I put together a little tutorial for my new favorite upcycle: jeggings to toddler jeans. This is only slightly more involved than the 20 Minute Sweats; in fact, you could skip the attached waistband and just go with the fold over and elastic and voila! You'd have 20 Minute Jeans! Furthermore, I used jeggings, but I'm sure this would work with any jeans; although, I think the more stretch the better. If you are looking for other ways to turn adult pants into child's pants this is marzipan has a great top-down method and this mama makes stuff turned trousers into skinny slacks with a pdf pattern and everything. Oh, I almost forgot, if you are joining in the Kids Clothes Week Challenge be sure to head on over the elsie marley and sign up! Okay, without further ado, go raid your closet and meet me at the sewing machine for the tutorial ...
Jeggings to Toddler Skinny Jeans Tutorial
1. Cut the waist band and pockets off our jeans. if you don't mind a little fraying, cut as closely as you can to the edge of the pocket stitching. Otherwise, use a seam ripper to free the pockets. Use a seam ripper to open the waistband and free the bottom of the belt loops.
2. Make the pockets narrower. Fold one side of each pocket under about 3/4", pin and sew.
3. Shorten the waistband. Cut the waist band in half with the button fastened. Then using the button as the center, measure the length of your child's waist plus 1/2" on each side. Cut off the extra on each side. Example: Jude's waist is 21" so I measured 11" from the center of the button on each side and cut off the extra. Open the waistband up so that it isn't folded. Take one side and fold back the raw edges 1/2", then lay the other side over that, raw edges aligned, and sew them together to create a smaller waistband.
4. Lay one leg of the jeggings down and line up a pair of jeans that fit your child as a pattern. Trace 1/2" away from the crotch and straight across the top (no slanted top). Repeat with the other leg, making sure the inside seams match up.
5. Place the pockets and sew them on. I found lining them up about 1 1/2" from the top worked well. Then just follow the existing top stitching.
6. Sew the pants together. Turn one leg inside out, place the second leg inside this leg so that right sides are facing. Pin along the crotch and sew with a 1/2" seam allowance. I used a slight zigzag for stretch.
7. Turn right side out and cut a slight curve from hip to hip in the front. Seam rip down the front of the seam about 1/2" so that you can attach the waistband. Reinforce the crotch with another set of stitches, leaving that 1/2" at the top.
8. Apply the waist band. Tuck the top of the pants up into the waistband, pinning as you go. The button side will hang off the back edge and the button hole side will line up with the crotch seam. Sew following the original stitch line. Next, sew down each belt loop.
9. Optional: Top stitch a faux fly. I didn't have top stitch thread in the right color, so I just used my denim thread, but it is still a nice detail.
10. Try them on and enjoy!
