Flannel-Lined Kids’ Pants

posted in: Sewing | 0

Kids grow like weeds, and to add insult to injury, somehow my son manages to tear ALL OF HIS PANTS at the knee, usually the right knee. Between that and the crazy fast growth, my son seems to be perpetually out of pants. That usually isn’t a problem during summer when he can wear shorts as his waist seems to grow far less rapidly than his legs. But in winter, it’s a problem.

Last year we bought him a pair of flannel-lined jeans, which he wore to death. This year, of course, they are too short.

 

 

I’ve mentioned in other posts about how ready to wear pants are usually too big on his waist if they are long enough not to look like capri pants, so in order to avoid having to choose between pants that are the right length or the right width, I decided I’d make the lined pants myself.

I chose a regular pattern from Ottobre Design, 4/2015 model 39. They are just cargo pants without lining; I thought I’d just whip up a lining for them and call it good.

 

 

This proved to be not as easy as I thought. I had this idea in my head of how it was going to work out reality is often far more complicated than our imagination. For starters, I didn’t even think about how I’d go about lining pants that have a fly front zipper.

I looked for tutorials online but every tutorial for lined pants was for elastic waist pull on pants with no closures. That was not going to do at all.

So I essentially made it up as I went. It actually turned out OK, but it was definite a learning experience.

 

 

I knew that I didn’t want to just flat-line the pants and have the seams showing. I wanted the lining to be separate and the seams to be between the lining and the outside fabric. This posed a challenge for the zipper portion.

 

 

I used his old pair of lined jeans as a guide (without taking them apart) but that didn’t help much.

To complicate matters, I gave myself a challenge: I’d make this dang pair pants from beginning to end in just one day. I did manage that, it took me exactly 12 hours with a lunch and dinner break included. I spent much of that time tinkering with construction methods, and it put me off sewing for a week. It all worked out in the end and I’m pretty happy with the result, so I suppose all is well that ends well.

 

 

The pattern itself is nice. As I’ve mentioned before, Ottobre’s drafting is spot on. I did leave out the back pockets and the cargo pockets.

The fabric is some light/medium weight denim from my stash and the lining is cuddle flannel from Joann’s, both of which I washed before cutting the pattern pieces. I did that, as I do with all my fabric, to have the fabric shrink if it’s going to shrink before I make garments rather than after. I was worried that once I washed the pants the fabrics would continue to shrink in different ways and warp the whole thing but that didn’t happen. Phew!

 

 

The best part, of course, is that the pants fit him around the waist and they are the right length, so all said, they are a success.

 

Here you can see the lining peeking through.

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