Four Pairs of Comfy Pants

My son will only wear what he calls ‘comfy pants’. That basically means pull-on elastic waistband and soft knit material … so basically sweatpants. Most of the options available in stores are functional, but pretty boring. Mama’s sewing machine to the rescue! Having created a ‘collection’ of comfy pants I thought it was time I posted about them.

I started out using Dana’s free pants pattern and crafted this simple lightweight pair using a dark grey cotton knit. I used an old t-shirt for the green pockets.

Then I decided to make a pair with some navy blue stretch corduroy. Instead of the patch pockets, I went with jean-style pockets, which I lined with a blue and white polka dot fabric. I don’t remember where I found the tutorial for the pockets, but I do remember that it took me a few tries to get them done, and they still came out a bit wonky. I also did a flat front this time (elastic only in the back). These pants are super-comfy, but turned out a bit more girly than I had anticipated. I have some of the corduroy left over and I keep thinking that I will make myself a skirt with it. Maybe it’s the sheen of the stretch corduroy or maybe it’s the polka dots. Anyway, The Boy still likes them:) They don’t look quite so shiny in the pictures…and I think they’ve actually gotten better with age.

These were tough to photograph – they are a pretty dark navy blue, a bit darker than they appear in these pictures. But I had fun taking pictures in my garden at sunset:)

After making a couple of these I decided I was ready to actually purchase a pants pattern (how’s that for commitment!). I bought the Parsley Pants pattern from Made by Rae (great pattern by the way, easy to follow instructions with pictures). So then I made these:

and these:

Those last two are my favorites. The brown (sort of an olive drab color actually) pair are made from French Terry, and I used an old (orange) t-shirt to line the pockets and knee patches. And it has both patch pockets and cargo pockets. Sweet!

Somewhat surprisingly, my son loves wearing the red corduroy ones, even though I wouldn’t strictly call them ‘comfy’. It’s a fairly stiff corduroy (no stretch). I added a faux fly to both the french terry and the red corduroy pants, and put a button and belt loops on the corduroy ones. I think they turned out pretty darn cute! And I even added back pockets with a little embroidered flourish:) He wore them caroling on Christmas Eve with a red and grey sweater and looked absolutely darling!

Just this week I let the hem down on the red corduroy ones, after several months of wear. I’m glad that I kept all that length because I swear it seems like he sprouts a couple inches overnight every once in a while. Nice to be getting a few more months out of these pants! Pretty soon it will be time to start on a new set of comfy pants in size 4, and I’ve got a couple of fabrics in my stash waiting for that day.

Parting shot – The Cat crashing a photo shoot:)