Pandiola Lane: "Hemming" Toddler Pants

My little 21 month old girl is on the short side (takes after her mama) and pants that fit over her cloth diapers are sometimes too long. I LOVE these leopard/cheetah? pants but they always drag on the floor and rolling up the bottoms doesn't last long. So I whipped out my elastic thread and "hemmed" them.

This is the stand-there-and-smile-while-I-take-your-picture pose. She's so patient with me!

After removing the pants from the child (important step) I marked 3 inches up from the hem with a pin on all 4 seams. No real reason for that measurement other than it looked like the right amount.

With elastic thread in the bobbin (go here for tips on using elastic thread) and tan thread on top, I started shirring rows parallel to the seams. I tried to stitch in the ditch but realized it wasn't really worth it because the fabric was too think

It's hard to see in my iPhone photos but that's 2 rows on either side of the seam. I just turned the pants around so I could zig zag back and forth without cutting the thread for every tiny room. Make sure you go forward and back at the beginning of each new row so it doesn't unravel at some point.

Here is looking at the leg after I only did the left side of the pant leg. I guess if you want it "hemmed" more, sew higher up the leg.

* I just knew I was going to make this mistake and indeed I did. Sewed right through to the other side of the pants. Yup. All the while telling myself to make sure I wrote about how you should be careful not to do this. And after I took this picture of my mistake, I did it again. Mommy should not sew after teaching ALL day long. Seriously!

Moving on...

I didn't like how the front and back of the pant leg hung down from the sides so I did two rows of shirring on the front and back (in a U shape). Much better!

This is just a comparison shot of the shirred and un-shirred legs.

Hit it with some steam to shirk the elastic thread so it's more gathered.

Here's a blurring shot of the inside. My elastic thread in navy blue. See the U shape there on the left side? That's the middle of the front/back of the leg.