. Cut out your first pants legs (or your pattern if you re drawing onto pattern tracing paper).

4 If you ve created a pattern, go ahead and place it on your fabric, trace it and cut out your first pants leg. Now, take that first leg and flip it upside down on your fabric to cut out your second leg. (Don t forget to flip it over. No one can wear pants with two left legs.) If you re working with stripes or plaids or any fabric pattern that you d like to line up, this is a great opportunity to do that. In this photo, you can just make out the stripes on my first pants legs and see that they re neatly lined up with those on the fabric that I m about to cut out. If you do this, lining up those stripes when you sew will be a breeze! You need one last piece before you get started the waistband. You want your stretch jersey waistband to have negative ease so that it fits snugly on the waist and doesn t slide down. Generally, I ve found that subtracting about 2 (3 finished) from the width of an elastic waistband will give you a comfortable fit with a stretch jersey waistband. (You can definitely go smaller, though, if you like a snugger fit. Don t go bigger, though. You don t want the pants to fall off!) The elastic waistband on my original pants measures 10 across the front and back, so 20 total. I m going to cut my waistband 18. (After seaming, that will leave me with a 17 waistband.) I want my finished waistband to be 2 wide. This waistband is folded in half before sewing in, and I m using a ½ seam allowance, so I m going to cut the waistband 5 wide. If you wanted to do a wider fold-over waistband, you d cut much wider. The waistband on my teen daughter s pants above is 7 wide finished. I cut it 15 wide to begin with. Either trace around or just cut around your first leg to get your second. Need a couple of simple formulas? Elastic waistband width 2 inches = length (Finished waistband width X 2) + 1 inch = width

5 There are few handy tools that I like to have on hand when sewing knits with my sewing machine. (I actually do most of my knit sewing on my serger, but I m going to show you how to sew them with your standard machine because you don t need to have a serger!) First, ball point needles are your best friend when sewing knits. Sharp needles cut through the knit loops on your fabrics and leave the fabric with small holes which tend to grow larger as the garment is pulled on and off. Ballpoint needles are designed to glide through the loops instead without causing harm to the fibers. Knit garments sewn with ballpoint needles will hold up much better over time. Now we re ready to sew! Take one of your pants legs and fold it over so that the inseams are matched up and pin. (You can see here that I pin quite a bit when I m lining up stripes.) Fold the other leg over and pin it, as well. Second, a walking foot will give you much nicer results on your knit fabrics. Your sewing machine has teeth that guide the bottom of the fabric under the foot while the needle sews. A walking foot has similar teeth that grip the top of fabric so top and bottom pass through under the needle evenly. Finally, there s this little trick I ve discovered that helps give a little extra stretch to your stitches. Just wind stretchy nylon thread (you ll find it in the serger thread section) into the bobbin of your sewing machine. A little note here since you re making your own pattern, you may find that you have little places that don t quite match up. Just trim them so that they match up nicely.

6 When you re sewing knits with your sewing machine, it s a good idea to choose a stitch with some stretch built into it. I m using the stretch stitch which looks a bit like a lightning bolt. This stitch has a tiny bit of a zig zag to it, and that s what gives it the stretch. That zig zag is not noticeable from the right side when you use it for seams. Pull the legs apart, and your pants should actually look like pants without a waistband! Keep them inside out for now. Use a ½ seam allowance to sew the inseams on both legs. To make your waistband, fold the waistband piece in half the long way, right sides together and pin. Sew across pinned edge. Turn one leg right side out and slide it inside the other leg so that the right sides are together. Match up crotch seams, then front and back seams and pin. Sew body/leg pieces together. Fold the waistband over again with the wrong sides together. Match up the long, raw edges. Rotate the seam to the back.

7 Using a washable or disappearing marker, find and mark the center front point and both of the center side points on the waistband. On the pants, mark both center side points. Sew or serge all the way around the waist. Stretch the waistband evenly as you go. Flip the waistband up and turn pants right side out. Slide the waistband inside the pants with the raw edges up. Match up the back seam of the waistband with the back seam of the pants. Pin in place. Match up the front seam of the pants with the front mark on the waistband and pin. Match up the side markings on both the waistband and the pants and pin. Stretch the waistband slightly in between the pins so that the waistband sits flat against the pants and pin again in between each of the first four pins. You really want to pin this well so that your waistband is sewn in evenly. All that s left to do now is to wash and dry them to get that nice roll on the hem, and they ll be ready to wear! That was easy, wasn t it?