DIY Knitted Jammie Cuffs

There are lots of things I like about being fairly tall. I am 5'8", which means I can reach most of the shelves in the grocery store and the top shelves in my kitchen without standing on something. However, I get a little fed up with pants that are too short. When I can buy long sizes, I do. But that isn't always possible. Or I buy something, like sweats or jammies, that are long enough at first but after a couple of washing and drying events, turn into peddle pushers. I buy long jammies for winter to keep me warm because we keep out thermostat at 68. It irks me to no end when my jammies get too short.

I decided this winter to try adding cuffs to my shortest pair of jammies just to see how they would fit. They turned out pretty comfortable so I decided to share what I did here. There is lots of flexibility in adding knitted cuffs, so don't consider this a hard and fast pattern. Experiment a little. They knit up pretty quick so if it doesn't come out quite right the first time, just frog it and start over.

Below are the steps I took to create my jammie bottom cuffs. However, further down you will find the suggestions and lessons learned that may help you better design your own cuff.:
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1.  The first thing I did was find the appropriate colored yarn and matching embroidery thread. In this case, I chose yarn that matched the jammie top so it would look more like a set. The drawback to that was that I had to use bulky yarn (#6), which wasn't really what I wanted but I decided to make it work.

2.  I used 6 strands of embroidery yarn to stitch a 1/4" high and wide blanket stitch around the hem of my pajama bottoms. When finished I had 64 stitches on each leg. However, that proved to be too small, which I will explain later.
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3.  I measured around my leg at the ankle and used that to determine how many stitches I would need to knit the cuff to fit. In my case, it was 10.5" and the gauge was about 2.5 stitches per inch on #13 needles.

4.  For my particular yarn, I used #13 circular needles (affiliate) with a 36" cord and picked up a stitch in every other blanket stitch (which I will explain further down). I picked up 32 stitches around the bottom of the jammie leg. I used the Magic Loop method to pick up the stitches and knit the cuff in the round. If you don't use Magic Loop, you will need to use double pointed needles (DPN) (affiliate).

5.  I placed a stitch marker (affiliate) at the beginning and knitted the first row.

6.  On the second row, I decreased 6 stitches evenly around.

7.  On the third row, I started my pattern stitch. I knitted an 1x1 rib, which means I knitted one then purled one stitch. (K1, P1). On each row after that, I knit the stitch as presented. That means I knitted the knit stitches and purled the purl stitches. I knitted until the cuff was 6" long and then bound of loosely and wove in my ends.

If I repeat this project, I will do a few things a little differently. Listed below are some of my suggestions.:

1. Measure first and figure out how many stitches you will need to make the ribbed cuff fit your leg based on the kind of yarn you want to use. Let that be your guide for the number of blanket stitches you embroider on your cuff. The 64 stitches were just too many and I would have had to reduce my knitted stitches from 64 to 26 to get a good fit. That is way too much reducing. However, I like this blanket stitch method for adding knitted trims to things that are not knitted. I have used it before to add knitted edgings to modified sweatshirts and t-shirts.  I have also seen it used to add knitted sleeves to sleeveless jean jackets and other clothing, but have not personally tried that...yet. I have done it with crochet, however, using the same blanket stitch foundation.
2. I wish I had used a smaller gauge yarn, something like  #4. The bulky yarn worked up OK but I really don't like the look as a jammie cuff. Personal preference. I chose based strictly on color but next time I will also choose based on gauge. However they are very soft and warm. No more cold ankles!
3. Make sure your yarn is washable! Jammies need regular washing so be sure you use a yarn that can stand up to that.
4. If you are not a circular knitter, then measure and knit the cuffs flat and stitch the sides together to form the cuff. You can then run a basting stitch by hand around the jammie leg hem and use it to gather up the leg to fit the size of the cuff. Use embroidery thread or button thread (because it is much stronger than regular sewing thread) to stitch on the cuff. I have not done it this way so can't tell you exactly how it will turn out, but it should work. Just be sure when stitching the cuff to the jammies that you stitch in such a way as to let it stretch to get your foot through.

I hope you have found this post helpful or that it has inspired you to try something new. I have worn them a few times now and I can tell you the cuffs are for sure a nice addition and my ankles are much warmer. I am perusing the rest of my jammie bottoms to decide if they are short enough to warrant a knitted cuff. I think most of them just might be...