leggings

Tell me you haven't had this happen...

You're down at the public library for storytime. You've made your little girl the cutest twirl skirt and she's dressed up in it, and twirling, and generally beyond adorable. You're standing there talking to the other parents when you hear everyone start to gasp and laugh. With that oh-no-is-it-my-child feeling of dread, you turn around to see your daughter, behind the storytime lady, standing on her head. And yes, she did wear the electric blue panties today.

As far as I can tell, there are a couple of solutions here. You can see if you can find a finishing school that will take an early admission, or you can whip up some leggings to go under the skirt. What's great about these leggings is that they don't have a side seam, they're made from knit so you don't have to worry about finishing the seams (unless you want to), and they're easy enough to be an afterthought. Which they will be once you see those electric blue panties in public.

Here's the process for sewing them once you've got the pattern designed and the fabric cut out:

1) Hem each leg.

2) Add any embellishment you want near the hem. I've used 1" strips of the jersey fabric I used for the leggings, gathered down the middle and applied to each leg.

3) Sew each inseam.

4) Turn one leg inside out, and put the right-side-out leg down inside it, so that you end up with the whole crotch seam right sides together, matching the center fronts, center backs, and inseams. Sew the crotch seam.

5) Turn the waistline casing to the inside and sew it down. With knits, you don't even have to turn the bottom of the casing to the inside. (Unless you want to.) Leave a couple of inches open for the elastic.

6) Insert elastic into casing, overlap ends, stitch them together. Sew the opening you left closed. Sew down the middle of the elastic, around the waistband, stretching the fabric just enough to straighten the wrinkles.

That's it! It couldn't be simpler to add a touch of modesty to your visits to the library. (Do let me know if you find that finishing school, though...)

Click on the picture to download the free instructions.

Enjoy!

~Erin

Comments

[Diane]

All I can say is better electric blue than dingy white with worn out elastic... oh yeah, been there and please don't ask. The mere memory is scarring.

Enneehoo.... looking forward to making these for my 19yo daughter who has Down syndrome!

[lindakay gwin]

well at least she had on panties

[children's fashion workshop]

This is an extremely good point. Thank you for pointing out the bright side!
~E~