My favorite tips–

One: buy neutral or complimentary ribbing for the two or three most common colors in the child’s wardrobe. Add 2-3″ (finished width) ribbing cuff to the bottom of the patns. YES, even jeans. Cut off the hemmed edge of each leg and mark quarter-points with pins on the leg and the ribbing. Sew together with a serge (nice, but didn’t have one until last year) or wide zigzag stitch on a regular machine. Hand-sewing can be done in a pinch: baste, sew the quarter-inch wide seam, then blanket-stitch the edges to keep the woven material from raveling.

Two: buy a basic pajama pattern, elastic waistband, straight legs, no fussy details. )Raglan sleeves ARE more forgiving than tee shirts, and these are usually V-neck (which makes a GREAT sweater when cut from sweatshirt knit!) Then add 2-4″ in leg length, but only an inch or an inch and a half for long sleeve length, and 2″ in the torso front and back. I made most of the boys’ clothes, so I traced patterns onto poster board for durability and used a rotary cutter and mat. I could cut three or four fabrics at once, and a four-hour afternoon sewing binge netted at least half a dozen finished items, given sweatshirt weight fabric cut three-at-a-time. This was the most efficient, easiest method for me, but budget crunching often meant finding ways to fit hand-me-downs to my little beanstalk.

Three: Plan color blocking. This worked best when given new-looking clothes from friends because the clothing didn’t show obvious variation in color or texture, but I also did this as a variation for handmade pants before ever cutting them out. Find the knee, and cut across each pant leg about one inch above it. You want that top seam ABOVE the kneeling spot, definitely. Measure circumference and use a STURDY fabric to make a matching extension about 4″ tall. Re-assemble, being VERY careful to match side and crotch seams. Use a scrap of the same fabric to cover the hem (like applying bias binding) to help unify the look. A pair of otheriwse new-looking pants with a single missing belt loop gave me the idea to replace all of the belt loops with the second fabric, and it looked absolutely wonderful! Another way to add color was to plan patch pockets for the back of the pants, which again made the design seem more balanced.

For pants that fit in the length but are too big in the waist– Sheer desperation made me try this with my toddler’s “wonderful dressy outfit to match Grandpa’s for family photos”. (Grr. ”Nuff said.) I zigzagged across a terry headband of mine, and repeated it about 1/4″ away, then made pairs of zigzags directly opposite. Snip the headband apart in the 1/4″ gap and now there are two “added waistbands”. I hand-stitched one into the pants waistband at the side seame, adjusting the stretch until it fit well but not snugly. Baste one row of stitches lengthwise by hand, making sure the stitches aren’t visible from the outside of the garment. This will keep the extra fabric from slipping up into view, and the whole thing can be removed relatively easily.