How to make baby & toddler leggings without a pattern.

This is a very easy-peasy way of making leggings for a small person. They look great and cost a fraction of the brand names!

Step 1. Buy a pair of leggings from the opshop. I found a pair of red and black stripped girl's size 12, for a mere $2. Score.

Step 2. Lay a pair of leggings [preferably] that are the size you want to make, on top of those you have now. Because babies have nappy bottoms, their crotch is about half the length of the pants. In this case, her size 0 pants have the same crotch length as the girl's 12. Check how much stretch is in the original pants and how it compares to the fabric you are using. In this case the strech was 1:1 so I didn't need to adjust. If the stretch in the new fabric is less than the old fabric, then add more length to the crotch area. The same applies to width.

Step 3: Cut out your new leggings. Its best to cut so that the waistband of the old pants becomes the waistband of the new ones, it saves on new materials and also makes the whole thing go quicker. IN the picture you can see I've made the new pair bigger than the old pair. Some reasons for this are that you need to allow enough to sew [seam allowance] as well as to hem on the bottom [hem allowance] I allowed an extra cm on the bottom of the legs and .5 cm around the edge for mine because I am sewing them with an overlocker. I also wanted them to be a bit bigger than the original leggings because she is growing fast and has very long legs for her age.

Step 4: Sew inside leg seams. I used the old seams here so I didn't need to sew them, but if you don'e mae these from old leggings or if you use a larger pair and need to cut them more than I did, you'll need to do this now.

Step 5: Edge the bottom of the legs. If you are using a sewing machine [not an overlocker] do this with a zigzag, or equivalent. You can also turn the edge up and sew it to form the cuff at this point.

Step 6: Sew side leg seams. Ensure that you double stitch the elastic at the top if you cut it like mine. If not, now is the time to make a casing and add elastic. 

Step 7: Put them onto a cute little wiggly baby. She is now crawling and wouldn't sit still for me to take a picture of her. Forward is much more interesting than pause!

There is enough of the old leggings left to make her a pair of babylegs but she's too active for them to stay on, so I'm going to save the off cuts to make myself some leg warmers!

Here are some other baby pants patterns and tutorials on the web.

Free simple baby pants with pattern @ www.make-baby-stuff.com

Baby Leg & arm warmers @ www.everythingyourmamamade.com

Make Baby tights @ www.made-by-rae.com [these don't have to be just for girls, make them a little loose for boys and they're great to keep little feet warm, especially at night]