Quick Dry Baby Pants

So I have this sewing machine, and it rarely gets used.

However, a while back I read this tutorial on Jessica's Balancing Everything blog, and I though "hey, I can do that!"

My first attempt was ok... not stellar, but ok. After ripping out the waist an re-sewing it, I could kind of put the baby in them, if we weren’t going anywhere.

Then I had this pair of pants that I had really, really loved, until I bent down one day to pick up the baby and heard a rip.

And was very thankful that I was at home when said pants ripped

That is an irreparable rip.

So I decided that I could make the baby a pair of pants out of these, and since we're heading away on our sailing vacation soon, a pair of quick dry pants would probably be beneficial anyway.

(note to Moms: The first time I wore these, the baby had a poop so explosive that it was all over them. After a couple of baby wipes, the mess was cleaned off, and within five minutes, they were already dry. That was one reason why I loved them. Quick dry is not only for canoeing / sailing).


So, a month ago I set out to make my baby a pair of pants and a pair of shorts from the legs of these pants.

I started by tracing a pair of pants and shorts onto craft paper, and then adding in a seam allowance:

Then got ready to cut:

And then promptly lost my nerve, and did nothing for a month.

So, last night I gave myself a good shake, said 'really, what do you have invested? A destroyed pair of pants, and a little time.' EVEN IF they got messed up, really, what did it cost? Nothing. A little thread, that's all.


So I got out my patterns, and traced and cut:

(you can see my print out of the tutorial in the foreground there)

Lined up the two halves:

Sewed:

And voila!

Shorts!

In Jessica's words:

"Shut up! You made pants! How awesome are you?

I do need to tighten up the elastic in the waist a smidge, but otherwise, they look ok.

After finishing the shorts, I also used the rest of the leg to make a full length pair of pants for the Buddy. If you look in the picture above of the pant legs before they're cut, you can kind of see that there's a drawstring around the ankle. There's also a button on the outside, with a tab inside to pull them into capris. I was able to leave all this styling on, so the pants can be tied at the bottom (keep mosquitoes out), or rolled into shorts. As my husband so eloquently described them "So you made cheap a** fashionable pants?" I sure did!

But wait, that does not end the frugality of the evening!! Not only did I sew a pair of shorts AND a pair of pants out of material that cost nothing and was headed to the landfill, the only part that I didn't use for Buddy was the butt part of the pants (which also had a drawstring waist). Well, the other day hubby asked me to make him a drawstring bag.... so, using the top part, I sewed up the bottom, put a quick seam where they had ripped, and... Voila! A bag for all the extra bungee cords and ropes for sailing.  (that took less than three minutes to sew)

I'm not sure if this counts as "inventive," "frugal," "environmentally firendly," or "ridiculously cheap." But whatever, I was proud of my accomplishment.  I saved all but a few scraps from the landfill, and didn't have to buy material (except thread).