Gotta Put on Some Pants. . .

Any other New Life Ranch alums out there who sing this song EVERY SINGLE TIME they're trying to wrestle their kids into pants? And why is it so hard to keep pants on these kids? At any given moment, there's a pretty good chance that at least one of my children is pantless. I have no idea why.

I'm hooked on Pinterest. Could spend hours and hours and hours there, except I keep getting pulled away to do things like, you know, laundry, and going to the post office, and raising children. But I found this tutorial from Simply Modern Mom on how to take a pair of pants, make a pattern from them, and sew really easy pajama pants.

I tried it out, and it's really the simplest pair of pants I've ever made - and because I made the pattern from pants that the kids already had and that I knew fit perfectly, I didn't have to worry about the weird sizing of commercial patterns! Amazing. P got pants out of hot pink leopard print flannel, and Mr. Man's are made from a (very loved) flannel pillowcase. (One pillowcase is the perfect amount of fabric for a pair of pants for up to an 18-month size.)

The tutorial is completely great, so I didn't change anything. Here are a few tips, though, if you're going to try it:

Be sure that the curve on the back of the pants - for the crotch - sticks out more than the one on the front. This part is important, because it allows for some booty room. And especially for the littles - those diapers need extra space back there!
When you're tracing around the pants to get the pattern, be sure to allow plenty of space for the seam allowance, and even more for the hem at the bottom and the elastic casing at the top. And the pants fit better if the rise is higher in the back than it is in the front. That's all.


I love making clothes for this one. He's more than happy to model. Not like his big sis. This one gave me lots of poses and looks, and even walked the coffee table like a runway! Perhaps he watches too many TV shows with Tim Gunn. . .

For his last pose, he really wanted to show off the waistband of the pants. :)