pj pants cuff how-to

in my continuing quest to make clothes for my girls that will fit for longer than a week, i'm always looking for ways to make things so that they will be easily altered later. while putting together pj pants for them this weekend, i decided that making a cuff at the bottom of the pants is a genius idea. it can be tacked up for now, and then let down when the pants become too short. of course, this supposes that they will be outgrowing length before width, but that does seem to be the way things generally work around here anyway. and it's really simple to do. (yay!)

1. cut a piece of fabric for the cuff that is twice the height you want the cuff to be plus about one inch. the width should be the same as the bottom of the pants.

2. fold the cuff fabric right sides together and stitch using same seam allowance as the pants.

3. pin the cuff fabric inside the pant leg, right sides together and sew.

4. press seam towards cuff.

5.fold up bottom of cuff about 1/2" and press.

6. fold cuff up so that the pressed edge meets the seam where you attached the two fabrics and pin.

7. topstitch close to top edge of cuff.

8. turn pants right-side-out and fold up cuff.

9. on the inside and outside of the pant leg, stitch cuff to pants at the top edge of cuff (either hand sew or use a long stitch on your machine).

and there you go... pants that are ready to be longer whenever you need. fabulous? i think yes.