Pirate Pants! (a tutorial)

Monday, May 14, 2012

These pants are one of those things I have been meaning to make for way too long (like most projects I make). When I bought this red and white striped fabric from ikea all I could think of was making funny pirate pants with them! And now that I did, I know it was the right choice. ;)


I decided to make a tutorial for these pants, but I really didn't want to make a whole tutorial about making the pants. To be honest, the internet is already excessively saturated with basic tutorials that are awesome. I'll refer you to made, which is where I got the pattern and instructions for basic pants. I make the flat-front ones, and I've made my own larger pattern pieces based off of Dana's. But like I said, I don't have anything more to say or any better way to say it, so why waste my time? So this is just the tutorial for the zig-zag hem!


What you need:


supplies and instructions from Dana's pants tutorial
a chunk of plain white fabric (12" X 6" or so) **mine is light blue, I didn't have any white!
sewing machine
scissors
pinking shears (optional, but recommended)
a turning tool (or something to push out the corners
iron
ironing board


How to make it:


Start off by cutting your pattern pieces out of the fabric. Instead of making them full length, make them somewhere between that and shorts length. Sew them all up except for the hem.


For the hem, you'll need your white fabric. Cut it into four strips that are as wide as the pant legs (with seam allowance) and about 2 1/2 inches long. Pair them up and sew them on both sides so they are the same size as the bottom of each pant leg.




With the pants turned right side out and the white (or blue-ish in my case) tubes wrong-side out, put the two together (right sides facing each other). You can pin them at the top if you like to be careful about these things.




Carefully sew large zig-zags along the bottom of the pants (through the white layer & the pants), making sure to secure the seam at the beginning and end. I recommend using a fairly short stitch length here.




Even more carefully, use your pinking shears to trim along the seams. You don't want any bulk so get fairly close to your stitches without breaking them. Trim corners nice and close as well.




Now turn the zig-zags out. Use a turning tool or some other blunt, pointy object to push out each point.




Mine are far from perfect, but it doesn't much matter. Pirates aren't the most tailored bunch anyways, right? Use your iron to press the zig-zags nice and flat. You'll probably have some wrinkles, so do your best to let the inside fabric be wrinkly and have the outside flat.




Finally, turn the pants inside out and press the unfinished edge of your white fabric under. Sew along the edge of it to finish your hem and that's that!




If you want your zig-zags to be extra sturdy, I would suggest topstitching along them. Since these pants are just for play, I decided to skip that step!


And now put them on your child who may insist on wearing these pants everywhere. :)




I'm hoping to have a fun pirate shirt or vest (or both!) coming up to complete the outfit soon!

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