How to make kids jeans...skinny bright blue jeans in particular!

I apologize for the picture overload, but I can't help it. He is DANG cute, dirty, but cute. He is so funny too, he would pop his dad's sunflower seeds in his mouth and spit them out whole off the back of the truck. I couldn't resist posting about it. He is actually wearing his elastic mickey mouse watch I fixed and the thrifted shoes that we made like new (which aren't so clean anymore).

Anyway, making these kids jeans took me only a few hours and I know for next time I can do it even faster and make some improvements too....thats how easy it was. Now because there is a long list of instructions, I had to hide most of them in the next page, I don't want to miss any of the details. Next time....I'm going to aim for adult jeans. Hm? Maybe it will work. 

Supplies:

Jean material - amour depends on the size - I used a half a yard and it barely worked

Current jeans that fit  - this is what you get the pattern from

Velcro (or zipper or buttons)

Thread

Scissors

Sewing machine

fabric marker or chalk

pins

Instructions:

 

1. Line up and mark a pair of jeans onto jean material. Make sure the grain is matched up between all the cutting, and make sure is the jean material has any stretch that is is running from right to left. Also, one of the front pieces needs to incorporated 3 inches in the front middle for the velcro/zipper/button part for one side and an extra inch on the other front middle for the other side of the velcro/zipper/button part. I wanted them to be skinny and longer, so I cut them into a more skinny leg shape. I also marked the pockets as well by just tracing over top of the pants.

2. Cut! You will have 4 leg pieces, and 2 pocket pieces. The back two pieces should have a bit more length to it, for diaper/bum/comfort reasons. I made sure to cut these pieces out of paper first, so if I like dhow it turned out I could make more.

3. Sew the pockets in a quarter of an inch on the sides and bottom, then roll in twice at the top. Topstitch how you like.

4. Serge (when I say serge, you don't need a serger, you can easily zig zag stitch or something like that down the raw edge to create an edge that won't fray) and together the back two pieces.

5. Then top stitch the outside. I double topstitch to make it look like jeans and to sew the served edge down.

6. Pin and sew on the pockets. Make sure not to sew the top of the pockets! 

7. Pin, sew, and serge the two from pieces RST (right sides together, the front of the fabric on all 4 pieces are touching).

8. Iron and topstitch the outside, here I also did a double line for the jean affect.

9. This part is tricky (partially because I was learning as well as I went a long and learned how to do it right after I tried it the wrong way). Here I would have originally add 3 extra inches (instead of one) to the front middle piece of one side, while the other had an extra one inch. The way I did it involved sewing an extra 1.5 inch piece (making sure the the end further away from the middle is served or sewn under) to the extra 1 inch and sewed it like the picture, making sure to add the velcro before I ironed the flap over and topstitched it down. If I had added 3 inches here, which I would do next time, is do basically the same thing, but there is no extra sewing a flap into it step.

10. Serge the other front middle part.

11. Sew a 1 to 1.5 inch straight stitch down with the non velcro (not yet anyway) side WST (wrong sides together, the inside part of the fabric) overlapped a quarter of an inch.

12. Then, open the pants up so the what you just sewed is in the middle of the pants. Fold under and over the raw edge of velcro side a half inch concealing the previously sewn 1 inch and double topstitch it down. 

13. Match up where the other piece of velcro would go and and sew it in.

14. Sew and serge the inner seams of the legs.

15. Topstitch the outside. This part can get tough because the legs are so tiny. I just inched my way all the way to almost the bottom, then turned them around and finished the job.

16. Cut out a long piece for the waist band, 2 inches wide. Hem one side under.

17. Pin the band's out side, or right side, to the pant's inside, or wrong side. and sew.

18. Fold the piece over, iron and topstitch the top and bottom of the band.

19. Add a button in the middle front of the pants. I didn't do that, but will very soon.

20. Cut out a 3 to 5 (I need to add 2 more in the front by the velcro) little pieces that are 1 inch longer than the waist line for seam allowance and at least 1.5 to 2 inches wide. Fold and sew the width in half (hot dog style) and iron down the sewn part in the middle. Top stitch the long edges. The middle serged part will be hidden once sewn on. 

21. Sew the belt loops on where you want….first sew the bottom raw edge RST, then fold over to the top of the waist line and fold the belt loop under and topstitch it down, then top stitch the bottom down. Super quick to do.

22. cut the bottom so it is even and hem.