Mio's Harem Pants Tutorial

I'm totally in love with these pants. The combination of beautiful fabric and the baggy style is just so cute. Little boys and girls alike would look beautiful in these easy and fun pants. The pattern is very forgiving and should allow wear for many months (something I like to look for when it comes to clothing for little ones).

These pants sewed up super quick and I liked the first pair so much I had to make a second.

Here's a quick tutorial of how I put them together.

First I made a quick paper pattern. Fold the fabric in half and place the pattern on the edge of the fold- that way when you cut it both sides will be exactly the same. These pants measure about 70cm at the widest point and about 32cm from waist to crotch.

Pin fabric right sides together down the sides and across the bottom of the pants, then sew together. You can then use an overlocker or zigzag stitch to finish all the edges including around the waist and leg holes.

Once all the edges have been finished so they don't fray you will need to fold the waist band over, pin and then sew, making sure to leave a gap to thread the elastic through.

I wanted to have a little gathered frill around the waist so I worked out how wide the elastic was and how far to sew from the edge of the waist. I then sewed around so the elastic would fit in nice and snug. I you didn't want a frill you could use thicker elastic or make the fold on the waist band thinner. 

After sewing the waist band it's time for the legs. Fold over and sew around the leg hole making sure to leave a gap to thread the elastic through. For the legs I used thinner elastic than I did for the waist.

Here's the pants ready to have the elastic inserted.

Thread elastic through by attaching it to a safety pin and pushing it through the space in the waist band. When the safety pin comes around to where it was inserted you can then adjust the elastic to the right length and sew the ends of the elastic together.

After threading the elastic through the leg bands you can sew the holes where you inserted the elastic closed and the pants are ready to wear (and you can finish that pot of nursing tea!).

These pants just look so cute, you can pull the legs up to bellow the knee when it's warm or have them long when it's cool- perfect for the all over the place weather in Melbourne.