PJs or Streetwear? How to Make DIY Cropped Pants Out of a Slip Dress

Tools and materials:

• Oversized slip dress
• Sewing machine (with a serger)
• Scissors
• Pins
• Pants
• Tailors wax
• Zipper (optional)
• Seam ripper
• Eyelets
• Eyelet pliers
• Interfacing 
• String

This is part 2 of nana’s nightgown, where I started out with a 3X sized nightgown, and in part 1 I made a super simple DIY camisole top.

My plan for these babies is to do a wide-legged, cropped pant using the lace that’s on the side. I’ll be using the extra fabric to make a waistband. 

1. Trace a pair of pants

I started off by taking a pair of pants that I already have and like the fit of to pattern out these new pants.

Since this skirt already has two side seams and those lace slits, I’m not going to mess around with them; I’m going to keep them how they are.

So that means I’ll need to trace the front rise on the front of the fabric, and the back rise on the back of it, repeating for the other leg. 

I folded my pants in half and then laid the skirt on top with both of the side seams matching up. I also left myself a little bit of space at the side because I didn’t want them to be as baggy as my other pants.

Then, I traced that same shape of that front rise with fabric chalk, giving myself a good inch of seam allowance.

Next, I flipped the pants and the fabric over and did the same method on the back but using the back rise to trace instead.

I trusted myself enough to do it this way, but if you’re a first-timer or just want to do things the right way, I recommend drawing your pattern on paper first and then transferring it to your fabric. 

2. Cut out the pattern

I cut out the front and the back separately on those lines that I just traced and cut straight all the way down to the bottom.

Then, I pinned each of those newly cut-out rises to the other side of the skirt to cut out the other pant leg.

3. Sew the pants

With those rises pinned together, I made straight stitches to connect them. I also took them in at the top a little bit to fit me better because I added just a little bit too much seam allowance before.

With those stitched together, I sewed the inside seams on each leg, all the way to the bottom, and then finished off all of those inside seams with a serge stitch.

4. Add the waistband

Now to add the waistband, I’m just taking some of the excess fabric and sewing it right sides together to the top of the pants. Then I’m serging the inside raw edge and the very top edge as well.

5. Add interfacing

At first, I added a zipper for closure, but this didn’t work out well. So I removed the zipper, and instead, I decided on a lace-up front closure by using eyelets.

I first seam ripped out a few inches for the front rise.

I knew I needed to add some interfacing to stabilize this fabric for my lace-up idea to work. So, I pressed the raw edges under and stitched some interfacing right on that outer edge; this helps to stabilize those unsecured flaps.

6. Hem

At this stage, I can now hem the top just by folding it over once at stitching all the way around. I also serged off the uneven excess on the inside.

7. Add eyelets

Then I could start adding eyelets. I measured an equal distance between each one, marked that with a tiny dot, then cut a little opening just big enough to push the eyelet through while the material would still be tight around it. 

I used my eyelet pliers to crimp the back down and secure the eyelets in place. After they were all done, I laced an old hoodie strong through turning out to look like this…

DIY cropped pants tutorial

Here we have the finished DIY cropped pants, originally a large nana’s nightgown. So what’s the verdict - pajamas or streetwear?

I’m very curious to know what you think because I personally have a hard time styling them. So would you only wear them inside the house? Or if you would wear them outside, what would you style them with? Let me know in the comments below.