Contrast-Cuff Lounge Pants in Fanfare Flannel

fanfare elephant lounge pants In addition to the Quick Release Scarf, I made a tiny little pair of lounge pants for the littlest member of our family!  I used the same elephants as the scarf, plus some of the delicious pennants in a coordinating color (thanks, Cloud9!).  She looooves them, and insisted on going all Super Model on me when I took these photos. lounging in fanfare by rae hoekstra I can hardly even talk about how easy it is to sew with this flannel.  It clings to itself in just the right way, so I didn’t use a single pin in making these pants.  I swear, they went together so quickly and so simply that it literally took me longer to thread my serger than it took to make this entire pair of pants–including the contrast cuff. pennants in fanfare flannel Of course, maybe if I’d slowed down juuuust a little, I would have avoided my one glaring mistake.  Anyone want to be the first to point it out? size 3 flannel lounge pants in fanfare Um, yeah.  EVERY SINGLE ONE of those sweet little elephants is UPSIDE DOWN.  Oy.  That’s what happens when you get your sew-jo moving and start a project at 10 pm.  You don’t notice the..ahem…tiny details.  Luckily, my child likes that they’re facing the wrong way–as she said, “Mommy, look, they’re smiling at me!”  Thank heaven for the forgiveness of children.  We should all be so gracious and kind. fanfare flannel pants w contrast cuffs I used a Simplicity pattern for these, which included the pattern for the contrast cuff.  I very nearly made the size 4 for this 3+ year old, and then remembered (even in my late-night haze) that for whatever ridiculous reason, Big 4 patterns for children are ludicrously oversized in almost all circumstances.  This child is dead 50% percentile for height and weight, and these pants are pretty big on her.  I already pre-washed my flannel, so it isn’t going to shrink much (see more about shrinking flannel in Kathy’s recent post on the Pink Chalk blog).

happy faces and flannel lounge pants | fanfare

Luckily, I could easily shorten the waistband elastic to fit her better, and because the cuffs here are folded double–they’re cut as a rectangle that’s the width of the full pants leg (front and back) and the double the height of the finished cuff, so they’re sewing to the pants leg, the opposite edge is pressed over, and then they’re folded in half and topstitched in place, all of which means there’s no wrong side to the cuffs–it’s pretty easy to fold them up this year and leave them long next year.  My children have all been such skinnies that we get way more than a single year’s worth of use out of pants, so long as we can keep them out of the mud! mock ribbon tie on fanfare flannel pants The waistband has a sweet little mock tie from some scrap ribbon I found in a drawer, sewn on using a similar method to the one Dana uses here.  The waist casing itself is double folded and threaded with 3/4″ knit elastic. contrast cuff on fanfare flannel pants | whipstitch Up close, the flannel is every lick as soft as it is in real life, where it is amazing to the touch.  Am I going on and on about how soft it is?  Because I am a sucker for flannel anyway, so I just keep looking for more ways to incorporate it into my life.  I’ve already got flannel relaxing eye masks and flannel boudoir drawer scent sachets, and flannel jammies and flannel sheets.  Now I need a whole flannel wardrobe for myself! fanfare flannel with ribbon tie I mean, for real.  Could you not wear something this comfy ALL DAY?  My toes would curl, too, kiddo. made by unicorns Plus, they’re made by unicorns!!  (Labels from here.) edge stitching on waistband I used my standard elastic waist treatment (like in this tutorial), where I stitch the casing at the lower edge, then edge stitch very close to the upper waistline edge.  Once the elastic is inserted, I also sew up and down IN the side seam on both sides to prevent the elastic from rolling inside the casing.  Because dude, doesn’t that drive you NUTS? folded cuffs on fanfare lounge pants for kids See what I’m saying about the length?  We’re totally getting another year out of these bad boys. silly faces in fanfare flannel She seems pretty jazzed about it, too.  Thanks again to Rae for sharing this sweetness with me!  These flannels are legit, y’all.  No lie.

cloud9fanfare

See more projects using this fabric throughout the blog parade over on Rae’s blog!

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  • gail
    October 1, 2013 at 12:04 am

    those are adorable, upside-down elephants and all! what can you expect from unicorns, really?? this flannel really is divine!

    • Deborah
      October 1, 2013 at 10:40 am

      Those unicorns need to check into their quality control, right?? 🙂

      The flannel really is totally dreamy! Am so glad I bought massive yardage for the rest of the family before it sells out everywhere…

  • Rae
    October 1, 2013 at 10:36 am

    Ok, first of all, MADE BY UNICORNS?? LOVE. IT.

    Second, think of it this way: when she looks down, the elephants are right-side-up to her, right??

    🙂

    Thanks so much for sewing along with Fanfare!! Love your posts.

    • Deborah
      October 1, 2013 at 10:39 am

      Haha! She totally thinks I did it on purpose, so she can look at the elephants’ faces. Whew! 🙂

      Thanks again for having me–I had so much fun!

  • Kathryn
    October 1, 2013 at 1:15 pm

    Sewing the elastic at the side seams – you just blew my mind. And saved me, oh, 30 minutes each week spent wrestling upside-down elastic back into position in my girl’s skirts.

    Also- can you share the Simplicity pattern #?

    • Deborah
      October 1, 2013 at 1:19 pm

      That elastic thing IS a game-changer. I was a grown adult before I ever figured that out, and it is worth the extra, oh, 6 seconds it takes to sew it in! Glad you like!

      I actually just looked, and it’s really a Stitch N Save (by McCall’s). The pattern number is M6633; came out last year or so, I think. Girls’ kimono-style pajama top and nightgown plus a pants pattern with the contrast cuff!

  • Sarah
    October 2, 2013 at 8:43 am

    Those are adorable. I’m eyeing this flannel for Christmas PJs this year. The pants pattern you used is also very similar to the one included in Sewing for Boys. I actually used the pattern from that book for both my boy and girl’s jammies last year, and they loved them.

  • Quick Release Scarf in Fanfare by Rae Hoekstra | Whipstitch
    September 1, 2014 at 11:34 pm

    […] to Rae and Cloud9 for the fabric!  Be sure to check out the comfy lounge pants I made for our littlest from this same flannel, […]