Old T-Shirts Become New PJs

A neighbor gave me some old Phineas and Ferb shirts a while back. They were well worn, but I knew I wanted to do something with them. But what?

I've been on a PJ kick lately. They are crazy easy to make, but kind of expensive in the store. My kiddos wear clean ones every night, so we need several pair.

The shirts weren't quite wide enough, so I had to use two for the one pair of PJs. I was lucky I had two very similar shirts. You can use one adult shirt or experiment with up to four - one for each panel - Personally, I think it would be pretty cute.

Anyway, I made these while the boys were in the tub tonight. And Parker put them on right after. I even had him stand up in the tub, so I could get the waist measurement.

Here's how they came out.

Cute. Right?

Here's how I made them. You'll need:

• two t-shirts
• elastic for waistband
• thread and pins
• sewing machine
• a pair of shorts that currently fit (as a pattern)

There are the shirts I used. Great, but there was some fraying at the collar and sleeve.

First line up the hem on the bottom of the first shirt and smooth it out. Then lay the existing shorts on top. This will be your pattern.

My new ones will be a little shorter, but I was okay with that since the Star Wars ones are really long. Cut around your 'pattern' leaving about 1/4 inch for seams. You'll have something like this...

To make sure both sides are even, I used this piece as the pattern for the other side. Flip it over and cut out.

Your pieces will look like this. See why I flipped over the first side before cutting the second?

Now, you're ready to start sewing. Lay the two front pieces on top of each other, right sides together. And sew together leaving the crotch alone. You'll do that last.

Do that to both front and back. Now, you're ready to sew your two pieces together. Pin the edges together making sure to line up the bottom hem. No hemming! Yay! I hate hemming. Sew together and you should have a tube with the crotch open.

Pin the crotch together and sew.

Time for the waistband. Pin down the waistband to make a channel for your elastic. I used 1/4 elastic because it's what I had on hand and I didn't have a lot of fabric to work with.

Since this is t-shirt fabric, it won't fray. Just a simple fold will do. Sew up your channel leaving about an inch in the back to run the elastic through. Cut the length you need and using a safety pin push it through your channel. Sew the ends together and close up the whole.

Done! He thought he needed to pull up the shirt (a Walmart clearance T for $1. I bought about 10 of them a few months back).

Dillon wanted to get in on the action too. He happened to be wearing a pair I made using this method.

Are they cute? Or what?
http://mommybydaycrafterbynight.blogspot.com" target="_blank">http://i1233.photobucket.com/albums/ff384/ashleysharee/NewTa-DaTuesdayButton.jpg" />