Bandanna Pants

My daughter was playing with a bandanna this morning that she got at a birthday party. This reminded me of all the fun things you can make out of bandannas. Of course one of my favorite ideas is Bandanna Pants. I knew right then, this was our project for today.

When I first saw the idea for bandanna pants my daughter was a bit too small to fit into them, but now she and my son are just the right size. Actually bandanna pants/shorts can fit sizes 4 up to size 10. Of course they become shorts instead of pants as the size goes up.



If you are looking for a first time pants/shorts project this is the one for you. Doesn't get any easier than this when it comes to pants. Especially since some seams are already finished before you even begin. Bandanna pants took me no more than 10 minutes to complete start to finish. What a fun project!

Bandannas you can usually find for around a $1 a piece at craft stores. They come in all colors and patterns these days. Today we even saw Disney characters such as Tinkerbell and Cars. Spiderman also made an appearance!

Bandanna pants are lightweight breathable and soft once they are washed. They make great PJ pants/shorts and are great for just playing around in the backyard as well.



What you need:

Two bandannas

Non-roll Elastic (ours was around an inch thick)

Sewing Machine

Scissors

How?
1.Place your bandannas on top of each other right sides together. They may not be perfectly square with each other. Just do your best.

2.Fold them in half, and cut a narrow curve out of the open side cutting though the four layers. Like this.



3.Open back up to flat and sew right along this curve you just cut. You will do this on both sides so it looks like this. I sewed a double seam for strength.





4.Now pick them up and hold them open the two seams you just showed should be the crotch seam and the seam that goes on the backside. You can kind of see the shorts at this point.



5. Now pick up one layer from the back and one layer from the front and pin together. Do this on both sides to create legs. Sew these seams together, up one side and down the other. I did a double seam here as well.





6. Now they will look like shorts. Next step will be to make a tunnel for you elastic to go though at the top of the shorts. Fold down the top and sew around leaving a space open for your elastic.

7. Measure on the child how big the elastic will need to be to be comfortable. Then cut an inch longer than that.

8. Use a safety pin to string the elastic though the tunnel. Once it is through hold both ends and sew two zig zag seams on the elastic to hold it together.

9. Put the elastic ends, which are now attached to each other, back into the tunnel and make sure they are not twisted. Sew the opening shut.

Done!

Now... I know you were all waiting for the photo shoot!


Humpty and Dumpty sat on a wall. Ok bench.


Humpty had a great jump.


Dumpty did too.


Humpty wanted to do an instant replay.


Dumpty sat, appeared reflective, and pondered life. :)

Here is another good turorial on how to make them. It also has photos of makeing a waist band and putting the elastic through. I got too excited and forgot to take pics of that step.