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kojodesigns

DIY pieced jersey pants

February 18, 2011

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

It’s that time of year, y’all… time to Celebrate the Boy! Can I tell you a secret? I think this is my favorite series in blogland. Dana and Rae are geniuses!

Since I always kind of saw myself as a ‘girl mom,’ I’m much more comfortable making dresses and accessories and goodies for GIRLS (just ask my sister/sister-in-law who receive way. too. many. dresses for my nieces). Celebrate the Boy is the perfect catalyst for branching out from my natural tendencies to make things for boys instead! How fun!

Which brings us to today’s tutorial! Recently, I was making a little pieced jersey dress for Piper Jane (surprise, surprise). When I looked at the pieced jersey patchwork, I decided to put together some pieced jersey pants for Burke as well.

And I love the way they turned out! The soft jersey from the t-shirts makes them extra cozy, the drawstring makes them cinch-able on Burke’s little skinny waist, the exposed seams and color make them bright and modern. Plus he loves them- always a huge bonus!

To make a pair of pieced pants for a little man in your life, you’ll need:
-a pile of thriftstore bound t-shirts (when they’re pieced together, the rectangle they make is just short of a yard)
-fabric pen
-sewing machine and sewing supplies

1. Cut out rectangles/squares of jersey. Lay them out, matching up the pieces so that when they’re pieced, they make a rectangle. Pin in place. Note- to make the seams show, pin together with the wrong sides facing each other.

2. Sew into pieced patchwork rectangle. A good thing reminder to ensure exposed seams is that you’ll be sewing onto the fronts of the t-shirts.

3. Fold the pieced rectangle in half. Lay a folded-in-half pair of pants that fit your little guy on your doubled over rectangle. Trace around the perimeter of the pants.  Now flip the pants over and do this again (so you’ll have two pairs of pieces when you cut everything out). When you’re tracing the top of the pants, stretch out the elastic and trace. Add at least an inch to the top of your tracing and the bottom of your tracing.

4. Cut out the pieces you traced. They’ll be exactly the same at this point (we’ll make the front a little lower when we sew the drawstring casing).

5. Pin the ‘front’ and ‘back’ pieces of each pant leg together). At this point, you’ll have a pinned together right pant leg and a pinned together left pant leg. Sew the outside seams of each pant leg together. Note- these seams aren’t supposed to be exposed (it just looks cleaner), so pin and sew together with the ‘right’ sides facing in. Then sew up the inside seam of each pant leg.

6. Once the outer and inner seams are sewn, pin the crotch pieces together (again, right sides facing in). Stitch down the curved seam where the crotch meets up in the front and then in the back.

7. With the pants still inside out, roll over the top seam. Pull the front seam down a little lower than the back seam and pin in place (so the finished pants dip a bit in the front). Sew this drawstring casing in place. Trim the excess jersey off, close to the line of stitching

8. Make two little teeny slits in the front of the casing (since the fabric is jersey, these don’t have to be finished). Cut a long, thin strip of jersey to act as your drawstring. Attach a pin to one end of the drawstring and pull it through the casing. You might want to try them on your little one at this point and either hem the bottoms (this will make them last longer because you can let out the hem later) or trim to the appropriate length.

9. Done! A new pair of cozy, comfy, bright, modern pants for your little man!

Thanks for joining us to Celebrate Boys! 

While you’re here, want to check out a few other fabulous boy projects?

1- Burke and his friends LOVE his hanging tent!
2- Bow tie for little guys.
3- Reading nook made from palettes– the perfect spot for cuddling up with a good book.
4- This felt book has been more helpful on airplane rides and car trips than I can tell you. Every time Burke has a new ‘love’ (walruses, Elmo, gorillas, etc.), I make one for his felt book.
5- Upcycled linen beach pants.

Cheers, friends!

boy, guest blogging 52 Comments

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Peggy says

    February 18, 2011 at 12:19 pm

    These are great! Now I am wondering if I can convince my 14 and 11 year old that they are cool (our eldest is definitely out of the question… ha ha!). The middle one might go for it as we have a stack of his old t-shirts that he doesn't want to part with but don't fit him…. (I'll send you pictures if we do end up making them.)

    Thanks for the great idea!!

    Reply
  2. Louise says

    February 18, 2011 at 12:30 pm

    So cool and great use of old t-shirts!

