Sew Sleep Shorts - Tutorial for Sewing Satin Shorts (Free Pattern)

Everyone should sew some sleep shorts. They are fast to sew, use 1 yard or less of fabric, and allow for some instant gratification. I decided to sew some satin sleep shorts for the ultimate in luxurious lounging. Real silk makes wonderful sleepwear, and the polyester versions turn out very nicely as well.

Materials Needed:

Sewing Machine BERNINA 590
Sewing machine foot: Reverse Pattern Foot #1D (for use with Dual Feed)
Sewing Machine Needle ( I used size 70/10 for my satin fabric version)
Patterns for Pirates Walk the Plank Shorts (Free download – add to cart and create an account to get the download).
Fabric: 1 yard satin in polyester or silk. Here are some shops with international shipping that carry a variety of options:
- Poly Satins Stitch Happens (Canada/US and International)
- Mulberry Silk Discovery Fabrics (Canada/US and International)
- Poly and Silk Minerva (UK and International)
Coordinating Thread
1 1/2 inch elastic. I like this knitted elastic from Wawak.

Preparing to Sew Sleep Shorts

Free Pattern

Download the Walk the Plank PJ Bottoms pattern for free from the Patterns for Pirates website. Print your pattern and tape it together, or use the AO files and project it onto your fabric or paper. I made many versions of these shorts so I chose to project it and trace it onto kraft paper and use that since it was faster for me to cut out multiple pairs quickly.

Cutting the Fabric

Choose from a variety of fabric types for your sleep shorts.

Choose the waistband height and desired leg length. I chose the lower women’s waist height and the shortest leg length. Cut out your shorts. Since there is only one pattern piece, this is very simple. Cut out two mirror-image pieces of fabric. I made several different pairs of shorts in many different types of fabrics and I love how each turned out. I used lightweight shirting fabric, cotton flannel, sweatshirt fleece, thick textured knit and satin.

One pattern piece only and is cut mirrored for the sleep shorts.

Sewing your Sleep Shorts

Leg and Crotch Seams

The next step is to sew your shorts together. For this satin version, I chose to sew French seams for these shorts for a high-end finish. Here is a BERNINA tutorial for French Seams if you are looking for more detailed instructions on this technique.

For a French seam finish, fold the fabric with the wrong sides together and stitch a ¼” seam. I used the dual feed engaged on my BERNINA 590 and it fed the slippery fabric through very smoothly. Press and trim. Then, sew on the wrong side with a seam allowance of ¼”, enclosing the raw edges.

Turn one leg to the wrong side out and place one leg inside the other, with the wrong sides facing together. You will sew this seam as a French seam as well. Press, trim, then enclose the edge by sewing on the wrong side.

Stitch, press, turn, and stitch again to create beautiful French seams.

Sew Sleep Shorts Waistband

Cut your elastic to the desired length. Place the ends together on top of a scrap of fabric and zig-zag the ends together. For my stitches, I used 5.0 width and 1.3 length.

Zig-zag width of 5.0 and 1.3 length.

Butt ends of elastic together and zig-zag over a scrap of fabric for reinforcement.

Completed waistband elastic.

Mark the elastic and the shorts in quarters. Align the elastic waistband and the shorts and pin or clip into place.

Waistband elastic is zig-zagged to the top edge of the shorts.

Zig-zag along the raw edge of the shorts and the elastic. I used 5.0 width and 2.0 length. Fold to the wrong side and pin into place. Stretch the elastic taut and topstitch along the bottom edge of the elastic/fabric.

The topstitched waistband is complete.

Bottom Hem

Turn up the bottom hem to the wrong side by ½” and press. Turn up again and press.

Edge stitch along the edge of the turned hem and stitch from the wrong side to ensure you catch the entire hem as you stitch around. Adjust the needle position so that you can easily line up the top edge of the hem with the presser foot.

Finish your Sleep Shorts

Give your shorts a final all-over press.

You can make a variety of shorts using different fabric variations. I sewed several sleep shorts including a jacquard sweater knit, sweatshirt fleece, brushed poly knit and cotton voile and they all turned out beautifully. I can’t wait to hear about your version of sleep and lounge shorts.