Made by a Fabricista: PJs for all the girls
With snow in my Colorado future, I've had pjs on the brain. I don't know what it is about cold weather and pajamas, but whenever the first snow hits, I want to sew all of the cozy things!
With that in mind, I decided to delve into Fabric Mart's double brushed poly knits. I've discovered double brushed poly recently and I love it for it's softness and the layering possibilities. While my favorite base layer material are merino wools), double brushed poly has done a pretty awesome job providing warmth without a lot of bulk. Layering is life in Colorado!
Specifically, I went after a nice collection of knits to make pjs for my Mom, my daughter and me. For my mom, this copper floral stripe double brushed poly, for me, another blue floral double brushed poly (sold out) and a steel blue sweater knit to make a cozy cardigan to top off my set of pajamas. For my daughter I chose a fun cotton/lycra print (sold out, but there's this cotton/lycra stripe that would work for nice pjs.)
Clone Surprise pajamas
My Mom is pretty hesitant about letting me sew for her. It's not because she doubts my abilities, but she doesn't like thinking about clothes in general.
But I wore her down with the promise of winter pajamas! She's not one to let me measure her, but I managed to get her to drop off her favorite t-shirt and jersey pajama bottoms.
I started cloning the top and then just compared the measurements to Jalie 2805. I stinking love that with Jalie patterns I can sew for literally everyone in my life!
For the top, I was just shy on yardage of the double brushed poly to make a top and bottoms. To make up the difference, I combined in a soft modal blend French terry I had in my stash. The mustard was the perfect color and I love how both of these are super soft, cozy fabrics!
I used my favorite neckline finish on the inside. Sewing with a strip of French terry cut from the selvage, I covered over the seamline on the shoulders and back neckline. I love how this stabilizes the shoulders and makes the neckline look nicely finished at the same time. I talk more about the ins and outs of how to do this technique on 4 Pro Ways to Sew a T-shirt Neckline.
For Mom's pants, I cloned her pants to make a pattern. These are a little less fitted than I'd want in a knit pajama set, but it's what she wanted.
She doesn't know it yet, but these are a surprise birthday gift for her! I'm really looking forward to seeing how she reacts. These toasty colors are going to be perfect for her red hair!
Cozy blues
For my pajamas, I used the Jalie 4016 Jeanne pajamas. It was one of those patterns that I snatched up immediately, mostly for my boys, but also for me. My boys have outgrown every.single.pattern I've used for pjs for them!
I paired my double brushed poly with a pale aqua rib knit. It's maybe a little bit too heavy to pair with the DBP, but I care not because it's cozy.
When I make this pattern again, I will lower the rise on the leggings. They sit just a little too high for my personal comfort. I always say that when you're 5'2.5" low rise is regular rise!
For the sweater, I used Burdastyle 1-2011-126. I shortened the original pattern which is really really far too long for my frame. The integrated collar and shoulder darts are really pretty features on this pattern.
I skipped fancy finishes and went with a simple zigzag for all my hems. The directions call for you to finish the collar with a piece of twill tape. Instead, I sewed up the collar burrito style for a clean inside.
In truth, I also folded back the fronts at CF and overlapped the front edges on the side seams, finishing them off cleanly as well. The directions are not the clearest on what's supposed to happen with the front edges (ex: "neaten the front edges"--what?!). When I've made this pattern before, I simply folded the edges back so that they were even vertically with the collar seam. I like both ways. This version is maybe not as cozy as my previous iterations, but I think it'll do better as an overall layering piece since there's not so much fabric at the front to give it that "robe" kind of vibe.
Nonetheless, I'm pretty happy with the set, especially the extra long sleeves on the sweater. These are the kind of lounging sorts of pjs I love wearing on cold mornings!
Mini me jams
All my kids love their Mom-made pjs, but my daughter particularly is always happy for a pair. She always gets double duty out of her pjs, wearing the leggings underneath her dresses and the tops as standalone pieces.
I love this blue/black/caramel cotton jersey. It's a little more grown up of a print but also really fun and girly enough that she kept checking in on me to see if her pjs were done yet!
Again, I used the same neckline technique on the tops. It's so nice to have that seam covered and not irritating your back neck. On my daughter's top, I added fuzzy nylon in the looper of my coverstitch, making for a nice soft feel on the right side.
That's all for me. Do you make your own cozy pjs?
Elizabeth from Elizabeth Made This
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Posted on October 28 2020