    Reply
  3. Jessica at Me Sew Crazy says

    February 18, 2011 at 12:37 pm

    these are absolutely adorable!!! love love love them!!!! thank you so much for sharing!

    Reply
  4. The Cottage Mama says

    February 18, 2011 at 1:29 pm

    Ladies, those are ADORABLE!! You know I don't have boys, but I might just need to have one to make these pants – LOL. I guess I could tweak them for a girl. But, seriously – SO cute!!

    Lindsay

    Reply
  5. Lynne says

    February 18, 2011 at 1:45 pm

    I love these! My poor little man doesn't get nearly as many handmade items as his baby sister. He just outgrew a few of his favorite t-shirts. Now I know how I want to reprupose them!
    Thanks for the inspiration!

    Reply
  6. Katie says

    February 18, 2011 at 1:49 pm

    These pants are adorable! I actually want to make a pair for myself out of all my old tees.

    Reply
  7. casserole says

    February 18, 2011 at 3:05 pm

    These are SOOO cute!! And all that knit looks sooo comfy! I linked to your tutorial on Craft Gossip Sewing:
    http://sewing.craftgossip.com/tutorial-patchwork-jersey-knit-pants/2011/02/18/

    –Anne

    Reply
  8. Larissa says

    February 18, 2011 at 3:07 pm

    LOVE, LOVE, LOVE these pants. I will have to gather all my knits now.

    Just Another Day in Paradise

    Reply
  9. Moms of all Trades says

    February 18, 2011 at 3:18 pm

    Those are adorable! Need to try this out! thanks

    http://www.momsofalltrades@blogspot.com

    Reply
  10. Tanya says

    February 18, 2011 at 3:34 pm

    Love this. But I want a pair for me:)

    Reply
  11. Jenn Hickok says

    February 18, 2011 at 3:52 pm

    These pants are adorable! I have to confess, I came for the boy, but I think I am leaving with an idea for me! How comfy, great for when we're out walking! Thanks!

    Reply
  12. kristen says

    February 18, 2011 at 4:07 pm

    On Step 3, won't you need to fold the rectangle into fourths and not in half? Seems like the rest of the instructions are assuming you cut out 4 pieces, not just 2. Thanks! Can't wait to whip up a pair of these!

    Reply
  13. marisa says

    February 18, 2011 at 4:11 pm

    oh my word! these are the cutest things! I have so many shirts for my daughter's dresses that I was secretly dreading making another.dress. Now I have an excuse to whip them out! Thanks for the idea!

    Reply
  14. Kimiko says

    February 18, 2011 at 4:16 pm

    Aaaaah! So cute! I love them, Kirst. Maybe my favorite of your boy projects. AND I might pull a bunch of t-shirts out of my goodwill pile to make some for my own kids, even though they're girls. Is that allowed? Mr. B is so stinkin' cute…

    Reply
  15. ~Beth D. says

    February 18, 2011 at 4:35 pm

    these pants are fabulous! thanks for sharing!!

    Reply
  16. Heidi says

    February 18, 2011 at 6:10 pm

    LOVE those pants!! Definitely going to make them for my little man when he arrives! Thanks for the tutorial!

    Reply
  17. Emily says

    February 18, 2011 at 7:17 pm

    Fun! I also don't have any little boys to sew for but a girl version would be awesome. 🙂

    Reply
  18. Kristen Duke Photography says

    February 18, 2011 at 7:41 pm

    very creative!!!

    Reply
  19. bethanndodd says

    February 18, 2011 at 8:02 pm

    LOVE these pants! I have a feeling that all 3 of my boys will want a pair…thanks!

    Reply
  20. a happy wanderer says

    February 18, 2011 at 9:34 pm

    absolutely adorable! these are definitely going to be made soon! especially now that my little one is just a tad too big to make pants out of just one t-shirt… perfect solution!

    Reply
  21. Delia says

    February 19, 2011 at 5:00 am

    Are you kidding? These are awesome. I want some for myself! 🙂

    Reply
  22. Danae says

    February 19, 2011 at 1:00 pm

    Absolutely in love with this idea! I'm in with the other commenters, I'm making a pair for myself with some old t-shirts I've saved from childhood! I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks for sharing the idea.

    Reply
  23. Ruthie says

    February 19, 2011 at 1:03 pm

    Genius!! Fantabulous!

