New pants!

With Parker growing so much, we've gone through several sizes of clothes already. We have all kinds of shirts and onesies for him, but it's hard to find pants that fit. It seems the only kind that fit him well are the knit or fleece ones with an elastic waist. All other kinds I've tried on him are too big in the waist, or too long, etc. But I can't find the kind I like very often--they're usually sold as part of an outfit, which can be expensive and he wears different sizes in shirts than in pants. So I decided to try making him some!
I bought a cheap pattern, but when I got it home and cut it out, it wasn't what I wanted...it was two pieces instead of four and it would be way too baggy for his short little legs. So I put it away and went online instead, looking for something better. I found a tutorial here: http://www.dana-made-it.com/2008/07/tutorial-knee-pad-pants.html, from someone who made up her own pattern and they turned out super cute! I used her idea, and here's how I made them...

First I found a pair of Parker's pants that fit him the best (excuse the stains!).


Next I turned them inside out and folded them so they were flat and the back seams were showing.


After they were folded, I put them on a large sheet of paper and traced around them, leaving about 1/2" on all sides for a seam allowance. I left extra allowance at the top and bottom for the elastic and hem.


Once I cut traced the back, then I folded them the other way and traced around the front seams the same way. I cut out both pieces, then used them as patterns to cut the fabric--two fabric pieces from each pattern.


The last part was sewing them together! Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of the sewing process. But if anyone is reading this and is wanting to know how, you could watch the tutorial above. :) Although I wouldn't have thought to make a pair of pants by tracing around another pair, they did turn out pretty well! Here's the finished pair next to the brown ones I used as a pattern...


Since they turned out and fit him so well, I think I'm going to make a couple more pairs. The black fleece only cost around $3 and I still have some left over for another project and the pattern, of course, was free! So not bad for a pair of pants! Here's a picture of Parker wearing them...