Pregnancy Miracle: Home-made Maternity Pants

Not comfortable.

Comfortable

                Do you see these maternity pants?!  (And the preggo belly?)  I made those … this is where I could say, “all by myself,” but that would be a lie.  My mom helped me because she is awesome like that, and we enjoy sewing stuff together.  (And AJ helped with the belly, but anyway. . .)  Maternity pants have always been a nightmare for me.  1. They are WAY too expensive for the short amount of time that you wear them.  2. If you can find a cheap pair, they are just plain ugly.  3. The pairs with the waist-band are beyond uncomfortable.  AND … I am sure that I could come up with more if I tried.

Least embarrassing picture I could find.

                My first pregnancy I just endured the horrible pants until I was 34 weeks, and then I just wore pajama pants everywhere.  I had no shame.  But this time around I wanted to be comfortable, but I also wanted to be cute and confident.  And pajama pants didn’t fit the “cute and confident” agenda.  So, I did some research and stumbled across home-made maternity pants tutorials- GENIUS!!  Check them out!  Here, and here.  :)  This was going to be too easy, and it was.

are cool too. :)

Samuel's pants . . .

                I went to Saver’s and bought 3 pairs of cute pants that were 2 sizes larger that my pre- pregnancy pants.  I was already over 30 weeks along so it was super easy to find pants that would fit me comfortably WHILE I was pregnant.  I think it is a lot harder to shop for maternity clothes before you are big.  Because you never know how big, or not big, you are going to get.  My suggestions when picking out pants are; make sure the legs and waist are loose enough.  You don’t want the portion of the pants that goes around your waist and butt to be too tight, because then you have the same problem there was with the regular maternity pants.  And the legs need to be loose because the swelling in your legs will fluctuate, so you will need to be accommodating. So, now I had my pants.

I wouldn't go smaller than 18".

I should have done 23" or 25".

                For the belly band portion of the home-made maternity pants, I chose to purchase about a yard of stretchy, white material from JoAnn’s, but you can use an old t-shirt.  Check out this tutorial HERE, if you are interested in using a t-shirt.  This is the part where my Momma helped me.  We cut the fabric into three 18 inch panels.  (My panels were 18 inches high by 60 inches long, but I wanted my belly band to be doubled, for extra durability.  So I folded them in half to be 18 inches high by 30 inches long.)  Then we hemmed one of the 30 inch sides on all three panels.  Then we sewed the two short sides together creating a circular belly band.  I tried it on my preggo belly and it was awesome- I was so excited!

Hemmed and sewed together.

6" measurement.

                To start, we had to remove the belt loops off all of the pants.  Then we cut off the waist band from the back side of the pants.  On the front side we measured 6 inches up from the cross seam in the crotch of the pants and marked our measurement with a small line.  Next we connected the line we just drew to the cut at the waist band on both sides.  (It is optional but you can leave the zipper in the pants or take it out at this point.  If you take it out though you are going to have to sew the fly shut.  I chose to just leave the zipper, and I forget it is even there.)  Now we had a pair of jeans with a scoop shaped cut out in the front, perfect for a preggo belly.  Please check out the links for pictures- they are very helpful!

Inside

Seam

Outside

                Next, I put on a belly band, adjusted it to where I wanted it, and slipped on a pair of jeans over that.  I chose to have the belly bands on my jeans come up practically to my bra.  I decided this because I didn’t want to be continually pulling it up if it slipped down my belly, and it would give my pants more support.  Pregnant bodies are the perfect shape for pants to slip right down and I do NOT like that.  Anyway, I adjusted the jeans to where they fit comfortably and my Mom marked where the top of the jeans met the belly band with little dots.  I took off the jeans and the belly band, and we pinned then together according to the marks on the band.  (Pin them right side to right side.)  Lastly, we sewed them together, cut off any access material from the belly band and WA LA!!  We had a pair of home-made maternity jeans- that are comfy and cute!