Make your Own Longies for Fleece/wool pattern!

The Below tutorial is from Stephanie from Diaperswappers.com, but I know there are a ton of people out there would love love this and are not part of the DS family. I suggest that everyone who uses or sews cloth diapers to join DS, but if not, here is a great way to draft your own pattern for longies for your perfect fit on YOUR child. I will be trying this today! :) As soon as the DS and DD wake from their naps....and yes, I will be trying this pattern on some cheap fleece first! :)



I just made my own pair for dd by drafting my own pattern using her measurements I measured her waist, hips, rise, thigh and inseam and this is what I did:

Supplies: A very large pad/sheet of paper (or a cut open paper grocery bag, or a few sheets of paper taped together) a marker/pen or pencil, a long ruler)
and your child's measurements





1) draw a horizontal line that is half the length of the child's hip meaurement, mark the exact centre of the line with a dot



2) draw a vertical line from that dot down, this line needs to be half the length of the rise -2"



3) draw another horizontal line that measures the entire size of the child's thigh measurements + 1 1/2-2" (so the pants will fall nicely on the leg)



4)continue the vertical line down the length of the child's inseam + 1" if you want to turn the edge, if you're just going to have a raw edge (perfectly fine for fleece, or a lettuce/serged edge) you don't need to add the extra inch



5)now draw another horizontal line that is equal to the horizontal line in step 3



6)draw two more vertical lines on each end of the lines in step 3 and 5, that connect the horizonal lines



7)now, draw a slight concave curve (curve line inward) connecting horizonal line in step one to the horizonal line in step 3, do this on both ends



8) Add a quarter inch seam allowance using a dotted line all the way around the edge of the drawing



Now...you take half of the waist measurement and draw a line, then draw 2 perpendicular lines to that measuring 2.5 inches, and then another line parallel to the first (this will make the "yoga" pant waist)



Cutting the pattern out of the fabric

-pin the pattern you have just drafted to your fabric, cut 2 out of the leg pattern and 1 out of the waist pattern piece (the waist pattern piece must be cut on the fold, making sure the direction of the stretch of the fabric is correct (must be stretchiest in the direction of the length of the waist not the width (along the longest part, not the 5 inch part)

Sewing:

-fold each individual leg in half, right sides together, pin and stitch up the side using just a regular stich or a serger (stitch from the thigh to the cuff of each leg) Fold the waist band in half, right sides together so that the short ends are touching, pin and sew/serge





-turn the pant legs right side out and pin the legs together at the rise, stitch them together







-turn the pants back inside out, turn the waist band in on itself (like you would a sling) pin the waistband to the inside of the pants at the raw edges, stitch making sure that you are stretching the waist band as you got to match the edge of the waist of the pants









For fun I added a lettuce edge (to make them girlier for dd




Turn the pants right side out and try on your little one, sorry we don't have any action shots yet, dd is still napping (I put her down and then did this tutorial!)

Good Luck!

Some tips:

If you would like the front to have a lower rise than the back of the pants, mark one edge of the rise curve approx 1 inch down with a dot, then draw a line to connect that point with the top of the "rise" line (I'll try to update with a pic asap) (basically it will look like a little angle on one side, either left of right, not both, and it doesn't matter which side you choose as long as it's just one

EDT: Pic of the lower rise in front method


Practice makes perfect! Practice on some cheap fleece a couple times to perfect the fit before cutting in to that expensive interlock!