Sewing Tutorial | Lakeside Pajama Shorts Binding

I thought I'd share a little tutorial on applying the bias binding to the shorts of the Lakeside Pajamas. The rest of the sewing is pretty straightforward but this part can get a little tricky due to the binding of the side seams. We'll be starting with step 9 in the Lakeside Pajama instructions.

Step 01 | With right sides facing, sew fronts and backs together at the inseam. Finish seam as desired and press towards back of garment.

Step 02| We’re going to start binding the shorts starting on the back edge about 1” up from the notch. Open your bias tape and with right sides facing align one edge of the tape to the edge of shorts. Stitch in the ditch of the first fold until you reach the inseam, this will be a ¼” seam. Backtack and cut your threads. Do not cut the remaining binding off, you’ll be sewing that on in a few steps.

Step 03 | Fold the binding over to the wrong side. Press and pin in place. With the right side of the garment facing up, stitch along the edge of the binding to secure the back in place removing any pins as you sew. Stop about 2-3” before you reach the point at which you stopped in the above step. Backtack and cut your threads.

Step 04 | With WRONG sides together, sew your side seams together at ¼” seam allowance from the top edge to the notch. Do not press these quite yet.

Step 05 | Continue binding where you left off at the inseam. Open your bias tape and with right sides facing align one edge of the tape to the edge of shorts. Stitch in the ditch of the first fold, again this will be a ¼” seam. When you get to the side seam you are going to sew through all the layers and continue up to the top edge of the shorts.

Step 06 | Now head over to your ironing board to finish off the binding. To bind the side seam, press the seam towards the back of the garment and fold the bias under the seam allowance creating a flat, enclosed seam finish along the side of the shorts. Pin in place, then continue pressing and pinning around the rest of the hem as you did previously.

Step 07 | To stitch this portion down, start at the top edge of the side seam binding. Stitch along the back edge of the bias binding until you reach the point where the side seam binding connects with the back hem binding. Backtack and clip your threads. Next starting back at the top side edge of the shorts, stitch along the front edge of the bias binding down and around the hem edge of the shorts until you connect with where you previously left off at the inseam. Repeat these instructions for the other leg of the shorts.