Tutorial: Spider PJ's from a Men's T-Shirt (Part 2)

Several months ago, I found a fun tutorial on how to make little man PJ's from a men's X-large t-shirt.  I thought it was an awesome idea, but I didn't follow the tutorial exactly when I made mine.  So, I thought I'd show how I made my little guy his awesome spider pajamas!

I posted the first part of this tutorial over a month ago, and time has somehow gotten away from me over the holidays, so I'm finally posting the second half.  In the first part of the tutorial, I showed how I made the raglan shirt.  Here, I'll show how I made the pants.

What you need:

• XL men's shirt (plenty of material for size 2T PJ's)
• pair of pajamas to use as pattern pieces
• matching thread
• ball-point needle for sewing knits
• 1/2 yard of 3/4 inch elastic

Let's get sewing:

1.  Lay out the men's t-shirt flat.  Place your pattern pajama pants on top of one sleeve, lining up the hem of the pants and the hem of the sleeve.  I used the whole width of the sleeve, so I didn't have to worry about sewing the inseam of the pants.  I cut about 2 inches above the top of the pants to allow enough fabric to form the elastic casing.

Repeat this step on the other sleeve.

2.  Turn one pant leg inside-out.  Place the right-side out leg inside the other (it should look like the pic).  Match the U-shaped seam and sew, using a 1/2 inch seam allowance.

I originally used a straight stitch, but then did some reading and found that a lot of people have problems with straight stitches popping on knits.  So, I added a zig-zag stitch, too. (I don't think this was the best solution, but using this method I didn't have to actually make a decision about which stitch to use.)

3.  Turn the pants inside-out.  Fold down the top edge 1/2", then another 1" to form the casing.  Topstitch 1/8" away from the edge, leaving a 3" opening. 

4.  Use a safety pin to thread the elastic through. 

5.  Overlap the elastic ends 1/2" and sew together.  Tuck inside the casing and sew closed. 

Turn your pants right-side out, and your little man PJ's are ready to go!
-Lily

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