DIY Maternity Pants

You would think that by my fourth kid I would have the maternity clothes that I want, but not so.  Everytime I start wearing them, I want to find new ones- pants mostly. 

So a few weeks ago my regular pants were getting too tight on my tummy when I sat down, but I didn't want to start wearing my maternity ones just yet.  I went shopping for some "fat pants" a few sizes bigger than I usually wear.  I thought I could wear them for a couple of months now, and also right after the baby is born.  I found some cute jeans on clearance for seven bucks at Khol's so I bought a couple pairs. 

Well, I started showing more and more a lot quicker this time, so even those started getting too tight.  So, I thought I would just turn them into maternity jeans since I liked how they fit and wanted some more anyway.  And they were so cheap I wasn't too worried about messing them up.

So, to start I had my jeans (bigger than my regular size).
Then I got some 3" elastic and some knit ribbing in navy blue.

I measured the front of my pants between the side seams for the elastic. The knit ribbing I made a coulple inches longer, and 7" tall to fold over the elastic, and fold in at the sides.

The first step you want to do is cut out the zipper, pin it, and sew it closed. You don't want the metal teeth getting under your needle when you sew the elastic on.  I did this a few steps later, but I think it is better to do it first to keep it in place.

  

Next, see how far down your elastic goes and cut out the front of your pants. When you do this, cut a little less off than you think. You want the elastic to overlap the pants a little so you can sew them together. I think I cut off about 2 1/2 inches instead of 3. Be sure to look at where your rivets and pockets are when you are deciding where to cut. You will need a little room for a seam allowance, so don't cut too close. If your belt loops get cut in half like mine did, just cut the bottom part of them off as best you can without cutting a hole in the pants.

 I serged the top of the cut that I made to hold the pockets and fly in place. If you have a serger, I think this is a good step, if you don't, you can just sew a line close to the edge to do the same thing.

(This is when I sewed the zipper part closed by sewing close to the original seam, but I think it's better to do this first because mine got a little bunched up.) 

 Now, place the elastic inside the pants, and pin it in place. Be sure the elastic isn't sticking up over the top of the pants on the sides. If the elastic is a little shorter than where you are putting it, that's okay. Just find the center and pin it, then keep doing that until it's in place.

 Start sewing at the top of the side and go down, across, and up the other end. Use a small seam allowance and pull the elastic so the pants are flat while you sew.

 Once the elastic is on, get the knit ribbing in place by lining it up with the top of the raw edge of the jeans. I forgot to fold over the side in this picture before I started pining, but you can see it in the next picture. Fold it on both sides of the ribbing. You don't really need to pin this much because you will stretch it while you are sewing.

 Sew across the ribbing from edge to edge. Pull the ribbing a bit while you sew to make it tight and keep it from bunching up. Use a little bigger seam allowance than you used for the elastic. You want that seam to be inside of this one. Also, remember where your rivets are if you have any so you don't break your needle.

 Now, fold the ribbing over and to the back side of the elastic. I just left mine raw at the inside edge, but you could also fold the edge under to make a nice hem. Stretch it a little and pin it in place.

 With the front of the pants up to you, sew down the sides and across the bottom of the ribbing with a very small seam allowance. This will make a top stitch on the front of the jeans, and sew the ribbing to the sides and inside of the pants as well.

 Since I left my ribbing raw inside, I just trimmed off the extra fabric (make sure you don't cut off your pockets though).

 And there you have it. An easy way to make some maternity pants (or just some strechy pants to wear to Thanksgiving next year) if you can't find some you like (or are too tall for the ones you do). Don't try this with your favorite jeans though, it can't be undone and you might regret it later. Just find some new ones on sale, or some used ones that will work. Also, since they still have the belt loops on the back and sides, you can wear a belt as long as it doesn't cut into your tummy too much.

 Happy belly growing! Oh, and since we are having another boy I will try to share baby boy stuff I've been making too. Also, I love pictures of kids waiting to open gifts on Christmas, so I thought I would share ours.

