Fat Quarter February: Knit baby leggings tutorial
February is still feeling very much like winter in our part of the globe, and chilly temperatures outside mean that staying inside with a warm beverage and the whir of a sewing machine to keep us company still sounds like a pretty great idea. If you need a few excuses to stay inside just a little longer yourself right about now, then join us on the Spoonflower blog this month for Fat Quarter February! For this whole month, we'll be inviting guest crafters and bloggers to focus on projects that can be created out of just a quarter yard of fabric. Smaller projects mean that you can act on inspiration when it strikes and enjoy near-instant sewing gratification without getting too bogged down. We’re starting this series today with Anda Corrie's sweet knit baby leggings project. Read on for your adorable project fix below!
Let's make baby leggings! First, you want a stretchy fabric. I’m obsessed with Spoonflower’s interlock knit at the moment— it’s super soft, a little thicker than many jersey knits, and I find it makes awesome baby clothes. The pattern I’ve included for download is for size 6m. If you have a favorite pair of leggings that already fit your child, try folding them in half like the pattern demonstrates and tracing them instead. It will be hard to make any sizes larger than 9m with a fat quarter, however.
Supplies:
- baby leggings pattern
- one fat quarter Sponflower Organic Cotton Interlock Knit fabric
- matching thread
- 17.5” of ¾” wide elastic
Lay the fabric out and fold each end inwards like shown. Cut two pieces of the pattern piece on each fold. From the remaining fabric in the center, cut two 4” x 6.25” rectangles.
Open up the pattern pieces and place with right sides facing. The wider edge is the waistband. Pin from sides of waist to where the fabric makes a point and sew with a straight stitch.
Next, open up the pants so the seams you’ve just sewn are now in the center instead of on the sides. Line up the legs as shown, pin, and sew along the inseam.
Turn leggings right side out. Fold about ¼ - ½” of the waistband over and straight stitch around the top.
I like to stitch the elastic directly to the back of the leggings to keep it in place. After doing this, fold over about 1” of fabric around the elastic and stitch. Be careful not to catch the elastic as you go!
Straight stitch along the short end of each 4x6.25” rectangle, making two little tubes.
Fold them in half like this. And then put them over the bottom of each pant leg, with raw seams all together.
Zig zag stitch around raw seams, turn right side out and you’re all done!
About Our Guest Blogger
Anda Corrie is an American illustrator, Etsy designer, and émigré living in Berlin, Germany with her small family. In her spare time she obsesses over vintage children’s books, makes homemade schnapps, sews tiny dresses that her 4-year-old stubbornly refuses to wear, and draws. Visit her Spoonflower shop for some lovely hand drawn fabric designs and her Etsy shop, Boosterseat.
