Sewing children's trousers made easy!

Sewing children's pants is a great sewing project that beginners can also succeed at! It works particularly well with easy-to-understand instructions and a simple sewing pattern.

The most important things at a glance

• Sewing children's pants - even beginners can do it in no time with this sewing tutorial
• Our children's pants patterns do not require buttons, cords, or drawstrings
• The children's pants are sewn from elastic fabrics that move with every motion
• Sewing level: easy
• Sewing time: 30 - 60 minutes

YouTube video: Sewing children's pants

Why should you sew children's pants yourself?

Children's pants are not just a super cute project, but also a quick one. If the hems at the legs and waist are finished entirely with cuffs, the pants are literally finished in no time.

However, the real (and huge) plus point is that you can design the pants completely individually. This means you can match them exactly to your child's existing wardrobe. Of course, you can also take into account the wearing habits and preferences of your little one. Favorite colors, favorite fabrics – whatever your child likes can be used here.

Furthermore, self-sewn children's pants are often much cheaper than mass-produced items from the store. You can often conjure up several pairs of pants from one meter of fabric. Why aren't all sizes in a single eBook?

What do I need to know before I start?

Do you want to get started right away? Great! Before you begin, there are a few small things to keep in mind. Think of the preparations as part of the magic. Because they ensure that your children's pants really turn out well. Let's look at what is needed in detail to make the sewing magic work. 🙂

Choosing a suitable sewing pattern

Before you start cutting the fabrics, you need to choose a pattern for children's pants. You can either buy a pattern from a store or create one yourself. If you want to create your own pattern, you should first have the child try on a pair of pants and then adjust the cut. Make sure the pants aren't too tight so that your child isn't restricted while playing and running.

Beginners often find it easier to start with a finished pattern. Why? Because the sewing tutorial guides you step-by-step to the finished result. This is what a children's pant pattern looks like, for example:

In addition, there are tables for body measurements, fabric consumption, and often tips on how best to cut the fabric. Some pattern creators include cutting plans in their eBooks. They look like this, for example:

You can see the front and back pieces here, which are cut on the fabric fold. At the bottom, you see the template for the leg and waist cuffs. Such information is not only practical for saving time – especially when you are still gaining experience, it contributes to the success of your children's pants.

When buying a children's pant pattern, it is best to look for words like “easy,” “for beginners,” or “simple.”

How do I prepare the pattern?

• To make everything work well, you have to print and glue the pattern according to the instructions
• SewSimple patterns are printed at 100% without page scaling
• Select “print document and all markings” so that registration marks and pattern labels are also printed.
• Trim the outer frames of the pattern pages up to the mark
• Glue the pages together so that the pattern lines meet
• The pages are labeled A01, A02, etc. Glue them together in the correct order

Once the pattern is glued together, you can trace it. This is perfect for repeated use, because you might be sewing the next larger size 2 months later... 🙂

For tracing, pattern paper is suitable. For the small pant pattern pieces, you can also use wax paper. Remember to also transfer marks and labels.

Feel free to read my post Using and copying patterns.

Now you can cut out all the pattern pieces.

Reading tip: 12 Golden Rules for new sewing patterns

Do I have to pre-wash the fabric?

It is best to start by washing the fabric of your choice. Many garment fabrics shrink during the first wash. So if you sew children's pants from unwashed fabric, it might be too small after washing. For most elastic fabrics like jersey or sweat, a wash temperature of 30 – 40 degrees applies. By the way, washing is also worthwhile because it removes dye residues and sizing from the material. What isn't in the fabric anymore can't irritate children's skin, right?

My tip: To prevent the fabric edges of jersey & Co. from curling or pulling threads during washing, you can serge them beforehand with the overlocker. Many experienced sewing fans lay the fabrics right sides together at the selvages and serge both edges together directly. This way, you reduce washing marks on the fabric.

After washing, simply cut open the fabric edge that was sewn together with the overlocker and iron the fabric.

By the way, you should also wash the cuff fabric. However, you can safely skip ironing here: cuff fabric becomes limp and stretches out from ironing.

What do I need to consider when cutting fabric?

Are you an old hand at sewing? Then you can cut the pattern in double layers of fabric with scissors or a rotary cutter. Feel free to read my post Everything about rotary cutters.

