Make lounge pants with this free men’s pajama sewing pattern and sewing tutorial. The DIY instructions include video for beginners.
Hey y’all, today I’m sharing a mens pajama pants pattern and tutorial. Best of all, you can make these DIY lounge pants with a free sewing pattern! I’m also including both a video and written tutorial which makes this a perfect sewing project for beginners to working with stretch fabrics.
Every year for the last 8 years I’ve made pajamas for my kids and their cousins, and then we take a picture of them in their matching PJs for their grandparents for Christmas. As some of the cousins are now teens, we’re getting into adult sizes and it was time to sew up a mens pj pants pattern. My kids and their cousins prefer the comfort of stretch knit fabric, so this year I used cotton spandex solid color knit to make their pants. I also added side seam pockets and an optional drawstring to the elastic waistband of these. And then I tested my first pair on the Coach, since he’s a better sport than the grumpy teenage kids.
Pajama Pants Sizing
The free pajama pattern I’m sharing in this post is a men’s size medium, drafted for waist 31-34 inches and hips 37-40 inches with a 31 inch inseam and 3-4 inches of ease at the hips. I also share how to re-size these pants in the video tutorial. If instead you’d like to make these for women, you likely can, just adapt to the measurements needed. The chart below references men’s measurements so you can size up or down as needed. The measurements in the charts are the largest measurement for each size and are listed in inches.
| Small | Medium | Large | XL | 2X | |
| Waist | 30 | 34 | 38 | 42 | 46 |
| Hips | 36 | 40 | 43 | 46 | 50 |
Materials to Make Pajama Pants
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To make your own men’s pajama pants, you’ll need the following materials:
- 1 1/3 yards of 58/60″ wide stretch knit. Note that this pattern is drafted for stretch fabrics, so if you want to use a woven fabric like flannel instead I suggest you size up 1 size.
- 1 to 1 1/2 yards of 1 inch wide elastic, depending on your size. You’ll need elastic equal to the waist measurement for the size you’re sewing.
- If you’d like to add a drawstring, then you need twill tape or grosgrain ribbon equal to the length of the waist for the size below the one you’re making. If you’re sewing a size small, use 26 inches of twill tape or ribbon.
- Sewing machine that can sew a stretch stitch, needle, thread, etc.
- Safety pin or bodkin (affiliate link) to install elastic and drawstring
- The pattern (see below)
If you’ve never sewn with stretch fabrics before. you might want to check out these posts. This one will help you choose the right knit fabric. Check this post for help with stretch stitches. And this one will help you when you get to the pants hems.
How to Get the Free Pajama Pants Pattern
As has been noted above, the pattern for these pj pants is a men’s size medium with re-sizing instructions.
To get this pattern, you must either be a free newsletter subscriber or have purchased a gallery access pass. Then click your preferred option from the buttons below. Existing newsletter subscribers should look at the bottom of the most recent Friday newsletter for the current free pattern gallery password. If you purchased the all access pass you’ll log in to your shop account to download the pattern. Note that the free version of the pattern does not have printable instructions so you’ll need to refer to this post for instructions.
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Video Tutorial for PJ Pants Pattern
Print the PJ pants pattern using this post if you need printing help. Then, to sew up your pj pants, check out the video below or on YouTube here. You can also scroll past the video for a written instruction summary.
Lounge Pants Written Sewing Instructions
Time needed: 1 hour
How to Sew Adult Pajama Pants
- Cut out the pattern
Cut 2 front legs, 2 back legs, and 4 pockets. Make sure you’ve cut mirror images. Also cut two 12 inch by 1 inch pieces of fabric parallel to the selvedge edge for the drawstring ties.
- Sew the crotch seams
Place the pants fronts right sides together. Stitch the curved center front crotch seam. Leave a 1/2 – 3/4 inch wide gap in the seam about 2 inches down from the raw waist edge. This gap will eventually be for the drawstring, and you can skip it if you don’t want a drawstring. Repeat with back pieces, but omit leaving a gap.
- Sew pockets
Open the front of the pants and place pocket pieces right sides together with the side seams, Make sure they are 1 1/2 inches below the waist edge, and then stitch the pockets to the side seams. Repeat with pants back.
- Sew side seams
Place pants front and pants back right sides together. Stitch down the waist, across the top of the pocket, around the pocket and back on to the side seam, and down the side seam. Repeat on other side.
- Stitch inseam
Match the front and back crotch seams and sew across the inseams up one leg and down the other.
- Fold and sew waist casing
Press open the center front seam if you are adding a drawstring. Press the pockets toward the front of the pants. Next, fold the waist casing down 1 1/2 inches so that the edge covers the tops of the pockets. Stitch waistband casing close to the raw edge.
- Hem pants
Fold the pants hems up 1 inch to the wrong side and stitch.
- Insert elastic
Use a bodkin or safety pin to insert the elastic through the gap in the front seam. Next, overlap the ends of the elastic and zig-zag stitch together. Stretch the waistband a few times to distribute the elastic evenly.
- Sew the drawstring
Sew the drawstring ties to the ends of the twill tape with a zig zag stitch. Then, using the bodkin or safety pin, insert the drawstring through the casing on top of the elastic. Finally, knot the ends of the drawstring.
And you’re finished sewing pajamas! Now if you’re me, you just need to sew 6 more pairs and then wrangle some kids ages 4-18 into a picture, lol!
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