Capri/legging tutorial

We all want those comfy leggings or form fitted leggings right? They are comfy, move with you and oh so cute! Well what if I told you that you could make your very own pair that are fitted for your body and your body only? Seems too good to be true right? wrong! It is so simple to do that you can make them in about a half hour, yeah you heard right 30 MINUTES! Great nap time project at least in my world!

What you will need:

1-1 1/2 yards of fabric, I am an XS and made these with just under a yard of fabric

a sewing machine

cutting mat

ruler

construction paper or cardstock

marker 

yard stick

& last but not least 30 minutes of free time

Step 1: Grab a pair of your all time favorite shorts, construction paper and a marker. You are going to trace around your shorts to create the top of your pattern, It should look something like this when you are done:

Step 2: For this step you can use a yardstick or a measuring tape, I just knew where my yardstick was and found it first, life with kids I tell you! Now sit down on the floor and measure your inseam, this should go from your crotch to the point in which you want your pants to end.

Step 3: From here you are going to take the pattern piece you made for the top of your pants, your yard stick and the fabric you want your pants to be out of and cut your piece out. Make sure that your stretch is going width wise and not length wise or you will never be able to put your pants on. If you want your pants wide legged you don't need to create an angle with your yardstick I just like mine to be form fitting :) (you may notice that there is some new writing on the bottom right hand corner of my pattern piece, I write my inseam measurements on the pattern for both capris and pants so I don't have to measure everytime, mommy brain can be killer sometimes!)

Step 4: Once you have cut out one leg it is easier to cut your second by cutting around the first leg but you are more than welcome to try and duplicate it by setting out the pattern top and yardstick again! You should have something that looks like this now, 2 pant legs:

Step 5: Flip each leg so that the right sides are facing each other, take your pant legs one at a time to your sewing machine and use a straight stitch to stitch down the side of the legs. You should have something that looks like this once you have finished this step:

Step 6: Now you need to flip one of your legs rightside out so that the pretty side of the facing out, you will take this leg and put it inside the leg that is still wrong sides together, You should have something that looks like this once you have done so:

Step 7: Now you need to take your legs to the sewing machine and stitch your crotch. I use a straight stitch to go all the way around and then a zig zag stitch about 3-4 inches down on both sides around the crotch for reinforcement. You should have something that looks like this:

Step 8: Now you will need to pull your one leg out from inside the other so you can hem your pant legs. I fold mine in about an inch and then straight stitch as close to the selvage as I can. You should have something that looks like this:

Step 9: You will now need to create your waistband. I already know my measurement for that so I didn't measure but if you don't know your measurement you can use a tape measure to figure it out or if you don't have one of those you can use a piece of elastic. For the elastic you wrap it around your waist and keep the no selvage edge pinched so you can measure it on your cutting mat or with your yard stick! Once you cut that out you should have something that looks like this (mine is folded in half, so it is actually double that length):

Step 10: Sew your waistband to your pants. You will need to stretch it to fit! 

Finally! Enjoy your new workout pants, leggings, lounge pants whatever you decided to make! I bet they look amazing! Congrats on drafting your own pants :) Please forgive my photo bombing 16 month old and pups, they wanted to be a part of this tutorial unlike my 3 year old who is watching movies LMAO!