Sunday, February 20, 2011

Easy Peasy Leggings Tutorial

Yep, you have them too.
Maybe you got rid of the maternity pants, but I bet you have a pair of knit pants
hanging out in the "Donate Me"  pile.

(See finished outfit with tutorial on matching shirt here.)
The more I looked at these, the more I figured that I hated the nice knit to go to waste.
I kept thinking that grey goes with nearly everything...
(Duh...my wardrobe has pants in exactly two colors...black and grey,
with the occasional tan, brown or navy thrown in, but usually black or grey.)

I initially was going to make pants for Maggie, but when Katie seemed interested in the project,
I decided to make them for her.  I took a newer pair of leggings that fit her well and stuffed one leg into
the other leg, so that it is inside out, but easier to use as a pattern.



 I opened up the maternity pants and lined up the outside of the leggings with
the outside of the pants.  Easy Peasy means using as few seams as possible.
You can draw on your fabric, but I decided to wing it.  I gave about an extra 3/4" along
the side that I was cutting.  When you get to the top, leave a little extra because
you will need to fold it down for the elastic casing.


 It is tough to see in the picture, but the cut legging is on top of the uncut legging.
Again, be sure that the folded side is lined up with the outside of the leg.
 Time to serge.  (You can just sew it with a knit stitch or zig zag. 
I just love the finish of the serged seam.)  The leggings are right sides
together and I place a pin at the hem to help the fabric stay in place as
it is fed into the serger.
 Remember when we stuffed the legs inside each other to make a pattern?
Well, that is the easiest way I know to sew legs together, so let's do that again!
Look at me...I pinned!  (So you must realize that it is worth it to pin...haha)

 Open up the leggings so that you are now looking at them from the side.
Use a rotary cutter and straight edge to slightly angle it down in the front. 
This doesn't have to be exact, but I make them roughly an inch lower in the front than the back.
Turn leggings inside out and fold down waist about an inch and sew around the waist.
Leave about an inch opening to thread your elastic.
Threading elastic....
(I just wrapped it around Katie's waist and then subtracted about 2")
After threading through, I overlapped the ends and stiched them well.

Terrible picture, but a shot of the back stitched up.
I had a few bunny tags that I got as a freebie once that
I used to help Katie realize which side is the "back."

Ok...I need to replace this picture, because they look all wonky here but I just
 laid them down quick for a picture when Becky woke up from her nap.
They look much cuter (and even) on Katie, which I unfortuately forgot to take a picture of...

Coming up....
I finally drafted the pattern to the ruffle purse, I just need to upload it!

Next crafty project is the top to go with the leggings. 

Let's face  it...if I repurpose all these clothes I save a trip to Goodwill, right?

If you use this, leave me a comment and let me know!

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20 comments:

  1. I love this. Thank you so much for sharing! I would be honored if you would link up your super cute blog over on my blog stalkin' page.

    http://alaynahoward.blogspot.com/p/blog-stalkin.html

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  2. What a great idea! Thanks for the tutorial!

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  3. oh my!! what a fabulous job!! Thanks for linking into the weekend wrap up... this week... :-)

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  4. What a great idea!! I love going to Goodwill....but saving money is even better. Nice job. I'd love it if you'd link this project up on my Marvelous Mess party!! I'll be picking one project to feature prominently on my sidebar for a week!! Here is the link to it:
    http://tinyurl.com/4k6f29c

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  5. I have been thinking about doing this! Great job on yours!!

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  6. those are wonderful. thats a great tutorial too! I could never be that thurough

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  7. What a great idea! I would love to feature this on my blog, Reduce, Reuse, Upcycle.
    Thanks!

    http://reuseandupcycle.blogspot.com

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  8. I do this with my hubs t-shirts. Shhhh he doesn't know this.....

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  9. Thank you for the tutorial on this. I have been thinking I should make some leggings for my youngest one, but I just didn't know where to start. It never occured to me to put on leg into the other to make a pattern.
    Thank you for sharing.

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  10. Awesome tutorial! thanks so much for linking up to handmade tuesdays @ ladybug blessings!!

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  11. Aren't you a smart one! I love your "easy peasy" idea. That's making great use of things like maternity clothes - that we're so eager to get rid of. lol Come by tonight, and see your frugal self linked to my features post.

    Thanks for linking to the party. I'd love to have you link up each week. And I hope you'll join us for my "Funny Faux Pas Follies" party, as well. ;)

    By the way, I just joined you as a follower.

    Have a great weekend!
    Liz @ the Brambleberry Cottage
    http://thebrambleberrycottage.blogspot.com/

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  12. Oh this is great! I LOVE IT! fantastic tutorial too!

    Thanks for linking to a Round Tuit!
    I've actually just started up a page for clothes upcycling projects - I've added a linky so people can link their projects and tutorials up- and it's a whole fixed page so the link will be there visible all the time - not just for a week then archived! I just published the page about an hour ago, so no links there yet - but feel free to be the first! Hop on over and have a look! (Clothes upcycling projects page!)

    Hope you have a great weekend!

    Jill @ Creating my way to Success
    http://www.jembellish.blogspot.com/

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  13. Very cute...however I must say I was hoping the tut would be "me" sized, lol.

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  14. @Rosa--I might have to try that...I have a pile of maternity pants to try to make use of.

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  15. WOW! This is amazing, and such a brilliant idea.

    I came hoppin on over on this Sunday morning from Az. and MMBCreations Blog Hop, and look forward to hopping into you again sometime soon.


    Leila
    http://azsbsm.wordpress.com/
    Mondays Menu

    http://azfillerpack.wordpress.com/
    The Bag of Business Blog Hop

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  16. thank you for the tutorial! I was playing craft blog roulette and found this! Cant wait to try it. Love the turning legs inside out. We are on a budget CRUNCH for the next 24 months and this will save me a ton of $ with two little girls to shop and buy for.

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  17. Thank you for the tutorial :) My little girl LOVES her new leggings and I didn't have to spend any money

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  18. Great tutorial, worked perfectly!

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