    Ruthie:)

    Reply
  24. IMAN says

    February 20, 2011 at 8:04 am

    i have all boys (2) and a new one coming.
    You're genius for coming up with this creative idea. Definitely gonna make it!

    Reply
  25. the WildCards says

    February 21, 2011 at 12:21 am

    Good gracious, these are so goshdarn cute. Can't wait to get started!

    Reply
  26. Rae says

    February 23, 2011 at 4:37 pm

    oh these are SO GREAT!!! You guys are awesome (also you get the prize for nice incorporation of our lego images into your post…very nice, nice!).

    🙂

    Reply
  27. CraftCrave says

    February 24, 2011 at 1:32 am

    Just a quick note to let you know that a link to this post will be placed on CraftCrave today [24 Feb 12:00am GMT]. Thanks, Maria

    Reply
  28. shirley says

    March 5, 2011 at 3:46 am

    I absolutely love these pants! I cannot wait to make a pair for my boys and just maybe a pair for myself. They look extremely comfy! Great idea!

    Reply
  29. Something Wilde says

    March 8, 2011 at 10:44 pm

    What fun it was to dig through our old t-shirts and make these pants for our boys! Thanks!

    http://somethingwilde.blogspot.com/2011/03/coolest-pants-ever.html

    Reply
  30. Cole's Corner says

    April 18, 2011 at 1:27 pm

    Thank you so much for this tutorial!
    I made the pants for my son and he loves them.

    http://www.coles-corner-and-creations.com/2011/04/im-so-busy-so-heres-old-creation.html

    Reply
  31. Cheryl says

    January 18, 2012 at 10:16 pm

    I just made these for my son tonight and I LOVE them!Even making the patchwork fabric and having to tear out a seam, they were done in under 2 hours (less time that I would have spent a store buying something not nearly as cool). Thanks! I’ll post pictures later:)

    Reply
    • Kirstin says

      January 18, 2012 at 10:43 pm

      Can’t wait to see them (definitely send pictures over). I need to make Burke another (bigger) pair of these- thanks for the reminder. 🙂

      Reply
  32. Crystal says

    March 5, 2012 at 5:57 pm

    Hi there! I made a pair of these for my lil man and they turned out great. The only thing is that I’m scratching my head on one part. It looks like under step six there is an added part where you are sewing on a continuous waistband which is then folded over. Is that right? I didn’t get that the first time and it still worked out. Anyway, here’s a link to my guy’s pants! http://metrohippymom.blogspot.com/2012/03/upcycled-tee-pants.html

    Reply
    • Kirstin says

      March 5, 2012 at 10:04 pm

      Hey Crystal. Love your pants. The waistband casing is made by folding over the extra fabric that you added on to the top of the pants earlier on (just fold down and sew the casing in place). There isn’t any added waistband. 🙂
      Again, love yours!
      kirstin

      Reply
  33. Karen says

    April 18, 2013 at 6:53 pm

    Thanks for the great idea! I made one pair for my 3 yr old and then my 7 yr old insisted on a pair too. I can’t wait to get to make my pair!
    Here are pics of the boy’s:
    https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10201213733730187.1073741828.1376283726&type=1&l=80ae118df1

    Reply
    • Kirstin says

      April 18, 2013 at 8:42 pm

      I love that Karen! 🙂

      Reply
  34. TayLynn says

    June 3, 2013 at 2:23 pm

    This may be a stupid question, but what exactly is “jersey material”? Is it like a normal t-shirt, 100% cotton, or something else? I saw these and would love to make them. Thanks for the help!!

    -TayLynn

    Reply
    • Kirstin says

      June 3, 2013 at 2:57 pm

      Yep, t-shirt material! 🙂 Not a stupid question at all!

      Reply
  35. Jenny says

    September 21, 2013 at 2:58 am

    LOVE the young life summer staff shirt!!!

    Reply
    • Kirstin says

      September 21, 2013 at 11:09 pm

      Awwww, me too Jenny! Me too!

      Reply
  36. Melissa says

    May 25, 2015 at 10:05 pm

    Might try to make a pair of these for my son since he is always feeling left out with all the stuff I make for his sister. Plus, I had to check out the project when I saw a YL Summer Staff tshirt … I have the same tshirt!

    Reply
    • Kirstin says

      May 27, 2015 at 4:02 am

      Melissa, I love this! And that shirt is old school- where were you on summer staff???

      Reply

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