How to Sew Your Own Pajama Pants

Step 9 Lounge!

That's it! You've made pajama pants. And you didn't spend a fortune on them. Now you're free to lounge about your house or slip on a t-shirt and flip-flops and head to the coffee shop for a latte where older women can tut-tut about how horrible it is to be seen in pajamas in public. But they live for that crap so going there in your snazzy new PJ pants is really a public service. You're so selfless. Happy Lounging!

Comments

[omgitsbeth]

Knocked a pair of these out in an hour and a half. Mmm, flannel jammie bottoms.

Brilliant (and funny) instructions. Thanks a lot!

[kgoodway-chakonas]

you are hilarious!! thanks so much...they came out great!

[GolfinMom4]

Hi Compwalla,
I was wondering if one could use a knit material for these pants? What changes would need to be made in the sewing technique?
Thanks! Great instructable, by the way.

[compwalla]

If you're using a knit, make sure you're using the right kind of needle. And if you have a serger, you could serge the leg and crotch seams instead of straight sewing them. If you don't have a serger, using the double seam is probably the safest thing. Just make sure you're not stretching the fabric as you feed it under the needle.

[trish52]

I have the material, pair of fitting pants, and paper for pattern all set to go. Just wondering if you've ever tried making the back rise longer than the front, or should I just go with the same for front and back? Thanks!!

[compwalla]

You could but I've never done this on these pants. This is a quick-and-dirty but you can try it and see if it works.

[mwillhoite]

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I plan on making these for Christmas. I am going to put our first initials on a plain t-shirt with the same fabric. You are saving me a crap-ton of money!!!!!

[jruggles]

Oh man - I love you and I don't even know you! This tutorial is perfect for my needs and clear to understand. Plus, you are hilarious! Thanks!

[blueyedkitty04]

Well put together, hilarious instructable! Thanks again! I'll definitely be bookmarking and sharing it!

~M~

[ksid4now]

Thanks again for this, I made it through until the elastic and then realized I don't have any. So much for the gathering your materials first! Great instructions!

[PhilosopheFop]

I really loved reading your how-to, I'm still chuckling over the grandpa pants bit...
But now I have a question!


I have a LOT of sewing experience. But I have never, ever, sewn anything for a man. Now I am trying to make a pair of pj pants for my boyfriend for Christmas and I have no idea how to do the open-crotch thing. He and I are basically the same size, so I was going to trace my own pjs to get the pattern, but then I remembered that he'd probably be more comfortable if I could figure out how to do a front opening. I'm guessing it is similar to jeans, but I don't know about the length from waistband to crotch, or how much I need to overlap the fabric to keep the pants decent when he's sitting down...
Since you've made lots of pj pants, do you think you could give me a few pointers? Thanks!

[compwalla]

I have never made a peeping fly like that partly because I learned from my husband that it's apparently much easier to just pull down the whole front bit of the boxers or pajamas instead of trying to navigate it through a flap. Have you had this flap discussion with your boyfriend? Maybe he is a flap devotee but I'm guessing he probably isn't and you can safely skip it.

[puppyhakase]

i'm a dude who's had little experience sewing outside of home economics class in junior highschool. always enjoyed it, but never really had much in the way of time or education in the finer arts of tailoring. i'll be using this guide in conjunction with others to tailor my own onesie jumpsuit. it's given me quite the insight into what i should look for to make something fit properly. thanks!

[domino9999]

My sample pair was a 3T and what I made looks like a 5T! I guess I need to work on my pattern-making... but they are adorable and I'm going to try again to make a pair my son can actually wear! Thank you!

[Jennyr51]

Got a sewing machine for Christmas. Bought my first fabric yesterday. I'm tall and can never find pajama pants my length, so this is going to be the first thing I try to make. Right now I'm really excited, but we'll see once I get going. Wish me luck.

[eguerry]

i decided that i wanted to make all of my presents this year and this is a perfect opportunity for me to start sewing. im a beginner, but i have a veteran's help. i was thinking that i would rather make the pants with a draw string, but im not sure how to do that. some advice?

[compwalla]

What I would do is make two buttonholes in the front of the waistband before I folded it down. That way you would be able to make the waistband the same way - fold twice and sew around - and you wouldn't have to leave an opening because you could thread your drawstring through the buttonholes. Buttonholes used to be really hard but most machines have an automatic buttonholer now that makes it much easier. Practice making the buttonholes on a scrap first until you are comfortable with aligning them and making the buttonholes. Good luck!

[sumrandom1]

THis is very cool, all my friends are getting PJ pants this year for xmas, i have lots of fabric.  Yes, im a dude that sowes and yes i am straight.  I used to use the portable sowing machine that i bought from craigslist to make my own hoodie designs, but now im expanding to PJ pants, maybe next year square pillow cases we will see :)

thanks for the post

[Reboot530]

Hey,

   That's awesome!  Iam a 35 year old straight married man who also sews.
 I thouhgt I was the only one.  I have a website you should check out.  So tell me you made these pants?  East??  THnaks Aaron

[katielynn227]

Thank you so much! You've made Christmas a lot easier this year!  I like using fleece material!  It's so quick! Happy Holidays!

[LibbyChong]

Thank you! I have been so afraid of sewing anything other than square pillows! My husband wants us to have matching pajama pants, but at 29.95 each I couldn't afford that, but with your help....bring on the Hello Kitty fabric!

[meigokao]

Your husband wears Hello Kitty?

[Father Christmas]

I wear Hello Kitty ^_^

[LibbyChong]

:) He wears whatever I make...he's a good husband! He loves anything I make...even the "square" pillows!

[bsq2phat]

lol i haven't moved from the square pillow stage myself...

[Pettycache]

I used your "pajama pants recipe" to sew up a pair of blue camo fleece lounge pants for my 12-year old boy and he was very happy with the results. This is only the second item of clothing I have created (the third if you count that apron from ten years ago), so I really appreciated the explicit directions (like the right-side-out leg inside the inside-out leg part). I also learned that I've been pinning stuff together the wrong way - thank you for all the photos! :)

[lee-lou]

This was so easy! I made the 1st pair for my 5 year old because it is so hard to find 100% cotton lounge pants. After the 1st pair, the 2nd was even easier. Thanks so much for something easy to do!

[brittittle]

What a wonderful and hilarious how-to! You make it look so easy I'll have to quit staring at my growing piles of fabric and actually sew something. And the elastic part is what I was most afraid of. You explained it really well. Thanks so much!!!!! :)