How to Make Maternity Skinny Jeans

The term - Maternity skinny jeans - sounds like an oxymoron but it’s not. Just because a woman has a huge bump for a belly, it doesn’t mean she can’t still have sexy slim legs.

Skinny jeans or Jeggings are one of the best items of clothing a woman can possibly own. They are a combination of the most comfy trousers (leggings) and the most sexy (jeans) with all of the nice features coming together making the perfect pair of trousers.

Those of us who are fully acquainted with having to adjust to the bump can understand how easy it is to slouch around with our jeans unzipped. And on the opposite end of the scale, new mums tend to go out buying whole wardrobes of maternity clothes in eager anticipation.

However, there really is no need to go spending so much money on specialist maternity clothing and pregnancy is no excuse for sitting around with our flies undone either.

If you’re a dab hand at sewing, or even if you’re not, you can easily make yourself a decent, comfy pair of sexy maternity skinny jeans to slouch in once that bump gets growing.

Stretch Denim Fabric

Sewing machine

Scissors

Matching thread

Iron

Elastic (2cm diameter)

Making a pair of skinny jeans or jeggings is simple. Essentially it is the same as making any other pair of trousers or leggings and, provided you have everything you need to make them, your maternity skinny jeans can be finished in a short space of time.

Stretchy fabric is key! For the best pair of maternity skinny jeans, a good stretch denim fabric should be used. The fabric can be bought quite cheaply at anywhere from £1 to £3 per meter with patterned fabric costing slightly more. It is always best to ensure that the fabric you use stretches both horizontally and vertically, that way you won’t need to worry about how to cut it up.

Take your denim fabric and fold over on a large, flat surface (right sides together). Take another pair of your favourite skinny jeans (ones that fit your legs and height), fold them in half and place them on top of your denim fabric making sure that the long straight side of your jeans is sitting up against the fold of the fabric leaving roughly a 2-3 inch space.

Move the jeans down a little, leaving a much larger gap above the waist. This is the area that will eventually become the maternity part of your maternity skinny jeans. Really, it depends on what you are comfortable with. If you want the waistband of your skinny jeans to sit above the bump then you will need a lot of fabric at the top, maybe around 23-25 inches of extra fabric. (See diagram for guidance on cutting).

Repeat this step once more to give you two separate leg pieces that will eventually come together to make your maternity skinny jeans.

Before you stitch anything together, you could add a nice touch by cutting out and stitching on some pockets to go at the back of your skinny jeans. Once that is done, or if you do not wish to do that, then simply take one of your leg pieces keeping it folded and sew up the long free edge stopping as you reach the crotch bend. Repeat with the other leg and finally, stitch the two legs together at the crotch area. Make a double zigzag stitch along the crotch area to strengthen against splitting open.

Now, all that is left before you can jump into your maternity skinny jeans is to hem them up. Try them on first just to make sure they fit you right – okay, I know that without the bump it can be difficult to judge, but at least get the length of the legs right. Also, by trying on your skinny jeans, you can check that they are tight enough around the legs, if the legs are not the correct length or fit, then now is the time to make any adjustments.

Hem the bottom of the legs up by making a double fold, iron it flat and then make a double stitch to keep in place. Do the same with the waist but make sure it is at least 2 inches deep and don’t forget to leave a hole where you can slide in the elastic.

To slide in the elastic, attach a safety pin to one end and feed it through. Stitch the two ends of the elastic together and push it back into the hole to hide. You could make another small stitch to close the hole and to keep the elastic in place.

And that is it; you have a perfect pair of sexy maternity skinny jeans to be proud of.

If you wanted, you could now go on to embellish your skinny jeans with studs, diamantes or any sort of iron on motifs.

Enjoy and Good Luck.