Halloween...a little late

I am finally getting my halloween pictures off of my camera! It's only been just over a week, not too bad I guess.  So we waited until the Thursday before Halloween to cut our pumpkin so it wouldn't get disgusting before the big day.  Stephen is scared of the inside of them for some reason, but he toughed it out and actually touched it!  He grabbed a handful, and immediately started shaking his hand like crazy trying to get it off while flinging it all around the kitchen.  They had a good time though.

They decided on the spooky cat, so this is what we ended up with.  And, even though we waited, it was very rotten by the weekend.  I think we got a dud from the market.

On Saturday we had a Halloween party at Grandma and Papa's house with all but two of the Tucker cousins.  They made spider hats and spooky haunted houses.

Blake had Monday off, so he got to go to school with Brady.  He was even a great sport and dressed up for the party.  He ended up being the only parent who did- bunch of bums!  The teachers and kids were all in costumes though.  Brady thought it was awesome!

Our little crew:  Brady the army guy, Stephen Darth Vader, and Berkeley the ballerina

We stopped at my dad's house to say hi and take pictures with Jessica's kids.  They were all so cute!

They had a great Halloween!  Berkeley was running as fast as those little legs would take her from house to house!  It was really fun!  I hope yours was too!

A month's worth of stuff

For the last month I haven't posted anything, so I thought I would fill you in on what we've been doing lately. 

Brady turned four the end of September, so we had a pool party for him and Stephen since Stephen's party was at the cabin and everyone wasn't there.  It was fun.  He helped me make some cupcakes in the morning so we wouldn't run out of cake.

Dawna made a gorgous surfboard cake that was delicious!

The boys had a great time with their cousins and friends that were there.

For October break, we went up to California.  The first weekend my cousin Adrian was getting married.  We spent Saturday morning hanging out at the hotel pool with family, and the afternoon and evening at the wedding and reception.  It was so beautiful, and everything was perfect.

While the reception was going on, the kid party was in full swing nextdoor.  Jess was doing face painting, and there was a craft table outside and an ice cream bar in the kitchen.  It was kid heaven.

We spent a day at the beach (which isn't so relaxing with six kids there) and got some sun.

The last four days were spent at Disneyland!  My Dad and Dawna were there the first day with Ella.  Berkeley was so excited to have other girls there to play with.  We brought our niece Kylinn to help with the kids.  The boys loved having her around, and it was a big help to have her there to go on the rides with Blake and the two boys.

When we got home it was Berkeley's birthday!  She turned two!  She got a little kitchen and some dress-ups.

Her cousin Payton's birthday was that weekend too.  We had some cupcakes and lunch at Blake's parent's house and had a good time.

We left from there to head up to the cabin for the weekend.  It was very tiring, but a lot of fun.  I'm glad the week is finally over- now for the gigantic piles of laundry that are waiting.

Soccer Time!

It's that time of year again.  Time to load the wagon full of folding chairs, gatorade, orange slices, and if there's any more room, maybe the kids.  But usually, they just have to walk.  That's right, it soccer season! 

This is Stephen's second year playing soccer.  Since he's still in the under six division, all his practices and games are on Friday nights, which is awesome!  In the summer it's still a little hot when the games start, but then the sun goes down and it starts dipping down toward 100.  But the last few games in the winter are actually a little chilly, but nobody really minds.

The boys had to come up with a name for their team.  Some of the suggestions were blasters, lightning, bullets, bob ( I'm not sure where that one came from).  So they agreed on the Lightning Blasters!  We made a banner for them, although it was pretty windy the first game, so it didn't stay up very well.  I think I need to make a different stand for it next time.

Stephen actually payed attention to what he was doing this year and did what his coach asked him to do!  It was amazing!  They did some drills and warm-ups for practice.  Then it was game time.

Stephen got to do the opening kick off.  He was pretty excited!  He dribbled it down the field and...

made a goal! 

It was a great start for the team. All the boys got really pumped up! They ended up scoring eight goals I think. There is no score, but Stephen was keeping track. They play three on three with no goalie, so there is usually a lot of goals made.



The boys all had a great time and were really working together and cheering for eachother.  It was awesome!  What a great first game!  I can't wait for the rest.