DIY Maternity Pants

I discovered this great tutorial online for modifying a pair of regular blue jeans to make your own maternity pants.

You may want to download this free pattern for a belly panel before you begin.

You will want to find a pair of jeans that you can get on up to your hips. You don't need to be able to close them, but you should be able to get them on. Make a mark approximately where you can close the zipper to. This will help you determine how far down in front the "dip" of the belly panel will go. Afterwards, you may use a French curve ruler to make a smooth curve, cutting the waist band off the pants, all the way around. Next, fold the pants in half sideways to make sure the lines are even.

{Click on pictures to see a larger view, use arrow keys to move between pictures, click and drag to move, click once to close, and you can have more than one photo open at a time.}

Cut your belly panel from a knit fabric. I prefer a spandex-type fabric, as this seems to stay up better. Sew/serge the panel along the back seam. I apologize for not having pictures of these steps. Pin the panel to the pants, right sides together, matching the center of the panel to the front of the pants and the seam to the center back of the pants. Sew to the pants. It may be helpful to sew with a basting stitch, check for fit and adjust if necessary, then serge/finish the seam.