This weeks post is one I have been working on for literally a month and a half. Normally projects don't take this long but, with a 5 month old baby things tend to get delayed a bit. I don't even mind though because Charly is the cutest, happiest baby! Having her as a first child is good because if she wasn't so cute and easy going I would probably be done after one. :P
This outfit was well worth all the interruptions. I absolutely love how it turned out! Plus, I feel like this gold fabric will be perfect for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. I can just change out the onesie and I'm set!
If your interest in the free cut file for the "Spice Spice Baby" onesie you can check it out over on THIS BLOG POST.
To take a shortcut you can watch the video of these bell bottom leggings below!
Keep reading for the full written instructions
SUPPLIES LIST
1/2 Yard Fabric - I got 1 yard of fabric to play it safe since I had never really used a stretchy lycra fabric before. I was so glad! I cut out the entire pattern and then realized I had cut it with the stretch going the wrong direction. So, I recut it out with the stretch going the proper direction and I still had a bit of fabric left for a bow or two. You may even get away with 1/4 of a yard depending on the width of your fabric.
I got this cute gold lycra at Walmart for like $5.00 bucks a yard which was perfect!
3/4 inch Elastic - You can use another size if you have something else on hand. You may just need to adjust the pattern a bit and make the waistband wider if you choose to use a wider elastic.
Free Leggings Pattern - Please note that I am not a professional pattern maker and I sized this pattern around my baby the best that I could. She is in the 70 percentile for height and weight and was 4-5 months old so I figured that the sizing should be pretty close for most baby's. After making this pattern I do believe the pattern does run slightly big. For me this was good because after putting all the time into making these cute leggings I really wanted them to last a while and baby's grow soooo fast! The good thing about a pattern being big is that you can always try it on baby and take it in a bit if you need. GOOD LUCK!
LETS GET STARTED!
To get started you will want to print out the FREE LEGGINGS PATTERN. Then you will need to choose your size and cut out the pattern. Charly was such a helper while I was cutting out the 3-6 month size.
I just love the innocence in on her face. It's so beautiful.
After you cut out the paper pattern you will then want to place the pattern on your material and cut it out. MAKE SURE TO CHECK THE STRETCH OF YOUR FABRIC FIRST!!! HAHAHA
I made the rookie mistake of cutting the entire pattern out with the stretch going the wrong direction. It's kind of hard to explain which way you want the stretch going so here's a picture to try and demonstrate. The most important piece to do this on is the waistband since that is the piece that will need the most stretching ability.
You will notice on the waistband pattern piece that it says to add a some length depending on the size. This is because I wanted to make the pattern printable for anyone to print from a regular printer. In order for the pattern to fit on an 8.5 x 11 inch sheet of paper I had to make it a bit smaller and have you add an inch or so depending on the size of pattern your wanting to make. Just follow the instructions on the pattern. The pattern also says where to fold the fabric and how many of each piece to cut out.
Once you have the all the pieces cut out it is time to start assembling the leggings. Before you start stitching the fabric you may want to play around with your tension and stitch size on a scrap piece of fabric. This stretchy lycra was a bit tricky to stitch at first but once I got my tension and stitch size working properly it was a breeze.
I first started by assembling the flare. I put right sides together and then stitched one side of the flare.
Next, I opened up the flare piece and stitched it to the top of the pant leg.
After that I stitched the two pant legs together in the front and the back like the picture below.
Then, I stitched the inseam together. It is much easier to see all these different stitches in real time so check out the video HERE if you want to follow along.
This is a good time to try them on your baby to measure the length. I didn't do this step and they are a bit long on Charly. I don't mind though because it will give her some room to grow.
You will then finish the bottom of the pant leg however you'd like. I choose to just fold it under and hem it.
After the bottoms are hemmed. You will finish by adding the waistband. Start by sewing the waistband into a circle.
Then fold the waistband in half and pin to the top of the pants.
Go ahead and stitch the waistband to the top of the pants.You can see I placed two pins about two inches apart here. You will want to leave a space open to fish the elastic through later.
This is a good time to measure your baby's waist so that you get a good fit. (Insert a few adorable pictures of Charly here. hehehe)
You can see her waist is 19 inches. I added 1 inch when cutting my elastic so I had plenty of room to sew it and then made a mark at 19 inches so I knew where to sew.
I like to put a safety pin on the end of the elastic to help fish it through the waistband.
Once you get elastic through the waistband make sure there are no twist in it and then stitch the elastic closed.
Before you stitch the waistband closed make sure to go try them on your baby. This way if you need to adjust the elastic width you can easily do so without having to unpick the waistband.
They fit great! Now just go sew up the hole in the waistband and they are done.
She loves the shimmery gold fabric so these totally double as a great toy for her!
Seriously they are so stinking adorable! But I am a bit bias because she's the cutest baby I know. If you want to check out the video to watch me make these leggings in real time check it out below. Make sure to subscribe to see more!
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