Christmas crafting, part 1 -- super-easy pajama pants

Nothing motivates me like a deadline.  I figured the perfect time to start crafting and sewing for Christmas this year would be December 23rd.  Totally reasonable, right?  I mean, I bust out so many sewing projects in the last few hours before Christmas, I wonder why I can't be that productive every day?!  *sigh*

Well, I'll ponder that... some other day.  For now, I wanted to share some sewing projects I completed for my Monkeys.  This project is an old stand-by for me...

Pajama pants for the little boys!

I had lost my favorite pajama pants pattern, so I was really, really glad I had picked up this vintage pattern (1984 - vintage?!) at the thrift store awhile back.

I originally bought it for the adorable robe pattern, but was so happy to see the mega-easy pants pattern included!  These seriously take about 15 minutes to make, from cut to sew to press! 

I added a couple of details to the pants not found in this pattern, like the contrasting cuffs. . . .

Funny story about the cuffs.  Monkey 6 picked out the dragon fabric for pajama pants about 4 years ago, and I just now got around to making the poor kid those pajama pants.  But. . . the fabric was somehow too short for pants now.  Imagine that!  So I decided to extend the pants legs by adding the cuffs.  I loved how that looked!  AND -- I didn't have to hem the pants! 

To make the cuff (sorry, no pics,) I cut a band of contrasting fabric 5" wide, the width of the pants leg (17" in this case) and folded the band in half, wrong sides together.  Press the band, and then with right sides together, sew the band to the bottom of the pants legs.  (You add the cuffs before you sew any side seams or anything else!)  Turn down the cuff, press, and topstitch.  Then just continue with the pattern as usual.  Easy!

The other detail I added. . . .

I'm not even sure what I would call this detail.  I would have originally called this "laziness," but now I see it as pretty darn smart.  When I first started making these pants years ago, I sewed a bit of ribbon or some sort of fabric to the back waistband casing so the little kid wearing said pants would know which side was the back.  And since I usually sewed at night when the kids were asleep, I would leave the casing open at that spot so I could adjust the elastic waistband in the morning, after trying the pants on the kid.  Although I would make the necessary adjustments to the elastic, I was never motivated to actually sew the casing closed.  See?  LAZY.

Time would pass, and my little one would grow a bit, and the waistband would become snug.  Since the casing still had a little opening, all I had to do was let out the elastic a little, or replace it with a longer piece, and now the pants can be worn for a bit longer!

made from stash fabrics and elastic

The boys love them, and have already pulled more fabrics from the stash for even more pairs of pants.  So in a few minutes (not a few years,) I'll be whipping up more pants! 

edited to add:  A few more pairs completed... and yet a few more still to go!  :)

I'm curious -- what is your favorite, quick, go-to craft or sewing project when pressed for time?  I'd love to hear about it, and links to your projects are most welcome!  :)

Coming up next, I'll share a couple of other projects I made for my girls. . . see you then!