Dressing up a PJ pant

The first clothing item I ever sewed was in home-ec.  Of course I was part of a generation that did not call it Home Economics; we called it Life Skills.  In that class I learned some cooking skills, sewing, budgeting, and other miscellaneous things that everyone should learn before graduating high school.   Do high schools still have classes like that?

Well, my sewing project was a pair of PJ pants.  And it really is a great starting point for sewing clothes.  The fit does not need to be exact.  You have mostly straight lines, but do have to learn to navigate a couple gentle curves, and they are pretty practical.  And heck, if you screw them up, you wear them at night and no one will see them.

Recently my daughter wanted some "pull-on pants"  she did not want the hassle of a snap and zipper.  I was totally flabbergasted as I have working so hard to perfect my fly techniques so I can make real jeans for her and not have her wear clothes that look like mom made them.

So, I decided to break out an easy pattern and make PJ pants, done fancy.

I asked her if a pair of slacks would work and she was a bit dubious, but conceded.  I did not want her to look like she was actually wearing PJs to school.
I used some bottom weight fabric I picked up in the remanat bin.  It was just over a yard and I loved  the plaid.  I had actually hoped to make myself something out of this fabric, but oh well, she needed pants more than I do.

I dressed them up a bit by using studs on the pockets and ice blue top stitching.   Instead of making an elastic casing, as the pattern called for, I used wide pretty ice blue elastic that I zigzag stitched right on top of the fabric.  The technique I used is one I learned for making circle skirts on the blog MADE  This gave it a bit of a high-waisted look and I thought dressed them up more.  I think with other modifications,dressed up PJ pants could be equally good for a boy.

Abi was not exactly thrilled with the high waisted look.  But I promised her that with a long tunic, it would be just fine.  She has just grown accustomed to a mid rise pant and so her first assumption was that I made them wrong.

I did make them a little long though, I wanted there to be room for growth.  So many of her pants right now look like she is waiting for a flood, so I am glad that I added that length.  Hopefully she can wear these through the winter.

Have you ever dressed up PJ pants?