Basic Leggings for Girls - Free Pattern and Tutorial!

I had so much fun last week letting you guess which of the leggings above were sewn with the serger and coverstitch and which ones I made entirely on my home sewing machine. Well here's the answer: the orange leggings on the left with blackberries are the 'fancy' ones that I sewed with my serger and new coverstitch machine. The aqua leggings look almost exactly the same and I used my sewing machine only. How did I do it? I'm going to show you!

After making hundreds of pairs of leggings (at least it seems like it), I have a method that's quick, easy, and always turns out great.

These leggings are not super tight so feel free to go a size down if you want them to fit snugly. Knit interlock or jersey are a great choice for these, especially fabric with a bit of lycra. Review my tips for sewing with knit fabrics if you like.

You will need:

• 1-1 1/4 yd of knit fabric
• less than a yard of 1/2'' or 3/4'' elastic
• my free leggings pattern available in my Craftsy shop
• a double needle for your sewing machine (if you aren't using a coverstitch machine)

I drafted a pattern for you that comes in girl's sizes 2-12. If you already have a legging pattern that you like or if you need a different size, you can probably follow my instructions with that pattern too.

Print the pattern and use the 1'' square to check to make sure that your printer did not enlarge or reduce it. To put the pattern piece together quickly, stack the pages and use your ruler and rotary cutter to cut the margins off the top and right side - all at once. The margins are just under 1/2'', cut where the lines end and you'll be fine.

Then use your sewing room glue stick to apply a strip of glue on the left and bottom edges where the pages connect.

This is what the pages will look like all connected.

Trace or cut out the size that you need.

Lay the pattern on your fabric, secure with pins or pattern weights, and cut out. Make sure that you are cutting out 2 opposite pieces. This is easy if your fabric is in a double layer with the wrong sides together.

Here's where this tutorial becomes 2-in-1. I'm going to show you how to sew leggings with your regular sewing machine or with a serger and coverstitch, all at the same time.

If you do have a serger and coverstitch, go ahead and use the coverstitch to hem the bottom of the leggings now if you like. This especially helps with the small sizes that are hard to fit on the coverstitch machine's awkward free arm.

Fold each leg piece in half, right sides together and sew the inseam with a 1/2'' seam allowance.

Above, the aqua leg was sewn on my regular sewing machine. I used a narrow zig zag that had a length of 3 and a width of .5. This will give the seam some stretch so the thread won't pop when she runs around.

The orange/blackberry leg was sewn on my serger. I cut off 1/4'' to make the 1/2'' seam allowance.

Sew both leg pieces this way.

Turn one leg piece right side out and place it inside the other so they are right sides together.

Pin and stitch the crotch seam, matching up the leg inseams. Again, the aqua leggings were sewn with my sewing machine and the orange ones on the right were sewn with my serger.

Turn the leggings right side out and cut a piece of elastic that fits the child's waist. If you don't have the intended child close by, measure the top of the leggings and cut a piece that is 1-2'' less.

Butt the ends of the elastic together and use your sewing machine's widest zig zag stitch to sew them together.

Mark the elastic and the top of the leggings in quarters. Pin the elastic to the top inside edge of the leggings, matching the quarter marks.

Still using your widest zig zag stitch, sew the elastic to the top edge of the pants. (top left)

You can also use a serger to do this. Be careful not to cut the elastic. (top right)

Here's how we look so far.

Since kids find it hard to tell the front from the back of handmade clothes, I usually make my own tag from a strip of soft fabric or ribbon.

Turn the elastic over and pin from the right side. Pin your tag in place from the right side if you are inserting one.

If you are using a regular sewing machine, install a double needle and thread it with two spools of thread the same color (use an extra bobbin for the extra spool if you need to like I did).

This step might look tricky but really it's not. Use your thumb to feel where the lower edge of the elastic is.

Using the double needle on either your sewing machine or coverstitch machine, sew right over the bottom edge of the elastic from the right side. Stretch the fabric slightly to match the elastic.

If you haven't hemmed the bottom of the legs yet, go ahead and do it now. It's easy with a double needle. Simply fold or press the bottom edge up 1/2'' and sew it in place from the right side.

You just made some basic leggings! Next time make them shorter in capri or biker short length.

Psst... you can also use this pattern for my Boy's Swim Jammers tutorial.

Happy Sewing!