How to Make Kids Flannel Pajama Pants (Adventures of a DIY Mom)

To me, nothing is more comfortable than a cozy pair of flannel pajama pants. Today I'm going to show you how to make flannel pajama pants for your kids. Pair these pajama pants with an old t-shirt, or get fancy and applique some flannel onto a shirt for a matching set.

These pajama pants come together really quickly. I'm generally not one to wing it and make my own pattern, but I figured they're pajama pants. If they turn out horrible, who cares - they're just wearing them to bed. But they ended up pretty darn cute, if I do say so myself.

I have more flannel projects to share including rolled-top pillow cases and feet warmers. Be sure to follow in some way so you don't miss out.

Want to make your own kids flannel pajama pants?

You will need:
flannel
3/4" elastic
sewing machine
thread
basic sewing supplies
small piece of ribbon {for a tag - optional}

To begin, grab a pair of pajama pants that fit your child. We will use these for our pattern.
Turn them inside out and stuff one leg inside the other leg.

You can kind of see how the back leg is a little different than the front leg. You will cut out two of each leg. If you have your flannel folded, you can cut out both pieces at the same time. Place your pants on your flannel and cut out. Be sure to cut at least 1 1/2" or 2" bigger than the pajamas. At the bottom and the waist make it 2"- 3" bigger.

When you are cutting the waist be sure to stretch out the waistband to see how wide the fabric really is.

You can see that I didn't get enough extra fabric at the top of the waistband. It ended up working out ok, but it's better to have extra than not enough.

Once you have one cut, rearrange your pajama pants so that you can cut the other leg out.

You can see that they are just a little bit different. The waistband is wider for the back legs than the front.

Another tip: When you are working with directional fabric, make sure to keep your pajama pants facing the same direction. I flipped mine to make the most of the fabric, and then realized that the monkeys on the back legs will all be upside down. Not a huge deal, since my daughter hasn't noticed yet, but something to keep in mind.

Now it's time to start sewing.

First grab a front leg and a back leg. Line them up so they are right sides together. Sew down the long straight edge. Then repeat with the other two legs.

Now open up each piece and place them on top of each other with right sides together. Sew from the waist down just until you get to the point. Do this on both sides.

Next turn the pajama pants so that the long leg seams are on the sides, keeping right sides together. Or, in other words, so that they look like pajama pants. You will sew from the bottom of one leg all the way up to the middle and continue until you reach the bottom of the other leg.

Now we'll work on the waistband. With an iron, press down the top of the waistband down about 1/4".

Press down again, this time folding over fabric one inch. Sew in place, leaving a 2 inch opening in the back for the elastic to go through. Make sure you sew right against the bottom edge of the pressed waistband. You are making a casing for the elastic to go in.

Place a large safety pin on one end of your elastic {Don't cut it yet}. This will help you feed the elastic through your casing. Once your elastic is all the way through, try it on your child and get the right fit. I hold it in place with the elastic overlapping about an inch and then cut it.

Using a zigzag stitch sew the elastic together. Nothing fancy and it doesn't have to be straight. I just go back and forth a few times.

Now we're going to add a tag. I saw this somewhere and thought it was genius. It probably doesn't really matter if pajama pants get worn backwards. Heck, most of our kids do that anyway :) But I like the idea of at least knowing which is the front and back.

So take a small piece of ribbon - about 2 inches - and fold it in half. Then simply insert it into the seam as you stitch the opening in the waistband closed.

Now hem up those legs and you're done. I've lost one of my pictures {or more likely, I forgot to take it}- but it is exactly like the waistband. First fold and press the bottom 1/4". The fold again about 1". Stitch in place.