Build-A-Bear Pajamas

Several years ago, we took my oldest to Build-a-Bear for his birthday.  And for some reason, this week, the bears have made a comeback in popularity.  Perhaps it's a last ditch attempt at saving them from the spring cleaning donation frenzy?  And yesterday, my youngest informed me that his bear didn't like sleeping in his hockey uniform.  Could I please make him some new clothes?

A quick Google search, and I had a free pattern for pajamas.  I love it when people share (thank you, it's always autumn!)

I let both boys raid the box of old clothes we had waiting to be donated.  Evan came up with one of his Dad's flannel shirts, and Ryan found a pair of his own outgrown pajama pants.

For Ryan's, I cut the pattern on the cuff of the pants, to reuse the hem.  I wasn't as lucky with the shirt Evan chose, but the flannel didn't fray much, so I just turned them under once.

The pattern is super easy to use, one piece of paper, no taping.

I did my elastic using a trick I learned in a serger class.  You don't need a serger to do it, though.  It works especially well for tiny clothes like this, where double turning a casing and threading the elastic can be kind of tedious.

First, you mark your elastic (cut to final size) in quarters, with pins.  Then, starting at the front seam, you zig-zag (or serge) your elastic to the right side of your waistband, stretching it as you go.  Use the pins in the elastic to line it up with the four seams of your garment.

pulling as I sew...

Once you've made it all the way around, slightly overlap the two ends, and zig-zag them together.

matching plaids...total accident.

You can leave it like that, boxer-style, or you can fold the elastic to the wrong size, and zig-zag it down, enclosing the raw edge.  I folded mine.

And that's it!  Happy bears, and happy owners!

And the hole for the tail...could it be cuter?

Hope this helps someone else save ten bucks on bear pants!  :)

Linking up to finish it up friday @ crazymomquilts!