Haven't cut fabric very often yet? Then I recommend that you draw the outlines of the pattern pieces on the fabric before you cut. This prevents the fabric and paper from shifting against each other and making the cut inaccurate.

For drawing, you can use tailor's chalk or a fabric marker, for example.

Do you already know my test and experience report on fabric markers?

Here are my tips for cutting fabric

• Cut the pant legs mirrored. Mirrored means: reversed. If you fold the fabric along the grain so that two layers of fabric lie on top of each other and the pattern fits exactly on top, you automatically cut mirrored.
• Take the grain line into account when cutting. It shows you how the pattern must be placed on the fabric.
• The grain line runs parallel to the selvage (this is the printed edge of the fabric), i.e., in the longitudinal direction of the fabric.
• If your fabric has a pattern, definitely make sure that the pattern is placed so that the bunnies on the finished pants aren't upside down. 😉
• The pattern pieces for the pants are “cut on the fold.” For this, you fold the fabric from the selvage far enough so that the pattern piece with the straight “fabric fold” edge fits exactly on top
• Make sure that the pattern really ends at the fabric edge so that the fit is as it should be later
• Transfer the markings from the pattern to the fabric.

Which sewing thread is suitable for children's pants?

You can sew the children's pants with any thread that your sewing machine handles well. Perfect is an uncomplicated all-purpose thread^*. It is durable, colorfast, and actually wonderfully suitable for all sewing projects.

Sewing idea: Sew a sewing thread hotel

Which fabrics are suitable for sewing children's pants?

Before you start sewing the baby pants, you should choose the fabric carefully. Because not every fabric is suitable for baby pants. It is important that the fabric is breathable and can regulate moisture. Children often sweat faster than adults. Therefore, you should definitely choose a cotton fabric that absorbs moisture quickly and is easy to wash.

I recommend that you fall back on organic fabrics that are GOTS certified. This ensures that the baby's skin does not come into contact with harmful substances.

Cotton jersey, sweat, or French terry are perfect for the pants. If cotton jersey curls too much, go for an interlock jersey instead. It doesn't curl due to the double-knit structure and is excellent to work with.

You can also sew the children's pants very well from fluffy muslin fabric.

Fabric recommendations for children's pants

Very suitable are, for example, elastic fabrics such as:

• Cotton jerseys^*: suitable for any kind of comfortable pants and for all our patterns
• Modal^* and viscose jersey^*: for fine, soft, and somewhat thinner pants
• Romanit jersey^*: stable jersey fabric that is great to work with, especially for beginners
• Sweat fabrics^*: can be worked with beautifully even with just a sewing machine; for warming pants
• French terry^*: a slightly thicker jersey that is wonderfully suitable for all-year-round clothing
• Corduroy jersey^*: Really great: This fabric acts like corduroy pants, like the "grown-ups" wear, but is still totally comfortable, warming, and stretchy; it is available in many combinable colors
• Velour fabrics^*: quite classic for cuddly baby pants, although sewing with velour can be a small challenge; I'll tell you my best tricks and tips in my post Sewing velour
• Knit fabrics^*: are a breeze to work with, especially with the overlocker, and are perfect for beautiful, warm baby pants with a great knit look

Of course, there are also children's pant patterns that are suitable for woven fabric. Almost all pants that you can sew from jersey are also suitable for muslin, because it is inherently stretchy due to its crinkle structure.

Can you also sew children's pants entirely from cuff fabric?

But of course, that works great. Cuff fabric is nicely stretchy and makes for warming pants that keep returning to their shape. You can sew this version with both the overlocker and the sewing machine.

Important here as well: You should only smooth the pants out after washing and not iron them, otherwise the material will become limp.

Which sewing machine do I need to sew children's pants?

Maybe you are now unsure whether you are equipped for this sewing project in terms of machines. Of course, don't worry. You can sew the children's pants with both the sewing machine and the overlocker.

Sewing children's pants with the overlocker

Sewing the children's pants with the overlocker is really fast. The practical thing is: The overlocker sews, trims the seam allowances, and finishes the edge. All in one work step. That's why things sewn with an overlocker look beautiful and cleanly finished on the inside as well.

Here's how it's done: Set a 4-thread overlock stitch on your overlocker. This is the most durable stitch of the overlocker. You can sew the entire children's pants with this stitch. The overlocker creates soft, elastic seams that feel good on the skin and move with every motion.

