For my second project with my new sewing machine, I made myself some flannel pajama pants using Simplicity pattern 2819. I found cute flannel fabric with a bird motif – I’m really into birds lately! – and got to work with the help of my sewing class instructor.

The layout of the pajama pants was straightforward, consisting of two front pieces and two back pieces. Immediately after cutting the back pieces, I realized that I had placed the pattern upside down, so the birds on the front would be facing the right way, but the birds on the back would be upside down. And I definitely didn’t have enough fabric left to cut the back pieces again. Oops. Undeterred, I forged ahead with the project, figuring that no one would really notice the back of these pants anyway. I mean, these are for sleeping and lounging around the house!

Hem for bottom of legs

The first bit of sewing was to create the outer leg seams, sewing the left front to the left back and the right front to the right back. Then on each leg I made the bottom hem by folding the edge up about 1″ and pressing, folding the edge up 1″ again and pressing, and sewing a straight seam close to the fold. I think that’s the first hem I’ve turned!

Preliminary hem for waist

Ready to sew inner leg seams

I made a preliminary 1″ hem on the other edge for the waist, only folding it up once this time since there would be more finishing later. Then I sewed both inner leg seams to create tubes. They were starting to look like legs, but not quite pants just yet.

Ready to join left and right legs

Next came the fun part – finally connecting the two legs! I kept one leg inside out and turned the other one right side out, then stuffed one inside the other so the right sides were together. Once the center edges were aligned, all it took was one simple seam from front to back to join the two legs.

Threading in the elastic

The last step was to finish the waistband. I folded over the waist edge by about 1 1/4″, enough to hold 1″ wide elastic with a bit of room, then sewed close to the edge around the waist, leaving a 2″ opening to insert the elastic. I measured enough elastic to fit around my waist snugly, then threaded it into the waistband casing. I double-checked the fit and securely stitched the ends of the elastic together. Finally, I sewed across the 2″ opening to close the waistband, and the pants were ready to wear!

Loving my new pants!

This was a very simple pattern to work with, and I would definitely make these pants again. Next time I think I’ll go for lightweight cotton for summer, and of course I’ll pay closer attention to the orientation of the pattern pieces before cutting my fabric. A couple minor things I might try are making the legs just a bit longer and adding a drawstring.