I have been making a bunch of jogger pants for my elder son who is going to kindergarten this year, and his little brother who is starting to walk – and I really enjoyed it. It takes me only half an hour to cut and sew a complete pair of pants, and with whatever fun prints my kids love (my 5 year old kept asking for a pair of construction vehicle printed pants and I finally found a piece of fleece with lots of crane trucks and dump trucks lol).
In the making of pants for my sons, I also make a pdf pattern for a range of sizes from 12 months to 12 years old. I figure it will be more convenient to just print them out whenever I need them.
I use the general measurements for kid’s clothing from the book Metric Pattern Cutting for Children’s Wear and Babywear by Winifred Aldrich (it’s an amazing book sold on Amazon). You can find the size guide for kid’s clothing on my website HERE. Tips: Choose the size based on your kid’s height instead of age!
The pattern is made using layered PDF, please check for your desired size before printing so you won’t waste your paper. I have included a first page with many details about sizing and printing, so please first read the first page and make sure you know what size you need! If you still do not know how to print a layered PDF, please check for the printing instruction in this post: PRINTING GUIDE.
You can print this using your home printer and A4/Letter paper. I calculated the printing area so that you will be able to use either type of paper to print the pattern out perfectly. Always print the first page first and check with the test square if you are printing at the right scale before you print out the whole pattern – avoid waste of ink and waste of paper, save the earth!
Some PC may print smaller than actual size even when you choose 100% scale – I don’t know why this problem exist, but my HP laptop cannot print true to size. I have to scale up to 103% to get the right size. You may need to check with your PC to see if it prints true to size, if not, scale up a bit.
SEWING INSTRUCTION
You will need
- Fabric of your choice
- Elastic (1in/2.5cm width)
- Scissors, pencil or fabric marker, ruler, pins
- Sewing machine/Serger or needle and thread
- Printed pattern
What fabric can be used for this project? The jogger pants can be made with various fabric – fleece, cotton, flannel you name it.
How much fabric do you need for this piece of garment? To be precise, you may need to check how much fabric you need before buying. It will depend on the selected pattern size, the width, and design of the fabric you plan to use. Just to be sure, print all the paper patterns and lay them out at the width of fabric you plan to use (usually from 90 to 150 centimeters or 35 to 60 inches). Measure how much fabric you will need. Don’t forget to account for pieces that need to be cut multiple times and pieces that are cut on the fold.
For this pattern, you will need to use a sewing machine that has the function to sew stretch fabric (zig zag stitch for example), or use a serger which is designed to sew stretch fabric nicely.
Cutting instruction:
The pattern comes in 6 pieces:
You will see that there are 2 sets of lines on each pattern size. The inner lines are sewing line (and you sew along these lines), and the outer lines are cutting lines (you cut the fabric along these lines, remember the folding lines where you have to fold the fabric before cutting). The distance between sewing line and cutting line is seam allowance, and it varies from point to point. For example, the side seam allowance is about 1/2 inch (1.2cm), and seam allowance at hemline is 1 inch (2.5cm). This is the reason why I do not remove the sewing lines from the pattern. Please use it as a guide to know how much seam allowance you need to give at each seam.
Fabric will be cut into following pieces:
- Front: cut 2
- Back: cut 2
- Pocket Piece: cut 2
- Pocket Lining: cut 2
- Waistband: cut 1 on the fold
- Pant Cuff: cut 2 on the fold
Make sure to mark all notches and other design features such as darts, pleats etc. from the pattern pieces onto your fabric. When sewing the garment, pay attention to notches, they must match up.
Sewing instruction:
1. Serge/zig zag stitch the raw edge to prevent fabric from unraveling.
2. Place a pair of Front and Pocket Lining right side facing, so that the slashed edges of the Pocket Lining and the Front Pant match. Sew along the pocket edge. Staystitch seam allowance toward the Pocket Lining.
3. Place the Pocket Piece and Pocket Lining right side facing, matching the notch on the Pocket Piece. Sew to attach 2 pieces together.
4. Lay the Front and Back right side facing (make sure the pocket lays flat). Pin and sew to join the Front to the Back. Do this with both legs.
5. Sew the inseam of the legs.
6. Turn one leg inside out, put it into the other leg, matching the crotch curve. Pin and sew the crotch curve.
7. Sew two ends of the Waistband. Fold the loop in half so that the seam allowance is hidden inside. Pin the waistband to the main garment (careful with the pocket opening). Sew to join the waistband to the garment, leaving a 2in/5cm opening to insert elastic. Insert elastic and sew to close the opening.
8. Sew two ends of the Pant Cuff. Fold the loop in half with the seam allowance hidden inside. Pin the Cuff to the opening of the pan leg, sew to attach.
Now you get the final garment, easy huh? If you are familiar with the process, you can finish it in just 15 minutes!
And here is the download link:
KID’S JOGGER PANTS (SIZE 12 MONTHS – 6 YEARS OLD)
KID’S JOGGER PANTS (SIZE 7-12 YEARS OLD)
Happy sewing! And don’t forget to share your project on my Facebook page: Tiana’s Closet Sewing Patterns
Tiana
