How to Match Stripes While Sewing Pants

The new season of Project Run and Play is here. I wasn't planning to sew along this time, but then when the themes were announced I just had to do the first week. About three years ago I purchased an Ottobre magazine just so I can make the elephant shirt that they had.  At the time my oldest was a bit obsessed with elephants and was still young enough to wear a cute elephant shirt. Of course, my plans never came to fruition. Now he is too old to wear something like that. Luckily, there is a certain three year old who loves animals. I knew if I don't make it now, it would never happen.  It's also my chance to share tricks I use to line up stripes.

I used two shirts I got on clearance at Target to make the shirt and pants. The whole outfit cost $4.20 in fabric. Not bad. I get zero points for the creativity, both patterns came from 4/2011 Ottobre magazine.

 I made it a size larger, hoping he gets to wear it in the fall, since he has enough clothes to dress at least two boys right now. :)

 

It super comfy and quite cute. Max loves it and didn't want to take it off.

So let's talk about matching stripes. A quick search will probably yield many pieces of advice on how to do it. These little tricks work well for me, particularly when making pants.

 

 

Pants are symmetrical so you have to cut mirror image of the same pattern piece.  Cut one, then put it on top of you fabric, right sides together and pin in place matching all the stripe.  To avoid any possibility of fabric shifting, pin well. Now cut around the existing piece. You have right/left pant legs perfectly matching.

To match front and back perfectly, pay attention to the  circled areas in the picture. When positioning your pattern piece on the fabric, make sure  to place it in a way that the stripes in the circled areas are exactly the same.   It's also very important not to shift your fabric while cutting. Use pins liberally while cutting and sewing. 

 

 

It worked!