Are you not yet on first-name terms with your overlocker? Then definitely take a look at my overlock book: “Näh doch einfach OVERLOCK!^*.” In it, you'll learn everything you need to know about sewing with this little technical wonder.

Sewing children's pants with the sewing machine

That is also no problem at all. Here, I will introduce you to the most important sewing machine stitches for elastic fabrics.

It is also important to choose the right sewing machine needle for your project: The jersey needle is the first choice for many elastic fabrics. This needle has a rounded tip that slips through the stitches without damaging them while sewing.

You should do a test seam beforehand and also pull on the seam: If the jersey needle doesn't make a nice seam (this can sometimes happen), I recommend that you use a stretch or a super stretch needle. Feel free to also read my blog post Everything about sewing machine needles.

Reading tip: Discover my best tips and tricks for sewing with an overlock here.

What other accessories do I need for sewing children's trousers?

You need the same accessories as for most other sewing projects:

• Marking pen^*
• Sewing thread^*
• if necessary, Rotary cutter & cutting mat^* (read my test report on cutting mats!)
• Fabric scissors^*
• Fabric clips^*
• Bodkin^*

Where can I get the pattern for the children's trousers?

Do you want to get started right away? Great! You can download the SewSimple SUN children's harem pants pattern here. And of course, the SUN children's trousers are also available as a paper pattern.

Can I sew children's trousers without a pattern?

The short answer: Yes!

The detailed answer: Do you already have some experience sewing clothes? Then you can sew trousers by feel and without a pattern. Actually, all garments are made of geometric shapes. For example, you could also trace the pattern from an old garment.

Are you a beginner at sewing? Then I advise you: Better to practice with a finished pattern first. It takes you by the hand step by step while sewing and saves you stress and frustration.

Sew children's trousers with instructions from SewSimple

Cut out, sew, and wear: The patterns from SewSimple are sewn in no time at all. They all have detailed instructions for a relaxed sewing experience.

Sew simple baby trousers Lee

• Size: 50 – 164
• Fabrics: elastic (e.g. French Terry, cord jersey, or plush/Nicki)
• Note: The trousers can be sewn entirely with an overlock, but also with a normal household sewing machine
• Sewing level: Beginner
• Sewing time: 30 min.

Sew now: Simple baby trousers Lee

Sew leggings for babies: Pattern Moe

• Sizes: 74 – 164
• Fabrics: elastic fabrics such as sweat fabrics or jersey
• Note: The leggings are sewn with an overlock. Alternatively, the elastic stitch on your sewing machine also works
• Sewing level: Beginner
• Sewing time: 30 min.

Sew now: Children's leggings Moe

Sew children's dungarees Pepita

• Simple, casually cut dungarees
• Sizes: 68 – 164
• Fabrics: inelastic and elastic, e.g., sweat, jersey, French Terry, stretch jeans, corduroy…
• Note: Can be sewn entirely with a sewing machine
• Sewing level: Beginner

Sew now: Children's dungarees Pepita

Sew trousers from woven fabric: Lazy Pants Birk

• Baby and children's trousers made of woven fabric
• Sizes: 86 – 134
• Fabrics: Woven fabric, such as flannel, cotton, or fine corduroy
• Sewing level: Beginner
• Sewing time: approx. 1 hour

These comfortable pajama trousers for children are way too precious just for sleeping! They can be sewn from woven fabric as well as soft jersey fabrics. This makes them perfect as relaxation or sleeping trousers.

The great thing is: Beginners can also sew these trousers very easily. Why? The pattern has a decorative placket that looks like a button placket but is very simple to sew.

The trousers are suitable for both boys and girls: The faux closure is topstitched on the left for boys and on the right for girls.

Sew now: Children's trousers Lazy Pants Birk

BONUS: Sew baby/children's clothing with a free pattern

Are you daring to try children's clothing for the first time? And don't want to buy a sewing pattern directly? Browse through our collection of Freebooks for babies and children.

Conclusion

Sewing children's trousers is honestly the easiest task you could imagine. Because waist and hem cuffs are made with wide, grow-with-me cuffs, the trousers are sewn in a flash. This provides beginners with a great sense of achievement right away and motivates them to keep going. By the way: Together with the Luv children's shirt, children's trousers Lee make a complete outfit for babies and children that is sewn in no time!

Click HERE for the Luv children's shirt

Happy simple sewing, your Sabine

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