Bloomin lovely: simple DIY bloomers to make

Get your little ones warm-weather-ready with a simple pair of DIY bloomers in linen by The Fabric Store.

YOU WILL NEED

• A sewing machine
• A PDF print-at-home pattern for a pair of bloomers.
• We used the ‘Baby + Toddler Bloomers’ sewing pattern from an indie pattern company called Wiksten. This is a super little set of patterns with easy-to-follow instructions for beginner-sewers. You can buy the set of print-at-home patterns from shopwiksten.com/collections/baby-child-sewing-patterns.
• Light-to-medium-weight fabric of your choice.
  We used 60cm of Blue Lagoon linen from The Fabric Store’s exclusive range of linen colours. The amount of fabric you need will depend on the size of bloomers you choose to make. Check your PDF pattern instructions for the fabric requirements for each size.
• Matching thread
• 1m of 6mm-wide elastic
• 2 safety pins
• A handful of sewing pins
• A pair of fabric scissors
• Sewing chalk for tracing out the pattern

METHOD

These instructions are from Wiksten and are specifically for the Wiksten ‘Baby + Toddler Bloomers’ sewing pattern.

1.  Wash, dry and gently press your fabric before cutting.

2.  Fold fabric in half lengthwise with the selvedges lined up and the right sides together, wrong sides facing out. Pin the pattern piece to your fabric with the grain line parallel to the selvedges, and cut.

3.  Follow the pattern instructions for cutting your elastic for the waist and leg openings.

4.  With the right sides together, pin and sew the front and back seams with a 1cm seam allowance. Make sure to backstitch at the beginning and end of your seams. Finish the seam allowance using an overlocker or a zigzag stitch on your sewing machine.

5.   Open the bloomers so the front and back seams are lined up in the centre.

6.   With the right sides together, pin the front crotch and inseam to the back, making sure the centre front and back seams are lined up perfectly at the edge. Sew the seam with a 1cm seam allowance, backstitching as with the previous seams at the beginning and end. Finish the seam allowance using an overlocker or a zigzag stitch on your sewing machine, and press to the back.

7.   Press the waist edge 1cm to the wrong side twice, and pin it in place. Edge-stitch the fold down almost all the way around the waist, leaving a 4cm gap for inserting the elastic at the beginning and end.

8.   Attach a safety pin to one end of the elastic and thread it through the waistband casing, gathering the fabric as you go. Pin the opposite end of the elastic to the garment at the beginning of the casing to avoid it being pulled through the tunnel.

9.   Once you’ve pulled the beginning of the elastic through to the other side, remove the safety pins. Making sure the elastic hasn’t twisted, overlap the elastic ends by one inch and pin with safety pins on both sides.

10.  If you can, now is a great time to try the bloomers on your baby or toddler, so you can make any adjustments to the elastic. Sew a very secure zigzag stitch several times down the centre of the overlap. Unpin and trim the excess elastic.

11.  Tuck the elastic inside the waistband opening and pin it in place, out of the way of the next line of edge-stitching. Starting with the machine’s needle down, stretch the elastic so that everything is flat as you edge-stitch the gap closed, making sure not to catch the elastic. Backstitch at the beginning and end. Turn the pants right side out and distribute the gathers evenly so the elastic measurement is the same on the left and right sides of the waist. To prevent twisting, secure the elastic to the waistband by stitching-in-the-ditch along the centre front and back seams.

12.  Repeat the same process for the bloomer leg openings as you did for the waistband. Another option is to just hem the bloomers and skip the elastic to make regular shorts.

Main image - photography & styling: Jaimee Clapham