I’m not sure how all those other blogger Mums do it. Any time I try to take some photos of Roman wearing something I’ve made for him, 99% of the photos end up looking like this!

Maybe that’s why there aren’t many blogs with clothing for boys, because it’s too hard to get any photos of the finished product being modelled!

These jeans are pretty straight forward to make and only have a few seams. The trick is to make use of the original jeans. Unfortunately, I didn’t think to take any pictures as I made them to give you a proper tutorial, so you’ll have to settle with a walk through instead. The elastic and ribbing waistband make them comfy for kids and easy to take off at change time. This same method would work for baby jeans or jeans for bigger kids, but if they’re old enough to realise that the jeans don’t have a proper waistband and fly and therefore don’t look cool, then maybe this tutorial from cookcleancraft will work.

 

Toddler Jeans from Adult Jeans

You’ll need:
A pair of men’s or women’s jeans
Ribbing
Elastic
Sewing supplies

Start by creating a pattern from an existing pair of pants. If you’re not sure how to do this, Dana at MADE has a great tutorial here. I used a cereal box to make my pattern and I use it quite a bit. To make life easy, I made sure the long side of the pattern is straight, so the pattern can be used on a fold. This saves a bit of sewing, and for the jeans, lets you use the nice distressed seams already on the jeans for a more realistic finish. It also gives lots of room in the pants for a big cloth nappy butt! My pattern has a high enough waist to accommodate a fold down waistband, which is why it looks like I’ve missed a bit in the picture below.

Place the pattern on the fold of the leg of the jeans. You can choose whether to use the inside or outside seam. Make use of the hems on the bottom too. Even less work for your sewing machine! Cut out a piece from each leg.

You’ll also need to cut your waistband pieces:
– Cut a piece of elastic using your child’s exact waist measurement.
– Cut your ribbing. The width will be: 2x (the width of your elastic + seam allowance). The length will be: (4x the top of the pattern piece) – 2 inches.

Now for some sewing. If you want to make use of one of the back pockets of the jeans, pick one off and sew it to the middle of one of your pieces. I used some orange topstitching thread. Now, put the 2 pieces right sides together, and sew the 2 crotch seams. Open the pants out, and match the legs up, then sew up the leg seam, going from the bottom of one leg, around the crotch and down the other leg.

Sew the short ends of the ribbing together and fold in half to enclose the seam. Sew the ends of your elastic together and put the elastic inside the ribbing. Pin the ribbing evenly around the waist and then sew it on.

That’s it! Quick and easy! Smile 🙂