DIY Cami and Shorts Set From Pajama Pants

Hand sew your own cami and shorts set from one pair of PJ pants using only 1 basic stitch - the running stitch!

1 pair of pajama pants

scissors

thread

needle

Time for some math! Cut up the legs of the pants according these measurements:

Shorts: how long you want the shorts to be + ~6 cm seam allowance

Shoulder strap pieces: 2 * how wide you want the straps to be + 2 cm seam allowance

Torso pieces: As long as you want your cami to be (measuring starting from armpit) + 20 cm for folding over


What is seam allowance?
When you sew two pieces together, you will have a little extra fabric on one side of your stitching. When cutting fabric, it's good to make the pieces just a tad bigger to allow for that. (Diagram from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seam_allowance)

What does ~ mean?
~ is a tilde. In this Instructable, it is used as a unary operator to mean "approximately". So "~6 cm" means "approximately 6 cm".

You should have 2 leg loops of fabric for shoulder straps.

For each loop:
Cut the loop open, then fold it it half with the "wrong" side of the fabric facing out.
Sew along along the long side of the folded piece, ~1 cm from the raw edge.

This is how I get my needle ready:

1. Thread your needle.

2. Pull out about an arm's length of thread and cut.

3. Fold the piece of thread in half, with the needle threaded in it, and tie a knot a the end.

4. You'll be sewing with this doubled-up thread.

Here's how to hand sew a running stitch:
Just weave your needle in and out of the fabric at even intervals. When you reach the end of the fabric, tie off thread and cut it ~1 cm from the knot.

You should have two leg loops for the torso.

For each loop:
Place it down with "wrong" side facing up and the hemmed edge on the bottom.
Fold the top 20 cm down.

Assembly:

Place the two pieces on top of each other with the folded ("wrong") side facing each other. We are going to make one big loop for the torso piece by sewing the two pieces together along the left and right edges.

Turn it inside out and you should have one big loop that fits around your torso.

The great thing about the running stitch is that if you pull on the thread hard enough, you can create a ruched effect.

Back piece:
Sew 20 cm down the middle from the top so that the folded over part doesn't flap around as much. Tie a knot and cut off the thread.

Front piece:
Sew 20 cm down the middle from the top, but before tying off and cutting the thread, push the fabric up on the thread so that it's all scrunched up. Now tie the knot and cut the thread off.

Put the straps on the finished torso piece and attach them with a running stitch, with the raw ends of the straps on the inside of the torso loop so you can't see it.

Turn the shorts inside out and fold up the bottom edge twice.
Sew along the folded edge.